her path.
“What the fuck?” Lex yelled, and they all skidded to a quick halt.
Rune grinned. “That’s my dog.”
Grim had grown. A lot.
He sat in front of them, a youthful gleam in his eye, his tongue lolling playfully, but his body was the size of a pony.
His coat was smooth, short, and black, with a patch of silver on his front right paw. He did not look grim.
“Where did you get him?” Lex asked. “You seriously got a dog?”
“He’s a special pup,” Rune said. “His mom insisted I take him.”
“His mom…” Lex paused. “His mom is a dog?”
“Of course his mom is a dog,” Rune said.
Lex walked to Grim then leaned over and started to pat him on the head. The pup jumped up, snarling like a rabid wolf.
“Huh,” Rune said. “His mom didn’t like to be touched either.” She grinned.
Grim snorted and trotted away, tail in the air, then looked back at her.
When nobody moved, he sniffed the ground, walked in a little circle, then once again trotted away.
“He wants us to follow him,” Strad said, his low voice rumbling.
Grim stopped walking and glanced back over his shoulder. Waiting.
“It would appear so,” Rune agreed. “I haven’t caught a scent of the witch’s trail. Maybe he’s tracking her.”
“Then yes, that would make him a special dog,” Lex said.
“Told you.”
Grim gave a mighty shake, scratched his ear, then took off. And that time, they followed.
He led them off the dirt road and into the woods, and seconds later it began to snow. The temperature began to drop.
“Crazy weather they have up here,” Lex said.
“Everything about this place is crazy.” Rune was silent for a moment. “Z is forgetting us. Those who arrive here forget the people who came before. It’s a defense mechanism.”
“Pretty damn good one,” Lex said.
Yeah.
“Rune,” Strad said. “Back home…”
“Not sure I can handle it right now, Berserker.”
He continued anyway. “The Others are nearly wiped out. Their bodies are piling up. Do you have the antidote?”
She nodded. “It’s inside me. All I have to do is return, and the cure will spread. That’s why Lex was cured—I’ve been spreading it here. Have you seen Simon Kelic?”
“Once,” he said. “A couple of days ago. He looked bad. I don’t know if he is still alive.”
“My boys?” She almost whispered the question, her heart pounding.
“Raze and Jack are okay but Jack is…he’s drinking a lot,” Lex blurted. “He’s been drunk since you left. You need to know.”
“Nothing I can do about it from here,” Rune murmured, but she pressed her palm to her stomach. Dammit, Jack.
“He needs you,” Strad said. “Just like the rest of us.”
“Things are falling apart back there,” Lex said. “The world has gone crazy.”
“I have to kill Damascus,” Rune said, her voice low. “Then I’ll think about everything else.”
Grim gave a loud, sharp bark, and dashed out of sight.
“Strad, put Cree down and both of you get ready. It could be a trap.”
Grim sat beside an overturned cart, his tongue out, waiting for them. When he spotted Rune, he gave another bark, as though urging her to hurry.
Strad placed Cree gently on her feet, pulled his spear, and strode toward the cart. “Stay back,” he ordered, as though either Rune or Lex would listen.
It wasn’t a trap, and it wasn’t the witch.
She’d lost her speed, so Strad reached the cart before she did.
He cursed, once, then pulled a body from behind the cart. “Rune,” he said, shock in his voice. He stood just as Rune reached him.
“No,” she said. Then louder, harder, “No!”
Owen Five lay in Strad’s arms, his battered body cut and bare, his lids closed over his terrible, empty eye sockets.
“Who is he?” Lex asked.
“Lex.” Rune gentled her voice despite the fury in her heart. “It’s the cowboy.”
Lex’s mouth opened but nothing came out. She strode to Strad and pressed her palm against Owen’s stomach. “I gained my sight and lost my sight.”
Lex could no longer feel things.
Having lost her monster, Rune knew how agonizing Lex’s loss was to her.
“Is that all that happens here?” Lex asked, mournfully. “Abuse? Horror? Torture?”
Rune blew out a soft breath. “Yeah. That’s pretty much it.”
“Kill the witch,” Cree said. She’d crept up behind them, her shuttered gaze on Owen. “Kill the witch and rule Skyll, Rune. Restore order. The torture will stop. Skyll will be as it should be.”
They stared at her, and she shrugged. “I’ve been here a long, long time.” And finally, there was a spark of anger in her eyes.
Rune met Strad’s stare. He shrugged. “You stay,