By the time we made it back to my apartment, I was lightheaded enough to mistake the buzzing fluorescent bulb in the stairwell for divine revelation.

  “Couch,” Eury ordered, shoving me toward it like I was some unruly child. “Now.”

  I obeyed. Mostly because I didn’t have the energy to do anything else. My hoodie was ruined, my shirt underneath was half-ruined, and my shoulder was bleeding through a wad of napkins we’d scavenged from the motel’s vending alcove.

  Elly dumped her satchel on the coffee table, scattering charms and chalk across the surface. “First aid,” she muttered. “Somewhere under all the junk.”

  “I’m fine,” I tried.

  “You’re perforated,” Lily shot back, arms crossed. She’d ditched her heels somewhere along the way, and now she stood barefoot in my living room, still flushed from the fight. Her blouse clung in ways that made my already addled brain short out. “Fine isn’t on the menu.”

  Eury returned with the spider tagging along. No, scratch that—with my actual first-aid kit. The spider was already there, perched on the toaster like it had claimed the high ground. Its eyes glittered.

  “FEEDER. RED. LEAKING.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered, sinking deeper into the cushions. “Real confidence booster.”

  Elly knelt beside me, taking the kit Eury offered and snapping it open. “You ever think about wearing armor? Just, you know, to keep your insides… inside?”

  I winced as she swabbed alcohol over the cut. “What kind? Kevlar? Chainmail? Hoodies are my brand.”

  “Your brand is self-destruction,” Eury said flatly. She leaned against the wall beside the window frame, arms folded, sunglasses dangling from her fingers. Even covered in dust and scratches, she looked like something chiseled out of marble and given a bad attitude.

  “I can stitch leather runes into a jacket,” Elly offered. “Not perfect, but it’d keep you from spraying blood like an anti-magic sprinkler every fight.”

  “Appetizing image, thanks.”

  Lily leaned closer, sniffing me with that subtle tilt of her head she probably didn’t realize she did. “He smells like lies, secrets, and now antiseptic.”

  I flinched. She noticed. She always noticed.

  Silence pressed down, heavy and awkward. Until Elly broke it.

  “Let’s talk about her.”

  We all knew who she meant. The Gorgon. The one from the motel room, with the serpents in her hair and the proposition in her eyes.

  “She’s trouble,” Lily said instantly.

  “She’s family,” Eury corrected, voice clipped.

  “Family?” I blinked.

  Eury sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose like she regretted saying anything. “Distant. Great-aunt level. We share ancestry. Which means I’ve seen her at retreats. Once at Naxos.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Isn’t that in Greece?” Lily asked.

  “White beaches and all that, yeah.” Eury replied.

  I couldn’t imagine Eury on vacation. What was that like? “What did you guys do there, Gorgon retreat?”

  “Actually yes. Family reunion of sorts. We did all manners of things…” She shrugged. “Naked beach volleyball. Don’t ask.”

  Elly’s grin was wicked. “I’m asking.”

  “Don’t,” Eury repeated, sharper this time.

  I scrubbed a hand over my face. “So… she’s… what? An ally?”

  “She’s an opportunist.” Eury’s gaze hardened. “And a manipulator. She doesn’t make offers unless she knows you’ll regret refusing them.”

  “She said you’d need allies stronger than us,” Lily said, chin lifting defensively.

  Eury tilted her head. “Then she hasn’t really seen what we can do in a fight or otherwise.”

  Elly finished taping gauze across my shoulder and sat back, eyes narrowed. “Let’s tally this up. Jade’s got us running errands with mystery seeds and cursed receipts. The Collectors are escalating—bigger groups, tighter formations. And now one of Eury’s aunts is sniffing around, dangling herself like a carrot on a stick.”

  “And?” I asked.

  “And you’re bleeding through your shirt while refusing to take any of this seriously.”

  I raised both brows. “Excuse me? I literally exploded myself at the motel. It doesn’t get much more damn serious than that, does it? I was all in.”

  “That’s the problem,” Elly snapped. “You can’t keep using your blood like it’s some kind of explosive ammunition. It’s not a weapon, Daniel. It’s bait. Every time you spill it, the whole damn city takes notice.”

  The spider clicked its mandibles, as if in agreement. “FEEDER. LOGGED. ARCHIVED.”

  Great. Even the critter thought I was reckless. What other choice did I have though?

  “Okay. Next time I’ll keep my blood internalized and let one of you get kidnapped by those walking mailboxes or even get myself nabbed. Great plan, ladies.”

  Elly pinched me and rammed the stitching needle through a lot more roughly than she needed to. “That’s not what we’re saying, dummy.”

  “We just need to be more prepared, to an extent where bleeding on the enemy isn’t our first line of defense.” Lily suggested diplomatically, her voice more than a little bit soothing.

  Was that from the blood loss? Were my null powers diminished when I bled out? I waved a hand woozily. “I’m all ears. Defend away. I’m not much of a fighter though, and we were sorely outnumbered.”

  Lily lowered herself onto the arm of the couch, her innate perfume cutting through the sharp antiseptic smell. “What’s our next move? Sit here and wait for Jade to pull another chore out of her hoard? Or maybe we just… tell her no?”

  Eury laughed once, humorless. “Tell a dragon ‘no.’ That’ll end well.”

  “We already did,” I muttered. Despite myself, I laughed. It hurt. My shoulder throbbed in protest.

  Eury pushed away from the window at last, her shadow long against the wall. “We can’t keep reacting. Next time, we pick the ground. Watch the Collectors hunt someone else. Learn the mechanism properly. Then—maybe—we strike back.”

  “Tin Can,” Elly said softly. “And Willard. They’ll know where to look.”

  I groaned. “You’re really suggesting we rely on a paranoid dumpster philosopher and his rat-whisperer sidekick?”

  “Yes,” three voices chorused at once.

  “Alright. Well, I want to talk to Jade about everything that’s going on. She is using us, but she’s also something of an ally, and she’s not kidnapping people and cars that we know of.”

  “Carnapping!” Elly growled.

  “For once, I agree with you.” Eury announced. “You should certainly speak to her. Cards on the table. Plain-speak.”

  “Then I guess it’s time I call her,” I said. My voice came out steadier than I felt.

  Eury arched a brow. “You think she’ll answer?”

  “She owes us,” I said. “And she likes to collect debts.”

  Lily smirked faintly. “Then you two should get along just fine.”

  I tried to smile, but it came out tired. “You know, if I ever thought I’d end up juggling a dragon, a gorgon, and a demon in one week, I’d have at least bought more bandages.”

  Elly dropped the bloody gauze into the trash. “You’ll need more than that.”

  Eury turned from the window at last. Her expression softened just slightly, the hard edges dulling. “Rest. We’ll watch. You’ll need a clear head for whatever she demands next.”

  As they settled into their quiet orbits, I sank back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. My arm throbbed, my shoulder pulsed, and my mind wouldn’t stop replaying the same image: the Collectors folding the car into paper-flat nothing, and the word ‘Archived’ echoing in my head.

  Filed. Catalogued. Archived.

  If they could do that to a car, what could they do to a person?

  The spider clicked again from the counter, voice low and almost amused. “FEEDER. NEXT. ENTRY.”

  “Quiet, bug.” I growled, but it clicked away merrily.