We had to take the firescape stairwell up to our apartment, because we had locked the beignet shop from the inside and didn’t have a key to it. Since I had agreed to slow down and think things through from this point forward, it was an excellent time to take cool showers and change out of our sweaty clothes.

  It wasn’t long before Jack and I were sitting on the couch sipping berry smoothies and eating my specialty: grilled cheese sandwiches. I had changed into a loose t-shirt with shorts and twisted my wet hair into a bun behind my head. Jack traded his white t-shirt for a light blue one and tight fitting black pants.

  “So, when my mom gave you the address for this apartment, did she mention the shop owner?” I asked while biting into my grilled cheese with a satisfying crunch.

  Jack took a sip from his smoothie and propped his feet on the coffee table. “She did, and she said he wouldn’t bother me. The door was open when I got here and the keys were inside.” He looked up at the ceiling while thinking. “She was really smug about the whole thing. Told me not to get fat on the beignets.”

  That was a peculiar tidbit for my mom to add. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was warning Jack about the lead poisoning. I finished the rest of my sandwich contemplating what my mom had to gain.

  “I don’t think these cultists are really summoning Heqet,” Jack said, breaking my train of thought.

  “Yeah, no shit.”

  “The words they’re chanting, the sacrifices, the symbols. They don’t match any of the lore for the goddess of rebirth. I mean the frogs are her thing, but I think they may be summoning some other frog creature. It’s all vaguely familiar, but I can’t remember where I saw any of it before.” He slurped the last bit of his smoothie. Then he leaned into the couch and rested his head on a pillow.

  “If it’s not Heqet they’re summoning, where did they get all this from? Why do they think they are worshiping her?” I asked, but when I turned to look at Jack he had already dozed off.

  I sighed and pulled the rainbow-colored crocheted blanket over him. He looked so peaceful with the boyish smile on his sleeping face that I felt a bizarre maternal instinct to take care of him. It was not an entirely unfamiliar feeling, but I decided it was unwarranted for a faerie who had been taking human lives for centuries. I decided it would be a good idea to get away from Jack for a bit.

  The meal had perked me up, so I figured it would be as good a time as any for me to check the beignet shop for more clues. At the bottom of the stairs, the room was too dark for me to make out anything but blocky shapes by the doorway. I didn’t hesitate to flip the light switch. The fluorescent lights hummed, gaining energy to brighten.

  I scanned the room to see the tables and chairs were set up as if the restaurant had been running as usual. There was still no sign of last night’s attack. Even the original paintings had been restored to their previous locations.

  Just then, I thought I heard a muffled sound of something moving in the kitchen area. My first instinct was to head right back upstairs, but instead, I waited and listened for any other signs of movement. Several long seconds went by with no other noises. I wondered if it was a Lutin cleaning up more of the night’s messes. If so, he would be removing the chance of me finding any more evidence. The longer I waited, the less likely I’d be to use clues left behind by the cultists.

  At the end of the counter was a door with a circular window that led to the kitchen. Although I wanted to stop the Lutin as quickly as possible, I felt uncomfortable about barging into the conjoined room without knowing what was on the other side. I peeked through the small, round window and had trouble reconciling what I was looking at.

  There was a row of sinks and metal countertops with a narrow aisle in between for bakers to pass through. On the floor, at the edge of where I could see, instead of a cute red-capped gnome with rosy cheeks, there was a full grown man. His hands were cuffed behind him, his feet were zip tied together, and a piece of fabric that was torn from his flamingo shirt had been fashioned into a gag around his mouth. It was Detective Lacroix. He had a small trickle of blood from an injury at his brow. He was leaning against the far wall, but as soon as he saw me, he started fighting against the restraints and making muffled noises.

  I moved away from the door, trying to decide if I should bolt up the stairs or help Lacroix. When I heard a voice, I froze in place.

  “Ah, so it was the little photographer,” a man said and then pushed the door open. It was Sergeant Herbert. He was wearing his full police uniform: a white shirt with a navy coat over it and a matching hat. It made his wide frame more intimidating. His gun was in his hand and pointed in my direction.

  My first thought was to rush to the other side of the counter, but Herbert was only a foot away from me. He had me dead to rights. I lifted my hands into the air and peered at Lacroix who was inching forward on his butt.

