The men laid the dried-out body on a pallet in one of the tree houses. Vadik’s father slipped into the back of the structure, behind Vera. The skin sagged around the eyes and mouth of the body he wore. Vera wondered how long a body lasted when possessed. Or how rotted it would become before he moved on to a new one. The thought of bugs and decaying skin made her queasy, and she looked away.

Vadik stood at what looked like an altar covered in bowls of flowers, pebbles, and some sort of liquid. He took a pebble and popped it into his mouth. Weird. She wondered why he was sucking on a rock until his throat bobbed and she realized he’d swallowed it. He caught her staring.

“While my tiger is gone, that will keep a summoned spirit from trying to possess me.”

“What kind of rock is it?” she asked, thinking it might be a good idea to have some on hand back home.

“The kind doesn’t matter. All that’s important is the bit of shadow clinging to it,” said Vadik. “Although something smooth and shaped like this makes it easier on me when it’s time to come out again.”

Oh, have mercy. She hadn’t considered that part, and she’d do anything not to think about it ever again. “I was possessed once,” she blurted. “And my shadow was attached the whole time.” Like a shadow should be.

“You invited a spirit into your shell?”

“Yeah.” Technically, she hadn’t invited Gus. He’d just come in and made himself at home. She’d been glad to see him, though, and would’ve invited him in if she’d known she could.

“Inviting a spirit in is different,” Vadik told her. “You can make them leave.”

“Oh.” Gus had left the second she’d told him to.

“If an unwanted spirit possesses you, that’s a different story.” Vadik wove flowers into the corpse’s hair.

“They can do that?”

Vadik came around and tucked more flowers into Vera’s hair as well. “Not usually. Some will trick a person into inviting them, though. That’s always an unfortunate situation because they’re hard to get rid of. But if a spirit takes over a person without invitation, that is downright dangerous. A spirit that strong may decide to stay for good, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“What happens to the soul already there?”

“It’s silenced, trapped in its own body until the body dies and it can be freed.”

“Do I need to be worried?” Vera was sure the answer was yes, no matter what the man said.

“My father and I are here. You will be fine.”

“What should I do?” she asked.

“Once the spirit is here, ask your questions. Other than that, you don’t need to do anything.”

“How do you summon a spirit?” Vera asked just as the body groaned and flinched.

“Oh, I already did.” Vadik dripped some of the liquid over the zombie’s lips. “I was only waiting for it to arrive.”

“So I just talk to it?”

“I’d give her a minute to compose herself,” suggested Vadik’s father. “Being yanked back to the realm of the living is disorientating.”

“Why have you brought me here?” asked the zombie.

“We need your help,” answered Vadik. “We are sorry to impose on your rest.”

“Oh, I wasn’t resting.” Its lips curved into an unnerving smile. “I was waiting for you.”

Vadik’s father stepped forward. “Who were you waiting for?”

“Her.” She pointed at Vera. “Suzie said she’d call.”

Dread pooled in Vera’s gut. Her foster mom had seen even this and prepared for it.

“Was Suzie an oracle?” Vera asked.

“No.”

“But she knew everything that was going to happen.”

“Because she orchestrated it all,” the zombie said.

“But how? How did she know I would come here?” Vera’s head was spinning at the circles the conversation was running in.

“Because she wanted you to.”

“She wanted me to come to Zerzura and call on you?”

“No.” The zombie shook her head. “She didn’t want you to call me, but she made sure you’d do it anyway.”

“Why?”

She pressed a finger to her lips before whispering, “That’s a secret.”

“Where was Suzie from?” Vera asked.

“Everywhere.”

“How can she be from everywhere?”

“She was transient?” asked Vadik, joining the conversation.

“Something like that,” answered the zombie.

“Then she was a daayan,” concluded Vadik. “The wanderers, who see what is, not what will be.”

“They’re from Shangri-la? Right?” Vera had been learning as much as she could about the realms and what magic wielders lived where. Daayan harvested magic from gemstones—crystal, in particular. It allowed them to look at the world and what was going on in it. A puzzle piece fell into place in Vera’s mind. Maybe Jemma wasn’t an oracle after all. She’d said her family had an affinity for crystal and divination.

“No,” the zombie said simply.

“She’s not daayan?” asked Vera.

“Yes.”

“You are speaking in circles.” Vadik seemed to be less frustrated about it than Vera was. Of course, he had lots of practice with zombies. “You said she was transient.”

“Not by choice,” revealed the zombie.

“Would an offering entice you to answer our questions?” asked Vadik’s father.

The zombie considered Vera. Vera’s heart fluttered nervously as she wondered what memory she would have to give up.

“I am answering your questions,” argued the zombie instead of demanding compensation. “And she can tell you I am telling the truth.” She meant Vera.

“You are telling the truth,” Vera confirmed. “But it’s like you're being intentionally unhelpful.”

“Oh, poor little girl, not getting what you want,” taunted the zombie.

“I want to save the world.”

“The world is already lost,” spat the zombie. “We made sure of that a thousand years ago.”

