She hummed, and I could hear her fingers on the keyboard. “So, Card’s back, huh?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Do you want me to come by and kick his knees out?”
I chuckled and looked up at the ceiling, suddenly missing her, my best friend.
“Tempting. But you just left, and you have god problems of your own.”
“Like I wouldn’t take time to stand beside you.”
“I know. I know you would, Lu-lala. But there’s a time limit on returning the coins.”
“Of course there is,” Brogan said. “Gods invented time. Now suddenly when they want something, they are surely the fuck determined not to have enough of it. How long do we have?”
My heart jumped at him saying “we.” “Brogan Gauge, you are fast becoming my second best friend in the world.”
“Of course I’m your second best friend. Wait. Who’s your first? Because if it’s Val...”
“Finally, someone’s talking about me,” Val said. “I am atleasther first best friend.” The ghost winked at me. He leaned toward the phone so he could yell into it. “And you are way, way down the list way, way after me.”
“Best thing about this conversation?” Brogan asked. “You are half a state away.”
“You can’t deny it, Brobro. I’m your best friend.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Ricky? Would you please throw some holy water in his face?”
“That’s for demons,” I said. “And I don’t have any handy at the moment.”
“We’re packing up,” Lula said. “We can be there in a couple days.”
“No, don’t. Listen,” I said. “We have until noon tomorrow to find the coins.”
“What happens if you don’t find them?” Lula asked.
“They kill his tree. Card’s tree.”
“That man jilted you years ago,” Brogan said. “Do we care if they kill his tree? What? Why are you scowling at me?”
“Ricky?” Lula had obviously turned off the speaker. “We’ve got your back. Whatever you need, we’ll do it. If you want us there in a few hours, we can find a way.”
I thought about it. It’d be really nice to have friends next to me, especially since I had a trio of goddesses camped out just a couple blocks down the road, and time was ticking out.
But if we didn’t know where the coins were, having Brogan and Lula here in Fate’s blast range wasn’t going to do a damn bit of good.
“I need your contacts,” I said. “Anyone you can call who might have seen a coin. We still have tonight and half of tomorrow. If we can get a lead, then I might ask you to help us get them back.”
“Does she mean steal?” Abbi asked in the background. “I want to try stealing something from someone. I’d be good at it.”
“Hold on,” Lula said. “I got a hit.”
There was the soft sound of fingers on keys again.
Then she inhaled and held it.
“What?” I asked after an extended moment. “Did you find one? Both?”
“No, but... Okay. Ricky, I searched for Fate’s coins, and because you’re in Missouri, I used that as a possible location and got a hit.”
