"I would be, too." Will said as he eased the BMW into a space at the very back of the parking lot. "Wonder if we can pick up few girls with our other purchases? There's sure to be a few cute ones around here somewhere."

"You're on the market again?" I asked, surprised. "What about tiny Penn the Destroyer? You said you were on a mission from God or something, trying to get her to go out with you."

He pulled the keys from the ignition and stared at them as they swung on his finger. "I gave up. She doesn't want anything to do with me. It took a while, but I realized stalking her made me look like a loser." Will gave me a half-smile. "Seems you were right about that."

"Sorry, man."

We got out of the car and the wind almost sliced me open. Even though I'd been home awhile, I had trouble adjusting to the cold after being in the Kalahari. I turned up the collar of my jacket and struggled along behind Will, using him as a shield against the blowing sleet. Cars had churned up the slush in the parking lot, which froze into uneven ruts almost immediately. I was so busy watching where to step, I almost missed seeing an old lady carrying several shopping bags take a header on the icy sidewalk ahead of us. She floundered a moment, but wasn't able to get up on her own. Will and I exchanged looks and took off at a hazardous jog.

Will caught up to her first, sliding on the ice to reach her side. "Ma'am, you okay?"

The old lady blinked up at him. "Young man, I seem to be on the ground."

"It looks that way," Will said, smiling as I joined him. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "Just my pride."

"Aw, we all bruise that every once in a while," Will said. "May I have the honor of helping you up?"

"You certainly may. Just don't ask me to dance afterward." The lady chuckled and held out her arms.

Will lifted her as if she didn't weigh more than a cat and helped her to a bench on the sidewalk while I gathered up her shopping bags. What chafed me about the whole thing is that no one else had even bothered to stop and ask what was wrong. People hurried by without so much as a glance.

"Now then, where's your car?" Will asked. "We can walk you there, if you want."

"Oh, I had to park a ways out," the woman said. She cast us a worried glance. "It's a far walk."

"I have an idea." Will fished his car keys out of his pocket. "How about I go get it for you? And just so you don't think I'm trying to steal your car, here are the keys to my BMW. If I take off, you can keep it."

The lady gave him a playful slap on the arm. "You're a mess. But if you'd like my ten-year-old Chrysler instead of that BMW, I'm happy to trade."

Will exchanged keys with her, and I stayed behind to make sure she was okay. She smiled at me. "Your friend is something else."

That made me laugh. "You have no idea. Are you sure you aren't hurt or anything?"

"Oh, a few bruises, but I'm tougher than I look." She patted my hand. Her fingers were gnarled with arthritis, but they were strong.

Will arrived in the woman's car and he helped her inside while I loaded up her trunk. She blew us kisses before driving away.

"Guess we're one up on good deeds today," Will said. "Let's go eat before we shop. I'm starving."

"When aren't you starving?" I asked.

"When aren't you starving?" he countered.

"Hmmagood point. Pizza's on me."

We headed back to the mall's entrance, but a flash of auburn hair stopped me dead in my tracks.

Ella was standing on the sidewalk on the other side of the mall entrance, watching us. And she wasn't alone. Tiny Penn stood next to her, staring our direction with her mouth slightly open.

Will skidded to a halt. "I kind of forgot to tell you something."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Penn and Ella are besties now. They started hanging out a few weeks after you left. They work at an after-school center together, taking care of kindergartners in the afternoons, and they're pretty tight these days."

Irony must really hate my ass. And Will's. "Well, we can't stand out here in the sleet, staring at them, without looking like a couple of desperate idiots."

"No," Will said. "We can't."

Neither of us moved.

Penn tugged at Ella's coat and they had a quiet conversation, hiding their mouths behind mittened hands, obviously talking about us. This would've been a good time to leave but Will and I couldn't seem to take a step. Penn nodded at something Ella said, then flitted in our direction. Ella turned the other way, heading for the parking lot. My stomach sank in disappointment. No offense to Will, but I'd hoped for the opposite scenario.

Penn, bundled up in a pink coat and wearing a gray watch cap with pink seals printed on it, stopped two feet in front of Will and put her hands on her hips. "Was that you, helping that older lady just now?"

