It was unfair how little of the last hundred years I’d been able to truly spend with Lu.Fleeting minutes stitched together from the magic pocket watch that could stop time.
Only these last months had I been alive, real, solid and able to touch her.Hold her.
Now Headwaters and the gods and their damned magic were going to take that all away from me again.
“You better let us in this time, Death,” I muttered.“Because I am not letting her soul go without me.”
The door to the kitchen opened and Pamela handed me a twelve-pack of bottled water.
“Thanks.”
“Is there anything I can do?”Her usually happy face was drawn with worry.
“Save me a shot of whisky?”
“You got it.We’re scouting the meeting place.Grandpa’s already headed there.”
“Tell him to be careful.”
“He’s a hunter.He knows how to stay beneath the radar.Luck Brogan.If anyone on this Earth can tame the book, it’s you and Lula.”
“We’ll find out, or die trying, I suppose.”I gave her a nod and walked down the hall to the safe room.
The door was shut, but Abbi stood outside it.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.“I’m sorry Headwaters made you do this.Do you think I can make Lula go to sleep for long enough she’ll forget all about it?”
“I think you could do that.But I think she would know you’d done it, and be very, very angry at you.We don’t use magic on the people we love.”
“Not even to help them stay alive?”
“Not when they’ve made their decision.It’s her life, Abbi.It’s mine too.I gave her my soul years ago and it’s still hers, just as her soul is mine.If she’s walking this path, I’m walking it too.”
“Maybe I’ll put you both to sleep,” she grumbled.
I touched her shoulder.“Give us a little hope instead, okay?We’ve pulled off the impossible before.”
“When?”
“When I convinced you to eat a vegetable instead of a cookie.”
“That was a trick!”she said.“I thought a sugar pea was a cookie.I liked it, though.”
I smiled.She lunged and hugged me.
I hugged her back.“Hey, now.We don’t know how this is going to work out.Let’s not give up before we begin.”
She nodded, then pulled away.“I told them you would come.”
“You were right.Of course.”
“Of course.”
I reached over and gingerly rested my hand on the latch.No magic sparked, so I opened the door and walked in, Abbi right behind me.
Lu stood with her arms crossed over her chest, facing Card who was talking in quiet tones.She didn’t look happy with what he was saying but wasn’t arguing.
Her gaze cut to me, golden eyes liquid light in the shadow of the room.I knew she’d heard what I’d said to Abbi.Maybe even what I’d said to Pamela.Her cheeks heated, a rare blush washing across her face, but she tipped her chin up.
