“You know me,” Ahlaksiz said.

  “Maybe, but I don’t know these ones…” Again, his eyes focused on me. “I most certainly don’t know him.”

  “He summoned us,” Jalee said, standing tall at my side.

  Now I knew what that meant, or at least had a better idea, I understood why that caused his eyes to widen slightly and his firm stance to soften. A hint of a smile even formed at his mouth. “You?”

  “That’s right.” Standing in front of this man, I was amazed that I actually felt tall. The way he was suddenly looking at me, I felt in charge, and went with it. “Now, are you going to be friendly and invite us in?”

  The smile widened, then he laughed, clapping my shoulder. “You may be our fucking undoing, but I’ll take all the excitement I can get.”

  I glanced at Ahlaksiz to see if she was going to shine some light on his statement, but she only brushed past him to enter, ignoring the statement. Inside, another large man sat at the table eating a massive sausage on a fork while reading from a tablet.

  “Hey, little bear,” Ahlaksiz said to this one, though he didn’t seem any smaller than the other. “We had an accident in the car. Mind seeing if someone can take a look?”

  The guy eyed us, grunted, and took another bite of his sausage as he stood and walked past us on his way to check out the car.

  “Little?” Kinara whispered.

  Ahlaksiz chuckled. “Just having fun.” She turned to the stairs, leaning up them as she called out, “Goldilocks, guess who?”

  “Goldi, bitch,” a woman said, stepping out of a room farther up the hallway, instead of the stairs. She was drying her hands on a towel that she let drop back into the other room, eyeing us with skepticism. Her hair was black, her face slender and with a youthful glow, in spite of the age her eyes revealed. She wore a black dress tied with a belt in the center, and gold bracelets of interlocked gold chains. “Where the fuck have you been?”

  “Busy,” Ahlaksiz said. “I wasn’t sure we’d find you here. But hoped.”

  Goldi grunted. “The headquarters is… problematic. We had a fucking war while you were ‘busy.’”

  Ahlaksiz turned away, but I had to know.

  “War?”

  Goldi eyed me, giving me a curt nod. “Myths versus Legends, and they brought out the big guns. The so-called gods, even.”

  “You took a side?” Ahlaksiz asked.

  “Bitch, I’m Myth through and through… now.” Goldi winked. “They had a Protector with them.”

  That seemed to be troubling news for Ahlaksiz as her hands became fists. Her eyes met mine, then she quickly turned away and walked into the living room to have a seat.

  “That’s a big deal?” I asked.

  “It might be.” Ahlaksiz turned to Goldi. “Is it a big deal? A Protector and a new summoner, so close together?”

  Goldi shrugged, going to the fireplace to rotate a candle before lighting it. “Thing is, Morganna returned, Arthur too. Surely you’ve heard all of this?”

  The rest of us were all looking very perplexed, and I wasn’t sure I’d heard right. “Arthur, as in…?”

  “King, once upon a time. Now… something else entirely.”

  “I heard,” Ahlaksiz cut in. “And it’s not our fight. Why the hell you felt the need to get involved is beyond me.”

  “They were convincing. Which leads me to ask what your intentions are.” She nodded to the doorway, where one of the bears now stood—having snuck up on us. He morphed into a bear as we watched, some of his clothes ripping, others stretching out. And then a low growl from the other side of the living room, at another entrance where another bear entered. Goldi grinned, pulling up a fire poker that she clicked to reveal that it was actually some sort of harpoon-like device. “Spill it.”

  “You know we’re not with the Legends,” Ahlaksiz said.

  “Do I? I know you aren’t with the Myths, or you would’ve been there with us, fighting to save this God-foreskin hell hole.”

  “Sorry,” I interrupted, “did you mean God-forsaken?”

  She glared. “No, like… this world is some god’s cut off and forsaken foreskin. Like I said. It’s a thing.”

  I blinked, pretended to zip my mouth, and thrust my hands in my pockets.

