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I watched it disappear among the trees. The silence in the clearing was perfect. I didn't even breath. Then Magdalene gasped and I turned. She was trying to stand.

I reached to help her, but she batted my hand away. "Are you fucking insane! You were going to let her kill him? Just to satisfy your need for vengeance?"

I took a step back, hands up. "I just said that to scare him. I wasn't going to let her do anything to him." I hadn't been serious in my threats, had I? I hadn't been thinking ahead, just reacting, trying to get him to give me the name of the killer. "Anyway, it isn't like it matters anymore. This giant bear came and smashed her to bits."

"What else was I going to do?" she said. "I wasn't going to let her kill him." She glared at me.

"I said I wasn't going to let that happen. And what do you mean? You did this?"

She leaned against the tree. "Yeah. Count yourself lucky the one bear in the area was a Kodiak. Anything smaller and she would have been able to fight it off."

"How did you do that? I thought all you could do was stuff with your body."

"No. I said my body was my strongest affinity. I can do the rest, it just isn't as easy. Controlling the bear took all my focus. I highly recommend we leave. I ordered it away, but it's pissed. It might come back once it's fought off the compulsion."

I turned to tell the others we were leaving, only to find myself being stared at by two deers.

"What was this deal with you getting a name from the victim?" Marcus asked. "I thought we were here to rescue him."

"Denton, dear," Zee cut me off before I opened my mouth.

"Please don't lie to us. My patience is now paper thin."

"Look, can we deal with this later? Maybe as we're leaving?"

"No. I did not sign up for this to be complicit to you playing with a young man's life."

"And," Marcus added, "we can't go anywhere until your friends have been patched up."

Looking around I saw that Colby was on his back, his side torn up and bloody. Frank was with him. Martin was on the other side, he caught my eye and nodded to me. Fred was next to him, staring at me, muzzle open. Tom was going from tree to tree, digging out bullets with a knife.

Everyone was cut up, but Colby was the only one who couldn't move right now.

"Where's Luis?" I couldn't see him anywhere.

"He probably moved as far away from the fighting as he could," Marcus said.

I turned to go look for him, but Zee grabbed my arm. "We can look for him once you've explained yourself."

I looked around again, then sighed. "Two men have been killed over my briefcase. The second one to be killed was the first one's killer. So I want him to face justice."

Zee looked at me. "That would be the briefcase that was collected at the house."

"Yeah."

"With everything that happened I'm afraid I forgot to inform you we don't have it anymore. We were attacked and it was stolen."

"I know. I was on my way there when I found out about it."

"Would you happen to have been involved with the van ending up overturned?" I nodded.

"Did they escape with it?"

I almost lied. It was a reflex at this point, protect Society interest. "No, I got it. I left one of them tied up, did you get him?"

"The call didn't mention someone tied up when it came in, but I haven't seen the full report yet. What is in the briefcase that people are willing to kill for it?"

"I don't know. I haven't had the time to unlock it yet.

Once I've returned Luis to his father I'll do that."

Zee looked like he was going to saw something, but instead indicated the approaching lion.

"How did you do it?" Fred asked.

"Do what?"

"Break her magic, The vines, the sticks. How did you do it?"

"The same as usual. I tapped your ability."

"I couldn't break it," Fred said. "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the vines to let me go."

"I don't know what to tell you, I didn't do anything special."

"He's special," Colby said.

I turned ready to snap at him, but stopped when I saw his side was barely healed and Frank was supporting him.

"Your sister said we need to get out of here. It isn't safe."

"Shouldn't he be more healed?" I asked.

"Any more and it's just going to make the doc's just harder."

Tom joined us. "I thought all you had to do was cum on him, or something, and he'd be good as new."

"I can get his wound fully healed, but it's just regrowing the tissue. Not removing the pieces of wood still in there. Normally I wouldn't do it until a doctor's cleaned it, but I couldn't let him bleed out."

"Let head out then. Magdee, can you find Luis?"

She nodded and started walking.

"I think I got all the bullets," Tom said. "I can't do

anything about the damage to the stump and what's left of... her? Was that thing even alive? There wasn't any blood, flesh or fur."

I started after her. "I don't know, and I'm not asking Magdee while she's angry with me. Is this going to cause your investigation trouble?" I asked Zee.

He looked back over his shoulder. "There is little left to indicate this was her site. Unless young Luis comes forward and guides us to it, I doubt anyone will be able to find it. Even if tracking dogs lead the team here, there isn't going to be any signs of a killing."

"I wouldn't count on Luis talking with you. I expect that as soon as he's reunited with his father, they are going to leave the country."

"The investigating team will find that strange," Marcus said, "But there is little they'll be able to do. Unfortunately, it does mean the case will never be closed." "At least you'll know she's been stopped." Marcus nodded.

"And hun, if we were to fill a report on this, it would just end up in the basement, as both our prospects withing the

Bureau would become uncertain at best."

Marcus draped an arm over his husband's shoulders. "Yeah, I guess that being part of this means we'll have to get used to not filling every reports."

"Shades of gray," Zee sighed. "Grays as far as the eye will be able to see."

We were silent after that.

Twenty minutes later Luis came into view. He was leaning against a tree, panting. He jumped when he saw us and for a moment it looked like he was going to run off.

"We know where the cars are," I said. "You should come with us, I told your father I'd bring you back to him."

Even with that he didn't look like he was going to come.

"What's it going to cost us?"

"I'm not doing this for money."

He snorted. "Doing business with the Stenton always costs you. Everyone knows that."

Wow, my family had been dead for twenty years and still their reputation was alive. "How about you let me and your dad deal with that? Are you really going to stay in this forest, alone? You don't look like the outdoors kind."

After another moment of hesitation, Luis joined us and we made our way out of the forest.

I pulled out my phone and turned it back on. Before I could unlock the doors to my car it rang. The display stayed blank so I glance at Tom.

He pulled out his and showed it was still off.

I answered. "Hello?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Mister Brislow." The voice was digitized and my hackles when up. "You have something that I want."

"Who are you?"

"Who I am is unimportant. What is important, is that I have something that you will want."

"What?"

The phone on the other end was moved.

"Denton?" A deep voice said.

MY legs buckled under me. "Dad?"