Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Come on, Card.” Pamela carried in a roast that smelled amazing and set it on a trivet in the middle of the long table. “They did what they did. We’re all still breathing, the roof hasn’t fallen in, and so far, there are no monsters at the door. I say we eat!”
She passed plates to me and Lula and Abbi, placed the rest by open chairs, then produced a goblet of what looked like red wine for Lu.
“This…I’m trying to keep you safe, right?” Card strolled over to the table. “Just promise you won’t open the book again without me. Not until we find a way you can use it without it blowing out your brains.”
“Next time we touch the book, you’re there,” I said. “Are we square? Because I’m starving and that smells like rosemary roast beef.”
“Good nose,” Josie swung into the room with more dishes. “Veggies and sides.” She deposited several pots and bowls on the table. “Get it while it’s hot.”
Card hesitated, rubbing his thumb over his left wrist. Finally, he sat and took the plate Abbi offered him.
“Thank you, Pamela, Josie. And thank you Brogan. Lula?” he asked. “Does Brogan’s promise cover you?”
She ran a discrete finger over her lips which were stained red from the blood she’d sipped. “I won’t touch the book unless you are there, Cardamom, at least while you are helping us.”
“Only then?” He scooped a rich yellow rice dish onto his plate. It smelled divine.
“You’re not going to be there when we face Headwaters.”
“Won’t I?”
“You’re only here until we figure out how to use the book,” she said.
“No. I’m here to use every trick I can to keep you both alive when you use the book. Especially when you confront Headwaters.”
Lu opened her mouth, shut it, then frowned.
“Josie, this is delicious,” he said. “You’re right. The spice is spot on.”
“Even with the extra dill?” she teased.
“I stand corrected.”
I helped myself to a portion of beef, vegetables, bread, rice, and the salad was passed my way. Lula put some of the cooked vegetables on her plate and drizzled them with the broth. I slid a piece of buttered bread over to her.
“Homemade. You’ll love it with the yam.”
She flashed me a small smile, pleased I’d added to her meal. She didn’t eat much, didn’t have to. But I’d fallen into an old habit.
Back in the day when we’d both been alive and mortal, I used to add a little of my food onto her plate all the time.
She dutifully tried the bread with the yam and her eyelids fluttered.
“Told you it was good,” I said around a mouthful.
“Family recipe,” Pamela said. “It’s the nutmeg that brings it all together.”
“And the butter,” Josie said.
“Always the butter,” Pamela agreed.
“Compliments to the chefs,” I said.
Food made everything seem a little better with the world, and when Pamela suggested coffee, I took her up on it. So did Cardamom. Abbi asked for cocoa, and Lu wandered into the kitchen with Pamela, Josie, and Abbi to decide on a tea.
“Want to talk about it?” Card placed a cup of coffee in front of me and settled back in his seat.
He’d helped stack plates and had taken them to the sink. Josie had chased him out with the coffee, pointedly telling him she had a specific way she liked the dishwasher loaded.
I could hear Lu talking with Pamela and Josie, and the sudden sound of her soft laughter meant the world to me.
“The book?” I asked.
“That. Any of it. The gods. The magic you’ve dealt with. The back-to-life thing. I’ve been targeted—am still a target—of powerful people. I know it’s frustrating. Terrifying.”
I grunted. “You got a couple years? Because that’s how long it’ll take to cover it all.”
“Maybe just the highlights.”
I thought it over. “Some of the gods want the book hidden.”
“Cupid?”
“He’s one of them. Some gods want control of it.”
“Ate?”
“And Mithra. And, apparently, Apep.”
He whistled. “Mithra is no one to fuck with. Ate’s only goal is to cause misery to anyone who crosses her path—the gods in particular.”
“I am aware.”
“But Apep…He’s your worst problem. That god crushes galaxies without a thought. If he wants the book…”
He took a swig of his coffee, then leaned his elbows on the table, suddenly all business.
“Tell me what happened when you opened the book.”
“Lula opened it. I can’t touch it. She flipped through the pages.”
“What spells did you see?”
“I couldn’t…” I stopped to gather my thoughts. “It wasn’t like a list of words, or a recipe. I saw concepts, power twisted into theories, magic forced into methods beyond my understanding.”
“You saw more than one page?”
“I think so.”
“Think?”
“I lost track.”
“Which means?”
“Abbi said my soul left my body.”
“Ah.” He sat back and drank again. “It’s that kind of power. Don’t worry, I didn’t expect it to be easy, we’ll find a way into it. Could you see any words at all?”
“No.”
“That’s where we’ll focus. What about Lula?”
“What about her?”
“Did the book fight her? Was holding it heavy? Did it freeze, burn, try to fly out of her hands?”
“I don’t know. Lu?”
She stepped out of the kitchen. At her smile, my heart beat double time.
“I was listening.” She sat next to me, the cup of tea—mint and licorice—cupped between her palms.
“Tell me what happened when you held it,” Card said. “Was it heavy or hot? Did it try to escape your grip?”
She frowned, as if trying to drag up old memories. “At first, it just seemed like a book. When I unlocked it, the pages were blank. There was nothing on them.”
“There was,” I said. “There is.”
