“Yes, and yes,” I said, feeling almost giddy at the thought of actually getting to explore a part of the world so different from what I was used to. “How exactly do we know we’re on the right track?”

  “The scent of blood helps,” Kinara replied.

  I turned, baffled, then realized she was referring to her meal. “Sorry,” I replied with a laugh, “I meant in terms of the totem.”

  “In the past, it’s been somewhat instinct-based,” Ahlaksiz said. “But I have to admit, there was more to it that drew me here. Like sensing that there’s a special connection to one we might find here.”

  “Might,” Jalee said, skeptically.

  Entering the market area was a cultural overload for me. The scents of the spices, the patterns—everything felt so different from back home. I’d spent most of my life in one place, curious about the world, but mostly in terms of Japan and Korea. I had a strong desire to go watch the rainfall on the water near Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto, but had never begun to dream about coming to a country like Tunisia.

  An old woman eyed me with skepticism, while nearby a couple of young men—likely American—laughed loud and joked about a colorful dress, each saying they’d buy it for the other. It was lame, and clearly a reason I could see for this woman to be glaring my way.

  “Let’s keep moving,” I said quietly, moving past the Americans and noting the table of meat pies nearby. I wasn’t sure what they called them here, but had to grab one. Biting into the flaky crust and greasy ground beef within, I stopped and closed my eyes, savoring the flavor.

  “How’re you not full from breakfast?” Kinara asked, glaring at me.

  “Shit, sorry,” I replied, having forgotten that she was looking for food. I glanced around, then asked the old man behind the table, “Is there a butcher nearby?”

  “Butcher?” he asked, repeating the word with a heavy accent, then shrugging. “What’s this?”

  “Ah…” I motioned holding something down, then pretended to lift a knife and chop off the head. He got the idea.

  “You go there,” he said, pointing over his shoulder to a tan building a few doors down. “Has everything you need.”

  I thanked him and we made our way back. This street was much less crowded than it had been in the market, but we had to weave our way between traffic.

  As soon as we entered, I knew we’d found what we were looking for. While it sickened me, there was indeed a camel’s head hanging from a back wall behind one of the butchers. Plenty of other options existed as well, with booths selling other foods, including fruits and vegetables.

  “How about you two take care of her,” I said to Ahlaksiz and Kinara, then went to join Milrae, heading for the fruit and other areas.

  “You still squeamish?” Kinara asked, grinning as Ahlaksiz handed me some money. “I’ve seen you eat some weird stuff.”

  “I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually.” Not wanting to risk being persuaded, I started off towards a man who had what looked like some chocolate wafers for sale. I grabbed a few and glanced back to see them bent over the display case, Kinara looking like a kid at the candy shop.

  “Sisters?” the man asked when I paid for the wafers.

  “What?” I glanced back at the ladies, then laughed. “No, no. Um, friends?”

  “Friends…” The old pervert winked. “I want friends like that.”

  Beaming with pride, I nodded and thanked him for the snacks, then continued exploring. They found me in front of a row of flowers for sale, as I pondered whether to buy them some to show my affection.

  “Which color tastes the best?” Milrae asked, stepping up next to me and wrapping her arm through mine.

  “Oh, they’re not for eating.”

  “Not for eating?” She scoffed. “Borrring.”

  “Agreed,” Ahlaksiz said. “We have our food, so let’s get back to the search.”

  “Wait, I’ll just have a bite,” Kinara said.

  “Not here!” I protested, looking around and noticing a small boy who was staring at the ladies, eyes wide with curiosity.

  “I’m starving!”

  “We’ll find somewhere on the street outside,” Ahlaksiz said.

  She agreed and followed us out, clutching her paper bag to her chest. It was white, with slight areas of pink; even some red had started to seep through. We found a small alley; I kept watch on one side, with Jalee on the other, and I did my best to ignore the sounds of Kinara chomping down on raw meat. God, I hoped it wasn’t the camel head.

