Abbi nodded, her eyes searching and finding Val. “Valentine?”
He straightened, surprised. “Of course I’ll go. I tried once, on my own. I think I found him then. It’s not far away. Near the Meramac.”
She broke out a huge smile. “I’m so excited! We’ll find him. I know we will. I’ll get some bags for the moon balls.” She trotted into the kitchen and began opening and closing cupboards.
“This is a terrible idea,” Danube said.
“Probably,” I agreed. “Won’t be the first we’ve had. I don’t suppose you have any weapons or protection against the Hush?” I asked Ricky.
She ran fingers through her shaggy hair, leaving some of it stuck up a bit. “I do.” She stood and stared at the ceiling again, as if reading the contents in the crannies of the entire house written on pages up there.
“Let me see what I can pull together.” She left the room and, interestingly, Val spooked off to follow her.
That left me and Lu and the angry werewolf, all of us listening to Abbi’s off-key warble as she sang along to the radio.
“She has a terrible singing voice,” I noted.
Danube flashed me a fast grin. “She does.” He finally moved away from the wall, closing the distance between us.
“I shouldn’t have let her come here.”
“Could you have stopped her?” Lu asked.
He considered it, then his shoulders slumped. “No. But the pack will be furious.”
“You could call them. Bring them into this,” I said.
He exhaled and shook his head. “She didn’t want them here. She didn’t think they would help. She may have been right. Fewer people going into the caverns will be less noticeable. Maybe we’ll finally find him and bring him out without waking the Hush.
“But if we lose her…”
“We won’t,” I said. “I promise.”
“These are old hills, Brogan Gauge, and even older magics move within them. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.” He turned toward the kitchen, and soon was helping Abbi open and close doors, looking for those bags.
“I don’t like you going back in those caverns,” Lu said.
“I wasn’t really there. I was dreaming.”
“Dreams are real, Brogan. So is the dream realm.”
I shifted so she fell into me more, and she went with the motion, resting her head on my shoulder.
“I don’t like you going either,” I said.
“I can take care of myself.” She was tight, ready for a fight.
I inhaled, held it, then rubbed my thumb over her shoulder until I felt her relax slightly. “I know you can. I still don’t like you going, so we’re even.”
She nodded.
“This might be the part Bo wants us to do,” I said. “The ‘right thing’ he’s trusting we’ll know.”
“If we should even trust Bo,” she said. “He knew what that book was. God powers? God spells? Why wouldn’t he tell us?”
I just hummed, because right now, there were too many unknowns for me to see the whole picture.
Abbi sang louder and Danube told her she was killing his will to live. She upped the volume on the radio so she could shout the lyrics, which made Danube groan. There was the sound of a tussle, and I felt Lu stiffen in my arms.
