“Then is Dominick that creature?” Ricky asked.
Lula inhaled and held that breath. I tightened my arm around her. I knew the answer. I knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
“No. I don’t think so, no.”
The tension in Lula changed, and she released the breath.
“That isn’t why we’re going to help the witches,” I said. “If we do it—fight Dominick, kill Dominick—it’s because there’s a child’s life on the line. A child in danger isn’t something we walk away from.”
Raven spread his fingers. “I know. But I brought you here for Ricky to corroborate my information. She and the house are free to check if what I say is correct.”
“We will,” Ricky promised.
“What about the hunter, Hatcher?” I said.
Lula didn’t lean away from me, but I could tell she didn’t like this change of subject.
“He touched the book,” I said.
Silence.
“He held the book, Raven,” I insisted, “back in Illinois. He took it from us and shot Lorde.”
The house darkened, and I heard a distant growl.
“Calm down,” Ricky said. “Lorde’s fine. She’s right over there.”
The growling stopped, but the house lights were still darkened. Then a pile of toys and chew bones popped into existence next to Lorde.
Lorde yipped happily and sniffed her way through the offerings. She chose a squeaky ear of corn the size of a small country.
“Your point?” Raven asked.
Lorde chewed hard, and the corn squealed. She dropped it and yipped, batting it with her feet.
“That means Lula isn’t the only one who can touch it,” I said.
Raven shrugged. “The book chooses who can touch it. But what you’re trying to point out? That Atë can just use someone like Hatcher to access the power in that book? No. The hunter would not work for her.”
“Why?”
“He’d probably explode.”
I gave him a look.
“I am capable of telling the truth, Brogan. Hatcher, if he’s human, or most other creatures, has only one soul. But you two have two souls, and each is welded to the other.” He jammed his fingers together and made a fist with both hands. “It gives you endurance. Makes you stronger. Strong enough to be a tool for a god. Well, not for me,” he unlocked his fingers. “I don’t use tools. I’m more hands on. After all, the dirty work is half the fun.”
“You asked us to bring the book to you,” Lula said.
“Ordinary. I asked you to bring it to Ordinary.”
“I don’t see you out there tracking it down,” I said.
“I think the witches have a line on it,” he said. “Haven’t I mentioned that yet?”
“Isn’t that convenient,” Ricky said. “The witches find the book while Lula and Brogan put their necks on the line saving a child from a vampire who is spoiling for a fight. Sounds like you’re gilding a bear trap, Raven.”
“Or I’m helping to get the book into the right hands, and that comes with risk. Sometimes you have to trust someone untrustable, Ricky.”
