“Took them all. Who is gone?”

“The bigfoot, siren, river maid, and fairy, your four friends. The goblins took them. The spider was here too, but they scared her away,” she said, her words barely audible. As if all her energy were going into projecting this more youthful visage. Damn it, when did she get vain?

I raced downstairs to find Corb in the kitchen, leaning over a piece of butcher’s paper. “Let me guess, ransom note?” I asked.

He stared hard at me. “How did you know?”

“Much as I’d love to pretend it was a good guess, Gran told me.” I leaned over the paper myself and shook my head. “It’s in that same Goblinese crap,” I growled as I scooped it up.

“I was trying to decipher that,” Corb said.

“I’ve got someone who can read it.” I jogged out the front door, feeling the pull of time on my entire body.

Grimm had said I needed to protect the paperwork for three days, but I’d only made it two. If I got the pages and coin back to the people who wanted them, they could use them for whatever nefarious purpose they had. Something to do with the silver moon.

And if I didn’t?

Well, I only knew I wouldn’t let them hurt my friends.

I bolted across the street—okay, I was limping a little, but that was because of a muscle pull from earlier in the week—and ran up the steps of the brick house that Charlotte and her mother, Ryoko, lived in with their resident house goblin. I banged a fist on the door.

“Bridgette, tell me you’re home!”

A scuffling came from inside and then the door cracked open. Bridgette’s big round eyes stared up at me in surprise that didn’t look feigned. “Breena? What’s wrong?”

“Did you see a mob of goblins take my friends?” I bent onto one knee so we were at eye level. “They left this.”

I held the butcher’s paper out to her, and she took it gingerly, her eyes scanning the glyphs and letters that made no sense to me. Her eyes rose to meet mine. “They took them to Goblin Town. You have until midnight to bring the spell book to them.”

I blinked a few times. “Spell book.”

Holy shit, so they didn’t want Grimm’s paperwork at all?

That left two options. Either they wanted the black spell book that I’d found in the library, the one that Oster Boon had said I’d need to take. Or they wanted Gran’s spell book. With everything that was happening, I was leaning toward the black spell book. I didn’t really believe in coincidence, which meant I had it for a reason.

“Is that it? No other dire consequences?” I doubted that was the case, which was why I asked.

“If you don’t deliver, your friends will be killed, fed to the pit monster.” Her eyes closed and a tear slipped out. “And Savannah will be overrun by goblins.”

“That it, huh?” I took the butcher paper back and folded it up, tucking it into my bag.

Bridgette’s eyes popped open. “What do you mean, is that it? Isn’t that enough?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, it seems rather un-original, don’t you think?”

“I don’t understand.” She stared up at me. “Why aren’t you afraid?”

I shrugged. “I am afraid. But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that all fear does is slow you down and make you want to lie flat on your back, tits to the sky. I can’t do that when my friends are in danger.” I paused on the bottom step and looked back. “Thank you for your help.”

She swallowed hard. “You can’t take anyone from the Hollows with you. That’s what it says on the paper.”

Both of my eyebrows climbed up. “What’s the exact wording?”

“You may bring no one who works for the Hollows or for the SCE,” Bridgette said. “But I could come with you.”

That gave me serious pause. “That would put you in danger, for people you barely know. Why would you do that?”

Her big eyes blinked rapidly and tears filled around the edges. “The king is a tyrant and he hurts anyone who stands against him. My family was one that did that, and . . . most were killed.” Her round chin tipped upward. “And they threatened Savannah. This is my town, too, now and I’ll protect it if I can. It’s where Ryoko and Charlotte have made their home and . . . I love them even though they don’t see me.”

Oh man, right in the heart strings. Her words plucked at my emotions, and I found myself nodding and speaking around a rather tight throat. “Right. Okay.”

Bridgette fell in behind me as I hurried back across the street. Tom, Corb, Sarge, and Robert stood in the front yard of Gran’s house.

Gran watched us from the open door, still younger than before, closer to her forties and her image flickering in and out of stability.

“We have problems of rather unprecedented proportion,” I said as I drew near. “The goblin mob took Kinkly, Eric, Suzy, and Feish to Goblin Town and are threatening their lives if I don’t give them this.” I pulled out the small paper-covered book from my hip bag. I handed it to Tom first. He flipped it open and then dropped it like it was hot.

