But I also couldn’t slip away while they were right below me. All I could do was lie still, wait, and hope that they wouldn’t have the bright idea to look up and see if someone was hiding in the branches above their heads.

“This is pointless,” one of the giants finally muttered, holstering his gun and leaning against the very tree that I was perched in. “There’s nobody out here. Emery is being paranoid, like always.”

The other giant stopped as well, but he didn’t put away his weapon. “Well, you know they’re worried about Blanco and what she might do when things start happening. They definitely expect her to retaliate. Or to try to, anyway. Not that she should have much of a chance to, if things go according to Madeline’s plan.”

My eyes narrowed. What specific things could he be talking about? Madeline could set into motion any number of horrible scenarios that would piss me off enough to break our stalemate and finally come after her.

But this . . . this sounded like something big. My worry cranked up another notch.

“And then there’s the party,” he continued. “Everyone’s on edge about that. If things go the way Madeline expects them to with Blanco, it will be fine. If they don’t, well . . .”

He trailed off, and the two men exchanged a tense, knowing look.

My eyes narrowed even more. Madeline was throwing a party? When? And what for? Was she trying to get the Monroe mansion designated as some sort of historic landmark? That would fit in with all the construction going on, and it was just the sort of bizarre, egocentric thing I would expect, given everything else she’d done over the past few weeks.

“Anyway, you’re right,” the second man said, finally holstering his weapon as well. “There’s nothing out here but trees and squirrels. Let’s go back.”

For once, my luck held, and the giants turned around and returned to the mansion without looking up and spotting me.

As soon as they were out of earshot, I slithered down the tree, landing in a low crouch. I palmed a knife and scanned the surrounding foliage, in case another team was lurking around, but everything was quiet. Those had been the only giants Emery had sent into the woods.

I left my gear where it was, hidden beneath the camouflage tarp up in the tree house, since it was all anonymous and nothing that could be traced back to me. Besides, I might still have use for it.

When I was satisfied that the woods were deserted, I slid my knife up my sleeve, got to my feet, and hiked back to the Vaughn estate to retrieve my car and drive home.

As I walked, I thought about everything the giants had said, but their cryptic words only raised more questions than answers. I’d have to get Finn and Silvio to nose around and see if they could find out who the mysterious Dobson was and if they could pick up any rumors about this party that Madeline was planning, who was invited, and what it was for.

I’d learned an important lesson today, though. No matter how careful and clever I thought I was, Madeline and Emery were even more so, and I’d have to be at my very best to weather whatever storm they had planned for me.

*  *  *

I made it back to my car and home to Fletcher’s house without incident. I checked in with all my friends again, trying to be casual about things, but everyone was still fine. Whatever Madeline was plotting, it wasn’t happening tonight.

I went to bed early, trying to put my worries out of my mind, but I tossed and turned for most of the night. Even in the small, fitful bouts I did sleep, I dreamed of Madeline, still looking angelic in her white suit, although the emerald in her crown-and-flame rune necklace flashed brighter and faster than a strobe light in warning. Her crimson lips lifted into a cruel smile, even as her eyes started burning neon green, and two balls of elemental acid formed in the palms of her hands. Then she reared back and threw her magic at me. The acid exploded like twin bombs against my skin, melting, melting every part of me it touched, eating through my muscles and tendons until even my bones began to bubble and dissolve. . . .

I woke up with a scream stuck in my throat, and I didn’t even try to go back to sleep after that.

Instead, I sat up, snapped on a light by my bed, and reached for the black velvet box sitting on the nightstand. I cracked open the top of the box, revealing a beautiful necklace. A pendant shaped like my spider rune was the centerpiece of the design, with each delicate link in the chain also shaped like my symbol. A birthday present from Owen, who had crafted the piece in his forge.

Other than its sentimental value, the most important thing about the necklace was that it was made out of silverstone, just like the ring on my right index finger, which was also stamped with my spider rune. Silverstone could absorb and store all forms of magic, and many elementals had jewelry made out of it so they could have an extra reserve of power in case they needed it for something important, like an elemental duel.

More than once, I’d thought about going over to the Monroe mansion, knocking on the front door, and challenging Madeline to a duel. That would be one way to settle our differences and end our family feud once and for all. But I didn’t know if I had more raw magic than she did, and it would be suicidal to fight her like that if I didn’t even have a chance of winning. Besides, she would never accept such a challenge. Madeline liked her machinations more than anything else.

Still, ever since Owen had given me the necklace, I’d been feeding my Ice and Stone magic into the spider rune pendant and links, along with my ring. Just in case Madeline did the unexpected and decided to attack me head-on.

I might not be able to stop my nightmares, but I could plan for the coming battle. Besides, Fletcher had always said that preparation was one of the keys to victory.

So I reached for my magic, watching the cool silver light flare to life in my palms, centered in my spider rune scars. Then I placed my necklace in one hand and my ring in the other, watching as the metal slowly soaked up all the light, all the power, like a dry sponge absorbing water. When the last of the light vanished, I knew that the silverstone had stored that first wave of magic, and I summoned up another one, then another.

I stayed in bed, funneling more and more of my power into my jewelry, until it was time to get up, take a shower, and head to the Pork Pit.

I got to my restaurant early, right after nine o’clock. After checking the front door and surrounding windows for rune traps and other explosives, I went inside and flipped on the lights. I stood by the entrance and looked out over the booths clustered by the windows, the chairs and tables beyond that, the long counter with padded stools that ran along the back wall, and the faded, peeling, blue and pink pig tracks that curled through all of it.