  Finally, she ran over and wrapped her arms around me, planting a kiss on my cheek and saying, “Let’s go find us a totem!”

  I cringed at the thought of her bloody lips, but plastered on a smile. “Let’s do it.”

  “Leftovers?” Milrae asked me, holding up the stained bag.

  I shook my head, stomach churning. She laughed, then shrugged. “Only joking. Not even a drop of blood left, let alone any of the meat.”

  “What can I say?” Kinara replied. “I was hungry, and I’m a growing girl.” She pressed up on each of her breasts playfully. “I hope, anyway.”

  “Shut up, you’re perfect,” Jalee said at her side as she passed with Ahlaksiz to lead the way.

  I couldn’t agree more, and told her so, earning myself another kiss on the cheek. Then we were on our way, back to the market. More than once I thought I saw someone watching us as we moved between those carts and alleys, but each time I turned to check, I saw nothing.

  Ahlaksiz took us down one street, then paused. She said she could sense something, like the totem was calling to her. However, every time she thought she was close, we would wait for her to look at a nearby stall before suddenly she’d turn and proclaim it was in another direction.

  “Someone’s moving it?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” she replied. “But it’s also possible something else is at work here. Like some sort of interception magic.”

  I frowned, growing uneasy. The feeling rose when I noticed a blur of motion that served as my warning—not from anyone nearby, but an object coming right for her head.

  “Down!” I grunted, throwing myself at Ahlaksiz, and a split-second later we were crashing into the table nearby, sending trinkets crashing to the ground. A shout came from the man who had been working the stall. At first, I thought it had to be a shout of anger at what we had done, but as I pushed myself up to apologize, I froze at the sight of blood coming down his right arm, a knife stuck into his shoulder. It had missed Ahlaksiz when I pulled her out of the way but had managed to hit this guy.

  When another blur came, I knew without a doubt we were under attack.

  3

  Was that a shot I heard? It was hard to tell and my mind was reeling. The monsters sprang into action immediately, causing much more of a scene than I felt comfortable with. But if it was between comfort and their safety—or mine—of course, safety wins every time. Still, less commotion would have been ideal.

  Jalee was the first to react. I lifted my head to see her with wings of electricity burning through her clothes. She rose above us and sent a blast of lightning shooting through a second story building, up a street and to the right. Presumably, that’s where the attack came from because Milrae was already charging that way, head back and sword at the ready.

  “We’re all going to have to have a talk about this,” Ahlaksiz said, then gave me a light shove so my knee wasn’t digging into her side where we’d fallen. “Right after we figure out what’s going on.”

  “Agreed,” I said, heart pounding. Pushing myself up and offering her a hand, I shouted, “Someone, get this man a doctor!”

  He was already stumbling away, cursing from what I could guess. A mixture of French and Arabic, along with one long, “Fuuuck.”

  “He’ll live,” Kinara said, checking on us. Her eyes were narrowed, her hair a bit of a mess, and she looked furious. “Whoever tried to hurt you, though—not so much.”

  It wasn’t until I was at her side that I noticed the figure on the ground behind her. A man, a pool of blood forming near his head.

  “Shit…” I muttered.

  “He lunged right after the knife,” Kinara explained, showing a pistol she had concealed in her dress. “Was pulling this out when I took him down. His knife-throwing buddy took off into that building. And a third one shot from that window.”

  Another shot sounded, and people on the street started screaming and running. Jalee shot out through the window now, vanishing from sight, leaving a strobing glow of blue that strobed behind as she took care of business inside.

  Kinara led the way. Ahlaksiz and I followed close behind, but halfway there, I glanced back to see the older woman breaking off to the left.

  “Wha—” I started.

  “Go,” she waved me on. “I’m picking up on something.”

  Shit. I hated to have the group separated like this, but she had been on her own this long, so it wasn’t her I was worried about. My hand went to my satchel to ensure it was still there, then to Basty, who I’d noticed getting a bit tight around my neck.