“Bree, where in the seven hells did you find that?” His eyes shot to mine. “And why are you carrying it around with you?”

I grimaced. “Where would you put something like that, something you didn’t want anyone else to get their hands on?”

Sarge scooped it up, flipped it open, and then literally threw the book at Corb, who caught it. He held it the longest of the three, though he paled. “The goblin king wants this?”

I waved a hand at Bridgette, who cleared her throat. “His ransom note says the spell book for the lives of your friends.”

“No Hollows Group members can come with me. No one from the SCE either, not that it matters,” I said. “That’s part of the deal. Bridgette is going to come, and of course, Robert.”

Sarge was the only one of the group who could see the animated skeleton, and his eyes shot to him. “It won’t be enough, Bree. This is bigger than fighting the O’Seans, and it’s a hell of a lot bigger than fighting an old lady in a graveyard. You’re going to their home. This will be a fight all the way with more goblins than you can imagine. Someone might even challenge you to a duel.”

“I can’t leave them there,” I said. “I won’t.”

Alan chose that moment to step out from under the tree. “You’re an idiot. Your friends wouldn’t fight for you, you know that, right? You were always the fool, running to save your friends. Even though they didn’t deserve it.”

“I’ve had about enough of you.” I reached over, grabbed him by his ear once more, and stuffed him into my bag. “You can stay in there forever, for all I care.”

I caught Corb looking at me as I finished with Alan. “You can’t come with me—”

“I quit the Hollows Group,” he said softly, and a tiny bell sounded in the air, like a gong going off. Tom groaned.

“Corb, this isn’t a game. You quitting will cause all sorts of issues with—”

Corb’s eyes never left mine. “I’m not letting her go in there without me.”

Sarge sighed. “I quit the Hollows group too then.”

Another little bell pealed through the air, and Tom all but whimpered. “You two idiots. Do you know how pissed Eammon is going to be?”

Eammon might be pissed, but I thought my ticker might burst from sheer emotion. I understood a little why Corb had put it all on the line for me. But Sarge?

“Sarge, are you sure?”

“While there was a minor rough patch last week,” he drawled. Rough patch? He tried to ducking kill me. He continued, “I consider you a friend. More than that, I think you are a kick-ass bitch.” He slung an arm across my shoulders. “And I owe you.”

I put an arm around his waist and tipped my head up to him. He bent and kissed me—not in a sexy way, but a quick peck on the lips. “You’re good people, Bree. I knew that from the moment I tangled with you in the graveyard.”

“You mean when Robert ripped your ear off?”

Robert let out a growl and Sarge shivered. “Yeah, even then.”

I pulled back from him and looked at the quickly assembled team. Tom shook his head when my eyes landed on him. “I am going to tell Eammon what you fools are up to.”

“You aren’t going to try to stop us?” I offered.

“You aren’t children, none of you.” He turned his back on us. “But try not to get killed, and don’t give them the book.”

There was a moment where we were all quiet.

“Okay”—Sarge clapped his mitts together—“let’s go.”

I shook my head. “We have six hours. Bridgette, how long will it take to get to Goblin Town?”

“About an hour, maybe two at most if there are blockades up,” she said.

I nodded. “Then we prep first. If this is war, I’m not running in willy-nilly.”

Corb nodded. “You have a plan?”

“Working on it. First, we need to visit Gerry.”

The two guys frowned in unison, which tickled my funny bone. “Who the hell is Gerry?” Corb asked.

I grinned and crooked my finger for them to follow me. “My seamstress.”

*_*_*_*

Death Row was bustling when we got there, almost shoulder to shoulder shoppers, which was the fullest I’d ever seen it.

I didn’t pause anywhere but went straight to Geraldine’s—Gerry’s—stall. She saw me coming and gave me a once-over from head to toe and back again.

“Girl, did you get laid?”

Oh shit, was it that obvious I’d had an orgasm?

I stumbled, partially stunned, and Corb stumbled right into my backside. To keep us both upright, his arms shot around me and yeah, he got two handfuls of the girls.

We both froze for just a moment, and then he adjusted his grip and helped me up. I held both hands in the air. “I’m fine, I can walk on my own two feet, no need to use my handles.”