“After we rest.”She brushed my knee under the table.
“Good.That gives me tonight to prepare.”He stood.“I’ll get going.Good-night, Gauges.Don’t touch the book without me.”
I gave him a half-hearted salute.He grinned and disappeared into the kitchen.
He exchanged a few words with the women in there and left with a fresh cup of coffee and a thermos.He took the stairs up and disappeared into one of the rooms filled with books.
“The book’s alive, huh?”I asked.
Lu shifted to sit sideways, propping her feet onto my legs.I twisted from the table to give her more room.
“That’s as close as I can explain it,” she said.“You saw things but not words?How do we cast spells without words?”
“Hell if I know.But next time I’ll be ready for it.”
She nodded quickly.“So will I.It fought me.When I saw what it was doing to you…I closed it.But it fought me.”
“Marvelous.Like the spells aren’t hard enough to deal with, we have to fight the book too.”
“With Card’s help, maybe next time will be different.”
“It will be!”Card’s voice floated down from above.
That made me smile.“Apparently it isn’t only moon rabbits who have big ears around here.You want to take this somewhere private?”
“Does it involve a shower and bed?”
“Only the best for you, my love.”
Abbi popped back into the room.“Are you going somewhere?”
“Just to bed,” I said.
“Shower and bed,” Lu corrected.“Josie said the water pressure is wonderful.”
Abbi tipped her head, listening for something.“Card is upstairs doing magic?”
“Preparation and research,” I said.
“I’m going to watch him.”
“Don’t stay up too late,” I said, even though she wasn’t really a child and I wasn’t her father.
Her smile was huge.“I like the night.I might stay upallnight!”
Lorde paced out from under the table, stretching and yawning.She stopped next to Lula.
“Who’s staying up all night?”Elmer asked.He’d stashed his gun but still had his hat and jacket on.He looked a little dusty and smelled of the desert night.
“I am!”Abbi said.
“You two turning in?”
“Thought so,” I said.“The wards holding?”
“Quiet as a mouse out there.Not sure if I like it, but it beats the alternative.We’re good for now.Get sleep while you can.”
“Grandpa?”Pamela called out.“You back?I put a plate aside for you.”
