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He’d breathed her name, as if she were precious and beautiful, the way I knew her to be.

He didn’t see me peeking out of the closet through the slats, had no idea I was listening in on their conversation.

“You must never let her go to that school. They will destroy her, because she is mine. You know that.”

My mother turned away from him. “You promised you wouldn’t come back. That you’d ... never meet her. You swore it, Nic!”

“I didn’t come to meet her. I came to talk to you.” His voice was a calm baritone, resonating in me. But even within it, I could hear the anger growing. “That school will be the death of her.”

“She’s years away from even –”

“They would take her now if they knew. They would come, break down your doors, and snatch her away in a heartbeat. You’re a fool if you believe otherwise.”

I scrunched up my face. I wasn’t going to let anyone take me away, and my mama was no fool. I flung the closet doors open and stepped out.

“I’m not leaving Mama.”

The man – my father – turned in surprise, his eyes, so like mine, widening. “Hello, Harlow.”

I frowned up at him and repeated myself. “No one is taking me from Mama.”

His smile was soft as he knelt in front of me. “Ah, so fierce for one so young. You will protect your mother then?”

I gave him a serious nod. “Yup.”

“And I will show you a new bit of magic to help you keep her safe.” He took my hand and folded my fingers gently.

Pressing my thumb over the tips of my ring and pinky finger at the same time, he then put my index and middle finger together, then flicked them apart. “That is the motion. The rune is cal–”

“Nic, please don’t,” my mom begged, her voice hitching. “Please don’t teach her anything.”

“One rune, Belina. To remember me by.” His eyes never left mine. Intense, they trapped me as if I were cornered with a mountain at my back and a lion crouched in front of me. But despite my tremors, I never looked away. Even now, I could see his face in my mind’s eye, clear as day ...

I blinked hard, staring at the exit of the Black Bear pub as my hand reflexively mimicked the shapes he’d shown me, wishing I had someone to talk to.

Someone I could trust. Feeling so trapped here.

As if they were trying to silence my voice .

.. and everything else about me. The magic flowed off my hand, a flickering light that circled everything around me, passing over the man slumped against the wall then surrounding my new raccoon friend.

He squeaked and danced on his back legs as the magic grabbed hold of him, yanking him upward.

“That’s ... weird.” I stood; the initial glow of magic-wielding already gone but leaving me feeling a bit revitalized. I turned to see my four-legged lunch partner staring up at me with wide dark eyes.

“What the hell was that?” he demanded in a raspy voice.

I stumbled back, momentarily struck dumb with shock.

“Have I lost my mind, or did you just talk?” I finally managed to stammer.

“Well, it sure ain’t Disney, but yeah, I guess I can talk now. What was that smoke about?” He waddled toward me and grabbed at my pant leg, tugging me. “For a minute there, I thought I was hallucinating again. Those forest mushrooms are a doozy if you get them out of season.” He shook his head.

“Can you just stop ... Please don’t say anything else.” I held up a hand, my head thrumming. “I just need to let this sink in.”

I stared down at my hands, wondering if somehow the mysterious rune taught to me by my father and buried in the deepest part of my psyche had somehow given this creature a voice .

.. which was when I noticed the smoke drifting across my boots.

No, not smoke, a thick fog that coated the ground so heavily it looked as if I stood on clouds.

It rolled out of the forested back side of the Nevershoppes, crawling through the trees like fingers, reaching for me.

I shook my head hard. Just my mind playing tricks. It had been a long and trippy day. I needed to get back to Neverthorn, get my head together, and take a hot shower before my next set of classes.

“I-I should go.” I got the feeling of a strange sense of impending doom.

“Obviously,” the raccoon snorted. “Surely, you’re aware that instant, all-consuming fog is never a good sign. Even I know that, and I’m just a talking raccoon. You can call me Bandit.”

Heart hammering, I took a step back from the forest as figures began to take shape, using the fog as cover, stalking closer.

Not my imagination after all. Something was coming for me.

Pressing myself against the wall of the pub, I slid along it, moving toward the street. I passed by the man, and held my finger to my lips, but he was out cold. The figures drew closer still, and even though they were mostly camouflaged, I could tell they were big.

