Charon took station under a gothic archway that looked over Michigan Avenue. I couldn’t tell what he was looking for, but his eyes kept darting back and forth. He tilted his head like he was hearing something. All I could hear was the buzz of traffic, the incantations being said somewhere in the background, and the ever-present screams of harpies in the sky.

“What are you looking for?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Anything that could be a threat,” Charon said. He closed his eyes to listen carefully. “The giant is in.”

“Shit,” I muttered.

“I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know how we’re gonna make it out of this one,” Charon said.

“I know this is starting to sound dull but… We’ll figure it out,” I said. I straightened my back and looked behind us, at everyone else. Killian, Dennis and Amelia were going through their spell-books, fast but careful, one page at a time. Tusk kept crafting Molotovs and other devices that I assumed were explosive. Elvira was pacing back and forth, stretching her limbs and cracking her neck like a pro fighter preparing for a match.

“Do you think Elias and the lawyers will make it here in time?” Charon asked. We had overheard Tusk’s brief conversation with Elias over the phone. Well, only half of it in my case.

“We can only hope,” I said grimly.

A loud explosion shook the whole building. Charon and I held onto each other and the railing. I didn’t dare to close my eyes; I knew I would’ve gone straight back to the earthquake if I did. Amelia ran over to us, her eyes wide and face pale. She grabbed each of our arms so tight it would probably bruise.

“It’s time,” Killian roared. He nodded at Dennis, and they started chanting. The floor rumbled. Suddenly, furniture was flying towards us. We couldn’t dodge; there was nowhere to go. I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared to be thrown off the tower like Ewart.

After a few seconds, I was still being held by my friends, and my feet were firmly planted on the floor. I opened my eyes. The world was a lot darker. It took me a moment to realise we were stuck in a tiny fortress of patio furniture and rubble. When I poked a chair, it stayed completely still.

There were small holes all around that we could see through, and one bigger skylight on top. The sky was turning black. Lightning flashed so bright it blinded me. Thunder roared louder than I’d ever heard. The harpies circling above laughed ecstatically.

“You guys… do realise that we’re on top of a skyscraper during a lightning storm, right?” Amelia said. That was the least of my worries. We were stuck even though we could’ve helped Uncle Killian and the others.

The tower shook horribly again. Just a few feet from where the adults stood, the floor exploded. Some debris landed on our fortress, but didn’t penetrate its magical shield. Out of the smoking hole crawled the griffins, the giant and the two humans.

The giant was absolutely enormous up close. He had a grey undertone to his dark skin, long dreadlocks and a scruffy beard. His eyes were milky white; he was blind. It didn’t stop him from sensing where his enemies were, though. All it took was a couple of loud sniffs, and he turned to face my uncle angrily.

The griffins snarled and scratched the floor with their claws, leaving bloody engravings on the stone. One of them shrieked. It was a horrible, high-pitched sound, like hundreds of fingers against a blackboard put in a loudspeaker. I had to cover my ears, and my friends did the same.

Although the humans should’ve been the least threatening, they scared the shit out of me. They had so many weapons on them, a military surplus store would’ve looked like a children’s toy store next to them. During my very brief overlook, I spotted machetes, pistols, rifles, TNT, an axe, and the shotguns they held.

The weirdest part about the humans was that they didn’t look distressed in any manner to be around magical creatures. In fact, they were utterly stone-faced, as cold as experienced mercenaries. They were here to kill.

“This is not gonna end well,” Amelia muttered.

“I hate to agree with you, but… yeah,” Charon said.

The giant stepped forward and spoke. His voice was so deep I had to really focus to understand. “This is your last chance. Cross wants the son of the prophecy.”

“Well, Cross will have to look elsewhere. We don’t know him,” Killian said confidently.

“Don’t play dumb,” one of the humans said. She was the one with the axe strapped to her back. Her blonde hair was pulled into a bun so tight it must’ve been painful.

The giant’s head turned to face Elvira and Tusk. He grunted disapprovingly. “What are you doing with this scum?” he asked.

“You know, I find myself asking the same question every now and then,” Tusk said. Elvira shot a deadly glare at him. “But of course, I’m a loyal hog.”

“That’s enough of chit-chat. Do we fight or not?” the other human asked impatiently. He was built like a strongman, every single one of his muscles big and bulging. His head was shaved at the sides, and he had a bushy beard.

