We really didn't know what we were doing. That much was evident. While I was determined to find out what happened to Jimmy Grabowski, what exactly were we going to do when we caught the elf? We couldn't exactly hold her hostage, could we?

Man, this was how characters got into trouble all the time on TV. I didn't think it was actually possible.

I slid through the underbrush, hopping over fallen tree limbs without a sound. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Wyatt's chocolate-brown form as he flanked Dad on the main path.

Peering through the trunks of trees, I noticed that there was an old utility shed up ahead. Situated away from most park patrons, it was painted a slate blue-grey color with black shingles. Patches of moss grew in abundance on the side of roof that faced the woods. The door was a simple slab of wood painted the same colors as the exterior; a sign hung below a tiny window.

There was flash of red and a bottle-brush tail; Garnet wriggled out from God-knew-where and began circling the shed.

No ... it couldn't be that easy—could it?

**Hold,** Dad breathed.

I stopped immediately and sank to my belly in the fallen leaves, muzzle on crossed forepaws.

**She's in there,** Garnet called back.

My ears pricked up, followed by my head. **Garnet says she's in there,** I relayed.

Wyatt rose from his crouch. **So let's get her!**

**Sit down,** Dad growled.

My father was a natural authority figure to me, of course, but I'd never heard that sort of command from him in all of my twenty-three years. Wyatt immediately returned to his earlier position without further comment.

**Wow, Uncle Terry,** Lucas murmured, awed. **Look who decided to go full Wild Kingdom.**

Dad glared at him, then returned his attention to the shed.

I turned to Garnet. **Hey, Dad says ...** My telepathic sending trailed off into the ether. Garnet was nowhere to be found. Frantic, I spun around, trying to catch a glimpse of a giant red vixen among the greenery.

**What's wrong?** Mom inquired.

**Garnet—**

Just then, I spotted her. For someone who suggested that we call the cops, my best friend decided it would be a good idea to wriggle through one of the windows that had been strangely left ajar.

Oh, shit.

A scream that sounded all-too human rattled the shingles of the shed. Leaping to my feet, I bounded forward and jumped onto the main path. The door to the shed burst open and the elven woman sprinted outside—only to slide to a stop, arms pin-wheeling in an effort to keep her balance. Garnet popped out of the door right behind her, fur puffed out so that the oversized vixen appeared even larger.

Silver eyes wide and wild, she froze at the sight of a cluster of wolves and big cats that were just as surprised as to see her. That hesitation lasted only a split second. With a shout, she twisted her hands, clawlike, violently jerking them upwards as if ripping something up from the ground.

I barely had time to process the gesture when strands of grass bordering the path suddenly sprouted to life, growing at a rapid pace. Grunting, the elf woman jabbed the palms of her hands at us and the grass followed her commands.

Hissing with shock, I jumped backwards as a cluster of weeds shot out to snake around my left forepaw. The howls and growls of my family echoed in my ears as I lunged, fangs bared, to rip the grass away. As I spun, another cluster shot out and wrapped around my tail.

A wild feline cry of pain burst from my throat as I was dragged backwards. Oh, my God—it felt as if she was trying to pull my spine out!

The world narrowed to a pin-prick as some deep, animalistic instinct took over. Dropping to the dirt, I rolled onto my back, arching forward with claws extended to rip at the blades of grass. It was as if I tried to saw through rope. My claws scored the first few layers, grinning as they began to fray; but with each pop! of parting fiber, more appeared to take their place. White-hot anger surged through my veins and I lunged, grabbing the grassy knot between my teeth. The bitter taste of grassy fiber coated my tongue, setting me to near-gagging. Shoving the nausea aside, I continued, furiously chewing through the vine-like bonds until they separated with an audible snapping sound.

Rolling onto my belly, I shoved my paws downward and shot upright. My tail jerked spasmodically, trying to rid itself of the remaining grass.

**HELP!**

There was one word a child never wanted to hear from a parent—and my mother just shouted it.

