“Privacy would be nice.”
“There are two people on this planet who can hear me. Ricky, who threatened to break our connection if I didn’t shut up, and you.”
“And Cupid.” I threw the towel on the sink, stripped, and got into the shower.
“Who isn’t here and doesn’t really give a damn about me.”
I poured shampoo into my palm and scrubbed it into my hair, then over my face and stubble. It smelled like limes and coconut.
“I’ve been thinking about the Hush,” Val said.
I stuck my head under the water. The sloppy splat of soap hitting the drain didn’t drown out Val’s voice.
“Trying to figure out why they bound Rabbit’s Shadow. What do they want with him? What are they doing with him?”
“Does it matter?” I asked.
“It should. I lost my life for it. You were injured. Lu was possessed. Why do they want Abbi?”
“She’s an ancient spirit. Powerful.”
“Why is Cupid looking for her?”
I grabbed the green bar of soap and scrubbed. “Do yourself a favor and don’t try to understand the minds of gods.”
“God of connections and destruction though, right? Bringing people together, tearing them apart?”
“Yep.” I leaned a shoulder on the wall and scrubbed the bottom of my feet. “So?”
“Bo told you to do the right thing. That might mean taking Abbi to him.”
I rotated under the spray, moving so it could loosen the knots in my back. “Maybe.”
“Turning her over to a god might not be a good idea. I’ve heard, well, it’s been said for a long time, that the gods are at war.”
“Yep. Powerful beings can’t help but spit on each other’s shoes.”
“Is Abbi a pawn in that? Gods spitting on gods?”
“There hasn’t been another god looking for her. Not even one of the moon goddesses. If she’s a pawn, no one’s claiming her. I think Abbi can make her own choices when we get her back.”
“Have you read the legends about the Moon Rabbit?”
“Have you?”
“Just this morning. In one of them she pounds a pestle and mortar. You know what some legends say she’s making?”
“Moon cakes?”
“Yeah, some say that. Some say medicine for mortals.”
I turned off the taps and shoved aside the shower curtain. “All right.”
“Other tales say she’s making the elixir of life. For immortals.”
It might have just been the drafty old house, but goosebumps prickled across my skin. “Huh.”
“I’m thinking the Hush…you saw them. Do you think they’d want that? The elixir of life?”