  Herbert saw what Lacroix was doing and moved into the counter area while holding the door open. His gun was still aimed at me. “You’re right, Lacroix, there’s more room in the dining area for our little conversation.” Then he waved the gun to point at a table and chair beside me. “Why don’t you take a seat there, young lady?” Sweat dripped down his forehead onto his red face. His eyes were wide in an unhinged expression.

  With the gun pointed at me, I knew it was more than a suggestion. I had no choice but to follow his orders. I kept my eyes on him but backed into a chair. Since I wasn’t looking, I tripped on the chair legs and slid into it. “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but Jack’s going to come looking for me soon,” I lied.

  Lacroix had made it out of the kitchen and was rounding the side of the counter to sit on the floor only a few feet from me. Herbert stood before both of us, holding the gun out and blinking the sweat from his eyes.

  “The more the merrier,” Herbert grinned. “Lacroix, here, came waltzing in with our plans for the city. Masterful plans! Plans that should not be in the hands of an unbeliever. He sullied them!” Herbert bellowed and grabbed at his face with his free hand, stretching his cheek out in an unsettling way. “He wouldn’t tell me who gave him our plans, but I knew you’d come if we waited here long enough. They always return to the scene of the crime, don’t they Lacroix?”

  Herbert gave Lacroix a kick with his boot. Lacroix winced, but otherwise did not react. Eying the napkin holder on the table next to me, I wondered if I could throw it at Herbert and try to get his gun. Unfortunately, he was much larger than me, so it was not a good idea for me to start a fight. Also, up until this point I had never had the distinct displeasure of someone pointing a gun directly at me, and it was terrifying. Even though the ring would give me some magical healing, I doubted it would stop bullets from killing me.

  “Do not fret. Even the lives of the unbelievers will go to the goddess, and you will be renewed,” Herbert said, aiming his gun.

  I had to think of something. “Woah, woah, Sergeant. We don’t know about the…uh…glory of the goddess. Lacroix and I, we’re analytical people, we go off information. Why don’t you tell us about what you’re doing here, so we don’t have to continue to be unbelievers?” I tried to buy myself some time.

  Herbert guffawed, but then settled himself. “I know what you’re doing, you’re hoping to stall for time for your fiance to rush in here and save you. Make no mistake, you are going to die, and so will he when he gets here.” Then he twitched and his whole body shuddered.

  Herbert was no longer aiming the gun directly at me. Now was my chance. I made eye-contact with Lacroix and moved my hand over to the napkins. Lacroix shook his head to urge me against my plan, but it was too late. I grabbed the metal napkin dispenser, finding it heavy enough to do some damage. Then I lobbed it as hard as I could in Herbert’s direction.

  The dispenser flew to the right of Herbert and skid across the floor noisily spewing napkins in its wake. I had missed by more than I cared to admit and was now regretting the fact that I had never joined any sports at school. Lacroix rolled his eyes and said something which I assumed was a swear into his gag. Herbert barely noticed the interaction. His body was shaking violently. Then, just as quickly as it came on, he stopped.

  “You want to know about the glory of the frog goddess?” Herbert asked. He puffed up his chest and focused on the wall between me and Lacroix. His gun was back to pointing in my direction. “My family’s been in this city since it was a primitive camp. We brought pure, white civilization, but my ancestors made one big mistake. They let his kind think they were people.” He gestured at Lacroix who was obviously fuming. “Fitting I got him tied up like he should be.”

  Lacroix yelled more inaudible curses into his gag and struggled against his restraints. I wanted to point out that the goddess Herbert was supposedly worshiping was Egyptian and was often portrayed with a frog head and dark skin.

  Herbert gave Lacroix another swift kick with his shiny dress-shoe and continued his tirade. “Now everything’s gone to hell thanks to them. Crime, drugs, sex trafficking, you name it. Come tomorrow morning, the city will be cleansed of its filth, and only the pure whites will be revived. The city will be saved at last.”

  “Wow, that is certainly a lot to take in.” If Herbert had been looking at me, he would have seen the disgust in my face for his horrific racism, but his attention was fixed on a painting behind my head. “Who enlightened you to all of this?” I asked

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  “The goddess herself, of course!” He bellowed.

  “The Egyptian goddess? You saw her?”