"Who, Gladys?" he asked.

I turned to him. "Was that her name?"

"Yeah. She made me give her my address so she can send me a scarf. She's gonna make one for you, too."

"Sweet," I said, knowing I'd have to wear it if Mamie ever heard about my boy scout behavior. Hopefully it'd be a manly scarf, navy blue cashmere or something, instead of one made out of red yarn with a teddy bear pattern decorating the ends.

Penn looked between us. "Seriously? You even drove her car up for her."

Will shrugged. For once he wasn't acting like an overstuffed jerk or a stammering dork in front of her. He'd really given up. "Falling on ice sucks, no matter how old you are."

Penn glanced at me. "Does he do this kind of thing often?"

Confused, I said, "Well, yeah. Somebody needs help, we take care of it."

In more ways than one, but that wasn't something we could explain.

"Huh. That's what Ella said, too. I just wanted to hear it from you." Penn rummaged in her purse and pulled out a purple Sharpie. "Hold out your hand."

Will's forehead wrinkled but he pulled off his glove and held out his right hand. Penn scrawled something on his palm. "That's my cell and I'll be sorely disappointed if you don't text me within the next twenty-four hours. Don't make me regret it, Giant-Will-from-Billings."

"I won't," Will said, smiling. "But only if I can call you Tiny-Penn-the-Destroyer."

"Oh, my God, I love that!" she said, laughing. "It's true, too. So be careful what you wish for."

With that, she hurried to the curb where Ella's Mazda now waited. I turned my attention to Ella, wondering what she'd told Penn about us to make her change her mind about Will. Ella gave me a small smile, then pulled away.

A pang caught my heart. More than a month in Africa, and the sight of her was enough to knock the air out of my lungs.

"You stole my nickname for her, man," I said, following Will into the mall. "Stole it and I got no credit."

"Nah, I just borrowed the nickname," he said. "But pizza's on me now."

"Deal."

Christmas turned out to be kind of great. Mom gave me a compass that had been my Grandpa's and Mamie had surprised me; the sweater was a plain, hunter-green V-necka"no dogs. That night, having eaten enough ham and green bean casserole to feed half the Army, I went to my room to chill before bed. Will and I would leave at six a.m. to catch our flight to D.C. to meet the team and travel back to Botswana. Will, for once, was bummed to leave home. He'd already taken Penn out twice, and kept moaning about leaving her behind.

"But I only just kissed her the first time last night," he'd told me Christmas Eve. "She's so little, I had to pick her up off the floor to do it right. Then she told me if I didn't put her down, she'd have to throw an elbow. I kissed her again, thinking she was kidding, and she elbowed me in the ribs, but she was laughing, too. It was awesome."

That mental image made me laugh, but it was hollow. "You tell her where we're going?"

"No, not yet. I mean, I want to, but it's too soon. I like her a lot, so I thought I'd give it a little time to see if works out before blowing my cover. I told her we were going skiing." Will was quiet a moment. "But I'll miss her, you know?"

"Yeah." Now he knew how it felt to leave a girl behind, but I didn't razz him about it much. Instead, I held onto the hope that someday I'd have a girlfriend again, someone who'd be waiting for me to come home so she could kiss all my bruises and make them better.

Which made the next half hour fairly ironic.

Just as I settled in to read, Brent flung my door open without knocking, carrying a plastic shopping bag of all things. I glanced up at him, annoyed. "What the hell, dude? You born in a barn or something?"

He grunted. "I wanted to talk to you. Man-to-man."

That sounded ominous. I sat up slowly and put my magazine on the nightstand. So far we'd maintained, if not world peace, Archer-family-no-broken-dishes peace. Had Brent decided he'd had enough strained politeness? I crossed my arms and leveled a cool stare at him. "I was trying to rest up for my trip. What do you want?"

"Not to fight, so justasettle down." Brent ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, look, Mom said you've dated around a little bit."

I got an uneasy feeling. "Not as much as you'd think. Why?"

He cleared his throat, looking really embarrassed all of a sudden. "Anybody ever talk to you?"

