Everything in me wanted to wrap her up in a blanket and hide her away out here, where I knew she wouldn’t be hurt. But I needed every advantage I could get.
I shoved the duffle under some scrub brush. I might need some items, but lugging it around in the house would hamper my movements.
“I hate this,” I said, staring at the house. “Taking you in there, risking… You could get hurt. I don’t want to… You could get lost.”
“It’s gonna be okay.” Abbi took my hand, and the warm strength of her conviction, of her power trickled into me.
“Why bring her here? Why would a god hide here in Oklahoma when the universe is their playground?”
Abbi shrugged. “You’re here. Lula’s here. I think that’s what Mat God wants. You.”
“And Lula,” I said.
“Mat God has her.”
“Not for long. When we find her, you’re going to grab her and run as fast as you can.”
“Oh, yeah. Sure. Run away.”
“With Lula.”
“I’m good at running. Really good. But she doesn’t really do that. Run away.”
“You’re going to make her do it. You’re strong. You have power. Hado can carry her. You can make her run away.”
She scrunched up her face. “I’ll try.”
“Good. Let’s go find a god.”
I moved toward the house,crouched low so as not to draw any attention. Abbi rolled her eyes and headed to the house like she was strolling down the lane for ice cream.
Lorde moved with me, tuned into my distress and the danger ahead.
Thoughts rolled through my mind on repeat.What if Lula’s hurt? What if she’s being tortured?And the worst:what if she’s dead?
I’d know. I’d know if she were dead. I spared a breath to pray Death wouldn’t answer his door for her soul.
Abbi paused in front of the postage stamp of a porch on the postage stamp of a house. It was a ranch-style home, painted something lighter than the night—tan maybe—with asphalt roofing and sagging gutters that needed the leaves dumped out of them.
The night was darker than night, and the wind was quiet in the surrounding crabapple trees. I should have noticed how hot it was, because summer nights like this, with clouds squatting the sky, were always humid in Oklahoma. But I didn’t feel the night’s heat. Didn’t feel the heavy air.
Abbi’s power, Abbi’s shadow, kept the world at arm’s length.
“Do we go in this way?” She pointed at the front door. It looked like any other front door. Nothing magic. Nothing unusual.
“Let’s walk around.” We made our way through dry grass, almost hip-high, flattening a path as we went. A split-wood fence separated the yard from an old orchard. From the dense, overgrown weeds, this place hadn’t been tended in years.
Even so, there was something almost too perfect about how it was overgrown. As if an artist had drawn this land and added things: a fallen log with a hillock rising next to it; a fence post leaning just so with a small bird’s nest balancing on top; a patch of Queen Anne’s Lace catching moonlight.
It looked charming and harmless.
It felt fake and dangerous.
This place was an illusion, a hood hiding the cobra’s fangs.
“How long will your shadow hide us?” I asked Abbi.
“All night. Day is harder.”
