“That you hold grudges?”
“That I don’t let people walk all over me.”
“So what did he do?” he asked.
“You just told me what he did.”
Val poked one finger at a half open cupboard door, concentrating to make it move. It shifted and creaked.
“What did Card do to make you this mad? You aren’t... I haven’t ever seen you slam the door in someone’s face. Crossroads have to accept anyone who asks for sanctuary, don’t they?”
“He didn’t ask for sanctuary.”
“If he had?”
“I can turn people away if I want to.” I poured eggs into the heated skillet and got busy grinding black pepper over it. A lot of black pepper.
“So you would have turned him away if he asked? Want to share your reason with the class?”
I grunted. “No. Don’t you have something better to do?”
“I could go spy on the dryad-wizard you’re ignoring, but we’ve both just seen how well that goes.”
“He’ll go away eventually.”
“Okay.”
I finished the eggs and plated them, then added a chunk of cheddar cheese and the toast that had gone cold.
I turned to the kitchen table and jerked to a stop, plates balanced in one hand.
“I know I’m trespassing,” Card said, from the other side of the kitchen doorway. “I know you don’t want me in there.” He waved at the kitchen, knowing it was the heart of the house, and very much my personal territory.
“But this really is important, Ricky. Not just important for me. For you, too. I don’t want you to get hurt by my stupidity.”
Val whistled. “He’s got balls on him, stepping inside this house without your permission, I’ll say that much. How the hell did he get in? Thatstepthing he does?”
“No,” I said to the ghost, but Card couldn’t hear him, so he took it as his answer.
That worked too.
“I… Ricky,” he said. “Please.”
If he had argued, if he had prodded and badgered, if he had raged and yelled, I would have thrown him out on his ass.
But I had only heard him use that word once. And it had saved my life.
“Shit,” I said. “You must be in really deep crap to come here.”
He took a breath, held it, then nodded. When he exhaled there was a small, almost defeated smile on his face. “Very. And time is not on my side.”
“Whenever is it?”
“Not for a single damn moment of my life,” he groused. “I tried…trust me, I did everything I could think of to keep this away from your doorstep. But now I can’t, and now I’m here.”
I shouldn’t buy the honesty and regret in his words, but I had always been a sucker when it came to one particular dryad-wizard.
The house knew the moment I made up my mind to hear him out—just hear him out, that’s all, I insisted—and it hummed its approval.