“We fight,” the giant snarled.

Killian didn’t wait around for the enemy to make the first move. He whispered something and made an odd motion — like grabbing something invisible with his hand, and throwing it at the giant. Something boomed and crumbled above us. An enormous piece of the tower’s intricate design had been magically ripped out, and went flying at the giant. It exploded into tiny pieces on impact. It didn’t seem to bother him too much. He simply stumbled a couple of steps back and shook the rubble off himself.

While Dennis and Killian attempted to bury the giant in limestone, steel and concrete, Tusk started fighting the humans. There were so many shots and explosions I could barely see anything through the smoke, or hear Tusk’s mad laughter behind the booms. At least he was having fun.

Thunder clapped again. There was a loud shattering sound above us; the spells set to protect us from the harpies had been broken. They cackled as they started swooping down to claw and bite at everyone, including our enemy. It seemed like they weren’t as loyal as Tusk.

“Look!” Amelia shrieked.

There was something up with Elvira.

From afar, it looked like she was having a staring contest with the griffins. They were hissing and shrieking and backing away from her. At first I thought it was smoke, but there was a black aura around Elvira. A black shadow that kept swirling and evolving. It wasn’t like the smoke the crow was made of in my dreams; this was pure darkness.

“Holy shit,” Charon whispered.

“What?” I said.

“I… I think I know what she is. Partly, at least,” Charon said in disbelief.

The shadow took the form of big wings, like a dragon’s, on Elvira’s back. She began to levitate. Her nails grew into sharp claws. Her eyes were pitch black.

“A shadow stalker,” Amelia said. “I thought they were extinct. To think that Ewart Kane had one all along and used it to make a hybrid…”

“What’s a shadow stalker?” I asked.

“A creature who sculpts darkness. They’re—” Charon hesitated. “They’re basically made of the dark.”

“They usually don’t take physical form for extended periods of time, but if she’s only part stalker…” Amelia mused.

The griffins went after Elvira. Although they were bigger, she seemed to have the upper hand. She managed to mostly dodge their claws and beaks, and when she didn’t, she only got minor scratches and bites.

Down on our level, Killian and Dennis were running out of large things to throw at the giant. “Next!” Dennis called out after their latest one, which had the giant stumbling so close to us I was worried he would land his ass on our fort. Having a giant sit on you doesn’t sound like the most graceful way to die.

Killian, who shone with sweat and trembled horribly, gathered his strength and screamed: “Becnytt!”

The giant’s ankles slammed together. Miraculously, he managed to regain his balance and didn’t fall. Before he could do anything, his wrists did the same, like someone had lassoed them together with invisible rope.

Dennis then swung one last piece of limestone at his calves, and he fell forwards. The whole tower shook on impact. It took me a while to realise that the shooting and explosions had ceased. The giant had fallen on top of the humans, who groaned and strained under his weight. Not even the strongman managed to lift the heavy mass wriggling above them.

Tusk whooped excitedly. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” he laughed.

“It’s not over yet,” Charon said grimly. He wasn’t looking at the giant — he was looking at the sky.

Elvira was being swarmed. The harpies had decided to focus solely on her, and the griffins weren’t about to call it quits either. They were bleeding, and one had lost its eye, but they hadn’t lost any of their fierceness.

“A battle in the sky,” I whispered. I counted everyone on the floor. Excluding the giant and the humans, there were six of us. A heavy coldness settled in my gut, and I felt my face pale. “Killian! Help her! Let us go!” I screamed desperately.

It was too late, though.

The human who had wielded the axe, the smaller one, had managed to crawl halfway out. She was holding an odd gun I’d never seen before, not even in movies. It was like a rifle, except much bigger. She aimed at the sky.

“No!” I yelled.

She pulled the trigger.

There was an immense explosion in the sky. It separated the ball of swarming creatures. Harpies and griffins went flying, limp and lifeless, some in pieces and others somewhat intact. Blood and guts rained on the tower, but none got into our fort even through the skylight.

I didn’t spot Elvira until I saw a dark mass fly off the tower. It wasn’t in slow motion, like in movies. One second she was there — bloody, scorched, flaccid like a rag-doll — and the next, she was gone.

