I was still watching the last of Tang Mei's body disappear inside Lingyun's fire when something struck the side of the house behind me.
The sound was sharp enough to make everyone turn.
A vine clung to the brick near the upper window, slapping its head against the wall hard enough to shake dust from the frame. Another had wrapped around the drainpipe and was pulling itself toward the roof, while the flowers along the neighboring yard folded themselves flat against the fence.
They weren't reacting to Tang Mei.
They were all facing the mansion road.
"Oh, good," I muttered. "Apparently, we were getting too comfortable."
Yuche followed my gaze before looking toward the smoke rising farther down the cul-de-sac. The metal blades he had been using beneath the infected yard lifted from the dirt, dirt clinging to their edges as they turned toward the original trench.
Zhenlan stepped beside me, his attention shifting away from the burning body. "Something's wrong near the first breach."