Whirling towards the sound of an enraged Siberian tiger, I leaped to Mom's defense; the grass had her by both hindlegs and even more were snaking towards her throat. I pounced, ripping through the grass as if were living flesh, rending it immobile.

**Mom!** I cried, dropping flat to the ground beside her. **Are you okay?**

Purple eyes rolled upwards. Even though it was a tiger that looked back at me, I could only see my mother. Nothing—nothing—could happen to her.

**Yeah,** she panted, the tip of her rough, pink tongue poking out between her fangs. **Give me a minute.**

**Watch out!** Lucas shouted.

I spun as another whip-like cluster of grass shot at me. "Oof!" I grunted as Lucas slammed all of his red-brown wolf bulk into my side, knocking me out of the way.

The force of the impact slid me several feet; stars briefly danced before my eyes as I cracked them open. Oh, that hurt ... Groaning, I rolled to my feet and shook my heavy head to clear it. Rising on shaky legs, I stared across the path to where the elf woman squared off against Wyatt.

**Go!** Lucas shouted, and I whipped my head around to see that the vines that had been meant for me were now wrapped around him. Fangs bared, Lucas ripped into the grasses with a sort of fury I'd never seen before.

**But—**

**GO!**

Without thinking, without any semblance of a plan, I charged the elven woman, leaping upwards and out. At the very last second, I forced myself to sheath my claws. The elf turned her head and we locked eyes as I hit her square between the shoulder blades. Over and over we tumbled, her flailing arms knocking me about the head and shoulders. I hung on grimly, doing my damnedest to not rip her to shreds.

And believe me, after what I'd just been through, it was hard.

Faintly, I heard my family calling, but my concentration was elsewhere. With a twist of my forequarters, I flipped the elf on her stomach and used every magical pound my snow leopard body possessed to keep her pinned to the dirt path. She screamed a string of curses in a lilting language, arm reaching up and back, fingers curving into claws of her own.

Having had my fill of whatever earth-magic she possessed, I flattened myself out until her curses turned into gasps for breath.

The next thing I knew, Dad grabbed the woman's hands and wrapped lengths of cut grass ropes around her wrists, binding her hands closed.

"Roll off carefully, Aly," Dad instructed, staring down at the elf. I couldn't see her face from this angle, but I suspected she wasn't happy.

I stood up, pressing my paws in the center of the elven woman's back. She grunted, curses muffled by the dirt. Her hair, now freed from its braid, spilled across her shoulders. Emeralds and citrines, torn out in the fight, rolled across the path like expensive marbles.

"You can get up, now," Lucas said, coming up and attaching a second rope to the one around her wrists. A scrape above his right eyebrow oozed pinpricks of blood.

All around, members of my family were reverting to their human shapes. I did so as well, bones creaking as I shifted. Garnet limped over and stood by my side, staring silently at the mythical humanoid on the ground.

"Can she even understand us?" Rachael asked, shuffling over with one hand cupped on the opposite shoulder. I glanced over at my cousin and winced in sympathy. I felt like I'd been hit by a train and stomped on by a cow. God only knew what I looked like.

"Of course I can understand you," the elven woman replied, spitting into the dirt. Tucking long legs beneath her torso, she rolled onto her butt. "I demand to know why I am being detained!" She spoke perfect English, but with an accent that sounded—at least to my ears—vaguely Irish.

"How—?" was a word that was on several family members' lips. How was that even possible?

Dad recovered first. He licked pale lips, but carefully schooled his expression to appear firm. "There is a boy—a human boy—who was taken by your people. You're the only elf we've been able to find."

Anger, then confusion flickered across the woman's face. More gemstones spilled from her tangled hair. "A boy?" she repeated, twisting on her knees to get a good look at all of us. "Why would you think one of my kind would steal a human boy?"

"You tell us," Lucas growled.

She closed her eyes, the tiny muscles of her jaw clenching. "I have no idea. I am only here to observe your people before the Convergence."

Convergence? Reflexively, I tilted my head up towards the cloud-dotted sky. The news made no mention of a planetary convergence.

