But today, I could not.
“That’s your murder victim.” I pointed at Rossi. “The dropped glove is behind the trash can. You figure out if it’s a problem.”
“Sorry,” Crow said, stepping forward, all smiles. “There isn’t a problem, well, other than the,” he made air quotes, “dead body. We’ve just had a little upsetting news about the upcoming wedding. The flowers are on back order.”
“Fuck this,” I said, starting across the room.
“She really wanted those flowers,” Crow fake whispered.
He had done a good job. Made the visitors feel comfortable, made them feel like everything was normal. I was the one who was supposed to do that kind of thing, but I could not give a damn.
“Jean, tell Myra I’ll be at my house. I want to see you all there within the hour.”
Footsteps followed me, but I didn’t look back. I wanted out of here, wanted out of this reality, of this place, this crime. If I could do it on my own, I’d march into hell right now, and demand the king give Ryder back to me.
But first, I needed weapons.
“You need a plan,” Odin said, strolling up beside me.
I pushed out of the building into daylight. It was sunny and beautiful, only a few puffy white clouds in the sky. Cheerful. Happy.
How could the weather be so happy? I wanted rain. I wanted hail. I wanted tornado and wild fire.
“I’m driving.” Odin opened the driver’s door to my Jeep. I wanted to fight him for it. I wanted to yell.
“I’ll take you home,” he said, in a fatherly rumble I hadn’t heard in years. “We’ll make a plan. We’ll need weapons. We’ll need coordinates. I’ll drive.” He didn’t wait for my answer, but shoved up behind the wheel and started the engine.
I got in. I didn’t remember closing the door, didn’t remember putting on my seatbelt. Most of the drive went by in a haze of anger.
There were too many people in my town. Brought here by an asshole leprechaun who had kidnapped Ryder.
Taken him away from me, right in front of me, in front of gods, in front of a crowd of people.
I hadn’t kept him safe—
—I shoved that away, breathing through the tightness in my chest. I hadn’t kept him safe. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to save him now.
“Myra’s here,” Odin said. “Let’s go.”
There was another blink of time, and I was out of the Jeep and walking through my front door.
Spud greeted me, tail wagging, his favorite shark stuffy in his mouth.
“Not now, Spud,” I said, pushing past him and rounding on my sister who was in the kitchen. “Where’s Bathin?”
She placed two mugs of something hot on the kitchen island, then wrapped me in a hug.
“Don’t—”
She squeezed tighter. “We’ll get him back,” she said. “We will kill the leprechaun, we will kill the Brute of all Evil. We will get him back.”
“I know,” I said. “Let go.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Don’t,” I said.
“You didn’t fail him.”