Vera frowned. “We? You were there for the Unravelling?”

“Oh, I wasn’t just there. I led it.”

This time both men tensed right along with Vera.

“Why did you come here?” Vadik demanded.

The zombie ignored the question. “I’ve decided what the girl can offer me for my help.” She began tugging strands of hair from her head. They came out in clumps from the dried skin covering her skull. “It was a pity when certain memories of Kalesius faded in my mind—he always was a pleasure to my senses. Can you offer any delicious memory of him? I wonder if you possess a single memory that would hold a candle to the scraps I still claim of him.”

“Talia,” Vera breathed.

“He’s told you about me.” Talia seemed pleased by this.

Vera flinched before she could catch herself. And then her mind settled on one point. The woman who’d destroyed Kale. Heat warmed her chest. “Only that you’re the shrew who went after him, lured him in, and then coerced him into becoming an unnatural.”

Talia laughed. “Is that what he told you?”

Vera’s confidence faltered.

“He was obsessed with me—worshipped me. I didn’t have to lure him in. He begged for me to let him into my circle.”

Okay, that wasn’t how Vera had imagined that story. But still. “You forced him to become a monster.”

“I just sped up his timeline a little, because we needed him on board sooner. He would have chosen that path for himself if I hadn’t, though.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, I do,” Dry skin pulled tightly around her victorious smile. “I didn’t move until the oracles confirmed it.”

“Oracles don’t change the future,” Vera said, for herself more than anything. She wanted Talia to be lying.

“Not willingly, no. But people do all sorts of things to protect those they love.”

“Like you know anything about that,” gritted Vera.

Talia was on her in an instant. “You have no idea what it was like to watch your family taken advantage of and sold because they were siphons.”

All of a sudden, Vera understood the connection that had brought Talia and Kale together. “Kale knew what it was like.”

“He’d rather the world end than see generation after generation be taken advantage of like that,” said Talia.

“Not everyone is like those people,” Vera said. “There is more good than bad in the world.”

“No ‘good’ people ever helped us.” Talia sneered. “They buried their heads so they wouldn’t have to see that the real monsters were all around them—their husbands and sisters and children.”

“We can make a better world than the one you knew.”

“It’s better off dead. You claim to care about people, but you are dooming them to selfishness, cruelty, and intolerance.”

“I’m going to do everything in my power to make things different, and I’m not alone. We will find a way to heal this world.”

“And then live happily ever after with your unnatural boyfriend?” mocked the piece of evil crap.

Vera strapped on her favorite face of indifference.

“You do know you can’t fix him, right? The Masters made sure of that after a mother reclaimed her son from the horde. To unmake himself, Kalesius has to repeat the process that made him. Ironically, that will only rebind him. It’s an unbreakable circle. He’ll be an unnatural until he dies.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Vera’s mind raced. Someone had figured it out. Even if they’d changed the process—made it harder—there had to be a way to figure it out again. Everything had a loophole. She just had to find it.

Talia suddenly shoved Vera’s soul aside.

“Good thing Gus taught you how to share your shell,” said Talia. “Makes this so much easier.”

The men jumped into action as soon as they understood what was happening.

Vadik commanded, “Return to where you came.”

“I’d rather not. The demons of Dubnos are rather unpleasant to those of us sent there for eternal torture.”

Vera tried to hold herself in place.

“That’s harder to do once you’ve been loosened,” Talia informed her. “Like an oyster trying to reclaim its shell once it’s been shucked.”

“Enough!” Vadik slammed his cane down.

“You do not scare me, old man.”

Vadik’s tiger roared as it charged through the wall of the tree house.

“Aww, kitty, kitty,” taunted Talia. “You cannot stop me either.”

Talia snatched the cane from Vadik and plunged it through the center of his chest. The tiger crumpled. And with that, Talia lunged inside Vera. The dried corpse fell with a sickening thud. Vera pressed back, but Talia overpowered her.

I’m not sure what Kalesius sees in you, but I’ll sure enjoy his affections while I give the world one last kick into oblivion.

He’ll know you’re not me.

You’re very full of yourself, Talia said. But I assure you that he’ll prefer the new and improved you. Because when it comes down to it, I’m his type.

Get out of me, you crazy bitch.

Just then they were not alone. A man was there too, pushing back against Talia.

Don’t just sit there, help me. It was Vadik’s father.

Vera did what he said and pushed. From the outside, someone else pulled. Between them all, they barely forced Talia out of her. Vera blinked. Her vision returned in time to see two tigers race away. With their teeth, they dragged a woman with red hair, who fought and cursed.

That’s the spirit we summoned, explained Vadik’s father.

How can I see her?

I wondered that too. So I took a look at your collection of magic. You are a soul-eater, among other things.

My soul-eater came out? Vera dipped down to take a measure of her magic. Sure enough, a new bit of shadow moved around the edges of her void, taking everything in.

You don’t seem surprised that it’s there, observed the man.

Not really, but I’ve never met it before.

