JOSH KNEW THREE things for certain.

The first was that the Sanctuary's regulated temperatures had spoiled him. A sweltering heat beat down from the ferocious sun. It probably didn't help that he was surrounded by people, which brought him to the second thing.

He hated large cities, especially ones that reminded him how much he sucked at other languages. Although he thought he picked up a few Mandarin words he knew, the swift speech and ever-shifting tonal intricacies of the language left him bombarded with sounds he couldn't decipher. Sounds that came from way too many people crowding onto the sidewalk. Seriously, why did anyone ever choose to live in a place so congested?

Then the third and final thing he knew was...

You so lost them.

No, I didn't, Boomer. Shut up.

Okay, then. Where are they?

Didn't I tell you to shut up?

Boomer's satisfaction at being right prickled at Josh. Or maybe that was the heat. Ugh, he wanted to be in an air-conditioned space already, not wandering the city with no definite end in sight.

Come on, sourberry. It's not that bad.

Josh glared at the back of a man in front of him. I'm going to trick you into eating chocolate-coated raisins again when you least expect it.

Boomer's eyeroll was so powerful that Josh could feel its force through the bond.

His dragon wasn't wrong; Josh was grumpy. A simple mission to watch a newly soul-bonding kid went awry from the very beginning when they found out Suyin Li, along with her twin brother Kai, had run away from their orphanage two weeks ago.

While Mara was off with a Sage—Yvonne, one of the ones who accompanied them into the temple realm three weeks ago—he and Mateo were left scouting the entire city for the twins. He spent hours wishing that Suyin's bonding dragon, Shihova, could magically locate her human. There was no such luck. She only had glimpses into Suyin's life until she agreed to the bond.

Finally, twenty minutes ago, he'd found them. He nearly looked right over the children, but then a flash of purple caught his eye. A girl with sleek black hair walked hand-in-hand with a boy less than an inch shorter than her. The purple had been the hamster-shaped backpack that, according to her previous caretakers, Suyin Li took everywhere. Sure enough, the description of the girl and boy matched the twins perfectly.

Both had raven-black hair, eyes so brown they almost hid the pupils, and complexions paler than those around them. Along with Suyin's identifying backpack, Josh noticed the beauty mark under Kai's eyes that Mara had mentioned. Even if they hadn't checked all the boxes, he would have figured they were orphans or runaways. Their frames were too thin, with their cheeks sunken in and small clothing hanging on them.

The two were an hour or so away from their old orphanage, strolling away from its neighboring lake. After informing Mateo, Josh tailed the twins. Their instructions had been to monitor and make sure the kids were safe. Josh's mind flashed back to Cale and Mara, both of whom he'd seen watching him when he'd been bonding with Boomer.

When the twins melded with a crowd of people along the sidewalk, Josh used Suyin's purple backpack to keep track of them. Until it was suddenly gone.

Ignoring the angry Mandarin it earned him, Josh had maneuvered through the crowd to the spot he'd last seen them, not being shy about using his elbows. He went a few yards past where Suyin vanished and turned circles.

Nope. Not a single speck of too-pale skin or purple backpack. Josh had rubbed his eyes. He had no luck randomly spotting them when he dropped his hands.

Now here he stood, still glancing around as he backtracked. There had to be a doorway to duck through or a hole to scurry in to.

A hole? Josh, they're not rodents, Boomer said, laughing.

They're also not ghosts who can just vanish at will! The only time Josh had seen anything close to that would be teleportation. But nobody had created a portal to drag the twins through... right? Anxiety curdled as the possibility pestered him. The Shadow Knights had done a lot of strange things thanks to Roman, after all.

Purple flickered in his periphery once again. Josh jerked to a halt, earning even more infuriated grumbles. He was going to be the most hated person in China at this rate, but whatever. He had a war of good and evil to fight, so these guys could deal with it.

An alley branched out from the street before coming to a dead end. Josh had passed it in his investigation already. All that claimed the space as its own were some hanging red paper lamps, a dirty window on the right, and a washed-out steel door on the left.

They could have slipped into that building, Boomer said. It might be abandoned.

Except Josh had just seen the very-exact shade of purple as Suyin's backpack, and it had been on the opposite side of the alley and closer to the wall. He'd have been paying attention and known if a door shut. There was a trashcan right outside the door, though. He doubted it, but he supposed they could be hunched behind that.

