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  Fighting to keep her wits about her, Veruca dared to peer above the grass, hoping it wouldn’t give away her position and get her shot. Alex shoved her head down but popped up just long enough to fire off a few rounds of her own. Veruca caught her eye as she dropped flat again.

  “What—”

  “They’re in a car, pulling away. The muscle’s just trying to distract us. No reason to storm the house anymore, they’re gone. We should split too, before we’re turned into Swiss cheese.”

  “We can’t just leave! We have to get Finn!”

  “If you can run as fast your average minivan can drive, be my guest. I’m booking it back to the car.”

  Wiggling through the grass and back toward the sidewalk, Alex took a deep breath, kept low as she got to her feet, and took off across the street, running the opposite direction of the car. Lost, frustrated, and more stressed than she’d been either of the times she’d been shot, Veruca peeked up, noticed one of the mercenaries was closing in on her position, and decided to risk it. She ran almost every morning, perhaps not for this exact reason, but it was a good time to test her endurance.

  Waiting until the big guy was close enough, she popped up, making sure to keep him between her and the men back at the house, and rushed him. She saw no shock in his eyes as she swung his gun around, aiming right at her head. Without hesitation, she ducked under his arms, socked him once in the stomach, just hard enough to throw off his aim, and then swerved away, running in the general direction that Alex had gone.

  Gunfire erupted but nothing hit her, and she was able to make it to a decorative fence and hop up, throwing herself ungracefully over the top. She hit the ground awkwardly, rolled, and aimed for the first patch of open darkness she spotted in the far fence, figuring Alex had left the gate at the back of the property open for her. Slamming it shut as she slipped through, Veruca veered off across the empty field toward the row of houses between her and Alex’s car.

  The second she dropped to the grass beyond another fence, she froze, catching her breath, squeezing her eyes shut and thinking hard about what she needed to do.

  The brownie had given her a name before it had left her kitchen. She could read its soul well enough that she hadn’t needed the verbal cues, but being given the name rather than using it without permission held a certain weight. Because she’d treated the little creature with respect and offered it a snack, it appeared almost the moment she finished speaking the assonant syllables that made up its name. It looked eager and invested, perking up and twisting its big ears toward the field beyond the fence.

  “Can I ask of you a favor?”

  “May ask,” the brownie said, taking a cautious step back. Veruca guessed it had heard the men who were undoubtedly still chasing her.

  “I’d like you to find this man.” Veruca lifted her phone from her pocket, flashing a picture of Finn toward the brownie for just a moment before locking the screen to reclaim the darkness. “His name is Finn Kavanagh. He’s been taken by a necromancer named Diana, and they’re traveling in a minivan. Please do not approach him unless you are certain he is alone and only he will see you. I ask that you let him know I will find him, and then return to me with news of where he’s been taken. In exchange, you may have free run of my island, you and your family. Will you be willing?”

  The brownie tensed, excitement sparking through its little form as it rang out its hands and leaned close to look into her eyes.

  “Ye swear it?”

  “I do.”

  “I will.” Vanishing before the words were even out of its mouth, leaving only empty sound, the brownie did as Veruca asked.

  Feeling a little better about her chances at finding Finn, she turned and took off as quietly as she could toward the street.

  ****

  Finn couldn’t count the number of times he’d woken up groaning, sore and bruised, but this wasn’t one of the nice times. This wasn’t awakening slowly to the feel of passion-induced bite marks and bruises and scratches down his shoulders and back. This was jolting awake, dizzy and nauseated from the feeling of having been abused in entirely unsexy ways.

  “Veruca?” he whined into the air, lost and muddled. Pain flashed along the right side of his face, the sound of a slap echoing against stone walls. He swore, fought to lift his hand to test his cheek to see if it had been split open, and realized after only four or five tries that he’d been tied uncomfortably to a creaky folding chair.

  Eyes snapped open, mind suddenly uncharacteristically alert, Finn scanned the room in terror before focusing on Diana standing in front of him. This time they seemed to be alone, but Finn couldn’t be sure what lay above, through the long rectangle of light illuminating basement stairs.

