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“Is it because of the totem your great-grandfather made?” Rosi asked gently.

Ila met her gaze and shook her head slowly. “It should have worked. He swore it would work.”

Cora and I exchanged glances as Toklo rushed to his mother’s side.

“There’s more to the story than you told, isn’t there?” Cora asked. She split her deck and held up the exposed card. It was titled, The Empress in scrawling gold letters.

Ila’s bottom lip trembled, and she turned her head away from everyone. “The rest of the story doesn’t matter. You know what he did and what he continues to do. He deserves death.”

“You keep referring to the monster as a ‘he’ even though he’s changed,” I said.

“Stop pushing her!” Toklo got in my face so fast, if I hadn’t been so good at balancing, my momentum would’ve taken us both down. Yuka whined and placed her paws over her head.

I threw my hands up, palms out, and took a step back. “Just trying to get all the information in case something helps.”

Eyes flashing—and I could have sworn I saw red for a second—Toklo crossed his arms over his chest, exposing his large, tatted biceps. While I had no desire to fight him, I knew my years of training would give me the advantage if need be.

“Look, it doesn’t matter.” Rosi stood and slipped between us. “If the atshen comes for us, it’s not like we’d stop to chat. It will attack as it always has, and we will defend ourselves to the best of our ability.”

“Should we stay here?” Toklo asked, watching his mother for cues.

“We have to find the tupilaq,” Ila said with conviction. “It will kill him as my grandfather intended.”

Did she really think anything small enough to fit in that busted case capable of killing an eight-feet-tall monster? I glanced at Rosi, silently asking if the woman was nuts. But Rosi was nodding her agreement.

“Do you think he took it?” Rosi asked.

Ila laughed bitterly. “No. He’s evil, but he’s not stupid.”

“Are you saying this atshen has intelligence?” Cora asked, drawing closer.

“It spoke in my mind,” Rosi said. She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “When it attacked us outside. It taunted me, and I understood every word.”

“Shit, Rosi. I’m so sorry.” I went to comfort her, or maybe to comfort us both.

“Then who took the tupilaq?” Cora asked.

“Maybe some kids stole it during the evacuation?” Toklo offered.

“No.” Ila stood. “I was in my office when it happened. An alarm sounds when someone comes in, so I know to check if I can assist them. No one came in. I ran out the door the second the glass shattered. I’d have seen someone leaving.”

“That means it has to still be here somewhere!” Rosi pulled away from me and rushed back to the mess in the corner.

“It’s not,” Ila said. “I checked. The truth is, I think the tupilaq sensed him here because he was so close and went after him.”

“You think it’s been waiting all this time to fulfill its mission?” Rosi asked, still peering around the area. “That the atshen’s presence activated it?”

Ila nodded. “Toklo can find the tupilaq.”

“Me?” Her son’s voice was so high-pitched I winced.

“You have the gift.”

“Anaq,” he swore beneath his breath again.

“I’ll help you.” Cora clapped then reached in her satchel and dug around, coming back up with a pyramid made of clear quartz, which she handed to him. “Here. To focus your energy.”

Toklo took it gingerly and stared at it. “Now what?”

“Ask the ancestors to guide you to the tupilaq,” Ila said as Rosi sat beside her.

“Take a deep breath,” I offered. “Focus on it going through your body and out again.”

Closing his eyes, Toklo made a face of intense focus, and we collectively held our breath. After a few tense minutes, his eyelids snapped open, and the red I’d caught a glimpse of earlier shone through his irises before dimming into a normal shade of brown.

“I don’t know how to explain this, but I’m supposed to go up to the anti-grav track.”

“Let’s do it,” I said, antsy to do something more than talk.

“Ila must not go.” Toklo pointed at his mother, but it wasn’t his voice that came from between his lips. It was that of an old man, deep and crackly.

Throwing a hand to her chest, Ila gasped and reeled back. Rosi put an arm around her shoulders. “I’ll stay with you.”

“I’ll stay too then,” I said.

“Toklo will need assistance,” the old man voice said again, circling to point Toklo’s finger in my direction. “The women are safer here.”

“Fuck that, old man ancestor!” Cora shouted. “I’m coming too.”