  “Not her physical form. She’s been helping me in small ways for years, and leaving her teachings within my reach. But you wouldn’t understand. You’re a nonbeliever. The nonbelevers will be washed away!” He was hyperventilating as he talked causing his head to turn as red as a fresh apple.

  He was clearly deranged, but more lucid than many of the cultists we had run into. I had to ignore how angry I was with the hate he was spewing and get more information out of him. “So, that’s why you’re covering up the lead poisoning. Is the FBI even coming tomorrow?”

  Herbert burst out laughing again. His hand held his stomach as it jiggled. “The FBI? No need for them to get involved. We are rescuing the city.”

  “Could you give me a few more details on the mass-sacrifice tonight? Is it all the followers? Are there any specific sacrificial methods involved?”

  “No more talking.” He aimed the gun at my head and readied it to fire. “Your time is up, photographer. Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.”

  I covered my face, about to drop to the floor when an ear-splitting blast exploded from the front of the shop. Shards of glass flew into the air and crashed to the floor as the shop door shattered. An enormous dark object charged into the room across the broken glass and collided with Herbert. I heard the shot of Herbert’s gun as he was tossed into the counter like a rag doll. The bullet went through the poster for the church meeting group beside my head. I gasped and slid to the ground to make my way over to Lacroix who was inching towards me.

  Herbert’s hat caught my attention. It had landed beside Lacroix and was spinning. Lacroix took out some of his frustration on the hat, stomping it with both his legs.

  Across the room, Herbert was lying on the ground, with his shoulders propped against the front of the counter. Blood was spilling from his mouth and he was holding his chest where he had been rammed. His shirt was torn to indicate that sharp objects had penetrated his torso. It was as though he were impaled by the horns of a charging bull. The aftermath was not a pretty sight.

  A huge man was standing in the center of the shop in his dark trench coat. He brushed bits of glass out of his thick beard but appeared unscathed by his maelstrom of destruction. The door to the shop had been completely obliterated and the countertop Herbert had crashed into was hanging to the floor.

  “Dunker!” I yelled in relief while working on removing the gag from Lacroix. “How did you know I was here and in trouble?”

  “Hmm?” Dunker cocked his head sideways as if he had just realized who I was. “Little lady?” He pointed his thick finger at Lacroix.

  “Lacroix?” I asked, thoroughly confused, “Do you two know each other?”

  Once the gag was removed, Lacroix said, “I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure. Get the handcuff keys from Herbert.”

  “Right,” I said and stood up to head over to where Herbert was lying.

  “Queen says protect pirate man. Nice lady neighbor got text from him while I give birthday lemonade,” Dunker said.

  “Lopes is your neighbor? I sent a text to her about Herbert acting weird and wanting me to go to the beignet shop alone with him,” Lacroix explained.

  “Pirate man?” Then it dawned on me. “Is Lacroix a descendant of Jean Laftitte?”

  But before Dunker could respond, another shot rang out. Herbert had gotten hold of his gun again. Dunker looked down and took a step forward. Three more shots rang out, making contact with Dunker’s chest. At first, I thought he would continue to charge at Herbert, but instead, he grabbed his chest and fell directly onto his back in the pile of glass. The floor shook and pictures fell from the walls. The glamour on Dunker’s body began to fade. I could now see the horns extending from his forehead and the tusks protruding from his mouth. His entire face and hands were covered in dark fur, and his body was even bigger than I had thought. It was the first time I had seen a troll in all of its glory.

  I ran over to Dunker’s side. He did not appear to be breathing, and his eyes were closed. Looking at his sheer size and tusks, I wondered if there would be any way to perform CPR on him.

  Before I could put too much thought into it, Lacroix hollered, “O’Malley, look out!”

  I turned back to see that Herbert had his gun raised again, pointed in my direction.

  “Advent Anura!” Herbert yelled.

  I shut my eyes expecting to feel a sudden sharp pain. When nothing happened, I opened them again to see Herbert was not moving. Icicles dripped down from the edge of his gun. His mouth hung open as if preparing to scream, but no noise came out. Herbert’s entire body was coded in a thick layer of ice.

  Jack Frost entered the room from the side door. He casually crunched over broken glass on his way to Herbert. His expression was unreadable while he peered down at Herbert. Then in a swift motion, he brought the heel of his boot down onto Herbert’s chest. Herbert’s body cracked and then shattered into hundreds of pieces as if he had been made of glass like the front door. The only difference was that his pieces had frozen red bits of organs or bone shards sticking out.

