“That’s good enough for me. Continue.” I assumed the same focused position.
“If you want to talk about messes, the sorcerers are the biggest mess of all!” She was practically shouting now. “They’re just fucking things up all over the place!”
I slapped the table. “I know right! They’re fucking up everything! How are they fucking up everything?”
“They’ve got to be behind it all! Everything. My sprites, your shop, the sicknesses, the mishaps, even the snow!” she explained.
I let that sink into my brain. “Woah…. Now that you mention it, that makes total sense. Do you think it’s all tied together? Is all of it Redd’s fault?”
Kizzi quirked her head. “I have no idea what that means but yes, we’re prettyyyyy sure it’s all linked somehow. Not sure how, but somehow!”
I slapped the table again. “Redd confessed last night that it was all him. That he got wrapped in some bad luck somehow, back at home I mean, his home, and he brought it with him. It followed him here like a puppy!”
Kizzi sighed, slumping in her stool. “Well, fuck. Maybe it is his fault. But that doesn’t really make sense!” She rubbed her temples. “My brain is too slow right now; I can’t think this through. Less thinking, more drinking.”
“I can get behind that!”
CHAPTER 27
Fiella
Iwoke up, very late, with a letter sitting beside my head on my pillow. My thoughts were too muddled to care about how it had gotten there, I only felt the joy of hearing from my mysterious friend again.
Dear One,
I was going to say I was worried about you, that maybe you fell into a river and drowned, but sure. I guess I missed you.
I hope you have missed me too.
I have had a few ales lately, but after today, I need a boatload. Ten ales. All of the ales.
Things are getting even more complicated for me in this town. I hope the days have been smoother for you, my friend.
Read any good books lately? I started one recently that really intrigued me, it’s about a murderous faerie that lives in the mountains.
Your friend,
Two
I smiled groggily and wobbled toward the table to pen a quick response.
When I finally made my way to the shop after scraping myself out of my cottage and tromping through the snow, my head was pounding. It felt like my brain had turned into an army of sprites that were trying to burst free.
Those ciders always got me. I might’ve had afewtoo many yesterday.
The shop was empty, aside from Sookie and me. I usually preferred it that way, but something about it felt strange today. Wrong. Like something was missing.
This snow needed to melt, and it needed to meltfast. If travel didn’t resume soon, Moonvale was fucked.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I grumbled at Sookie. I could tell she was judging me. I bet she was just jealous that she was a cat and couldn’t drink like us folk could.
She meowed at me, butting my ankle with her head.
“I know, I know, but you don’t understand, Sookie. Ihadto have seven ciders. It was necessary.”
She meowed again, this time quirking her head to the side.
“It’s a long story. Weren’t you there? Or did you sneak out before all the… exciting stuff happened?”
