“I'm fine,” I said to him.
He grunted. Nope, he didn't buy it.
So, I tried to lighten the mood. “You don't seem all that busy.”
“What do you mean?” Lex asked.
“This is supposed to be the most haunted city in America. But I've yet to see you chase a ghost.”
“Actually, humans say that Savannah is the most haunted city in America.” Cyrus glanced back. “But you know as well as we do that it's all myth. The Savannah Cerberus is no more busy than any other.”
“I could have sworn it was New Orleans.”
“Nawlins has a reputation that's been fostered by some very creative individuals.” Cyrus smirked at me. “Like the clever girl who started the vampire myth.”
I chuckled. “I didn't make up the monsters. I just brought them here.”
“Exactly. As every other ethnic group of immigrants brought their monsters and myths to add to the gumbo.”
“This city is full of exciting people, but they're all alive,” Lex added.
“Ironically, most of the people who die here pass on smoothly. We rarely get hauntings or confused souls.” Cyrus motioned at a park, and we veered into it. “I think it's because of all the superstition. They believe strongly in the afterlife here.”
“But not the right one,” I said.
“It doesn't matter. You just have to believe that there's somewhere for you to go and you'll go. If you don't, you stay here.” Cyrus found a bench and waved me to it.
I shook my head. “I'd rather keep walking. I want ice cream.”
“You just had breakfast,” Lex said.
“It didn't include ice cream.”
Jake chuckled.
Lex and Cyrus gaped at him.
Jake cleared his throat and tugged on my hand, leading me to an ice cream cart. As I perused the selection, the men kept watch, but they did so subtly. Now that I was past my initial fear, I wasn't worried. Not because I had faith in the hounds. They were amazing fighters, I was sure, but this was a god and he'd gotten away from several teams already. No, I wasn't worried because I didn't think he'd show.
Silas was smarter than that. We had just run into Ace. Silas would assume we'd be on guard. And that made this theworst time to attack. He'd wait until we were relaxed, and then he'd strike. That's what I'd do.
“So why aren't I doing it?” I whispered.
“What's that, sugah?” the ice cream lady asked.
“Oh, I'll have a cup of the mocha fudge, please.”
“Sure thing.”
The guys got ice cream too, despite that whole thing about us just having breakfast. I waited until we had some distance between us and the other people in the park before I told them what I was thinking.
“Why are we waiting for Silas to come to us?” I asked. “We need to follow Ace to him. We know where Ace is.”
Lex closed his eyes and grimaced.
“What?” I asked.
“We should have thought of that,” Cyrus answered. “We've been so distracted by you that the obvious didn't occur to us.” He looked at Lex. “Do we have a visual on Ace?”