  Kinara entered the first floor; I followed to find Milrae exiting up some stairs and out the back, which seemed to lead to another alley.

  “Follow her,” I said, already going for the other narrow stairs that led to where I presumed Jalee would be.

  “She’s not there,” Milrae said, gesturing for us to go out the door.

  “You’re su—”

  “Move it!”

  I trusted she knew what she was doing, and a burst of blue lighting shooting across the alley behind her showed this to be true. We came sprinting out to find Jalee just landing, and sirens blaring in the distance.

  “What’s that sound?” she demanded, eyes lit up with electricity, a car in flames nearby.

  “Damn, police?” The siren certainly wasn’t like I was used to back home. It could have been an ambulance, but judging by the chaos and gunshots, the local police was probably the safe bet.

  “Where’s…?” Kinara started, glancing back.

  “This way,” I said, motioning them to follow me. “And the attackers?”

  “Taken care of,” Jalee said.

  We reached the next corner and I did my best to guess how to get back and find Ahlaksiz, but halfway there the sirens lit up the buildings in white and blue; I saw I’d been correct to think it was the cops.

  Kinara led the way to our right. We turned away from the police car, sprinting down that alley, then turning again into a walkway without streets. Charging up the walkway, we found two sets of stairs every few paces, dirtied white walls with blue trim on one side, and crumbling brown on the other. If we weren’t possibly being pursued by local law enforcement, this would have been the perfect place to stop and take pictures, making this feel like a real tourist trip to Tunisia.

  A vision hit me of Ahlaksiz running, too, but in pursuit, tackling a woman. Not far, maybe thirty seconds, running at our current pace but bearing left. Basty had come through!

  “Thanks, bud,” I said, patting the scarf that he had become, and I led the ladies to turn at the next left we could find. Facing them as we narrowly fit into the passage between buildings, I said, “Can we try to keep a low profile this time?”

  “As long as nobody’s shooting at any of you, or throwing knives, yes,” Jalee said, giving me the stink-eye.

  “Even then, if it can be avoided,” I countered.

  “You know where we’re going?” Milrae asked. “Because the way Jalee is dressed, I think keeping a low profile is going to be tough no matter what out here.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. A glance at Jalee reminded me that her dress had mostly burned off when her wings had emerged; now she was running around in her old outfit, and even that was singed and missing pieces. As far as one who appreciated her body was concerned, I wasn’t complaining. But Milrae was right; we weren’t about to stay out of the spotlight with Jalee looking like that.

  “Another reason to keep your powers in check,” I noted with a grunt. “I’ll go in front, to… I don’t know, try and make sure we’re not noticed.”

  “What can I say, I’m noticeable,” Jalee countered as I passed her. By the way my eyes went to her cleavage, I couldn’t disagree.

  Kinara stepped aside for me, grinning as she, too, ran her eyes over Jalee, then the two of us checked at the corner. There, one street over, kneeling at the top of a set of stairs that led into a gray building, was Ahlaksiz. To our relief, nobody else was around.

  “Hey,” I said, running towards her and motioning the others to stay close. A dirt-bike-looking motorcycle rode by, nearly hitting me, but Kinara was there to pull me out of the way. The driver shouted back at us, swerving to narrowly avoid a crash into what looked like the corner of a pharmacy, disappeared from sight.

  “Want me to zap ’em?” Jalee asked, but her eyes gave away the fact that she was joking.

  Shaking my head, I turned to see Ahlaksiz, now standing and quickly slinking down the stairs, head swiveling as if to check for anyone who might have watched.

  “Inside,” Ahlaksiz said. “I found what I’m looking for, but it’s not a totem. The woman has an Iridant—basically a locator.”

  “I hope I’m not the only one here completely lost by what you just said,” I admitted. “A locator of what?”

  “Of a totem, basically.”

  “But totems can be practically anything, no?”

  She nodded. “I wasn’t sure if we’d find simple totems here, or maybe monsters who already lived among us. But this… an Iridant is a special item that once belonged to a specific, more powerful monster.”

