“Who?”I asked.“Which god?”
“Apep,” Elmer said.“The god who wants to destroy all creation.”
CHAPTERSEVEN
“Oh, for fucks,” Raven said.“Apep?That asshole?Like this couldn’t get worse.”
“Are you sure?”Cupid asked.“Elmer, are you very sure?”
“As can be.”He scraped fork tines over the plate, catching the last of the red cherry glaze.“We’ve had multiple sightings, and at least one hunter asked the god his name, and he said Apep.”
Raven took a last gulp of coffee.“I’ll stay to the road,” he said.“Do what I can to keep him off their trail.You taking on the big jobs, Bo?”
Cupid stood.“Yes.If I can pull him off this plane of existence, it should buy us some time.Lu, Brogan, you need to leave, now.I thought you had time to learn how to use the book, but there’s no guarantee.”
“Where?”I asked.“Where won’t any of these gods find us?”
“Ordinary?”Lula asked.
“They’d know you were there,” Raven said.“And I’m not sure Delaney would allow you to use the book and cast god spells.We’ve recently had a run in with one page of the book.She’s not a fan.”
“Ricky’s?”I asked Lu.
“Maybe?”
“No,” Cupid said, as he and Raven moved toward the door.“The Crossroads is a beacon.You don’t want to go there.Somewhere hidden.Somewhere,” here he turned and looked straight at Elmer, “built to be safe.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”Elmer stood too.“That’s it then.Let’s get you out of here.”
Eunice walked back into the room, Abbi right behind her with Hado in her arms.
“Which disaster is it?”Eunice asked.“The god?”
“The god,” Raven said.“Thank you for your hospitality.”He gave Eunice a hug and kissed her temple.“Stay safe.”He spun and pointed back at us.“Don’t forget Ordinary.”
He turned, took a step, and was no longer a man.Instead, a single black raven with gold-tipped wings called out a rough song and flew up and up to disappear through the ceiling.
Cupid put one hand on Eunice’s shoulder.He didn’t say anything, and neither did she, but I could tell they exchanged information.
“Safe travels to you,” she said.“I’ll do what I can from here.”
“You are under my protection, Lula and Brogan Gauge,” he said, the power of the words warming like a fire against winter.“Nothing changes that.”
He strode out of the kitchen and disappeared.A clap of thunder rolled in the cloudless sky.
“All right then,” Eunice clapped her hands softly like a teacher asking for the class’s attention.“You are being hunted by a very angry, evil god—more than one.You must leave and quickly.Elmer Walch and family, will you guide them to a place where they can learn to wield the spells in the book?”
“That’s what we came here for,” Pamela said.“Right, Grandpa?”
He frowned.I don’t know what he saw in Lula and me, standing side-by-side, my arm over her shoulders, neither of us panicking over something that was undeniably panic worthy.
“Well, hell,” he said.“Yes.We came here to tell you about the god, and to ask you if you needed a safe place to hole up.”
Lightning flashed and thunder cracked, then rolled across the sky.A murder of crows called out, the shadow of wings passing over the window dappling the late afternoon sunlight.
“We need to go.”Abbi darted over.“Brogan, wereallyneed to go.”Her eyes were huge, moonlight pooling in static blue.
A wind rattled the roof as if warning us to run, to fly, to drive as fast as we could away from the darkness hounding down from the horizon.