"What's that?" Mom asked.

The elf looked at my mother. A small smile tugged at her lips, managing to convey both pity and sarcasm at the same time. "You who possess magic in your veins are woefully uneducated as to what is happening around you," she replied dryly.

Growling, Lucas tugged on the rope, causing the woman to jerk sideways.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dad snapped at my cousin. "Give me that." Without waiting, Dad snatched the rope from Lucas' hands and shouldered him out of the way. "I apologize," he told the elf, as sincere as I'd ever heard my father.

Lucas turned and walked away, grumbling to himself. I watched him go, disgusted at my cousin's actions. It was hard enough to deal with prejudice for just being a shifter; add on top of that the toxic masculinity of a wanna-be "alpha wolf" and you had a recipe for disaster.

The elf woman tilted her head up at my father, chestnut hair spilling away from those strange silver eyes. "Hmm," was all she said.

"So, you have no idea about Jimmy?" I asked in the awkward silence that followed.

The elf turned towards me. With her long hair obscuring those pointed ears, she appeared almost human. "No."

Mom sighed. "This Convergence that you mentioned—would it lead to any of your people stealing a human child?"

"Hardly," she replied. "The Convergence is merely the bringing together of our two worlds—as they once were, before the Sundering."

Elves. Convergence. Sundering. God, what had we uncovered?

"This isn't making any sense," Wyatt cried, throwing out his arms. "She's just making stuff up now, Aunt Selene."

"I am not," the elf retorted hotly, eyes flashing. "Listen closely, shapeshifter. There are Gates scattered throughout your world and mine, connecting the two planes. Travel between the two is tightly restricted, but sometimes people slip through." She stared at him, hammering home the implication.

Like a clap of thunder, pieces of the puzzle snapped into place. Those rocks that Dad and Rachael had tracked the strange scent to—that was a Gate? I looked over at Garnet, who wore an identical expression of shock.

"Shit!" Wyatt swore, turning away and kicking at the dirt.

The elven woman watched my cousin with a detached expression. "I have given you my answer, truthfully. Although your treatment of me does not warrant it." Slowly, she rose to her feet and stuck her bound hands out, towards my father. "May I be set free? I won't hold this against you in my report."

Dad hesitated. He glanced at Mom, eyebrows raised helplessly.

"So you won't help us find the boy?" Lucas called out from his place of exile.

She turned to level a curious look at my cousin. "One human boy among millions in the Summer Kingdom?" she replied evenly. "One would sooner find the same blade of grass in a field."

"We found you," Lucas snapped, eyes narrowed.

She seemed to consider it. "True." Pausing, she pursed her lips. "How important is finding this boy?" she asked quietly, almost as if she was hesitant to voice the question.

"Very," Mom said.

"Well, then." She looked at her hands. "Say that I were to lead you into the Summer Kingdom, perhaps even act as your guide, would you release me?"

"Fat fuckin' chance," Wyatt snarled.

"Enough," Dad reprimanded. He turned to the elven woman. "You understand our hesitation."

She laughed, a light, musical sound. A genuine laugh. "Oh, I understand it perfectly. But you also understand that I stand before you, perhaps your only chance of finding him?"

Silence.

Dad was right—and so was Wyatt. How could we trust her? I mean, I'd do and say just about anything to get out of an uncomfortable situation.

Lowering her hands, the elf swept her gaze over us. The confident mask she wore began to slip as the stalemate wore on. Pursing her lips, she drew a shaky breath. "What will it be, then? Gems? Gold? I can procure for you anything you wish. On my honor as a—as the daughter of a tsaebach." These last words left her lips with a breathy, almost teary sob.

My cheeks flared with heat and I turned away, unable to bear this spectacle any longer. God. We weren't those kind of people!

"Okay, I've had enough of this."

I looked up to see Mom stalking towards the elven woman. Snatching the ropes from my father's limp hands, she systematically unbound our captive.

"There," she said, tossing the grassy cords aside. "Why don't we discuss everything over dinner, hm?"