With no other leads, he made his way into the alleyway. Something wasn't right about the thin path. He definitely didn't feel alone. Being offput was ridiculous, though. He was trying to find two preteens. What were they going to do? Threaten him with puberty angst in squeaky voices?

Josh attempted to open the door as he passed. Locked, though that wasn't to say the twins hadn't locked it behind them. He slipped his hand away from the door handle and edged around the large metal bin. He could have sworn there was a lid atop it earlier.

He reached the bin to find nothing. Well, this place was a dead end in both senses then. They hadn't gone down the alley unless they'd slipped through the doorway, and if they had, what was he to do? Break down the door? Ugh, here came blindly searching again.

As he was turning to leave, a shoe scuffed against the concrete, and Josh's head snapped in the direction of the sound.

He knew the corner near the dirty window had been empty. The entire alleyway had been. But there they were. Suyin watched him with wide eyes. Kai stood in front of her, one arm extended as if in protection. He held a metal trashcan lid in his other hand.

Josh blinked, and when they didn't miraculously disappear, he said, "What—?"

The boy barked something in Mandarin as he leaped forward, swinging the lid straight at Josh's face. Josh stumbled back, disoriented. Something struck his shin hard—one of them had kicked him!—before Suyin and Kai rushed past him.

"Hey, you brats, I'm just trying to help you!" Josh shook away the remaining imbalance from the lid and spun to chase after the twins.

Except they had vanished. Again. How did they move so fast? Muttering under his breath, he took two rushed steps toward the streets again.

A sharp intake of breath stopped him in his tracks. He turned toward it to find the building wall.

Boomer, I think I'm going crazy.

I'm not sure. Wouldn't I know if you were? Boomer hummed thoughtfully. But no, I think I heard something, too.

Josh stared hard at the wall. He was sure he'd heard something, but no matter how hard he looked, nothing appeared. Straining his ears, he tried to block out the hustle and bustle of the street outside the alley.

Yes, there it was. The faintest of breaths right in front of him. Had the kids... No, that made no sense. People couldn't just will themselves invisible. Still, he reached his hand out and stepped forward.

Something hard clamped down on his hand. Josh shouted, both from shock and pain, and then his mouth hung open when the twins materialized in front of him. One second, they weren't there, and the next, they just were. That must have been how they randomly appeared against the back wall.

But how?

And Kai was still digging his teeth into the meaty side of Josh's hand. How hard would it be to convince the twins that he was here to help if he started by walloping this boy?

Probably very hard, so I do not recommend it.

Boomer had a point, so Josh settled on flicking Kai instead. "Get off me, you weirdo. You're not supposed to bite people!"

You literally bit an orc last week.

Orcs aren't people, Josh shot back at Boomer, then aloud said, "I'm here to help you guys, so can you please just..." He tugged against Kai's bite.

Kai finally released him, but only to try to sprint away with Suyin. Heaving a sigh, Josh grabbed them both by the forearms to keep them in place. He wracked his brain for the Mandarin phrases he'd been given to tell the kids if he'd found them.

"You," he said to Suyin. "Seeing things in... head." Josh hoped he'd gotten the word for head right. He bobbed his head toward hers, hoping that helped. "I want to help."

Kai and Suyin glanced at each other before murmuring in rapid-fire Mandarin. Josh watched them blankly, not picking up a single word. Did he need to try again? Before he could, Kai fixed him with a glare.

"You Mandarin not good," he said. His English wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to catch Josh off guard. "But you know what happening to Suyin?"

Josh nodded. "It's a lot to explain," he said, sticking with English. "It happened to me, too. Look." He let go of the twins and slowly dropped his hands. They didn't bolt, but Josh stayed prepared. "I have friends much better at Mandarin than I am. I can take you—"

Kai bristled, and Suyin drew closer to him. Had they misunderstood him, or were they just frightened at the prospect of others? Ugh, Josh refused to neglect his Language & Culture studies again.

"They come here," Suyin said, glancing between her brother and Josh. "You do not take us place."

So, they'd not liked what he'd said. Got it. "Alright, we'll do that." Josh smiled at them, directing the brunt of it at Suyin. "It's scary, isn't it? But we'll figure everything out for you."

Suyin hunkered closer to Kai, but she watched Josh, less with fear and more curiosity. She whispered something to her brother that Josh hoped wasn't an escape plan.

