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With a world-shakingboom, the enormous wooden giant collided chest-first against the colossal vine. Tammy hadn’t been fast enough to get to the top before it hit. Fortunately, the roundness of the vine created a gap that shielded her from most of the impact. Granted, being less than six feet away from this thing didnotcomfort her. The roar coming out of it hurt her feline ears so much she got dizzy.
A continuous scream came from Annie, the highest-pitched sound Tammy had ever heard originate from a human being. Allison lit off a rapid-fire barrage of lightning bolts more or less pumping them up the titan’s nose at close range. They didn’t seem to be having much of any effect beyond making it flinch. Even if the attacks didn’t cause harm, they distracted the monstrosity enough to buy Tammy the seconds needed to clamber up to the top of the giant runner vine. The perch spared her from gravity but it also put her directly in front of the wood giant’s glowing eye holes.
It raised one arm high over its head.
Oh, crap.Tammy huffed.Can’t I get ten seconds to catch my breath?
She jumped off.
The titan smashed its hand into the spot she’d been a second earlier, crushing a four-foot-tall thorn as easily as snapping a toothpick.
She landed with relative grace from the almost thirty-foot fall. But Annie lost her grip on impact, tumbling over her head and landing flat on her back a few feet away, seemingly stunned and struggling to breathe.
“You okay?” whispered Tammy, not really able to summon the strength to move yet.
“I’m too scared to feel pain.” Annie sat up. “Queen Maple? Allie?”
“We’re over here,” came a plaintive yell from the weeds.
Annie jumped to her feet, dashed over, and retrieved the Barbie-sized Allison and the regular-sized Queen Maple from the black undergrowth. Tammy allowed herself three seconds of breathing before struggling upright and padding over.
Annie grabbed on. “We’re good to go! The faeries are coming after us! Hurry!”
Tammy focused on running, weaving side to side to avoid the hail of incoming spears, magic bolts, and sudden sprouting roots in their path. Thankfully, the faeries couldn’t fly anywhere near as fast as the titan ran. Rather than casting a spell on herself for speed, she used the magic for a second—perhaps fourth—wind. A cool sensation swept through her muscles, muting the fire of overexertion.
Her body said it could keep this up for maybe another ten to twenty minutes before Tammy collapsed and passed out.
They’re going to chase us all the way back to the portal. It took us hours to get here… we’re so screwed...
Chapter Seventeen
Search Party… of Two
A few hundred feet up, I stop to hover.
No one is going to see me up here at night, so I have a moment to think. Before teleporting once again out of cell phone range, it would probably be a good idea for me to call in a little backup. Of my circle of friends, Allison is the most well-equipped to find missing people.
Alas, the call goes to voicemail. She must be busy with something. At this hour, she might be on her way to the radio station. Damn. Allie would totally get out of work to help find some missing people. Problem is, she usually turns her personal phone off for the duration of her show. Suppose I could call the station. It would help if I knew the number. Have it written down at home somewhere but not memorized. Yes, I’m dumb for not programming it into my contact list.
Okay, second best plan. I can ask Kingsley to help me track them. My sense of smell is good, but his is ridiculous.
He answers in two rings. “Hey, babe. I was just thinking about you. Busy tonight?”
“Unfortunately, yes. But… can I ask you to help?”
“As long as you’re not planning to foment an insurrection in a militarized micronation with dubious diplomatic connections to the US.”
I blink. Where does he come up with this stuff? “Umm, no. Missing persons. Got a nine-year-old who really wants to see his dad again. There’s some serious weirdness going on.”
“All right,” says Kingsley in a slightly put-upon tone. He’s not super thrilled to go out of his way to help total strangers (unless they happen to be kids) but he’ll do it to make me happy. When I’m happy, I’m even more fun to be around. “Shall I meet you somewhere or are you planning to pick me up?”
“I’ll be there in a literal minute,” I say. “The case is up in Idyllwild.”
“Wonderful.” The improvement in his mood is clear in his voice. He likes nature. Werewolves don’t really enjoy being stuck in business suits.
***
He’s sitting naked on his couch when I appear in the living room of his mansion.