The man caressed the magic like a house cat. Vera’s eyes flew open, and she looked down to check out her shadow. Will it turn into a tiger? She danced around like a fool trying to inspect the patch of darkness, but it looked like a shadow should.

You are a curious being, Vadik’s father informed her.

Yeah, I’m aware. Vera reached toward the soul-eater magic as he had, but it growled.

You’ll need to be more assertive. He called to it, instructing it to play nice with the girl, who would take care of it. Surprisingly, the magic appeared to listen. Maybe it would be a good example for her demas and nymph.

Thank you for your help with Talia, Vera said. And I’m so sorry about your son.

He was ready to go. His body was old and painful. His sons will miss him, though.

Will you call him back?

He asked us not to. His two sons will lead Tiger’s Nest now.

Will you go to be with him?

I’m not quite ready to leave, he replied in a way that made Vera nervous.

As long as you aren’t planning to take up residence in here, she told him.

I could, you know. He flexed to let Vera know just how powerless she’d be against him. But I won’t. I do not want to be sent back as spider food in my next life. In a rush, he flowed away, leaving Vera feeling half-hollow. The body with saggy eyes blinked before climbing to its feet. “I was enjoying a moment of not wearing a dead corpse. It grows heavy after a while.”

“Grandfather, you should rest,” said one of the Vadik’s son’s.

“Yes, I think I will.” He turned to Vera before leaving. “Did you get anything from that woman to help you?”

“Just by process of elimination. Suzie was not an oracle, but possibly a daayan.” And someone once unbound an unnatural.

“What else could this Suzie woman do?” he asked.

“She could see all futures. And someone told me that she put thoughts into their mind—something they couldn’t ignore.”

“The wizards of Nibiru gather their magic from words and thoughts. Have you

asked them?”

“No. But it’s a place to go next, I guess. Plus, I just met a wizard recently.”

When Vera showed up in one piece, Kale could’ve sagged to the ground with relief. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Had a little trouble with a soul.”

“Did they hurt you?” he asked. “What aren’t you telling me?” He eyed the deception lines creeping up her arms.

“It was Talia,” Vera admitted.

Kale froze. “Are you okay?”

“She tried to make me into a flesh onesie, but that didn’t work out for her. Don’t worry, she’s on her way back to Dubnos, with a double-tiger escort.”

“Two tigers?” Kale looked at the solemn assembly behind Vera.

“My son did not survive,” confirmed Vadik’s father. “My grandsons will lead Tiger’s Nest together.”

“I am sorry that my past came here and brought your family grief,” said Kale.

“As am I, but I understand even more how important your mission is. If Suzie and Talia are on the same side, our world is in trouble. And as much as I regret the actions and choices of my ancestors, I do not wish to see my great-grandchildren punished for them.” He spotted young Obasi above and winked. “So find Suzie’s accomplices, and when you do, you’ll have the whole of Tiger’s Nest to help you stop her.”

“Thank you.”

“I wish we could be more hospitable, but I have sent for your guides to take you back to the world-gate. Our people need to mourn and prepare.” He did not wait for a reply. He simply turned and climbed back toward his family.

Before the dwarves showed up, Kale leaned close and whispered, “Do not call them Sasquatch unless you want them to feed us to a tree.”

“That’s a thing?”

“Man-eating trees? Yes.”

“Good to know.” A crease appeared between her brows. “I need to tell you something.” She gestured with a finger for him to come closer.

He leaned in.

Vera grabbed a fist of his shirt and kissed him on the lips. Shocked, he didn’t move away.

She pulled back. “Thank you for being here.”

“That’s what you needed to tell me?”

“Nah, I just wanted to kiss you.” To make her point, she did it again.

Kale savored it and then stood upright, brushing a lock of glowing hair behind her ear.

“Oh, and Talia is a bitch, but she did say something that got me thinking. She said unnaturals couldn’t be unmade because it took what made them to unmake them. Which would make them unnatural again.”

“I told you I couldn’t be unmade.” Although I still managed to hope like a moron.

“And I told you that I’m going to find a way,” she said stubbornly. “Don’t you get it? This means it’s possible.”

“Think about it, Vera. A sacrifice of innocent life is what bound the unnatural magic.”

“And now we just have to get the magic out of you,” she said as if it were simple.

“And then kill an innocent to keep it out?”

Vera scowled. “Obviously not. That would rebind the magic to you, as Talia said. But we’re closer to a solution than we were this morning.”

Kale disagreed. What it meant was there was no solution to be found. And while she tried to figure out the impossible, Kale was going to make sure he had a contingency plan in place. If he ever got to the point where Vera couldn’t call him back, he needed someone who could take him out. Because Marianna was right—Vera would never let him go any other way.

Movement in the trees caught his attention. He wondered how long the dwarves had been watching before making their presence known. The one from earlier slunk through the brush. He looked Vera up and down before holding out a hand for payment. Kale opened his pouch and offered twice the agreed upon amount for the return trip. With a nod, the creature squirreled the coins away in his tunic. Then turned on his heel. Kale hoped that meant they wouldn’t cause trouble for him and the girl from Earth.