  “Diana! What’s happened? Where are we? I’d like to go back up to the dining room. You—”

  “You’re staying here. You’re a jerk. You pretended you wanted to be with me, but you missed her. I wanted to start a family with you, but it’s not going to work now.” Baring her teeth, Diana shook her head, stomped her foot lightly, and poked Finn in the chest. “No one will love you as I will love you, Finn. You’ve never understood that.”

  Crossing her arms over her chest and rubbing her hands over the backs of her shoulders, Diana twisted and moved toward the basement steps, muttering to herself words Finn couldn’t understand.

  Too stunned to argue, too scared to speak at all, Finn watched her go, jolting when she slammed the door and left him alone in darkness.

  Time passed achingly slow as Finn was forced to wonder how he kept getting himself into these situations. Why did all the crazy come after him? He was a good guy, he thought. He’d never stolen from the poor, always made sure his lovers were left pleased and satisfied. Never once had he shoplifted from a mom-and-pop establishment or even hit a squirrel with a car. Sure, he couldn’t drive, but he knew he’d be a conscientious brake-for-rodents kinda guy if he ever learned.

  Yet, despite all the squirrels who were still alive thanks to Finn, he was once again tied up in the dark, naked as a jaybird—why that breed of bird were notoriously nude, Finn had no idea—at the mercy of yet another woman off her rocker.

  He’d let out a single, small whimper when light flashed ahead of him, illuminating a small, wrinkled face roughly the size of a greeting card, startling his delicate whimper into a full-on yowl.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You’ve got a reputation for being cool and collected,” Alex said as Veruca swore and swatted a glass off the end table. “Clearly, no one’s ever kidnapped your boyfriend before.”

  Veruca lowered her head into her hands, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Oh, how I wish that were true.”

  “Well, what do you usually do in these situations, then? If you’ve got practice, you should be excellent at this sort of thing. Do you have a SOP in place? A binder with frequently used contacts and a game plan?”

  “Shut up,” Veruca said, fighting the urge to grab the cup off the floor and chuck it at Alex’s head. “It’s not the same every time. I have help on the way, but I can’t know when it’ll be of any use.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I called in a favor.”

  “That’s vague and menacing.” Alex grinned, wagging her finger at Veruca. “I approve. So lay it out. What’re we waiting for?”

  “A brownie. The blood only got us so far. Finn didn’t know we were coming, and I’m not sure if that hindered his rescue. He’ll know this time, and we’ll have a layout. We’ll be able to come up with a better plan than just, ‘blow up a car, rush in half-cocked.’”

  “We can blow up a car for fun though, yeah?” Alex said, snorting at the look Veruca gave her. “All right, all right. Good. Brownies are useful. You think Finn knowing we’re coming is a good idea? He doesn’t strike me as the strong, silent type. What if he gets too excited and blabs?”

  Veruca shook her head, lacking a satisfactory answer. She had thought of that as well but was reasonably sure Finn wouldn’t r
isk it. “I have to assume he’ll keep his mouth shut, at least about us coming. He might try to flirt with a guard to get himself free, though.”

  “Are we not the only one’s who’ll be coming for Finn?”

  Veruca shrugged at Alex’s crass joke, knowing she would have laughed at the same thing said by Finn, but not caring if she was being a hypocrite. Finn’s Plan A was almost always to use his charm and good looks to get him out of a bind. Considering his loose and extremely easily aroused sexuality, Veruca knew gender wouldn’t stop him from propositioning a mark for help. Male, female, some fluid mix of both, it wouldn’t matter to Finn.

  “I can admire that,” Alex said after Veruca had been silent for a while. “Maybe he’ll get himself saved and show up on your doorstep disheveled and smelling of sex. Would that be cheating, or are you two—”

  “Enough,” Veruca said, waving her hand at Alex. “Look. I have Donald on his way, and he’ll come with us this time. Things at the hotel will be wrapped up as well as can be for now, considering the hour.”

  “He looks like he can handle himself, but I’m not going to be responsible for him once we’re out there. If he gets himself chomped on, I’m not to be blamed.”