Oh, God, we were having that talk? I'd rather take on a pack of rabid hyenas than endure this. "I'm almost seventeen, jackass. Of course somebody's talked to me. Mom, for one." I still had nightmares about the chat we had when I was eleven. "And Uncle Mike, like, a dozen times."

That earned me a mischievous grin. "I don't mean the basics, stupid. There's more to this stuff than health class leads you to believe, and I've been busy the last few years, so you might want to listen."

My jaw dropped open. "Wait, what?"

"I'm here to impart some wisdom. Like what'll get you past second base and what'll get you slapped upside the head. Or why being in a hurry is the worst thing you can do, and when to back off. I can also tell you how to be careful, but not boring or a total klutz." He twitched an eyebrow. "Got any interest in that kind of advice?"

"Hell yes!" I burst out, thinking it was about time someone told me something useful.

Brent grinned wider and started filling me in. The next twenty minutes were some of the most educational of my life; by the end, my eyes were popped open as wide as they'd go. And my brother, if his stories were even halfway true, was a freaking genius. Too bad I was between girlfriends, because this newfound knowledge was begging for a tryout.

Assuming Tink didn't interfere.

"Got all that?" Brent asked after wrapping up the fine points.

I nodded, ticking off the big rules: "Back off the second you're asked, don't ever assume anything, always call the next day and, whatever you do, never wear ratty underwear on a dateajust in case."

"Right." Brent stood to go, and held up the mysterious plastic bag. "I got you a present. Merry Christmas." He removed a box of condoms, opened the top drawer of my nightstand, dropped the box inside, then slammed the drawer shut. "And Matt? I am proud of you, even if I'm kind of a butthead about it sometimes."

After he swaggered out of my room, I stared at my nightstand like it might explode. I also couldn't help thinking maybe Brent wasn't the jerk I'd made him out to be.

Chapter Nineteen.

"Is it always so hot?" Will asked, wiping his forehead. "I'm baking."

I cast him a worried glance. He'd been fidgety and green around the gills ever since we landed in Botswana. The ride out to camp had been a nightmare. Will couldn't seem to sit still; he kept rubbing the back of his neck and looking over his shoulder.

"What's up, dude?" I asked. "You're acting like you have fire ants in your boxers."

Johnson chuckled in the front seat, but everyone else was too tired to comment. Even Tyson-the-monster-freak was quiet for once, not going on and on about what we'd find after the eclipse.

Will blinked rapidly and shook his head. "I don't know. I just feel...wrong. I'm wound up tighter than a nun at a strip club."

Uncle Mike groaned. "Cruessan, really?"

I choked back a laugh. "We're almost to camp. You can sleep while Ramirez gives his briefing. By dinner time you'll feel better. It's cooler then."

Ramirez and Murphy were waiting when we pulled into camp. I sent Will staggering toward our tent, then went to meet them. They were using the "casino" tent as HQ now. Brandt gave them a surly look, but didn't comment on the fact his playpen had been taken over by a superior officer.

"Major," I said, "Archer reporting for duty."

Ramirez nodded, ignoring Murphy's snort. "Ready for that blood-red moon?"

I glanced at the sky. The sun blazed down like a laser even though it was early evening. In thirty-three hours, though, the eclipse would begin and dark would reign. What would come out of the desert when it did? "We'll see."

Tyson trotted by, carrying a couple of large equipment crates. "I hope we get something cool this time, sir! The Cats were interesting, but I'm hoping for something moreagnarly."

Ramirez shot me a horrified look. "What does he mean by *gnarly,' exactly?"

"He has a monster fetish," I said. "He scares me a little, to be honest. But Colonel Black said his references all checked out, so maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"Don't that beat all." Murphy stared at Tyson's back. "I'll keep an eye on him, just the same."

"If anybody can, it's you, Murph," I said, relieved. "Anything happen while we were gone?"

The official report had been boring. Interviews of more villages, a few random disappearances, but no monster sightings.

Ramirez touched his knife's handle. "Buzzing every so often, but no leads. Whatever's out here is keeping a low profile."

"Mamie mentioned a god of darkness and death over the break. I thought I'd ask Zenka about it," I said. "I talked to Major Tannen, and he wants to take a scouting party out there first thing in the morning."