“Please stay with us awhile,” Cassia said. “You’ve done so much for us. We will help you keep the book safe and hidden, and if it comes to it, we will stand with you against the gods.”
I was stunned. It was an incredibly generous offer. And an incredibly dangerous thing to offer. I didn’t have to look at Lu to know we were of the same mind, but I did anyway.
“Thank you,” Lula said. “That’s very kind of you. But we will not bring more trouble and pain upon you and yours. We can’t.”
Cassia looked like she was going to dig in for a long argument.
“I’ll look after them,” Abbi said. “They’ll look after the book. We’re going to be okay. I promise.”
Cassia sat back and tapped her finger on the tabletop. “The offer still remains. If you need sanctuary, we will give it.”
“Thank you,” I said. “If we need your help, we’ll reach out.”
“Good,” she said. “Let us pack you food and any other supplies you might need. We have a box you might be interested in taking with you. It can hide even the most powerful magic.”
“Is it big enough to hold a book?” I asked.
She nodded. “Plenty. Moon Rabbit?” she asked. “Would you sit with us one more
time for Rhianna and Variance?”
Abbi slid off the chair, and rubbed her sleeve over her mouth, wiping off jam. “Sure.”
Cassia stood, and Lula and I rose with her. “Thank you,” she said, taking first my hand, then Lu’s. “Blessed be.”
I felt the strength of her words and the magic, both carrying the silken song of light and moonlight and leaf.
She and Abbi crossed the dance floor.
“Thank you,” Lula said, coming around the table to me.
“For?”
“Asking.”
“About?”
“Variance. His bite, his cure.”
“We’ll find the answer,” I said.
She shook her head. “It’s been a long time. I don’t know…don’t know if we can find that answer. Or if I’d want to change.” She tipped her chin up, her eyes a challenge.
Huh. I hadn’t ever thought that she wouldn’t want to be human again. That she might like being what she was now, that she was comfortable in who she was after all these years.
“If that’s what you want,” I said, “then we won’t look for the answer. I love you, Lula Gauge. As you are, as you were, as you will be.”
She placed her hand over my heart. “I might want to have the answer. To know the answer—even if I don’t do anything with it.”
“That’s good too.”
“Thank you,” she said, her eyes sparkling with sunlight.
This time, I answered with a kiss.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It was hot as the devil’s armpit, and even with the windows of the truck cranked down, there was no relief.
