Maybe if the situation were different, it would have been incredible; instead, my nerves were on edge as we flew closer to earth. I couldn’t stop worrying about Papa and Eleni. Papa was not going to be happy that I came back, but I had a good reason. Well, actually, I had several: (1) Eleni hadn’t met us at the school as planned; (2) someone needed to help deal with the new threat from the Alsar prisoners; and most importantly, (3) the Lord of Shadows had broken through the first perimeter, so the celestials already had their hands full.

It was near sunset when we descended toward our neighborhood. From the sky, everything almost looked the same. I could see the mural of the block party on the side of the gyro restaurant, the statue of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable in the park, and the abandoned train tracks next to the supermarket. The third perimeter—the one that Papa had created—formed a shiny dome around the entire neighborhood.

The peacocks set down a few blocks away in an intersection that normally would be busy, but no one was in sight. The whole area was eerily silent. Stray shadows slithered across the sidewalks and crawled up the sides of buildings. I pulled on my peacock’s reins to encourage it to move forward, but it only protested and turned in circles.

“You’d think they could have taken us closer,” Eli complained.

“I think this is the closest we’re going to get,” Frankie said, brushing the back of her peacock’s head. “They’re scared.”

When we climbed off the peacocks, they trotted away and took flight.

“Well, well,” Black Mamba drawled, stepping in our path. He wore a bright red fedora low on his forehead, but it didn’t hide the blood swirling in the whites of his eyes. “Now, why y’all acting all surprised?”

Nice of him to think that we were “acting” surprised. Surprises were for birthday parties and magic tricks. It was not for vampires popping up in your neighborhood, looking thirsty.

“Can’t say we’re happy to see you,” I groaned as my staff began to glow.

“I don’t believe that I’ve properly been introduced to your two friends here.” The adze dipped his chin. “I’m called Black Mamba, and this is my enclave.”

The other adze transformed in the shadows, where they’d been hidden in their firefly state. They grew into gray masses with specked skin, hunched backs, and sharp talons.