  “Noted,” Veruca said, shaking her head.

  Exhaustion was creeping up through her, trying to settle into her bones like lead. Whatever adrenaline had washed through her while on the hunt for Finn had dissipated, leaving her body very aware of the fact that it was closing in on midnight and she’d been awake since before the sun had come up. Fighting off a yawn, she turned her head, took a deep breath, and tried to order her body to stay alert for just a few hours longer.

  “Thanks to the magic of Fairy, I’ve got less up-time than you. If you want to take a nap, I can only encourage it,” Alex said, her voice softer than Veruca was used to. Rolling her gaze to the shorter woman, Veruca frowned, trying to judge her sincerity. Alex watched her for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t want you with me if you’re going to be too tired to be of any use. Take a nap. If I see any brownies, even the soft, hallucinogenic, chocolate kind, I’ll wake you up first time.”

  “I don’t know if I could sleep even if I—” Betraying her, another yawn split Veruca’s mouth wide open, forcing her to shake her head as if she could dislodge sleepiness through her ears. “Okay. Fine. I’ll be in the bedroom. The second anything—”

  “You’re safe. Scram. I’ll keep myself busy.”

  “This is a rental, so there isn’t anything worth stealing,” Veruca warned, heading through the small living room to the back hallways. Alex didn’t answer, and Veruca didn’t look back to see if there was humor or disappointment in her expression.

  ****

  “What’re you? What’s going on? Are you a zombie? Oh, god, don’t eat my manhood! Take my face—no, not that. Ehm. Take my … toes! I don’t—”

  “Silent. You must be only who see. Veruca decreed. You must silence for me to give you message.” The little creature hobbled forward, pinching the light of the match that was burnt nearly down to its fingers to extinguish it. When another match struck to life, Finn found it was within burning distance of his shoulder. He winced, pulling back, though the wrinkled face showed no sign of offense. “Veruca to come rescue. I am to give location. You to listen…”

  Turning its head, the creature wiggled and shifted its large ears as if hearing something intriguing. It stayed quiet long enough that the match burnt down and went out on its own. It was looking at Finn again as it lit another.

  “Listen for rescue. Be safe. I leave.”

  “No!” Finn cried, though his protest was too late. The creature disappeared, the match dropped to the floor, and Finn was left for less than a moment with light before it went out too. “Dammit.”

  Rescue was coming, Finn tried to tell himself. Any time, Veruca would bust down the door, hopefully with Donald in tow. Donald had at least one gun, which Finn could appreciate in situations where said weapon could save his life. They’d wreck up the place, untie Finn, and carry him over the threshold into the chilly air where he and Veruca would kiss passionately, and the world would be right again.

  He didn’t want to think about what might happen to Diana. She could go to jail, that would be good, Finn thought. She did need to be punished for her many crimes, which likely included murder. And bank robbery was a felony, he’d heard that somewhere. Felonies were a big deal. She’d probably go to jail for a long time.

  But a jail may not hold her. If any of the inmates were—what was it?—shanked, she’d be able to raise them up and wreak havoc, maybe even freeing herself and walking right out the front door. That wouldn’t do. Not only would she start a spree all over, she’d probably come after Finn again. There was no way Veruca would stand for that a second time. He couldn’t be certain, since his head kinda hurt and his memory was a little fuzzy, but he was pretty sure he’d heard an explosion outside before he’d been knocked out and brought down into the basement.

  Veruca was mad enough already without Diana chasing Finn after escaping the long arm of the law.

  There had to be other ways to handle her, though. Finn didn’t like death, even though he’d used it as a tool in the past. He didn’t want anyone to die for their sins. Well, maybe pedophiles, he reasoned. That was beyond heinous. But he couldn’t abide suffering, even in that case. Finn had suffered a great many things in his life, and he’d like the entire concept stricken from the world altogether. That was unlikely, he knew, but he could wish.

  The door opened, light grew on the steps, a shadow cut sharply through it, and then Diana appeared, carrying a plate in her hands. The lights went back on and Finn squinted against the brightness, blinking away tears as he tried to concentrate on Diana’s approach.

