I watched Troy’s face fall. “But I can’t leave. Cole—” his voice broke.

“I know, Troy. I know.”

“Anyway, he can’t be mad. I haven’t seen him in years. You’re more my dad than he is.” Troy shook his head. A thick tendril of smoke escaped his nostrils.

Professor Pops patted Troy’s shoulder, his face filled with tenderness. “You know your dad can’t live in this realm. He doesn’t do well around people. He left you with me so that you wouldn’t be lonely, so you could have a real life.”

“Cole is my best friend. I won’t abandon him.” Troy’s dragon face became even more ferocious.

I watched their interaction with extreme interest. Will continued to cry. I didn’t know what Adam was doing, but I knew he was back there, probably feeling like I was—that it was best to stay out of the way when a dragon and a vampire Hunter were arguing.

Professor Pops nodded. “I understand.” He looked at Will. “We’re doing this the hard way.” He tilted Will’s head out of the way. Then Professor Pops sank his teeth into Will’s shoulder. Will screamed, trying to push him away, but Professor Pops had him in such a grip Will didn’t have a chance.

A minute passed as Will’s face became pale and the life started to go out of his eyes. “There are twelve possible realms. Cole could’ve gone into any one of them. I don’t know which one. No one can know.” His voice came out hoarse, the words almost unrecognizable.

“What are the names of the twelve realms? How can we get there?” Troy asked, blowing smoke in Will’s face.

Will coughed.

Professor Pops withdrew his fangs and wiped his mouth. He seemed surprised by what Will had just said. “There are twelve? That is interesting.” Professor Pops paused as if thinking some things through, a bleeding Will held firmly in his grasp. Will’s eyes fluttered as he tried to keep them open.

At last Professor Pops said, “I know what to do.”

Will flinched at the sound of Professor Pops’ voice, though it wasn’t nearly as chilling as it had been before.

Professor Pops just looked at Will as if he’d forgotten he still gripped the Vaktare. Then Professor Pops stood.

“We are leaving, Beatrice,” Professor Pops said, releasing Will. I watched his body sag to the ground. “My apologies for the abrupt departure, but I know you’ll be in good hands.” Professor Pops glanced behind me and I knew his focus was on Adam.

“If you know, tell me. I want to help,” I said, outraged that he was leaving so soon.

“We both do,” Adam added, coming to stand beside me.

Professor Pops gave us an understanding nod. “I know. And you will. But first I must take care something alone.” He grabbed me in a hug. “Stay safe, Beatrice. I know we’ll see each other again soon.” He released me and shook Adam’s clawed paw-hand. “Be good to her, Adam.” His eyes flashed a bright red.

“I will, sir,” Adam said.

Professor Pops walked toward the door. “Say good-bye, Troy. The faster I get you home, the faster I can get this done.”

“I’m coming,” Troy said, stepping around Will, his wings and tail swishing the air. The tip of his tail found Will’s face and slapped him. Will let out a very girly, very unmanly scream.

I went to Troy. “You are freaking cool,” I said softly, touching his face. His scales seemed to ripple under my skin as though caressing my clawed hand.

Troy tried to smile. “Right back at ya.” He pressed his snout against my furry cheek.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were a dragon,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“I’m all about making grand entrances,” Troy snorted, sending smoke against my back.

I leaned away. “Who do you think would win between and dragon and a werecat?”

Troy let out a snicker. It started out small and grew into a full on belly laugh. Fiery sparks flew out of his mouth. I joined in, as did Adam. I could even hear Professor Pops chuckling in the yard as he waited for Troy to finish his good-byes.

“No contest. A dragon,” he said, making his way toward Professor Pops.

“When we get Cole back, you and I will have to give it a try. Deal?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s on, Beatrice.” He smacked me in the back with one of his wings.

Professor Pops waved. Troy pushed through the doorway, ripping a giant hole in the entrance.

“Sorry,” Troy said, even though it was obvious by the snickering that followed that he wasn’t.

Adam and I followed them out. The other two Vaktare were still fighting. Professor Pops and Troy ignored them. So did I. Professor Pops climbed on Troy’s winged back as he beat his amazing wings deftly against the night air and they took flight.

“That’s something you don’t see everyday,” Adam said, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

“Agreed.” I rested my head against him.

Adam cleared his throat. “You realize when you do shift, you’ll be naked?” He pulled me tighter against him.

I felt my entire body get hot. I glanced away, unexpectedly really, really glad for my fur.

Will ran past Adam and me, surprising us. He ran down the stone steps and toward the fighting werecats. Thankfully he quickly shifted back into his werecat form. The other two Vaktare didn’t seem to notice him. Will let out a roar as he got down on all fours and took off. When he thought he was a safe distance away, he turned back toward Adam and me. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done, Bea. You and the dirty dog!”

“Don’t move,” I whispered, reinforcing the command with my thoughts.

Will froze mid-stride, falling on his side.

“You’re going to have to tell me how you do that,” Adam said.

“I promise, just as soon as I know,” I responded. “But what about the red diamond? Will had it in his hand when he opened the abyss. Do you think he dropped it?”

Adam walked over to the place where Will had been standing before he shifted and began lifting large chunks of debris and furniture out of the way.

I kept my eyes on Will and the other two Vaktare. “What happens to things like jewelry or a wallet when we shift?”

“That’s easy. They fall out.”

“Oh?”

He picked something up and held it out for me to see. “Got it,” he said.

“Good.”

Adam came back over.

“What should we do with Will?” I couldn’t kill him. We’d gone to school together. He’d been my boyfriend. Sure, he deserved to die, and I knew without a doubt Will would’ve had no problem killing me, but I wasn’t Will.

“Whatever you deem worthy, Beatrice.” Adam gave me a look that promised he would support me no matter what.

“Okay.” I knew what I’d do.

Will needs to go back to Hiraken. As soon as the thought passed through my mind, Will was gone.

“Where did he go?” Adam asked.

“Hopefully back to Hiraken,” I said, shrugging.

“Maybe you should’ve killed him. The King will probably torture him for failing.” Adam flinched and I wondered if he was thinking about his sister.

“It’s exactly what he deserves.”

“And what about the others?” Adam asked.

They had both suddenly fallen to the ground.

“Are they dead? They aren’t moving.” I went down the steps, toward them. The bodies changed into what looked like thousands of lightning bugs and dissipated into the air as I watched.

“What was that?” There was nothing left.

“In this realm, that is what happens to the corpse of a dead Vaktare.” Adam took my clawed hand in his. “Let’s go back inside.”

I went with him. Rhem’s body changed into tiny lights and dissipated, the same as the other two. I shivered. Death wasn’t something I would ever get used to.

“It’s okay,” Adam said.

I nodded, kicking at a portion of the ceiling that had fallen to the floor. My house was a mess. It looked like a tornado had blown through it. “Tell me about the diamond. I mean, sure, it’s beautiful, but why did Will want it so badly?” I asked, cupping it in my paw.