"Now, just give me a second to call my friends over." Josh fished a phone out of his pocket. It was weird to use one again. He had grown accustomed to using the dragons to communicate, but this mission requiring splitting up and both Yvonne's and Mara's dragons not being near Boomer or Taji, Yvonne had decided it best to use more common means of communicating.

Josh found the necessary app and connected to both Mateo and Mara at once.

Mateo picked up first. "Josh? Is everything okay?"

Before Josh could reply, the click of another person connecting stopped him. "What's going on?" Mara asked.

At the sound of her voice, Josh's heart somehow both rose and sunk at the same time. Mara. Her voice summoned thoughts of her in his arms, encircling him with her presence, her smell, her warmth.

But then a flash of memory trampled over the good feelings. Mara, pressing back against a wall, her eyes full of something as a broken Cale leaned against her. They'd not had a chance to talk about it. That first week, they'd been too busy recovering. The next, he'd been visiting his family. They'd both been on various missions that kept them apart the week after that. Now, on a mission to help the twins, it didn't feel right to stop everything to question her.

"Josh?" Mara asked.

Swallowing, Josh rasped out, "Yeah, sorry about that." He cleared his throat, and his next words came out easier. "I found the twins. But, uh, I may have found them too well."

Mateo chuckled. "And how, exactly, does one do that?"

Josh risked taking his eyes off the twins long enough to stare hard at a random pebble. "Well, um, they apparently caught me following them. And now they're right in front of me. Watching me make this call."

"Joshua Davidson, the pro at stealth missions," Mateo teased.

Mara sighed. Josh thought it sounded amused, but his gut twisted with uncertainty and doubt. Don't be mad at me. Don't pull away more.

"At least we've found them and they're safe," she said. "Do you need me to send you my location so we can all meet?"

Yvonne said something in the background. Mara's voice became distant as she explained the situation. Yvonne's scoff was so loud, Josh heard it clearly through the speakers.

"Actually," Josh said, "the twins don't feel comfortable leaving our little hidey hole. Could you guys come to us?"

Although Josh could hear Yvonne grumbling about his incompetency as they made plans, they decided to meet at the alley, and Josh sent his location to them. If cellphones made things this much easier, he wanted to use them all the time.

Too bad they risked being destroyed on combat missions, and they were of no help in other dimensions. Hopefully, though, he didn't leave the Soul Realm again any time soon.

"Suyin!"

Kai's shout had Josh nearly tossing his phone aside as he spun. An anxious Kai stood in front of Suyin, both hands on her shoulders. Suyin stared straight ahead with unseeing eyes.

Josh relaxed. "She's okay," he said. "It's just part of the process."

Kai's brows knitted together. "Process?" he parroted.

"Yeah, like..." Josh combed through his mind. He didn't realize how hard it was to find different words when the ones you wanted to use didn't work. "Like, what's happening to her. It's just part of that."

That didn't seem to comfort Kai at all. "What is happening to her?" he asked, not taking his eyes off Suyin. "She sees thoughts not hers. Hears them, too."

Josh rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn't had a normal initiation into the whole Soul-Bound thing, so he had no idea how much anyone was supposed to tell the newbies. It sounded like she was experiencing Shihova's memories and hearing bits from her, but was Josh supposed to keep that a mystery?

He really was the worst one to have found them.

"My friends will explain it better," he settled on. "But I promise you, she's safe—"

Josh felt the disturbance moments before the tone of the Mandarin outside of the alley shifted. Fright mingled with a hint of wonder. Turning his gaze to the street, he found out why.

A rift tore open in the middle of the road.

There was no barrier urging people out. It had formed so quickly that it was fully open before anyone even noticed.

But now they all did, and everyone saw as the monsters stepped through it.

Confusion quickly changed to screams as the giant creatures charged forward. They were serpentine monsters, with long, scaled tails that led to strange humanoid bodies. They had torsos and bulging arms like a man, but the heads were full snake, with huge cobra-like hoods framing them. The things, even without stretching up on their tails, were taller than Josh.

You're cursed. It's the only explanation, Boomer said as Josh struggled out of his shirt.

Ignoring Boomer's panic, Josh said, No time to call the others. Tell Taji to alert Mateo. He tossed his shirt to the side, revealing the oryem-leather vest beneath. A thin holster attached to two near-invisible clips beneath the shoulder pad and at his torso, securing two hidden daggers.

Since they couldn't carry weapons out in the open, this had been their solution. Josh would have killed to have his sword and shield, but he settled for pulling one of the daggers from its sheath.

