“That’s not. I’m not worried about…”
Abbi yanked the door handle and shouldered the door open. She hopped out, Hado trotting beside her.
“Damn it.” I grabbed the duffle and pushed out the driver’s side. Lorde was with me, silent as the night, no longer just a happy dog, but a formidable hunter.
I should tell her to stay behind too. The memory of her jumping between Lula and the Hunter’s gun flashed through me, making my breath stutter.
I snapped my fingers so softly I couldn’t hear it. Lorde came to heel, moving with me as if we’d been doing this for years.
And in a way, we had been. Even when I was in spirit form, she’d been able to see me and understand me.
Abbi jogged ahead of us, her white hair trackable even in this darkness. She moved quietly and quickly. Hado must have been beside her, but was invisible. She paused at the mouth of the driveway, waiting for me to catch up.
“You need to wait behind—”
“Do you think we should use our coins?”
“What?”
“The Cupid dimes. Should we call him? Would he fight that Mat god?”
Maybe. It wasn’t a bad idea. Cupid had given us the dimes to call him if we needed him. He said he’d know if we were trying to reach him. I stuck my hand into my front pocket where I’d left the dime.
“Or do you think the Mat god would hear the dime too?” Abbi asked.
I held very still and blew out a breath. My head was still pounding, from the injury, from being rejected by death, from losing a week’s time. Whatever healing magic was in the earring, I was pretty sure I’d tapped it out.
But before I took another step, I needed to be a lot smarter. I needed to think through my actions.
I didn’t want to tip off the other god. Not yet.
“We’ll call him as soon as we find Lula,” I said. “Until then, don’t use the dime.”
“Is this a plan? Did we make a plan? We’re so good at this.”
I crouched and opened the duffle. There was a med kit, which I pushed aside, a blanket, an entire tub of wet wipes. Rope, wire that looked like it’d been in the duffle for a few seasons, and the harmonica Lu had taken from the storage unit.
I didn’t know how Eunice had gotten a hold of it, but having to deal with three gods in two days made me not care to work out the details. It was magic. I was glad it had been returned to us, safe. Just as I intended for Lu to return to me, safe.
“Why do you have a dagger in your belt?” Abbi asked. “Is it magic? Will it stab a god?”
“It will stab a god.” I dug through the remaining items Eunice had packed. A change of one-size-fits-all sweatshirt and sweatpants, an adjustable wrench, a hammer, a bag of pretzels, and a box of cookies.
In the corner was a small wooden box that hummed with magic. I used the sleeve of the sweatshirt to pick it up. Polished a deep brown with streaks of ruby and gold, it had a simple brass clasp.
I took a breath and opened it.
The scent of cedar reached me. It was empty. Open, it appeared to be nothing more than a box. I closed it again. Definitely magic.
“The god will know we’re coming. He’s been tracking me, us, too long not to expect this,” I said. “You should stay out here, Abbi. So you can call for help once I find Lula.”
“Mat god doesn’t know we’re here,” she said.
“Gods know where I am, apparently, alive or dead.”
She shook her head. “We’re in my shadow. It’s too dark for gods to see through. I can do this for us. So we can find Lula together. We’re a team.”
Her eyes, in this darkness, in her darkness, glittered silver. I was reminded she had powers the gods did not rule.