  “Wait, you’re saying this thing someone has in there belonged to a powerful monster. So what?”

  “It not only belonged to one, but is linked to one. Meaning we might use it to exert control, or… if the monster isn’t here, even to summon it.”

  “You want to summon a monster who’s powerful enough to actually have an Iridant?” Milrae said in either disgust or fright.

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Ahlaksiz replied. She licked her lips, eyeing me. “The question is, can you handle it?”

  “Me?” I gulped.

  “If you have this ability to work the totems, and have been linking, this would fall on you. We can fight it, if necessary, but the last thing we should do is unleash an Iridant-level monster on the Earth.”

  With all eyes on me, I tried to fully understand the ramifications of this. One thing was for certain—a powerful monster could help us, and I wasn’t about to back down.

  “I’m in,” I said.

  Ahlaksiz grinned. Despite my trepidation, I was excited.

  4

  “You can’t be fucking serious,” Kinara said, stepping up and grabbing me by my scarf. Since the scarf was actually Basty, she backed off with a flash of worry in her eyes—the little guy must’ve sent a vision into her mind, as he liked to do.

  “Don’t be mean,” I said as I petted him, then turned back to Kinara. “We need the help. What’s the problem?”

  Kinara glanced at the others, who were also clearly worried. She leaned in, not grabbing me this time but putting a hand on my arm. “Ferris, where we’re from, there’s a clear hierarchy. A monster of that level is going to be trouble.”

  “Until we dominate it,” I countered.

  “Are you listening to a word I’m saying?” She turned to Jalee. “Talk some sense into him.”

  “She’s right.” But Jalee cringed, obviously having more to say on the subject.

  “But?” I asked.

  “But… I think you can handle it.”

  “WHAT?!” Kinara had her hands in her hair, then massaged her ears, taking deep breaths to calm herself. “Tell me why you think he can handle any sort of monster that an Iridant might summon.”

  Sirens in the distance reminded me the cops could come to find us at any minute. I looked to Ahlaksiz for help, but she held up her hands as if to say they needed to finish this debate.

  “Three of us, for one reason. And I’m not saying right away, but he doesn’t have to try immediately, either. If we got it but he waited to summon—”

  “We don’t have the time,” Ahlaksiz said, shaking her head.

  “See?” Kinara gestured at the older woman. “There we go.”

  “But…” Ahlaksiz approached the door, staying low in case anyone was watching, “I have a possible solution to that. Someone we might need to pay a visit to, once we have the Iridant.”

  Kinara stared at her, open-mouthed.

  Milrae who pushed past us to join Ahlaksiz. “From where I’m standing, conversation’s done. Let’s get it and move on.”

  “Agreed,” Ahlaksiz said. Before anyone could say another word, Milrae had taken one of those powerful, furry fists of hers, and knocked the door in. It slammed against the inner wall, and she and Ahlaksiz disappeared inside.

  “No arguing with that,” I said with a chuckle, charging in next as shouts of confusion sounded from inside. Not from my monsters, of course. I darted in to see two women standing there shouting and pointing, one holding a bundle to her chest that looked like a baby.

  This clearly wasn’t some random women and a baby. I wasn’t sure why I knew it, but I knew. Maybe it was in the way the darker-skinned one’s eyes narrowed as I entered, or the slight glance she gave to the wall to my right. Maybe it was the way the other one didn’t really seem to care how she held the supposed baby, barely giving it any head support. I had a little cousin and knew at least that much.

  What finally gave it away, though, was the blur of action that started to alert me – a movement from unseen stairs behind them.

  “Watch out!” I shouted, pulling the closest monster girl to me out of the way. That happened to be Kinara. We moved back, out of the door and halfway back down the stairs as a spray of bullets sounded from above. Then it was another sort of explosion, one that I figured had to be magical.

  Kinara shouted something from my side, pulling me back and away, but I wasn’t listening. Instead, I shook my head—we had to go in there for the others.