  “We’re not with the Legends,” Ahlaksiz repeated, putting more emphasis on it this time. “We stopped by to see about our car, and to check in. I know I haven’t had my ear to the ground like you have, and I’ll admit we might have a larger role to play in all this. That is, unless your way put an end to the conflict?”

  Goldi frowned, but then laughed, Ahlaksiz grinning too. Apparently, that had been a joke.

  “There will always be someone else,” Goldi said. “And yes, I’ve drawn my line in the sand, pissed on their side, and now we’re part of it. Hence me coming home, at least to regroup, gather our bearings, and play some golf.”

  I chuckled at that, taking it as a joke.

  She frowned. “Mr….?”

  “Ferris. Ferris Parrone.”

  “Mr. Parrone, we take our golf around here very seriously. So, if I have some downtime and want to play golf, I don’t see the problem in that. Do you?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” She eyed us all a few more seconds, then waved off her bears before saying, “Join me in the visiting room for some whiskey.”

  When I was the only one to step forward to follow, I decided to take a stand.

  “This is Scotland, and the lady just offered us a drink. Seeing as we’re about to ride off to possible death, I’m going to have that drink and so are each of you.”

  They seemed both impressed and confused by my insistence, but none argued. Soon we were in a dark, back room, sipping fine whiskey with her and one of the bears. Ahlaksiz gave her the quick rundown on our situation, while I took a sip and savored the taste.

  “Not Scotch?” I asked, looking at the bottle. She ignored me, but the bear man glared.

  “You’re going in search of the sun disk?” Goldi asked.

  “We are.” Ahlaksiz’s eyes flickered over to Jalee quickly, then she seemed to think better of whatever she’d been about to say. Could it be that she didn’t fully trust Goldi?

  “Some humans know about our kind, and they’ll be looking, too,” Goldi said. “Not all are accepting of monsters or others. They would find it, open the door if they ever found a way, and wage war on our kind. I may be with the Myths, and at the moment humanity seems to have realized the value of not fighting all monsters or fairy tale beings, but you and I both know that won’t last.”

  “Why can’t it?” I cut in. I still had a hard time with the idea that there were people in the government who knew about all this, but if they said so, it must’ve been true. The idea that anyone in the government could keep such a secret astounded me, considering all the other secrets that leaked over the years.

  “Because the people who are in power today won’t be in power tomorrow.”

  “And even if they are, they don’t speak for all of humanity,” Ahlaksiz added. “One government might say we’re allies in the morning, another might turn on us that same afternoon. We’ve seen it all, trust me.”

  I hated to hear this, but more than that, was starting to get eager to hit the road. I had to believe that, if others knew how amazing monsters could be—some of them, at least—they would make an alliance. Various groups of humanity had once considered each other devils or beneath each other, and while there were still many issues, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it had once been. At least, from what I had observed of the world. Why couldn’t the monsters at least live among us in that same way?

  Goldi started telling us that she had also searched for the sun disk for some time, and mentioned another sort of travel, one that she’d heard rumors of but never seen.

  “It doesn’t matter, anyway,” Goldi finished. “It’s not like the Liahona, or Pernater, takes you back to our world, anyway. Some rumors say they take you to other worlds, not ours. Or have other powers. There’s even talk that some who’ve lived among us are from these other worlds. Can you believe that?”

  “Like who?” Ahlaksiz asked.

  “The original Red Riding Hood, for one. They say that hood that’s been passed down has some otherworldly origin, it’s not from our world.”

  As fascinating as this was, it was starting to overwhelm me.

  “Mind if I use the restroom?” I asked, taking a step and realizing the whiskey had hit me harder than I’d thought it would. After only half a glass, I wasn’t drunk, but the room was wobbly. Honestly, I was surprised I had to go again, after going in the car. And as funny as it was, when I stood there with my dick out trying to piss, it didn’t happen. I frowned, eyeing the little guy and telling him he better do it so that we wouldn’t have to stop and get the car cleaned again. Finally, a little bit drizzled out, and I shook, calling it. That would have to do.

