“Untrue, I’mNormal.I’m utterly possible.”
“Tell me more about the door,” I say. “Why’d you do this in your bedroom?”
Shepard’s smile falls a notch. He looks down at his lap. “Well, I didn’t want to do it in anyone else’s space—and I don’t think demons live in hell, by the way. I think they’re more like beings from other dimensions.”
“What did you use to draw the door?”
He sets down the sandwich, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Blood, soil, water, ash, and milk.”
“Your own blood?”
He licks his bottom lip. “It had to be my own blood. The guy who sold me the ritual was very clear.”
“How much did the ritual cost?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Nothing?”
“Is that an answer or a question?”
He shrugs and looks back at his lap, brushing off some crumbs. “It’s one of those ‘we don’t get paid unless you get paid’ situations . . .”
I have a bad feeling about this. I almost don’t want to push him for a real answer. “What did it cost?”
“Nothing. Yet.” He closes his eyes, like he’s bracing himself. “My thirdborn child.”
I slap his shoulder. “Shepard.”
He peeks over at me.
“Howcouldyou,” I say.
“I talked him down from my firstborn—they always want the firstborn—he was cutting me a deal!”
“So there’s some shady character out there waiting for you to start a family?”
“Aw. Ken’s not shady. He’s a stand-up guy with a big heart.” He smiles. “That’s a joke—he’s a giant.”
I smack him again. “Shepard!” I’m shaking my head, dumbfounded. “You know that giantseatbabies . . .”
“Penelope, it’s fine. I’m not having three kids. I may not have any kids. I’m a child of divorce.”
I stand up, still shaking my head, and addGIANT!to myWhat We Knowlist. “So you met this giant . . .somehow. . .”
“I met him the usual way.”
“You chased him off the road?”
“No. I noticed him and said hello. We’ve been friends for a while.”
I lean back against a blank spot on the blackboard. “I guess I’m impressed he hasn’t eaten you.”
“I think he only eats babies . . .”
“Merlin and Morgana and bloody Anne Boleyn,” I say. “So this baby-eating giant you’ve befriended collects demonic rituals?”
“It was in a book he had.”
“He collects old books?”