"Stay here," Josh barked at the twins as he sprinted out of the alley. A few rushing bodies jostled against him, but he pressed forward. The moment he was free of the frenzied crowd, he leaped forward and brought the dagger straight for the man serpent's shoulder.

The blade glanced off the hard scales. Josh went with the momentum and rolled out of the way before the serpent could sink its fangs into him. He popped back up on his feet, keeping his legs bent and braced to move.

The serpent hissed at him, its hood vibrating. Three, five, eight total serpents slipped from the portal and onto the streets of China.

They were strong monsters, whatever they were. A normal attack wouldn't be enough. He channeled energy into his dagger as he charged forward again. The dagger bit into the snake's scales, but not enough to do damage. He upped the energy. The snake swung its arm at him in a claw attack. Josh intercepted with a slash of his own, and a smug triumphant swelled within him when the dagger sliced into the monster.

The serpent hissed, and its hood spread wide. Two eye-like patterns glowered down at him. They looked like they pulsed with how the hiss vibrated the hood. His prior elation died down as he stared at the patterns, and the world felt far away—

Josh, look away! It's messing with your mind! Boomer cried, but it was too late. Josh was too entranced to dodge the bright green liquid that the serpent spat his way.

His left arm, still held out from attacking, took the brunt of the splatter. Where the substance touched, it burned. Josh yelped and recoiled away. He hadn't moved far before the snake lashed out, dragging its claws across his torso. Only the sturdy oryma leather kept it from eviscerating his chest.

Josh scurried backwards, cradling his arm. A venomous green steam rose from his skin as the liquid evaporated, leaving behind wrinkled skin discolored into various shades of red.

He blanched. The attack had done this much damage to him, and he was a Soul-Bound. What could it do to normal people?

Someone shrieked nearby. A middle-aged man crashed onto the ground. Acid devoured his slacks and seeped into the skin. Blood leaked down his leg—

Josh ripped his eyes away, both because he couldn't bear staring at the injury and because he couldn't forget his own enemy. He needed to defeat it quickly.

The innocent people hadn't been herded away. They were here, amid all the danger.

His snake-monster had paused in its pursuit, but that was only to spray out a poisonous cloud. It raked both of its claws through the erosive energy. The cloud clung to its scales, reshaping and solidifying into triangular blades stemming from a handle-like hilt the snake held.

Josh glanced down at his daggers and then at the snake's hardened-poison weapons. "That's not fair."

Everyone is hurrying your way, and they're sending a couple of Sages to force an emergency barrier, Boomer reported.

Josh gritted his teeth. Well, they need to hurry up and do that.

The snake slashed its strange blades at him. He dodged. His attempted counterattack went nowhere, only succeeding in putting him too close to the enemy. Its serpentine body let it lash out at an awkward angle, and Josh only avoided a bad cut by blocking. His wrist bent strangely to do so, though, and he couldn't keep his grip on the dagger. It went flying. He rolled out of the way and retrieved the fallen weapon before the snake could skewer him.

Daggers sucked. He didn't understand why Mara preferred them. He needed to use magic, but that was only more trouble to cover up—

Someone new screamed, and a young voice wailed. A combined dread and fury welled up at the sounds. Nope, it didn't matter what all the clean-up crew had to do. Magic it was.

"Dragon's lightning!" His electricity burst into existence around the dagger blades. He spun back to the snake monster. It had its arms pulled back to strike. Josh swiped both daggers through the air, and the lightning flew off and at the snake. It recoiled with a shriek as the energy collided with its chest.

People continued to scream, and he caught a few words he did know. Demon, magic, run. Help. Focusing on that plea, he shoved down every teaching about secrecy and released streak after streak of lightning at the various serpents.

They each turned to this new threat, the one that could actually hurt them, and rushed forward. Some carried hardened-poison weapons, while others wielded their natural claws. A couple of the serpents chased after their prey, but he couldn't risk taking his eyes off the monsters slithering his way.

There were so many screams. So much terror. This wasn't supposed to happen. The innocents were supposed to be protected. That was the job of the Soul-Bound.

The powerlessness creeping up his throat had nothing to do with the half-dozen intent on his death.

He lunged forward to intercept the nearest serpent at the same time he heard the familiar cracking of a portal ripping open. For a horrible moment, he thought it was another rift, ready to spew more monsters. Then a familiar man stepped out.

Josh never thought he'd be relieved to see Omero. He and a Sage Josh didn't know jumped into action, energy flaring around their hands.