  Lacroix let out a startled noise, and I sucked in a breath.

  “Tell me I’m seeing things. Did he just shatter a person?” Lacroix asked.

  Jack’s eyes were like small blue flames. His usual boyish body language had changed. No longer slumping his shoulders, he stood tall over the pieces of the man he had killed. Then he trod through Herbert’s remains, kicking some of it to the side as if they were bits of rubbish on the sidewalk. There was nothing to this Jack Frost that resembled the faerie who had almost fainted at the sight of a cockroach, and I had a feeling I was finally seeing the true version of him.

  When Jack came over to Lacroix, Lacroix backed away from him.

  “We’re cool,” Lacroix said, “I’ve probably got a head injury. I don’t even know what happened.”

  Ignoring him, Jack reached his hand out.

  “Seriously, I’m on vacation, see the shirt?” Lacroix tried squirming away from Jack, but fell to his face. “I never even liked that guy.”

  Jack didn’t speak but reached his hand behind Lacroix. Faeries preferred if humans didn’t know about their magic. They often went through a lot to keep their magic hidden. Sometimes erasing human’s memories or worse, but there was no way Jack would attack Lacroix. Was there?

  “Jack?” I asked.

  He knelt down and poked the chainlink in between Lacroix’s cuffs. Lacroix pulled his hands apart and breathed a sigh of relief. Jack then stood up and started toward the stairwell.

  “Dunker…is he?” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. Tears began to well up in my eyes.

  With the use of his hands, Lacroix was able to break the zip ties around his ankles. He came over to my side and rested a hand on my shoulder. “I’m not sure what I’m looking at, but he saved us. I’m sorry he’s gone.”

  Suddenly, Dunker sat bolt upright. Lacroix and I both yelped and jumped away from him. There was still blood on Dunker’s chest, but I could see the wound closing through the hole in his coat. Dunker turned to look at us both.

  “Still alive. Is good,” Dunker said.

  “You call this good?” Jack said with his back to all of us.

  “Was surprise. Humans and their guns, you know?” Dunker said with a shrug of his massive shoulders. His glamour had returned to conceal his horns and tusks.

  “Bull. Shit. Sick of doing your job, Dunker? You plan to let him die and go back to some forest in Europe?” Jack said.

  “Why I come then? I take bullets for little pirates.” He opened his trenchcoat to reveal a blood-stained Pretty Pretty Peach Girl shirt with three magical anime girls in smiling poses. He growled when he saw the damage and started to stand up.

  Jack turned and glared at Dunker. Ice shot up around Dunker’s legs, freezing him to the ground.

  “You wanted to make a good show of things, but you almost got Hailey killed, and I can’t forgive you for that,” Jack said.

  “Jack, stop!” I yelled. “We shouldn’t be fighting each other. We don’t have time. There’s a mass sacrifice tonight. People are going to be killed and then something horrible is happening to the whole city.” I took a step towards him. “Listen, I don’t care about the ring anymore. We have to stop that from happening.” I took his cool hand in mine and intertwined my fingers with his.

  Jack blinked at me. Gradually, his shoulders slumped again and a smile formed at one corner of his mouth. The ice around Dunker slowly dissipated.

  “Thank you, little lady.” Dunker stood up and leaned on the edge of the doorway. “Was mistake. You no tell Queen?”

  Jack waved at Dunker as if to dismiss him. With a worried expression, Dunker paused for a moment looking at the mess of glass and the chunks of Herbert scattered across the floor. Then he gave one last fleeting glance to Lacroix before tromping through the broken doorway and down the street.

  “I thought we weren’t running into any more dangerous situations?” Jack said to me.

  “I really didn’t mean to.” My heart rate was finally slowing down, causing exhaustion to seep through my entire body. My back and neck muscles ached from tensing them each time I thought I was going to be shot.

  “All right, I know I said I didn’t want to know before, but now I need to. Will one of you explain to me what’s going on?” Lacroix asked.

  I gave Jack a pleading look. “Lacroix is part Fae.”

  “Let’s go upstairs,” Jack said and brought my hand to his lips. I was startled as he kissed the back of my knuckles and said, “I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”