When Grampire finally descends the stairs in late afternoon, I’m waiting on her.

  “Hi, Grampire! Did you sleep well?”

  She looks like she really didn’t. Her pajamas somehow seem even dirtier in the daytime, and she has dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes are also a little redder than before. My body tries to send me danger signals, but I ignore them. Grampire won’t hurt me. At least, I’m seventy percent sure she won’t.

  Grampire looks me up and down. “Where’d you get the clothes?”

  I look down at myself. I’m wearing the clothes from yesterday, my favorite yellow shirt, jean shorts, and white tennis shoes. Unfortunately, these are the only actual clothes in the box. All the rest are pajamas, and I want to make a good impression on the Wizard when we see him. “My cousin, Fern, brought them to me.”

  Grampire’s lip curls. “You let a trespasser onto my property?”

  “No! We were in the river. No man’s land.”

  Grampire shakes her head wearily. “See to it that it stays that way. Stay off the dogs’ territory.”

  I fidget uncomfortably. Grampire has a way of taking all the thoughts I don’t want to think about and dragging them to the surface. “It was my territory too.”

  “Emphasis on was.” Grampire grunts as she descends the stairs. “It ain’t no more. Stay away from there or you’ll regret it.”

  I have a lot I want to say, but I can’t untangle the complicated feelings. Why should I have to stay away from my family, my home? But I know; because Uncle Adler may finish what he started. I rub my neck uneasily. The back is still sore, despite the moon’s power and Grampire’s patchwork. I’d normally be a hundred percent by now, but it’s like this wound hurts more because of where it came from. It’s not fair. None of this is fair. The sooner we get this problem solved, the sooner things can go back to normal.

  “Are we going to see the Wizard now?”

  “Yeah, yeah, give me a minute.” Grampire shuffles around her living room, cursing under her breath. She finally withdraws something from one of the trash piles—a tire iron. The danger signals from before strengthen and it’s harder to beat them back this time.

  “Umm…what’s that for?”

  “For bopping nosy kids on the head.” Grampire kicks off her slippers and shoves her feet into fuzzy blue socks, and then red crocs she unearths from a pile of garbage. She tears off her silk cap, revealing fluffy salt and pepper hair, and shoulders her tire iron. “You ready? We’re burning daylight.”

  Okay, I guess it’s time to go. I grab my phone in case I need it. Grampire seems to think we need weapons for some reason, but it’s all I’ve got. I follow her out of her house. She doesn’t bother locking her front door, which is, like, wow. Imagine being so powerful you don’t worry about anyone robbing you! Amazing. I hurry to catch up.

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  “Should we cut through here to get to his house?” I point at the path I always use.

  Grampire glares at me. “You got cotton in your ears? I said we’re not going on dog territory.”

  “No, I heard, I just…” I look forlornly at the well-worn path. My paw prints are all over it. “You’re strong, and they’re scared of you. You can go wherever you want.”

  “Listen, pup. I’m gonna learn you something.” Grampire spits on the ground before continuing. “Territory is important. You can’t just be stepping all over agreed upon boundaries. I said I’d stay off their land if they stayed off mine, and that’s what I meant.”

  I frown at where Grampire spit. The grass is sizzling. “I don’t get it. We never had territory when I lived up north.”

  “Then you were probably part of some hippy commune. Or you had nicer neighbors than me.” Grampire looks forward, her red eyes glowing in the rapidly darkening area. “You don’t ever step into someone else’s territory unless you’ve been invited, or you’re picking a fight.”

  I follow her gaze, to the Wizard’s house. Once we cross the river, we’ll be in his territory. “Are we invited?”

  Grampire glances at me. She has a half-grin on her face, exposing her single gold fang. “Nope.”

  I’m speechless and Grampire steps over the river and into the Wizard’s zone. I hesitate, but when she doesn’t look back, I leap over and join her.

  We don’t say anything as we approach the house. I’ve never seen it at night, but now it seems a lot less “friendly magical cottage” and more “horrifying dangerous shack.” Grampire doesn’t look afraid, though. When we get to the gate, she walks right through, only pausing to stare at the ruined garden.

  “I’m assuming this is where the lightning got ya.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Grampire wanders through the scorched vegetables and burnt flowers. She scrubs at a burn mark with the toe of her croc. “Miracle you’re still alive.”

  “Tell me about it! I thought I died for a second there.” I go to the place where I found the rock, but it’s not there. I dig around, but there’s nothing but ash. Maybe it evaporated? Or I swallowed it in my shock? Ugh, that’ll suck on the way out.

  “What’re you doing?” Grampire grunts from above me.

  “Looking for a rock. I found it while digging, and it had the symbol that’s on my side on it. I picked it up and the right after, lightning struck me. Do you think it was the Wizard’s security system?”

  “Hmm.” Grampire looks back at the spooky shack. “Only one way to find out.”

  Grampire strides to the front door of the shack and knocks. “Jerry? You in? It’s me.”

  The Wizard’s name is Jerry? That’s so…normal. I thought wizards had mysterious names like Agastian the Wise or something. I join Grampire at the door as she knocks again.

  “I know you hear me! Open up.”

  There’s no answer. I look at Grampire, worry sneaking into my heart. What if he’s really dead? How can we lift the curse without him? “What do we do if he’s not here?”

  “He’s here. He’s just lazy.” I flinch when Grampire kicks the door. It slams open, the top hinge bent and whining from the force. Grampire strolls inside.

  “Jerry, I know you’re in here. Don’t try to hide.”

  I watch Grampire, speechless, as she tramples inside the Wizard’s house. Everything looks old and abandoned, and spiderwebs cover the corners in thick, sticky webs. I don’t think he’s been here for a long time. But Grampire keeps looking, stomping the floor and kicking over items, until finally, she stands in front of a plush armchair. An armchair that looks a lot newer than the other furniture.

  “Get up ya lazy bum.” Grampire taps the tire iron on the head of the chair, and a man’s cough comes from it. She backs up and the chair twists and convulses, all while coughing wetly. It changes shape, narrowing and compressing until an old white man with an impressive beard is left standing in the chair’s place. He has flowy purple robes (or maybe pajamas?) and no shoes. The Wizard.

  The Wizard coughs one more time, then starts when he sees Grampire.

  “Bonecrusher? What the hell are you doing in my house?”

  Grampire grins at him. “Hey, Jerry. Let’s have a chat about removing a curse.”