Slowly, she nods, then makes her way up to the house.
I glance at Agatha, wondering if she’ll fill us in, but she simply smiles and gestures with her bowl. “Eat up,” she says. “You’ll feel strong as a timber wolf in the morning.”
We’re each shown to a bedroom leading off the creaky second-floor landing. Agatha doesn’t turn any lights on as she deposits us in our separate lodgings. There’ll be time to take in the old-school Louisianan architecture in the morning.
My room is quintessential country house, with a wire-frame bed in the middle, a chunky wooden dresser off to one side with a drooping potted plant on top, and a creepy-looking rocking chair in a corner.
I’m wiped from a long day of premonitions and driving but I want to check in with Jasper, so I make myself comfortable, sitting crisscross applesauce on the comforter.
“Hey Jasp,”I say.“You there?”
I wait a moment then feel him connecting with me, like connecting with Bluetooth.
“Max, what’s up? Are you okay?”
“I’m good. I’m at Mal’s place. It’s huge and gorgeous. Though definitely haunted.”
“Good, I’m glad. Not about the haunting, but that you made it.”
“Kairos is dead,”I say, wondering if I should have maybe sugarcoated the news a little better.
Jasper waits a beat, then responds.“I’m sorry.”
“What were you doing?”
“Aisha is here,”he says.“She brought noodles. She says hi.”
“Say hi back.”
“Will do.”
“How have you been, any updates?”
“It’s been quiet, thank the moon gods. No new attacks. Luckily, Dad hasn’t gotten any worse either.”
“That’s good.”I’m trying my darndest to be positive.
“I just hope he holds on until ... Did you speak with Mal about the Howl yet?”
“Not yet.”I pause for a minute, running my hands over the seams in the quilt.“I’m worried, Jasp. Mal doesn’t look good. She seems, I don’t know, sort of defeated. Not like the woman we met at the Sanc.”
“You think it’s because of Kairos?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Do you think you can convince her?”
The gingham curtains are pulled back around the peeling window frame. Through the mottled glass the crescent moon is shining. I stare out at it in this half-formed state. Part lit up like a glow-in-the-dark croissant and part in shadow.
That’s sort of how I feel right now. There’s a sliver of hope, but a whole lot of doubt.
“I don’t know, Jasp. I don’t know.”
THE ECHO OF BLOOD WOLVES PAST
I wake early to the sound of roosters and blearily rub my forehead. I thought that was only something that happened in movies, but I guess the idea had to come from somewhere. Sitting up, I take a better look around the room. The ceiling is high, with a rattan fan dangling from the central rafter. The wallpapered walls are peeling in a couple of spots. On the antique-looking rocking chair in the corner is a creepy-ass doll.
Was that thing there all night?