  I quickly washed my hands and opened the door to find Kinara there with a finger to her lips.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Just wanted to check in. See what you think about all this.” She leaned in, kissing me on the cheek. “Did you know about this war stuff? About… two groups?”

  “Not really, only what you all have told me.”

  “I hardly know anything.” She glanced over her shoulder. “But if there’re other ways to travel, maybe destroying this one isn’t the right way to go?”

  All of this was above my paygrade, but I nodded, then told her we could think about it. “We don’t know what we’ll find out there, and…” She shrugged. “All I know is, I’ll do what I can to make you three happy.”

  “Not four?”

  I frowned, then realized she meant Ahlaksiz. “Three, really. She’s more like a mom to our little group, no? A stepmom, or great aunt, but still. It’s you three that I’m linked to.”

  Kinara took my hand and kissed it, then held it against her cheek. “How is it you’re not screaming and crying right now?”

  “What?”

  “I’ve always heard that’s how humans are. We’re told not to be like a human, but to be brave and ferocious.”

  “Ouch.”

  “No,” she wrapped her arms around my waist, “that’s what I’m saying—you’re not like that. What’s so different about you? Suffered hardships in your youth, or…?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. When this first started, I was a bit freaked out. Who wouldn’t be? But if I have to find an answer to your question, I guess I’d say it’s you. You and the other two give me courage.”

  “I like that.” She leaned in and gave me a tender kiss.

  “Hold on,” I said, leaning back. “Now it’s time for me to come to the defense of humanity. We have a lot of very brave people. I mean it—a lot.”

  She looked skeptical.

  “We’re in the birthplace, or country anyway, of freaking William Wallace! And not just him, but men and women throughout history have stood up against oppressors, fought for freedom, fought for justice. I’m telling you, once we have time to actually sit down and watch movies, I’m going to have to add some of the real-life inspired ones to the mix.”

  “You know,” she stuck her tongue out in thought, “maybe I believe you. Yeah, I think I do.”

  “You think you do?” I laughed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “Don’t get annoyed. What, everything you all say about monsters is true?”

  “Not remotely.”

  “There you go.”

  I kissed her this time, then noticed one of the bear-guys walking toward us in the hall.

  “Car’s ready,” he said. “Also, Goldi had me throw on some sausages, so if you’re hungry, they’re on the table.”

  “Any raw ones?” Kinara asked.

  The man grinned, apparently getting her. “Of course. I’ll add a plate.”

  “For a second I thought he was going to make a naughty retort,” I said.

  She looked at me, frowning, then pushed past me to the bathroom. “My turn. Meet me at the table.”

  I wasn’t going to argue that, but first went to retrieve my whiskey, and found Goldi laughing out loud, her arm around Ahlaksiz’s shoulders like they were the best of friends.

  “What’d I miss?” I asked.

  Jalee and Milkshake were already halfway to the kitchen, and the latter looked back with a shrug. “Some inside joke about Morganna, apparently.”

  Watching Ahlaksiz laughing like that reminded me that she actually had a sort of human side to her, even if she wasn’t technically human. Monsters weren’t so different from us in many ways. At least, not these monsters. I had a hard time believing the stone trolls and that type would be anything like me.

  I grabbed my glass and continued on, meeting the others in the kitchen. They were chowing down and grabbing a couple for the road. I had to wonder why only Kinara seemed to have real problems with human food, but decided that maybe it had more to do with her lifestyle back where she came from.

  While most of the sausage was square and flat, Jalee took one that was more American in style. She stuck it in my mouth, grinning as she did so. “Enjoy it as much as I do?”

  Actually, it tasted damn good. But her little joke wasn’t lost on me. “Funny,” I replied, biting into it and wishing I could compare with this thing. Oh, wait, I’d been growing lately so maybe I could.

