Chapter 39
Sabrina rushed in behind Gideon to find Korrie in the kitchen trying to open the window wider. The room was filled with smoke and the acrid smell of something burning. Both were coming from a pan on the stove. She coughed, doing her best not to inhale.
“What are you doing, Korrin?” Gideon waved at the smoke and went over to open the window all the way.
Korrie flew toward Sabrina, looking both frightened and defiant. “You left me here without anything to eat. I was trying to make pancakes.”
Sabrina rushed to the stove, turned off the heat, turned on the exhaust fan, and took the pan to the sink.
What was in the pan resembled charcoal more than it did pancakes.
She ran water into it, sending up a blast of sooty steam that made her jerk back.
“Oh, Korrie, this isn’t something you should do unsupervised. ”
“Well, I know that now,” he said.
Dishes, bowls, and utensils were everywhere. A bag of flour had tipped over on the counter, and some had spilled onto the floor. The salt and sugar were out, too. The chaos tugged at her, the desire to make things right starting to build.
Gideon used a kitchen towel to direct more smoke out the window. “It wouldn’t have happened at all if not for my curse.”
A tiny bit of hope bloomed in Sabrina. “Does that mean you’re willing to take another crack at the Enchanted Forest? Say yes, and I’ll clean this mess up.”
Korrie zipped between them. “What’s the Enchanted Forest? Where is it? Can I go? I like forests. Sprites are nature creatures, you know. We know all kinds of plants and trees, even moss. Not to mention animals, we’re great at animals.”
“No, you can’t come,” Gideon said. He picked up the bag of flour, which somehow made more spill out. He growled under his breath.
Korrie crossed his arms. “I bet I have a better sense of direction than you do.”
Now was not the time for Korrie to start a new argument.
Sabrina patted her shoulder. “Come on. Come sit here with me, out of the way.” Korrie flew to her shoulder and sat, then she moved in and started cleaning up.
“I guess if you don’t want to go, Gideon, then Korrie and I will just have to go by ourselves. See what we can find.”
“Yeah,” Korrie said. Then, more to Sabrina, “What are we looking for exactly?”
“A book.”
Gideon moved out of her way. “The Enchanted Forest is not a safe place.”
“Maybe not for you, but I’ve never had any problem there.” Not that she’d actually gone. Of course, she knew from Julia about the forest and the book. Even been intrigued by it, because who wouldn’t be? But her curse wasn’t that bad. Unless she ignored it, which she’d learned not to do.
Anyway, the Enchanted Forest was one of those things she kept tucked away just in case. For a rainy-day situation when and if her curse got to be more than she could handle.
Gideon scooped up some utensils, put them in the sink, and turned the water on, giving them a rinse. “So you’ve been there?”
She made a face, knowing he couldn’t see it. She refused to lie to him. “No, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
He chuckled. “You are so stubborn.”
“I am not.” She scrubbed at a scorch mark on the range.
“Um, yes, you are.”
Something fell and cracked. She turned around to see the saltshaker on the floor, broken, salt everywhere.
Gideon stood over it.
She shook her head. “I appreciate that this is your house and you want to help clean up, but it’s not really working out that way.”
“This isn’t your responsibility. I should be the one to clean up.” He looked at Korrie. “Actually, the sprite should, but we all know how that would go.”
“Hey,” Korrie said. Judging by the movement she felt, he’d stood up on her shoulder and was using a lock of her hair to steady himself. “I can help.”
“Korrie,” she said softly. “It’s fine. I can have this done in no time.” She looked at Gideon again. “And as for you, maybe just go sit down somewhere safe?”
He frowned. “There is nowhere safe. Not in this house.”
A wild idea came to her. So wild she knew if she thought about it, she’d pretend it hadn’t happened. She blurted the words out. “You could stay with me.”
His frown melted away into blankness. Or maybe it was shock.
She quickly clarified. “I mean, just until we get your curse dealt with. Might be safer. You’d have to sleep on the couch, but it pulls out into a really decent bed. Or actually, I could sleep on that, and you could have the bedroom.”
“No, I can’t do that.”
“Okay, then you can have the couch, and I’ll keep the bedroom.”
“I meant I can’t stay at your house. It’s kind of you to offer, but no.”
“Well,” Korrie said loudly. “I want to go back to Sabrina’s, so you’d better give her that gear.”
“I will,” Gideon answered. “But I’m staying here.”
She snorted. Had he really needed to say it twice? “And you think I’m stubborn? Why would you want to stay here? You’re a target in your own house.”
His gaze went dark. “You think the curse only affects me when I’m here? It doesn’t. It’s far more powerful than that. It doesn’t matter where I am, it can get to me. Maybe not with the same strength, but it does.”
“So it is better when you’re not home?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then why not take a break from it and stay with us?” She shot him a get-over-yourself look. “Seriously. You might actually learn to relax.”
“I know how to relax.”
Korrie laughed. “You totally don’t. You don’t even have cable.”
Gideon made a face.
Sabrina refused to back down. She didn’t want it on her conscience if his house burned down with him in it. “I’m not taking no for an answer. You cannot stay in a house that’s actively trying to kill you. Pack a bag, and once this kitchen is cleaned up, we’re going to my house. All three of us.”
With a slightly defeated sigh, Gideon headed upstairs.
Sabrina smiled.
“You did it,” Korrie said, flying off her shoulder to stand by the sink. He looked oddly gleeful, which was saying something. He wrapped his arms around himself and wriggled. “Now you’ll be able to kiss him all you want.”
“Korrie.”
“What? Isn’t that why you invited him to sleep with you?”
Her eyes widened. “I did not invite him to sleep with me. I invited him to stay at my house. Two very different things.”
He tipped his head to one side. “Are they though?”
“Yes.” The nerve. She rolled her eyes, got a fresh dishcloth, and set to work washing down the counters.
At least the smoke was mostly gone. She finished up, did a quick inspection to make sure she’d gotten everything, then closed the window and locked it.
There weren’t enough dishes in the dishwasher to run it, which was fine because running an appliance in this house felt like a questionable proposition.
She went into the hall and glanced upstairs. Gideon had yet to return, but she could hear him moving around.
She went into the foyer to look at the clock again. She kept her distance even though the urge to touch it was strong. The dark magic within it tugged at her. She ignored it to study the clock and see if there were any clues that might help her get that curse out.
The polished wood was heavily carved with vines, flowers, small birds, clasped hands, and berries. At the corners of the casing were eyes. They weren’t menacing or evil, but they still unsettled her.
The face of the clock was simple. Ivory, the Roman numerals painted in black, some touches of gold.
But those eyes …
Footsteps on the stairs made her back away. Gideon came down, a leather duffel in one hand. He turned to enter the foyer. “You’re sure you want to do this? It won’t hurt my feelings if you’ve changed your mind.”
“Nope. Haven’t changed my mind.” She looked past him into the kitchen. “Korrie? Come on. Let’s go.”
And the faster, the better. She’d never wanted to leave a house more.