Hado gracefully lifted and planted both wide paws on the tailgate next to me, positioning himself next to Abbi. His gray eyes were smooth stones beneath clear cold river water.
She pulled her pestle and mortar out of her pocket and leaned forward, tipping up on the toes of her sneakers, her eyes bright and sharp. She whispered something across the mortar—a small verse that slipped in and out of my brain like a half-remembered lullaby—stirring her words with the pestle. Then she pressed the tip of her finger on my lips.
The threads snapped so suddenly, I inhaled through my nose, a great breath like I’d been unable to fill my lungs for days. Years.
Abbi studied my face, before she leaned back and looked at my chest, my arms and hands, and finally, my legs and feet. “I don’t see any other strings. Do you feel any more?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Can you say what the Hush didn’t want you to say?” Lu asked.
“Mother Hush wants me to find the book.” My exhale was a little shaky, filled with the relief of being able to speak. “Return it to her, the Strange weave. That’s what she called it.”
“Strange weave,” Val said, appearing on the other side of Lu. “Does that mean the whole book?”
He was growing more solid than when he’d first returned. His wolf was clearer too. But bruises still blackened his eyes, and scrapes, cuts, and bite marks reddened his skin.
“I’ve seen that book,” Abbi said.
“Where?” Lu asked.
“Well, Earth,” she said like that narrowed it down. Maybe it did, for a creature like her. “The Hush wanted it too. Wanted me to find it.”
“Do you know where it is?” I asked.
“No, but I can hear it sometimes. I have really good ears, because, you know: rabbit. If I’m close enough, I’ll hear it, no matter how well it’s hidden.”
So that was why Cupid wanted us to find her. That was why the Hush had trapped her Shadow. They thought she’d find the book for them.
I still didn’t like the idea of her getting mixed up in our promise to a god. But that same god had told us to do the right thing. Was leaving her behind right?
Danube wandered over, trying to make it look like he’d just decided to go for a stroll and had accidentally ended up at our truck.
“Hello, Lu. Brogan. Hello, Abbi.”
Abbi rolled her eyes at him. “I’m going to miss you.”
That admission stopped Danube dead in his tracks, his palms down and outward at either side, like he’d just realized he was walking a tightrope.
Val snorted, and Danube’s gaze ticked that way, then back to Abbi.
“I’m going to miss you too,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets and closing the distance. “Are you going to let her go with you?”
We hadn’t had time to discuss it. Hadn’t had time to decide if letting one more person into our life was what we needed or wanted.
But Lu nodded. “We can take her down the road a bit. For at least a little while. You’re not going to help us find the book though, Abbi. That’s our oath to fulfill, and we don’t want to put you in danger.” Lu held up her hand to stop Abbi’s reply.
“When you decide you’ve been on the road enough and want something else, then you are free to follow that path. Without worrying about us. Okay?”
“Yes,” Abbi said, the excitement fizzing off her like a shaken bottle of soda water. “I promise I’ll let you know if I want to leave. And if I need help, I’ll call on the Riggs and Kearneys. I know they’ll hear me.”
“We always will,” Danube agreed.
“This is so exciting!” Abbi spun and trotted toward the house. “Crossroads. Can I pack some moon balls? I’m going on a road trip!”
“That is not how I thought we’d be continuing the journey,” I said.
Lu shifted so she could look at me. “Did you want to say no? We still can.”
