Wilder and I walked out of Wynter, back in human form, and ready to grab our pay and head out for a day of freedom. The ferry was sputtering back to our side with the captain at the helm. Feenix didn't know about his ferryman yet, but Walt promised he would set free the family secret once he regained all his strength.

Wilder and I headed to the dock to board the ferry.

Stryker whistled from across the river. "Hey, Feenix wants to see us. He's in Steemer's tent."

"Wonder what that's about." Wilder hopped up on the dock and I followed behind.

"Who knows? Catch said that Paygon came back like a dog with his tail between his legs."

I laughed. "I would have liked to see that. So Feenix didn't banish his brother for good for creating a big ole clusterfuck in the mortal world?"

"Well, I'm only getting my info from that stupid little goblin but he thought Paygon was going to be allowed to stay in Feenix's realm. After all, Feenix needs his brother and those stupid ghouls."

My mind was pulled from the topic as the ferry drew near to the dock. I hated the stupid black veil. After a long day and night hunting in Wynter, it would have been fucking sweet to see Rikki's face.

She didn't bother to tie off the ferry. There were no more souls waiting and we were her only passengers. We jumped on board and walked up to the bow for the crossing. She turned the ferry out into the river and motored across.

Flint had joined Stryker on the riverbank to wait for us to reach the other side.

Wilder elbowed me. "Guess they aren't anxious to see Feenix either. Sure as hell am not up for one of the boss's lectures tonight. I just need beer and Wynter Fare. Hopefully they'll be back tonight. Jemma let them know it was safe for them to return, but it was kind of hard to convince them without being able to provide any details."

"You mean like dead serial killers coming back to life to cause havoc and fear? I'm just glad that the witch's spell wasn't strong. It was way easier to get rid of those creeps than I imagined. In fact, if they hadn't involved Rikki in the plan, it would have almost been kind of fun destroying them. I only wish I could have been around in the nineteenth century to do the same to the live version of the cannibal. Now that would have been a satisfying beating."

The ferry reached the opposite side. Rikki steered the boat up to the dock. Wilder nodded to her and climbed onto the wooden platform.

I decided to give a special note of thanks to the ferry captain. I walked over to her and leaned down and lowered my voice. "I'll pay you my fare later when you are stretched out across my bed."

"Sounds good. And make it double fare, otherwise you can swim back." Walt didn't bother to disguise his voice or his laugh. "You should see your face, Max."

"Oh shit." I straightened. "Sorry about that, Walt. I'll just head off the ferry now. Double fare. Let's make it triple and we never bring this moment up again."

"Tell you what? Make it quadruple and I might even let you ride this boat again."

"Right. You got it." I practically leapt off the deck. The guys seemed to notice something was up.

Stryker leaned over to get a better look at the ferry captain. A huge laugh followed. "That's Walt, isn't it? Holy shit. What dirty ass thing did you just whisper in his ear?"

"Nothing." I walked past them as they doubled over with laughter. "Fuck off, assholes."

They caught their breath and ran to catch up to me. Feenix was sitting in Steemer's chair, and the one legged, highly obese accountant was standing next to him, dripping with sweat and red in the face from having to stand.

"Well, if it isn't my least favorite people," Feenix sneered.

"What the hell did we do now?" Wilder whispered to me from the side of his mouth.

"Saved his fucking ass as far as I recall," I muttered back.

"Yes, you did." Feenix had overheard. He sat forward and pushed forward four small leather satchels. "Thirty gold coins each."

We glanced at each other, trying to decide if it was some kind of trick.

"For what?" I asked.

"Saving my ass." He stood up. It seemed he had cleaned himself up some. He looked sober and steady. "Just don't let things get out of control like that again or I'll see each of your heads on the chopping block." The second he vacated the chair, Steemer dropped into it.

"Good job, Boys," Feenix said on his way out.