I think...” I pressed the old-fashioned television tattoo on the side of Card’s neck and felt the Crossroads spin a connection there. “You should be able to see and hear him.”
Card blinked. “So it’s that guy with the wolf who’s standing right next to you?”
“Valentine, meet Card,” I said. “Card, meet Valentine.”
“Hey,” Valentine said. “Just to be clear, I’m on Ricky’s side. On everything.” Val’s eyes flashed werewolf red.
“Fair,” Card said. “You get shotgun.”
“And the radio.”
Card chuckled. “Nope. Driver picks the music.”
“I’ll leave you two to work it out,” I said. “Keys are in the truck. Get home soon.”
Card’s expression changed at that word: Home.
I tried to brush it off a little with, “But you pay for any speeding tickets.” I waved one hand over my shoulder and didn’t look back.
“Anything you want me to say to your dad?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good enough.”
I stepped into the house and made my way to my bedroom, where I changed into soft shorts and a T-shirt, then crawled under my covers.
I felt the string that tied me to Card stretching as he drove. The Crossroads felt it too and worried. I told it he was just going to pick up something he’d lost.
I closed my eyes and smushed my pillow into a more comfortable position under my head.
DrivewayCrossroads noted. It didn’t sound worried, so I didn’t try to figure out what it was doing.
Stop sign. North.
Time ticked in the dark.Big walnut tree.
My eyes snapped open, and I stared at the ceiling. “You have got to be kidding me. You’re going to narrate every mile of where Card is going?”
Creek. Creek. River. Field. Two trees.
I shoved my pillow over my head.Enough,I told the Crossroads.Just tell me when he’s back.
The Crossroads didn’t want to listen, but it toned it down to a bare whisper. And in between the geography lesson, I heard the happy little hum ofours, ours, ours.
ChapterThirteen
I bracedmy hands on each side of the coffee pot and leaned, glaring at the machine. It wasn’t taking any longer than usual to perk, but it felt like I’d been standing there for hours.
Tree,Crossroads said. Then,River, creek, creek.
It had been going at it all night, like a song I couldn’t get out of my head. A song about Card.
Val had shown up two hours after they had left, even though the round trip should have been easy enough in an hour or so.
“He’s not listening to you,” the ghost had said as he sat at the foot of my bed. “I tried to talk him out of it.”
I rubbed my eyes, tired from all the sleep I was not getting. “You can’t talk that man out of anything. No one can. Did he get the coin from Dad?”
