“The translation,” she says, snapping her fingers.
“Penelope—”
“I didn’t spend all afternoon in some sort of spider-woman’s nest, so that I couldnotsee the information we came for.”
I reach into my pocket and pull out the folded-up translation. It’s two pages long. Penelope takes them from me and unfolds them. “Calligraphy,” she says. “Why not.”
She starts reading.
“Right,” she says, nodding. “This is a prenuptial agreement . . .”
She reads a bit more. “Oh, good job, Shepard, it’s aneternalcontract. No divorce in your future. No adultery either, not if you value your eyelashes . . . That’s . . . picturesque . . .”
She keeps reading.
She raises an eyebrow and makes a noise like, “Pffft.”
She flips to the second page. “What’s this? Half the words are missing.”
I’m sitting with my knees wide and my elbows on my thighs, my head hanging low. “That’s the spell I got from Ken. The summoning spell. Debbie left out everything that made her nervous.”
Penelope’s quiet. She’s reading.
“This is a marriage proposal . . .” she says.
I don’t say anything.
“Shepard,” she says, “you weren’tforcedinto an engagement. Youproposedto a demon.”
I don’t say anything. There’s nothing to say.
“This is so much more idiotic than I thought.”
“All right . . .” I sit up and grab the papers from her hand. “I know! This is why I lied to you—because I didn’t want you to know what a fool I am.”
Penelope’s face is hard. “I prefer fools to liars.”
“I’m notactuallya liar,” I say, folding up the papers and shoving them back into my jacket. “I mean, I amliterally.In this case. But I’m not.Generally.As a person. I’ll just get my backpack—”
“I believe you.”
I look up. Her face is still hard.
“What do you believe?”
“I believe that you didn’t mean to lie to me.”
My hand is still in my jacket pocket. I take it out. “You do?”
“Yes,” she says. “Just . . .” She turns to one of the chalkboard walls. “Don’t do it again, okay?”
I nod slowly. Even though she can’t see me. “Okay.”
She picks up her chalk. “Don’t lie to me, and don’t leave anything out.”
“Okay,” I say again.
“Don’tsurpriseme.”