Really frucking big.

And then my name ... a whisper from the fog.

“ Harloooow.”

Annnd, that was my cue to get the hell out of there.

I spun to make a run for it, but the fog was everywhere now, enveloping the entire street.

Cloaking the Nevershoppes in darkness, leaving me all alone.

I took a step and ended up slammed back against the wall, a thick hand pinning me by my throat.

I grabbed at my assailant, clawing at their wrist, but barely scored a scratch.

It was like their arm was covered by a hide more than by human skin.

I squinted through the fog, gaze traveling over bunched muscles, a massive shoulder, to a short neck, finally landing on a head that was not human, but wolf-like, with tusks protruding from its muzzle and a single horn between its eyes.

The other arm was scaled like a snake, the fingertips hissing, little fangs protruding from them as the creature lifted its hand to my face.

“Move and they’ll bite,” he growled, his voice thick as if the vocal cords were not made for speaking.

The tiny serpents with their forked, flickering tongues were so close to my cheek that I didn’t dare close my eyes.

“I think you’ve got the wrong –”

“Boys, we’ve got her, let’s go,” he called over his shoulder as he tightened his grip on my neck and dragged me from the wall.

I was about to let out a scream when there was a flash of black and white, and a high-pitched howl rent the air. I looked down to see Bandit’s jaws locked onto the creature’s inner upper thigh. The distraction was enough.

Breaking away, I bolted into the cover of fog, spinning a rune as fast as I could, whipping my hand from shoulder to hip. An icy gust of wind blew down the street, taking the fog with it.

Fear and the threat of death had always been a good motivator for my runes to work.

Gasping for air, I turned to see my attacker and his cronies all clearly for the first time.

There were half a dozen of them, and not one of them was human.

Each of them looked ... pieced together, and not well.

They were made up of all sorts of animals, patched together on the frame of a human body.

But some of the arms and legs didn’t fit right, some of the heads seemed to be on sideways.

And they all shared one thing in common.

A bold N stitched into each of them somewhere on their skin.

N. For Nocta.

He’d sent them after me. They circled around. There was no way I could make a run for it. Fruck me.

I swallowed hard and cocked my head, my mouth running because my feet couldn’t. “You guys are a mess. What did he do, stick a whole bunch of critters in a blender and hit puree?” I kept my tone light as I settled back into a fighting stance.

The leader – the one who’d had me by the throat, let out a low snarl.

“Get her.”

Two of the creatures charged me at the same time.

One with its head down, triple horns gnarled but sharp as he bent at the waist in an attempt to ram me.

I leapt straight up, running along his back, snapping a rune down into him as I went.

A rune I normally used for breaking down particularly stubborn doors.

It wasn’t a total knockout, but it was enough, and he went down howling in pain, the sound of bones shattering loud enough to cleave the air.

The second creature was more sinewy than the others, and I realized at the last second that he had a long, dark-green, barbed tail.

He swung it toward me, and I pivoted out of his way, wincing as the barbs swept past my face.

I landed in a crouch and frantically flung another rune.

I’d created it on the fly when I’d had to dive into a river to escape an angry shopkeeper.

Back then, it had allowed me to breathe underwater.

This time, I was hoping it would do the opposite and make it impossible for him to breathe air.

The creature grabbed at its throat as it struggled, and I nearly crowed in triumph.

My joy was short-lived though, as ropes whipped around me, finding purchase and dropping me to the ground.

They grew tighter and tighter, until I could barely take a breath.

Regular ropes yanked tight by monstrously strong creatures.

Not ideal.

“Bandit,” I managed to squeak out as I searched for him, finding him crouched on the edge of the pub’s roof. “School. Protect. Opie.”

“You can do that yourself.”

The raccoon let out a funny little bark as he leapt from the roof and landed on my middle, his teeth and claws tearing at the ropes.

That wasn’t what saved me though.

A blast of magic slammed into my attackers, sending them flying through the air as Bandit fought to get me free.

I wiggled my fingers and managed to get a rune of undoing flicked at the ropes.

They fell off me just as I caught sight of another figure rushing toward me.

A man I didn’t recognize, wearing a long, dark coat . ..