—

I only remember bits here and there, like pictures in a slide show. The fortress of rubble and furniture falling apart around us, crawling out and immediately slipping on blood. The first sign of fear on the blonde woman’s face when I looked at her. Turning around while Tusk finished the job. Killian and I leaning against each other, not sure who was supporting who.

I remember tumbling down some stairs, hearing the adults call after us as Amelia and I retrieved my things from the bathroom on 24th floor. Everything was still safely behind the mirror. I briefly considered leaving them there. I didn’t want anything more to do with prophecies or magic.

The lawyers came to pick us up. They had a bigger car this time, a van, but the driver was the same. Elias had things to do. He wasn’t joining us yet. At some point during the car ride, I fell asleep.

I didn’t wake up until twelve hours later in a familiar room. Natural light flowed in, filtered into a green glow by the forest of house plants. I didn’t feel physically as bad as the first time I woke up there, but my brain was mush. A part of me believed that if I walked into the kitchen, Elvira would be sitting there smoking her Newports.

Maybe that’s why it took me so long to get up. I much rather stayed on my mattress and stared at the ceiling, pretending everything was okay. Maybe if I ignored the world for long enough, it would ignore me back and I could stay there forever.

The sun was setting when someone finally entered the room. It was Bryan Berger, the lawyer with the auburn hair, Barbara Bullock’s husband. He had changed out of his suit and wore a t-shirt and joggers instead. He was holding two bowls of soup.

I sat up and Bryan gave me a bowl. It was scorching hot going down my throat, but I didn’t mind. Bryan sat on the floor cross-legged with his own soup. He waited for it to cool down, though.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked between spoonfuls.

“You caused quite the ruckus. A lot of work for Barb and I,” Bryan said. He laughed good-naturedly. “I don’t mind, really. It’s good a good job we do.”

“What… exactly is it that you do?” I said.

“Someone has to make sure us humans don’t find out about your lot’s shenanigans,” Bryan said.

“You’re a human?” I said.

“Just don’t go spreading it around too much,” he answered and winked.

“I won’t,” I promised.

“Elias says you can stay here as long as you want. All of you,” Bryan said. He finally tasted some soup, and seemed satisfied with its temperature. “Your uncle is still recovering, and it will take him a while. Amelia and Charon only had minor injuries, they’re perfectly fine. Tusk has gone back to Chicago to run his restaurant.”

He hadn’t mentioned Elvira, and I didn’t dare to say her name out loud. Instead, I asked: “Is Elias not here?”

“He’s still in Chicago. He’ll be back soon, I’m sure,” Bryan said. He didn’t talk for a while; we just ate our soups quietly. Then, he asked: “How much do you remember?”

“Not a lot,” I admitted.

“Hmm,” Bryan hummed. He finished his soup and set the bowl on the floor. It clunked hollowly. “You might want to ask your friends to fill you in.”

“Why can’t you do that?” I asked.

“It’s not my place,” Bryan said. “Are you finished?”

I gave him my bowl, and he walked away with them. He left the door open.

I finally stood up and walked to the mirror. I was dressed in simple cotton trousers and shirt, and I had fuzzy wool socks on my feet. My hair was greasy, and my eyes tired. There was a pile of clothes folded neatly on the floor next to the mirror. My eyes widened as I realised they were the clothes I had worn before turning into a crow.

I took the shirt off. My shoulder was bandaged, but I couldn’t feel the injury. In fact, I couldn’t feel anything in the area. Someone must’ve applied some sort of a numbing potion there.

As I changed into my old clothes, something clattered onto the floor. It was the bracelet I’d found in Elvira’s old room. I must have stood there and stared at it for a good five minutes before I picked it up and put it around my wrist.

The prophecy, my dad’s rosary and the Dead Witch’s finger were on the desk next to a small leather drawstring bag. I shook it around; it was empty. I put the bone and prophecy inside it, pulled the strings tight and stuffed the bag into my pocket. I hung the rosary around my neck and hid the cross under my shirt like usual.

I finally left the room. I walked into the dining room, where everyone else was finishing up. Everyone except Charon, which was odd. I sat next to Amelia, who had a steaming cup of tea in front of her, and gave her a one-armed hug. She hugged me back and pressed her face against my good shoulder.

She didn’t need to say anything. We understood each other perfectly.