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“Let’s not test that. I don’t want Seth turning me into a gnat if I don’t return with you. And then Eva would call on the scepter and turnhiminto a gnat.”

“It’ll be gnats all the way down,” I chortled. “Ah, the joys of loving witches and wizards. Never a dull moment.”

“Which reminds me...” Mateo said as we started to circle The Breach again to snap some photos. “Officer Cooley, huh? I never expected to see her almost naked between the two of you.”

“Technically,” I corrected, “I was standing in the middle.” I knew what the manticore was trying to do. “And it’s not like that.”

It wastotallylike that, but he didn’t know that. I didn’t know what to make of this budding situation with her, but I did know that Hazel would most likely not want it getting out. Not yet, anyway.

“No?”

“She was sent here yesterday, and some untrained garden-variety wizard threw all his magic at her, knocked her out, and almost tossed her in. They wanted someone to watch her for a few days in case there were side effects from the magic and also because she has a concussion. But she lives alone, so Seth took the job.”

“I’m sure he did.” Oh yeah, Mateo didn’t believe me one bit. But he didn’t push the matter.

We continued around The Breach, taking as many photos and videos as we could.

“Wanna stick my phone in and see what we can record?” Mateo asked.

“I’m not sure I want to put any part of myself in there again. But I can stick just the camera part in.”

So we did, and were disappointed we recorded nothing but darkness. It must not have penetrated the thickness of the portal. Did that mean my toe had never really gone through?

As I surmised, the guys from the EA kicked Mateo and me out the moment they arrived.

I returned home to find Liam and Hazel having breakfast at the table. The sight of her wrist still in that brace had me thinking again about how fragile humans were. Hazel was even more breakable. Unlike Seth, she didn’t have a magical barrier around her to protect her.

She looked shocked to see me, but her surprise turned quickly into a grin. “You’re back! It’s so weird to see you just appear out of thin air like that.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Seth said. “There’s extra bacon and eggs for you in the pan. Grab a plate and sit.”

“You’re back fast. Any updates?” Hazel asked.

“Nothing while we were there. The EA kicked us out.”

She frowned, and I explained that Mateo and I were there solely for Desmon.

I dug into my breakfast, loving the fact that Seth had made the bacon the way I liked it best, nearly charred. Mmmm, yummy burnt goodness.

Seth’s phone chimed with a tune from one of the songs from the originalCastlevaniagame. He picked it up and frowned. Then he leveled an eye at me.

Oh shit. I knew that look.

“What the hell did you do?”

Damn, that manticore. Did he blab?

“I dipped my toe in,” I admitted.

“Youwhat?!” Seth yelled.

Oh boy.

“I got it back.”

“But what if you didn’t?”

“It’ll grow back.”