  “She is funny,” the large, Scottish bear said. “So what, they’re all with you?”

  I nodded, taking another bite.

  “And you’re all with her?” Milkshake asked.

  The bear man nodded.

  “Wait, is she…” I glanced back, not sure if this would be an offensive question. “Did she summon you all here?”

  After a long silence, the man growled.

  “Should I not have asked that?”

  “Probably not,” Goldi said, walking in behind me and going for some cups to pour us water. “But I won’t take offense. I know too many great humans to be offended by being mistaken as one.”

  “She’s no summoner, and no human,” Ahlaksiz said, stepping in behind her.

  Goldi shrugged. “Many have trouble with trust and faith.”

  “I have no reason to not believe.” I accepted a glass of water.

  “Thanks for the help,” Ahlaksiz said. “We’ll try not to mess up the car again… but it was nice seeing you.”

  “Same,” Goldi replied, then turned my way. “You didn’t get your answer. You want to know why these three are with me, when they’re not linked to me in that same way you are with these ladies. Simply because they want to be.”

  “We want to be with Ferris,” Kinara countered, even looking offended by the comment.

  “None of us are here against our will,” Jalee added.

  Goldi nodded, eyeing them to try and figure if that was the truth, then nodded and walked off before calling over her shoulder. “Enjoy the trip. When you’re ready to join the fight, you know where I’ll be.”

  We thanked the bears, too, and went on our way. No longer did I doubt that fairy tales were real. At least, in some form.

  19

  When we finally arrived in Turkey, I was in a daze. My first time traveling the globe and I’d managed to meet Goldi and her bears. At one point in the trip, I’d managed to get a nap in, and had a crazy dream of her riding those bears off to battle, and then doing other kinds of riding with them.

  I had woken in a startle, not sure if it had been a nightmare or what exactly. And then, looking out the window, I saw the sunlight casting a pink hue over the Hagia Sophia as we passed. We were flying again, cloaked of course. Soon we passed a river with a massive bridge over it, then we seemed to be leaving Istanbul behind.

  “We’re not going to the city?” I asked, having imagined breaking through old palace walls and finding secret chambers below ground or something like that.

  “Not according to the intel Tooth gave us, no.” Ahlaksiz fiddled with the dash, then tapped it once before running her wrist device along it. An image appeared taking up half the screen. A map. “From what I see in the notes, the closest it looks like they’ve been able to get is a two-mile radius in this area,” she circled a section of the map, “down here, nearer to Cappadocia.”

  The car shot forward again, passing over stretches of city, villages, mountains, and deserts. Even at this speed, this was quite the sight and I had to keep my eyes on our surroundings. Even still, my stomach was starting to churn. I was relieved when we slowed, coming to a sight that completely baffled me.

  “Here?” I asked, looking out at valleys of rocks, and at one spot we flew over tall rocks that nobody could ever mistake for anything other than huge stone penises. We were gone from them before any of us had a chance to comment, though, and our attention was quickly taken from that to more rocks with holes in them. As we flew past, I saw that these were windows and doors. This was a village!

  “Not far now,” Ahlaksiz said.

  We passed those, the image on the dashboard showing green circles moving in on a map, a blip that I assumed was us getting closer to the spot those circles all moved in on. The car stopped its forward motion and descended, letting us out at an area of the desert mountains with small patches of green bushes and scattered tall, thin trees. Darkness would be upon us soon, so I scoured the area, trying to figure out where we would go next.

  I stepped out, clucking my tongue to be safe, but found no sign of anyone nearby.

  “Why here?” I asked.

  “Everything points to this place,” Ahlaksiz replied. “They likely have forces here searching as we speak—but they don’t have you.”

  I nodded, still not exactly sure how I was going to help find the half of the sun disk, but figuring she would tell me when she was ready. At the moment, the others were climbing out of the car while she consulted her wrist device. I held up mine, too, looking at the small hexagon and wondering at the way it gave off a bit more of a shine here than usual.