A poof of dark smoke filled my vision, then drifted off on the breeze.
Hado, the great protector, the mighty panther, was now a tiny black kitten.
Hemewed in a tremulous voice, tipping his liquid gray eyes up at Abbi.
“Perfect!” She bent and scooped him up, plunking him on her shoulder where he settled down with a very tiny, self-satisfied, panther-like smirk.
That solved the problem of people noticing we were traveling with a huge black panther.
“Can we sit by the window?” Abbi asked.
“Sure.” I swung up into the cab, Lorde shifting to put her head and paws on my thighs. She sighed happily, her ears twitching once, before she closed her eyes.
Abbi clambered up on my other side.
“Do you want me to shut the door?” I asked.
“I got it.” She slammed the heavy door with ease.
Not a child, I reminded myself.Not helpless. Which was good. The road we traveled had never been easy. I didn’t expect that to change.
She offered me the paper bag in her hand. “Do you want a moon ball? I ate all the ones with chocolate, but the plain ones are pretty good.”
I shook my head, and she stared into the bag. “Oh, there’s one more chocolate one!” She stuck her hand in, crumpling the paper as she tried to find her prize.
I draped my arm across the seat behind Lu.
She tugged her sunglasses out of the visor and settled them into place.
“Ready?” she asked.
“I am.”
She put the truck into gear and aimed it toward the road. Werewolves and hunters raised their hands in farewell, and one ghost, shouted, “I’ll see you soon, best friend, Brobro!” as we lurched off the gravel and onto the pavement.
“Does the radio work?” Abbi turned the knob.
The closing strains of a soft alto faded, and the DJ’s voice came over the airwaves.
“This is KUPD, Missouri, keeping up with those kicks on Route 66. I’m Bo, and I’m sending out a song to a couple of crazy kids, crazy in love. They’ve been through some hard times recently, gotten themselves into some twists and turns, faced some setbacks. They didn’t have a ghost of a chance against some of their troubles, but they never stopped fighting.
“I’m happy to say, with their sharp eyes, and sharper ears, they’re on the road toward what I hope is success as they search for, well, all the good things we’re searching for.
“Thanks for doing the right thing, Lu and Bro. This one’s for you.”
Abbi had gone very still, her hand hovering near the dial. The song started, Cat Stevens’ voice tumbling out, bright and hopeful.
Abbi looked over at us, old eyes in a young face. “That was Cupid.”
“Yep,” I said.
“So you really know him. Likeknow himknow him.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant. “We’ve met him. More than once. He wanted us to find you.”
She tipped her head. “Why?”
“He didn’t tell us.”
