Eva was still mad.
She walked ahead of Wolfen through the glowing fields of the Underworld, her boots crushing flowers that immediately regrew behind her. The letter was still clutched in her hand, the paper crumpled at the edges from her grip.
"You almost got us killed," she said without turning around.
"I didn't almost get us killed."
"You made him angry. On purpose. After he just showed us he could kill us with a thought."
Wolfen's footsteps crunched behind her, casual, unhurried. "He wouldn't have killed you."
Eva stopped walking. Turned.
"What?"
"He wouldn't have killed you." Wolfen's golden eyes met hers, calm and certain. "You're Lily's sister. He loved Lily. He wouldn't hurt you."
Eva stared at him. "But he would have killed you."
Wolfen shrugged. "Probably. But he didn't."
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Then she turned and kept walking, muttering something under her breath that sounded like "insufferable."
---
Shadow was sitting in the clearing when they reached him. His face was still pale, but the bleeding had stopped. His eyes were clear, focused. He looked tired, but he was healing.
Behind him sat something massive.
A creature that shouldn't have been able to fit in the clearing, but somehow did. It was huge—fourteen feet tall if it stood up, though it was sitting, its legs crossed, its massive paws resting on its knees. It was covered in thick black-and-white fur, round and soft and utterly ridiculous.
It looked like a panda. A giant, impossible, absurdly cute panda.
"What," Wolfen said flatly, "is that."
Shadow looked over his shoulder at the creature, then back at Wolfen. "That's Puff."
"Puff."
"Lily used him for healing." Shadow gestured vaguely at the creature. "His Pulse has a special ability. Anyone near him heals faster. He was so friendly and had such a strong healing ability that in the wild, dangerous creatures would just... sit next to him. They'd stop fighting. They'd just wait until they were healed."
Eva blinked. "He's a living health bar."
"I don't know what that means," Shadow said.
"It's a good thing."
Puff blinked slowly at them, his round face utterly content, his paws resting on his belly. He looked like he had never had a violent thought in his life.
Wolfen stared at him. "Okay. Sure. Why not."
---
Eva sat down on a fallen log, the exhaustion finally catching up to her. She rubbed her face with her hands, then looked at Wolfen.
"So now what? We know where Angstrom is. How do we convince him to stop?"
Wolfen's eyebrows rose. "Convince?"
"Convince. Yes. That's what people do when they want someone to stop doing something."
"Who said anything about convincing him?" Wolfen's voice was casual, like he was discussing the weather. "We don't need him to stop. We just need him dead."
Eva's hands dropped. "Wolfen—"
"All we need is his blood." Wolfen's tone was flat, matter-of-fact. "His blood has the ability to open portals. To cross worlds. We get enough of it, and Sasha can copy it."
Eva's face went pale. "His blood. You're talking about—"
"Not drinking it." Wolfen made a face. "That's disgusting. I'm not drinking anyone's blood. You need to stop making that assumption."
Eva blinked. "You put your finger in my wound once."
"To heal you."
"With your blood."
"To heal you. There's a difference."
Eva shook her head slowly. "So what do you do with it?"
"I give it to Sasha." Wolfen's voice dropped, becoming more serious. "She's an Alpha. Her ability is copying. She touches someone's blood, she absorbs it, she gets all their abilities. And because she's an Alpha, there's no time limit. She gets them for as long as she's alive."
Eva stared at him. "She's an Alpha?"
"You didn't know?"
"No. I didn't know that."
Wolfen shrugged. "She doesn't talk about it. But yeah. That's why she's so good at what she does."
Eva sat back. Absorbed this. Another piece of the puzzle clicking into place.
"I'm going to need to get a lot of blood," Eva said.
Wolfen nodded. "Which is why I'm going to go get it."
Eva's head snapped up. "What?"
"You've got things to deal with here." Wolfen's voice was calm, steady. "Ava and Jet. Warden. The facility. You need to figure out what to do with them. I can take care of Angstrom. I have past business with him anyway."
Eva stood. "Wolfen—"
"He'll be fine," Shadow said from behind them, his voice quiet but firm. "I'll go with him."
Eva looked between them. Wolfen's golden eyes were steady. Shadow's dark ones were resolute.
"You're sure?" she asked.
Wolfen nodded. "I'll take care of it."
Eva held his gaze for a long moment. Then she let out a breath.
"Don't die."
"I'll try."
Eva turned to Shadow. "Take me back."
Shadow raised his hand. Black liquid rose from the ground around her feet, cool and dark and waiting. She felt the familiar pull, the world starting to shift.
She looked at Wolfen one last time. "Be careful."
"Always."
The black liquid rose and swallowed her.
---
When she was gone, Wolfen stood in the glowing field of the Underworld, his hands in his pockets, his eyes fixed on the empty space where Eva had been.
Shadow stood beside him. "You didn't tell her everything."
Wolfen was quiet for a moment. Then: "No. I didn't."
"You're worried about what you'll find there."
Wolfen's jaw tightened. "I'm worried about what I'll have to do."
Shadow didn't say anything. He just waited.
Puff blinked at them from the clearing, utterly content, completely unaware of the weight in the air.
Wolfen took a breath. Let it out.
"Let's go."
Shadow nodded. The black liquid rose again, pooling around them, pulling them under.
The Underworld was quiet. The flowers glowed. Puff sat alone, healing nothing, waiting for someone to come back.