I blinked. Blinked again. “You what?”
“Stole the magic book.”
“But…what about what the Bible says?”
“You think Satan should have a magic book, Brogan? Because I don’t think Satan should have a magic book.”
“He wasn’t…All right. No, I don’t think Satan should have a magic book, but I don’t think that was Satan.”
She/we shrugged. “What matters is I have a book. A magic book. You can have it if you let me talk to my sister.”
I/we lifted a hand and rubbed at my forehead. A headache was starting there, a real banger. I was out of time. Which meant I needed to choose.
Best choice: tell Stella no, and move on down the road.
“I’ll scream,” she said casually. “The entire time your wife and you are in this room. I’ll scream. The entire time you are in this town, I’ll follow you around screaming.”
Oh, good gods.
Worst choice: find a way for her to talk to her sister and get that magic book.
Lu could send it up to Mr. Headwaters, the antique dealer who was always on the lookout for magical items.
Or maybe it had something in it that would help us. Maybe the Faefolk had a spell or a curse or a song that would break our soul problem.
Maybe it would heal us.
Maybe it would point us toward the monsters who had done this to us.
Maybe it would put enough money in the bank account, Lu wouldn’t have to worry about that broken down silver truck and could buy herself a more reliable vehicle.
Maybe it would just give us an ending.
All viable routes.
I puffed out a breath. “All right,” I said. “Fine. You have a deal. I’ll find a way to get a message to your sister—”
“No, I want to talk to her. You find a way formeto talk to her.”
“Right. You get to talk to her and in return, you give the book to Lu and me. Deal?”
“Deal.”
She was buzzing with a tsunami of emotions I didn’t want to surf.
“Time to step apart,” I said. “Remember how?”
“Take one step back, my arms out straight, fingers stretched.”
“That’s it. It will feel a little like trying to pull a tight boot off by the heel.”
Her main emotion turned into determination.
“Ready?”
“Yes, I am.”
I set my feet, adding my will to my ownhereandnowandrealwhile Stella took a big breath and held it like she was ready to dive off the cliff into a river way, way down there.