Omero shouted something, but Josh had to turn all his attention to the monsters to avoid being ripped apart. As it was, despite his attempts at keeping one or two of the beasts between him and the others, some continued to sneak strikes in.

The hood of a serpent began to vibrate, and Josh ripped his attention away before the lull could fall over his mind. It put him right in the fire of an acid spray. The leather armor hissed and steamed, while the skin of his collarbone burned. Blasting more lightning at one part of the group left him partially exposed, and one of the snakes got in a cut near his ribs.

The poison made the entire side tense, and he moved slower. He was going to be overwhelmed. Even Boomer, focusing all his will into Josh, couldn't let him see everything, and even if he could, he wouldn't be able to react quickly enough to everything.

"Suyin!"

Kai's voice. He was yelling at his sister, but why?

The ring of metal against a hard object cut off a couple of the snakes' hisses. As they twisted, they gave Josh a glimpse of the culprit.

Suyin held the now-dented trash can lid, her lip trembling even if she stared determinedly at the monsters. She shouted something in Mandarin before chucking the lid hard at a snake's head. It hadn't even fallen to the ground by the time she turned around and sprinted away.

Two of the serpents chased after Suyin. Josh's fear spiked. He couldn't chase her, though. The four other monsters surged, ready to be done with this Josh-sized pest.

Hoping that she'd be wise enough to run toward the Sages, Josh focused back on his enemies. Four was less to handle than six, but it didn't give him the upper hand.

New technique?

Boomer's words were both a question and a reminder. Josh mentally kicked himself for forgetting. His newest technique didn't work as he wanted it to, but the effect it produced when it misfired would still help in this situation.

He sent lightning to every part of his body. The skin tingled at the building energy beneath its surface. He didn't bother trying too hard to control the output as he cast the spell. "Lightning guard!"

The electricity surged over his skin, forming a chainmail-like covering over his body. It lasted for a split second before exploding from him in a burst.

The serpents shrieked as the lightning slammed into them. Josh winced at the painful release, but it hurt far less than it would have had one of the monsters struck him.

Before they could recover, Josh leaped forward. He used the momentum to drive the daggers into the snake's exposed torso. Both tore through the scales. With a yank in either direction, he cut through the snake. When the daggers left its body, the monster dropped to the ground, lifeless eyes staring at the particles drifting from its body.

One out of four. He spun to another. It was shaking off the effects of the shock already, but he managed to get beneath its guard anyway, stabbing it just like he had the others—

He noticed the attack coming too late. His initial enemy had recovered, and it drove its strange blade straight for him. Planting his feet, he prepared to twist, but no amount of reaction would save him. He'd just have to mitigate it enough to be alright.

The attack never found its place. Before it could reach him, something slim and shiny slammed into the serpent's wrist. The serpent hissed as the force of the projectile pierced its body and threw its arms sideways. One of its weapons clattered to the ground and dispersed. It swung its head toward the new threat.

Josh was sure he already knew who it was. His heart performed that strange rollercoaster motion, soaring upward and plummeting downward multiple times, but he had no time to focus on the conflicted emotions.

With the initial serpent focusing on the new threat, Josh only had two more to deal with. He dodged a venomous short sword from one of them and the claw swipe from the other. Reversing his grip on one dagger, he charged both weapons with lightning and stabbed at the serpents. The one in front retreated out of range, but the one he'd side-stabbed hadn't expected it, and his dagger buried the place where its ribs would be if it were human. He'd hit the one with the short sword, and it glowered down at him with vengeful fury as it brought the blade down.

Josh rolled to the side, putting distance between him and both snakes. Before he could stall his momentum, a solid object did for him.

"Finding trouble as always, aren't you?"

Josh craned his head back. A familiar, brown-skinned boy smiled down at him. Josh returned it. "And you're late once again, Mateo."

With an eyeroll and scoff, Mateo shook the leg Josh pressed against. "Go finish your enemy. I'll come help you if I finish your leftover first."

Even in the midst of the chaos and wrongness of everything that was going on, Josh couldn't help his smile. "You're so on."

Josh jumped to his feet and flung himself at his enemy. Lightning crackled along his blade as he slashed at the blade-wielding serpent's center. It brought its sword down to block, just as Josh expected, and he used that moment to plunge his other dagger into its arm.

