The curious stares of disbelief had hardly faded, even after I'd sat on the couch amongst all of them, telling them the long story of Trex and our family legacy. Willow came out with some tea, just for us women. It was nice having her there for support. She knew too well what it was like to be surrounded by the Boys. They were a pack, and you could never miss that when they were together. Even Maximus acted a little differently when his buddies were around. It was nice to have someone like Willow, who knew them well from a feminine perspective.

Flint had stopped shaking his head. "I never once noticed anything was amiss or that the ferryman was a petite brunette. With a nice sultry voice, I might add. I always looked at that veil and pictured the same deformed, grainy speaking character who had been at the rudder all these years. You slipped into the role perfectly. Well done."

"Thank you. I'll admit it took some getting used to the atmosphere and the souls and the goblins. And well, pretty much all of it."

Willow placed her tea on the coffee table. "So your first day on the ferry was also your first experience in the underworld?" A visible shiver raced through her. "I had only one short stint there, and I still have nightmares about the place. You must be brimming with courage, my friend. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be thrown into the job of running the ferry and all while having to worry about your father's safety and whereabouts."

"It was a cold slap in the face from life on this side of the portal. That's for sure. But then my dad and even my grandfather had told me many stories about the underworld, so I knew what to expect. Just as they'd always told me tales about the Boys of Wynter." I smiled at my handsome audience. "Both flattering and not so flattering. And being local, I knew these guys long before I saw them ride through Wynter on their horses."

"You've been at this for several months?" Stryker sat forward on the chair. "You were on the ferry when the fight broke out between us and the ghouls."

"Saw you take out Paygon's eye. I was only three days into the job, and I thought, shit, Dad didn't mention ghoul fights and bloody battles at the river. But he had told me long ago about the ghouls and their aversion to fire."

Stryker pointed. "The fire idea. Of course. That was you. That really saved us."

"Yep and I'll tell you all about ghouls and fire another day. I think we have much bigger things to talk about."

I shot a sideways glance at Maximus. He had pulled a kitchen table chair out to Wilder's small living room. He sat on it backwards with his arms resting along the top of the chair back. He looked relieved that the main secret was out, but there was still more. "Last night, I confessed to Maximus that someone saw me go through the family portal."

That statement straightened everyone's backs. "What?" Flint asked. "Who was it?"

"The way Rikki described the guy, it sounded like one of Vapour's creations," Maximus said. "He was probably one of the guys we saw at the Seven Sins. Listen, we need to get ahead of this. It seems Vapour is pushing those guys out pretty fucking fast, and if we don't stop them soon, there will be an entire army of reconstituted serial killers stalking the mortal world."

"Well, shit." Flint stood up to pace the floor. He rubbed his beard in thought.

Wilder had been sitting next to me on the couch. He sat forward. It took me a moment to stop staring at him. Up until recently, I'd mostly only ever seen him through the filmy black gauze of the veil. In living color and with no murky haze to blot his features, he was nothing short of a masterpiece.

Wilder spoke. "It seems like first we have to go see Feenix. He's so self-absorbed with his own indulgences, he seems to be losing control of the realm. And he sent Paygon off too. Asshole that he is, his brother was always good at keeping track of shit. I say we let Feenix know right away. This news might wake him the fuck up."

"Or it might get all of us a seat at the chopping block," Stryker noted. "Sometimes Feenix reacts with anger instead of reason. If he hears a bunch of murderous goons have slipped past the Wynter border, he might blame us. Still don't know how those suckers are getting past us."

"They aren't. They're going through the ferryman portal." The chair creaked as Maximus stood up. "If you're trying to decide what to do next, I already know." His friends looked up at him expectantly. "We need to talk to Nessa. She'll know what spell is being used and she'll know what can be done to stop or destroy these guys." Maximus turned to me. "Do you think we could use your dad's trawler today for a trip to Oldfell Island?"

"I'm sure of it. Especially when I tell him what it's for."

"Great." Maximus looked back at his friends. "Who is up for a trip down memory lane on Oldfell Island?"