But one look at the stubborn set of her jaw, and I knew she’d never let me set her aside like that, not even if I did everything to convince her of my good intent.
“Could be a monument,” I said. “Some sort of natural formation. A rock. A cave.”
“Maybe,” she said. “You can search for ‘rabbit’ on my phone. See if something turns up.”
“I don’t like that thing.”
“You should get used to it.”
“Why would I do that?”
She squinted and went silent.
We’d started our backtracking and were headed roughly northeast, just out of Doolittle. If the rabbit Bo wanted us to find was an actual rabbit, I hoped it would hop up alongside the road where we could spot it.
“This world, the living world, has changed,” she said, “since you were in it.”
I grunted.
She waited a while longer. I picked at the weatherstripping on the window.
“Technology, like a cell phone, is an important way to navigate the world now. Vital. Just like learning to drive—”
“I know how to drive,” I interrupted.
She inhaled and waited, shifting how she was gripping the wheel. “Yes. Knowing how to drive is important to navigating the world. Especially how we live, you and I. On the Route.”
My hands were in fists now, the dirt from the weatherstripping stuck under my nails, making them ache.
Lorde sensed my discomfort and tapped her fuzzy tail.
It took a second, two, then I unclenched my hands and buried my fingers in her soft fur, petting her gently.
“Okay,” I finally said, voice dry. I swallowed and tried again, this time tossing a smile her way. “Give me that devil’s box and talk me through it.”
“I can do it,” Valentine said. “I know how to use a phone.”
“I don’t need your opinion,” I groused.
“Me or Val?” Lu handed me her phone.
“Val. Your opinion I’ll always want.”
“Good. Then I have some things to say about your cooking.”
“Nope,” I interrupted. “My cooking is five stars. Let’s focus on the hand computer.”
“Phone. It’s a phone, Brogan.”
“It’s mostly not.” I bent to study the screen and poked at it. Nothing happened.
“You turn it on here,” Val said, his ghostly arm coming down from behind me to wave in front of my face.
“I can see where it turns on, Val. Stop. Look. How old were you when you died?”
He pulled his arm back. “Thirty-two. Why?”
“What year was it?”
