“Does the man in your story know what the Hush asked him to look for?”
Val leaned over me, solid enough, I couldn’t see the trees or sky through him. “Do you?”
I turned my focus inward. I could remember the cave, the voices, the Mother Hush. I could remember the magic, the hand of the other creature shoving me around.
But I could not remember what it was she wanted me to find.
I shook my head.
“That’s not very helpful, boyo,” Val said. “Is it the rabbit?”
“Is it the rabbit?” Lu asked.
“No,” I said, “and that’s me talking. It’s not the rabbit.”
“Okay, so we need answers,” she said. “We can do that. We can find answers. We know people who know magic. People who have answers.”
“Not Crossroads,” I whined.
“Absolutely, Crossroads. You don’t have to like Erica—Ricky—for us to get information out of her.”
“I like her just fine,” I lied.
I heaved up so Lu and I were now facing each other, shoulder to shoulder each looking opposite directions but choosing to stare at each other instead. “I just don’t like how much she likes you.”
She blinked several times, then her eyebrows rose. “That sounds totally reasonable.”
“I just…I just think she’s a little too happy to see you any time you stop by.”
A teasing smile played at the corners of her mouth, and I could tell she was fighting back a grin. “She’s only happy to see me because I bake for her.”
“I don’t think that’s it.”
She laughed, and I jumped down out of the back of the truck, annoyed I’d admitted even that much. I wasn’t jealous.
“Brogan, no,” she chuckled, reaching out to grab at my arm. “I just had no idea me being there bothered you. You’ve never told me before.” She hopped out of the truck and slammed the tailgate into place, then dusted her hands.
I strolled off toward Lorde.
“Like I’d waste the little time I had with you talking about Ricky.” And, yes, I heard how her name came out of my mouth.
“You could have. If it was bothering you this much, I would have liked to have known. I would have visited her less.”
“It didn’t matter,” I said. “Not enough for me to ask you to stop doing something you liked doing.”
“I like her because she knows what I am.” She moved over to the driver’s door and opened it so she could lean there half behind it. “I don’t have to hide or pretend around her. And she has more information about magic, lore, and supernatural items than I’ll ever gather in a lifetime. Several lifetimes.”
“Plus she has that fancy kitchen, and you like to bake.” I gave her a little smile over my shoulder.
She smiled back. “I do. And this time I get to bake for you.”
“Sounds like you’re looking forward to that.”
“You have no idea how much.”
I turned back to our dog because that look on Lu’s face, all the heart in her words, was more than a mere mortal like me could bear.
Chapter Nine
