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“And you assume they’re in—that place.”

“Where else?”

Dautre sighed.

“It would be easiest if you could simply ask the Knight of Swords what she knows about it, but that isn’t an option, not at this time.”

Adam had told Dautre what he’d learned when the Between had first been opened, that she’d provided the Red Wolf, and his cult, with the spells that opened the way.

She’d done it for her son, North, hoping to help the cult bring about a more equal world.

Dautre had passed on the intel to Silver and Argent, the King and Queen of Swords, but if they intended to act on it, or remove her from her role, it had yet to happen.

Adam suspected Silver could not risk another upheaval. His hold on the throne was too tenuous. He’d appointed the knight to appease the traditional factions among the elves. It was ironic that she’d betrayed him by giving spells to humans.

“What about the man who died on the stage? The thing came through him.”

“We could not identify him.”

“Damn.” That meant that Jack could not identify him, and he could search all social media and most databases, public or not, in moments.

“We also have to find it, the thing that did this, before it can hurt anyone else.”

“Agreed. I will seek what answers I can and text you if there are results.”

“Thanks, Dautre, and please be careful.”

“You as well.”

The elf vanished.

Adam didn’t stay for the rest of the movie.

5

Dreaming, Adam drove through a version of Denver that hadn’t changed much over the years. There were some new buildings, mostly apartments, and the trees were a little taller, but he recognized the streets.

Annie and Bobby still lived in Highlands Ranch, in the house they’d bought when they’d first married. They kept the paint and yard up to please the HOA, but time had stamped the neighborhood.

Everything was a little more worn. The biggest change was the loss of the older neighbors. Adam hoped they’d moved on to better living, but knew they’d likely passed on.

Parking on the street, he took a long breath. He’d told Annie he could handle babysitting two eight-year-olds at once.

It helped that Mateo, Vic’s cousin, was a sweet kid, always polite and well behaved at family events. The hope was that having more friends his age would be good for Ian, help bring him out of his shell a little.

“Okay, you’ve got everything you need,” Annie said as she rushed to get out the door. “You’ve got my number, and Bobby’s.”

She’d recently gone back to work, having renewed her nursing license and taking the occasional shift at the hospital.

“We’ll be fine,” Adam smiled, trying to assure her as he eyed Ian, who sat coloring in the den.

A little, brown-haired moppet, his pictures were very precise. They were usually of the neighborhood, or the city, with each building rendered as a rectangle and its windows as perfect squares.

“Bye, Ian. I love you,” Annie called.

He didn’t look up, and Adam pretended not to notice her frown.

Paula, Mateo’s mom, dropped him off a moment later. She passed Adam a brown paper bag with several repeated warnings about his peanut allergy.