Bathin crossed arms over his chest again. “Demons and worse are looking for the spellbook. Hunting for it. They’re hunting the two of you too.”
“Because I can touch it?” Lula asked.
“Yes,” Raven said. “And because when you hold it, Brogan could cast every one of those powerful spells in it.”
CHAPTER THREE
Kenny was done singing about his poker game, and now Jerry Lee Lewis wasn’t faking about all the shaking.
Jerry wasn’t the only one shaking. Raven’s words were an earthquake, juddering solid ground out from under me, tumbling logic down into the rubble of old fears.
I didn’t want to believe him.
Lula could touch the book. I understood that. I’d seen it with my own eyes. But that I could wield the magic of the gods? That I could wield the power of the gods?
No. That had to be a lie.
“Bullshit,” I said. “You come here, find us licking our wounds, make nice with Abbi, and then tell uswe’rethe problem? Fucking horseshit.”
The god blinked. “You are not the problem. You are in fact, the only damn solution I can see.”
“What solution?” Lula squeezed my hand to calm me.
“Yes, Crow,” Bathin challenged, turning his way. “What’s this easy solution you’ve dreamed up?”
“I didn’t say it would be easy. But it’s the only way I see this not ending in destruction. Brogan and Lula must find thebook and take it somewhere safe. Somewhere out of the reach of demons, immortals, gods, or anything else that wants it.”
“Sure,” Bathin said. “Easy. Except there is no safe place.”
“There is.”
“Where? With you?”
Raven tapped a finger on the table. “Idon’t want it. And no other god should have it either. Including Atë. Including Cupid. It draws attention and creates chaos.”
“Puts you out of a job,” Bathin muttered.
“Puts too many people I care for in danger,” Raven said pointedly.
Bathin sniffed but didn’t argue.
“Get the book,” Raven said. “Just like you promised Cupid you would. But instead of giving it to him, or keeping it for yourself, or, hell, selling it or whatever else you might have decided to do with it, bring it to the one place in the world where it will be safe, untouched, unused, and will actually remain hidden.”
There it was. He was just the same as any of the other gods. He wanted control over the book.
“Where is this safe place?” Lula asked.
“A small town most people drive through without stopping. A place gods cannot meddle with, cannot change, cannot enter without getting approval from the woman who guards it. A woman with the power to block gods and monsters from entering.”
“Where is this mystical Brigadoon?” I asked.
“Oregon,” he said. “A town called Ordinary.”
“Where the gods vacation?” Lu asked.
He nodded. “Gods put down their power to live there as humans. Supernaturals stay there too. Everyone follows human laws. We even have a handful of demons who haven’t gotten themselves kicked out yet.”
Bathin shook his head. “It’s…one of the safest places I can think of to keep something as powerful as the book. You’re thinking of Myra’s library?”