  His stomach turned as she stepped close. She was holding a piece of severely undercooked chicken, and Finn didn’t like any part of the list of possibilities that came with that.

  ****

  Veruca dreamt of home, but it was bigger, emptier, colder. There was no Finn gracing her bedroom with his presence, none of his singing and dancing. The furniture had turned to stone, and as Veruca walked the hallway toward the great room, she found the backs of the dining chairs emerged from the wood floors as crooked tombstones. The closer she got, the easier they became to read.

  The names were recognizable, all the names of Diana’s victims carved jaggedly into the rough granite. One stood taller than the others, spearing upward as if trying to reach the ceiling. Veruca didn’t need to circle around to its front to know it held Finn’s name.

  “Shit,” she mumbled as sleep fled and something new touched her extra senses. She wasn’t alone in the bedroom, but at least she knew there wasn’t any reason to be afraid.

  “Apologize to disturb,” the brownie said, standing on its long tiptoes next to the bed. “Have dispatch you requested. Necromancer is under floor, lots of humans. Other necromancer nearby, odor of carrion.” Wrinkling its nose, it leaned back on its heels, pointing to the front room. Its ears twitched wildly as it stood silent for a tense moment. When it spoke again, its voice was barely a whisper.

  “Battle Maiden coming. I stay?”

  “Battle Maiden?” Veruca bolted upright, wishing she had a weapon on her. “Are we in danger?”

  “Battle Maiden mean. I stay?” The tone made it clear the brownie hoped she’d tell him to disappear, but Veruca still needed more information. Whomever—or whatever, Veruca couldn’t be sure—might have been on its way and she didn’t want the brownie to get hurt, but she had to assure it would come back to give her more about Finn’s location.

  “How much time until Battle Maiden is here?”

  “Here now! I stay?”

  “Did you say Battle Maiden?” Alex asked from the hall, stopping to lean in the doorway. “I didn’t know you’d heard that much about me.”

  “You’re that too?” Veruca asked, glancing between her and the nervous brownie.

  “I’m a lot of thin
gs. You got what we need?”

  “She won’t hurt you,” Veruca assured the brownie. “You can stay, and continue. You’ve found Finn? Is he far?”

  “Not afar, not aclose. Under floor with many humans, some dead, some odor of carrion. Like other necromancer. I show.”

  “She’s still got her army,” Alex said. “Though you said you could get rid of them?”

  “I thought I had,” Veruca said, thinking of her panicked state as she’d torn Diana’s soul free of her corpse army. She hadn’t gone further, though, leaving them in piles on the lawn and in the large house. If she’d been in her right mind, if she’d been thinking of Diana’s power at all, she’d have collected the corpses and stashed them away. That would have to be the plan the next time they came across Diana and her horde.

  “Well, regardless,” Alex said after a few moments, still leaning casually against the jamb as if listening to a brownie talk about zombies was as common as buying toilet paper. “We need you to show us where Finn is, but lay it out first. Can you draw?”

  The brownie eyed her suspiciously for a moment, like a dog who isn’t sure the swat-happy cat is to be trusted anymore. It looked to Veruca for confirmation before nodding and holding out its hands to flap its fingers and thumbs together as if manipulating a sock puppet. Alex pulled a small notebook and pen out of her hip pouch and held it down to the brownie. As soon as it found a blank page, it dropped to the floor and started to work.

  “We’ll have it lead us to Finn and with this we’ll have a reasonable idea of the location. Donnie can use his empathy to tell us where all the assholes are standing, and we can work from there. They saw us coming at the house, I think. We’ll need glamour or some sort of anti-detection spell. I’ll have to go back to my hotel to get some stuff, and I’m gonna charge you for it, but if you can wait, I can be back in twenty.”

  “I don’t want to wait that long. I don’t know what state Finn’s in. Diana took him in bad shape and I doubt she’s got a healer tucked up her sleeve. If he’s got a concussion he could be in more danger than we realize. He could be dead by the time we get there.”