It shrieked, and the vibrated hood began to lull Josh into stillness. Boomer's consciousness shoved against his, and Josh used the push to yank his gaze away. He didn't snap out of it fast enough to keep his grip on his dagger when the serpent threw its weight forward, shoulder-tackling Josh with its uninjured side.

Josh backpedaled. The serpent lashed out with its short sword. Too off balance to block properly, Josh could only redirect the strike so it sliced into his bicep.

A sharp burn accompanied the normal sting from a cut. He grimaced. The poison, most likely.

"Okay, I'm annoyed now." Josh had been taught to throw daggers properly, but when he flung his at the serpent, it was with little finesse. It fumbled through the air, sharp end drawing close enough to the monster's face that it had to duck away.

He used that moment's distraction to charge electricity into his hands. "Eat this, rancid breath. Dragon's lightning!" The bolts of lightning shot forward, hammering into the serpent's chest. He kept channeling his magic, enhancing the power and duration of the spell.

After a bout of convulsing and a hissing fit, the monster went limp, and Josh released his hold on the energy. No longer supported by the lightning's force, the monster hit the ground, particles drifting from it.

I think that was overkill, Boomer said.

Josh stretched his cut arm while his chest heaved. It still hurt, but already, the burning sensation was fading. The poison hadn't been meant to take down a Soul-Bound with a single nick.

The dumb snake hurt me! It didn't get me playing nice anymore, Josh said.

Uh-huh. Josh could sense Boomer's eyeroll. It wouldn't have been able to get you if you'd just done better. What is it you say at the other people in the video game? Get good?

Josh promised himself right then that he'd stop teaching his dragon modern trash talk.

One opponent down didn't mean they all were. Josh shoved away thoughts of his last fight and looked for a potential new one. The light of his banter with Boomer evaporated as if someone dumped water onto fire.

There were bodies on the ground. Not just the disintegrating forms of the monsters, but humans, either passed out from the pain or unable to feel pain ever again. It had been easy to ignore amidst everything else, but now the acrid odor of chemicals and burned skin assaulted him.

Bodies. Corpses.

Death.

He'd been over here racing with Mateo and verbally sparring with Boomer, all while the serpent's poison and acid stole lives around him.

He didn't realize what was about to happen until he was doubled over, his breakfast from that morning forcing its way back up.

All this time, the Sages' barriers had kept innocents away from the devastating blows monsters could deal to them, leaving him blind to their destructive capabilities. The poison and acid had hurt but overall done little to him. Normal humans, though?

The proof of the difference splayed on the ground around him. Over a dozen very heart wrenching examples.

What had happened?

"Why was there no barrier?"

There it was again. Even in the middle of a crisis, Josh's heart still performed its uncomfortable rollercoaster ride at her voice, and even more so at her appearance. Mara strode forward, chin held high, ponytail swinging with every step. She held a physical bow and had a quiver strapped to her back.

He wanted to wrap her in his arms, to breathe her in and just remember life and good continued even after this type of loss.

He wanted to run in the opposite direction, to escape the memory of her and Cale alone in a classroom and all the conflicting feelings that arose with it.

Swallowing, he focused on Omero. Relationship drama would wait.

Omero stood from where he'd been checking on a middle-aged woman collapsed on the street. The scar running down his milky left eye accentuated the grimness of his expression.

"That breach opened faster than any we have ever seen," he said. "The closest would be the primal incident from last month, and since then, we've been struggling to catch them in time. But this..."

"It was instant," Josh said, and he received a nod from Omero. Josh stared at the spot where the rift had first formed. "Or, well, nearly. Everyone had only noticed it for a couple of seconds before—the twins!"

Suyin had run into the fray to help him. They'd been far too close to danger, and he hadn't been able to keep an eye on the outcome for them. He spotted eight different snake bodies in various states of disintegration, so someone had defeated the two that chased after her. Where was she though? What about Kai?

"We are good."

Once again, the twins just appeared at a spot where Josh knew he'd looked. They were paler, and tears collected in both of their eyes, but they were unharmed. He felt selfish from the spike of relief. None of the people here deserved their fate, but he'd interacted with these two, and they were kids.

Mateo walked over to them and crouched to be at eye level. He must have been feeling all types of emotions from the twins. "It's okay. Nobody here will hurt you, and there are no more monsters." He paused, and then he pointed at Yvonne. "And she won't take you back to an orphanage, if that's your concern."

Yvonne made a small sound in the back of her throat but didn't contradict Mateo. She was the only Sage in a suit, which must have been why the twins thought her some official.

Suyin and Kai looked at each other. A silent conversation passed between them, and then a verbal one in rapid-fire Mandarin.

Everyone besides Josh could likely understand them, or at least make out more of the conversation. They seemed to relax as they spoke a language they thought the others wouldn't understand, but then Omero popped their bubble by replying as fluently as they spoke.

Kai scowled while Suyin bit her lip.

"He's telling the truth," Mara assured, stepping up beside Mateo. Josh could have sworn Kai's cheeks brightened as he gazed up at her. She smiled. "We can explain what's going on, but... Well, we should probably find somewhere to sit for a little bit."

Suyin glanced around. Releasing a choked sob, she spun back to Kai and buried her face in his shoulder. He reached over and cradled the back of her head. Kai faced the carnage, his paling face still determined.

He spoke in Mandarin once again, but this time, Josh caught something like "us safe."

Mara nodded.

As she continued to speak with the twins, Mateo stood and approached Josh. "The Sages will keep their barrier up to ward off the normal citizens. We need to find a secluded place within the barrier to talk."

There had been that random door down the alley, but he had no idea where it led. "We're probably best off asking the kids."

Sure enough, when Mara asked the twins, Kai had the perfect place: a small building that had once been a local restaurant, but after a fire inside, it relocated, and nobody had repaired the place yet. It was only around the corner, so well within the barrier.

"Did not want lead you there," Kai explained to Josh.

After a quick explanation to Omero, everyone followed the twins. Josh took up the rear, and he felt a bubble of warmth when Mara slowed to be near him. It almost burst with heat when she took his hand. In the darkness of that day, her presence shone light, and it may have been that contrast that made his urge to kiss her stronger.

Later. Now wasn't the time.

"I've only been on two missions to watch over a budding Soul-Bound. First time, we see the first dragon-possessed human in centuries. Second, we see the first outbreak to happen near instantaneously." Her smile was heavy, weighed down by the circumstances around them but fighting for humor. "Are you cursed?"

He bumped his hip against hers. "Why is it me and not you?"

Because it seems everything bad happens when you're around? Boomer offered.

That wasn't true, but Josh chose to let his dragon believe as he wished. Boomer snorted.

"It can't be me." She returned his bump. "I have you, after all."

The happiness shielding him from reality shattered. He struggled not to stop walking as it felt like a pit opened beneath him. Just moments before, he'd been thrilled because of her affection, as if it were something he wouldn't expect. Now, she spoke of him like some gift in her life, but a cavity opened wide between them, one she chose to make by closing him out.

What was his purpose in her life?

And then there was that flash again, of her finally breaking open in that dark classroom, and desperation ravaging the pain on her face. Desperation for what?

Cale had been right there.

Josh must have poorly hidden his shift because Mara's expression fell. She searched his face. Before she could say anything, Kai's voice piped up.

"It here."

They'd reached the end of the street. Kai and Suyin stood in front of a boarded-up shop with burnt edges and soot-smudged walls. He pulled back a loose section of the wood, creating a slim opening. All of them would fit one at a time, but not with ease.

Suyin ducked in first, followed by Kai. The three Paladins shared a glance before Mateo slipped through.

Josh hesitated and turned back the way they'd come.

He didn't want to, but Josh forced himself to take in the scene again. His stomach protested, churning with the acid that remained in his gut. Still, he looked. All these people had lost their lives in a bout of mindless violence from beasts. The Sages would hide the truth from their families. Someone needed to know what happened, to grieve for the cruelty of it.

Something had gone very wrong, and even if he didn't know how any of this had happened, he knew one thing for certain.

Things would never be the same again.

Boomer wrapped his presence around Josh, offering what comfort he could.

"Josh?" Mara held the boards partially open. Her brows drew close as she watched him.

He took a deep breath, burning the image of those unnecessary casualties in his head, and approached her. She reached out and squeezed his hand. Ignoring all his doubts and insecurities, he relished the contact.

Alive. She was alive, and so was he. If he was going to remember death, he also needed to embrace the feeling of being alive. And that meant being able to change and fix things.

He'd find a way to fix them.

"You guys alright out here?" Mateo asked, glancing back out from the building.

"We're coming, Mateo," he said. He tucked a few loose strands of Mara's hair behind an ear, taking the time to drink her in.

Before his doubt or the darkness of the street could reach him, he walked over to the boards and stepped into the building.