“Not that I could see. But after I turned the pages, it was…I don’t know how to explain it. It was aware of me. Like I wasn’t holding a book, but instead some kind of…intelligence. Some kind of creature. It did not like being trapped.”
The silence stretched out.
I wasn’t sure how to respond. In the very brief encounters I’d had with the book, it had lashed out and quickly put me in my place. I’d always sensed a kind of awareness in it. But an intelligence?
“Do you think there is something living trapped in there?” Card asked like this was a normal thing to discuss over after-dinner coffee. “A soul, a demon, a god?”
“For fuck’s sake,” I groaned. “That’s just what we need.”
Lu shook her head. “It’s not…I can’t fit it into a category that makes any sense. I’ve never felt anything like it before, and I’ve been around a lot of magical items.”
“Good enough. I’ll see what comes up in research. Ricky has the Crossroads looking into everything it can find about the book. I have a few sources I can ask. The Walches offered their library and archives. If nothing turns up, we’ll proceed with ample caution.
“When do you want to start?”
“Tomorrow,” I said. Lu huffed a breath, then nodded.
“After we rest.” She brushed my knee under the table.
“Good. That gives me tonight to prepare.” He stood. “I’ll get going. Good-night, Gauges. Don’t touch the book without me.”
I gave him a half-hearted salute. He grinned and disappeared into the kitchen.
He exchanged a few words with the women in there and left with a fresh cup of coffee and a thermos. He took the stairs up and disappeared into one of the rooms filled with books.
“The book’s alive, huh?” I asked.
Lu shifted to sit sideways, propping her feet onto my legs. I twisted from the table to give her more room.
“That’s as close as I can explain it,” she said. “You saw things but not words? How do we cast spells without words?”
“Hell if I know. But next time I’ll be ready for it.”
She nodded quickly. “So will I. It fought me. When I saw what it was doing to you…I closed it. But it fought me.”
“Marvelous. Like the spells aren’t hard enough to deal with, we have to fight the book too.”
“With Card’s help, maybe next time will be different.”
“It will be!” Card’s voice floated down from above.
That made me smile. “Apparently it isn’t only moon rabbits who have big ears around here. You want to take this somewhere private?”
“Does it involve a shower and bed?”
“Only the best for you, my love.”
Abbi popped back into the room. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Just to bed,” I said.
“Shower and bed,” Lu corrected. “Josie said the water pressure is wonderful.”
Abbi tipped her head, listening for something. “Card is upstairs doing magic?”
“Preparation and research,” I said.
“I’m going to watch him.”
“Don’t stay up too late,” I said, even though she wasn’t really a child and I wasn’t her father.
Her smile was huge. “I like the night. I might stay up all night!”
Lorde paced out from under the table, stretching and yawning. She stopped next to Lula.
“Who’s staying up all night?” Elmer asked. He’d stashed his gun but still had his hat and jacket on. He looked a little dusty and smelled of the desert night.
“I am!” Abbi said.
“You two turning in?”
“Thought so,” I said. “The wards holding?”
“Quiet as a mouse out there. Not sure if I like it, but it beats the alternative. We’re good for now. Get sleep while you can.”
“Grandpa?” Pamela called out. “You back? I put a plate aside for you.”
Elmer patted his stomach. “Gotta take care of this. See you in the morning, then.” He strolled into the kitchen.
Abbi had already tiptoed to the stairs and was sneaking up them, pausing to listen to whatever it was Card was doing up there.
Lu touched my arm and started down the hall. “You think we’re actually going to fall asleep?”
“No. Worth trying, though.” A huge yawn ruined my statement.
The shower at the end of the hall was locker room style with three shower stalls and clean towels folded on the open shelf.
I locked the door, and Lu started the shower.
“More than one shower.” I pulled off my boot, unlaced the other.
“We only need one.” She eased out of her overshirt, then unbuckled her belt. She stowed the knives while I stripped out of shirt and pants.
Lula’s gaze took in every inch of my body, her scrutiny clinical.
“I’m fine,” I said.
“Bruised.” She pointed to my thigh, my low back, my shoulder, my wrist.
“Still fine. You’re bruised too, love.”
She shrugged but glanced at her body. “Not as bad as you.”
“Well,” I walked toward the water which was radiating steam now, “I don’t heal as fast as you.”
I ducked under the stream and moaned. The water pressure was wonderful, the temperature perfect. Lula ran her hand down my back. I shivered at her touch, and turned, welcoming her into the spray.
We stood there for a long time, savoring the sensation, the comfort, the safety of being in each other’s arms, water falling over us, and washing us clean.
Eventually, Lula reached for the soap, and then we set to the business of scrubbing the dirt, blood, and sweat down the drain.
While our touches were gentle and loving, neither of us had the energy to take it further than that.
I regretfully turned off the spigot, and we dried ourselves, then wrapped into the robes folded next to the towels.
I shuffled into the bedroom, rubbing my eyes and yawning.
Lula handed me a clean pair of shorts. She slipped into a tank and loose pants.
“Go ahead.” She pressed her hand against my hip to encourage me to the bed. “I’ll lock the door and turn out the light.”
I aimed toward the bed and dropped into it like a rock.
The light flicked off, filling the room with calm and dark.
Lula slipped onto the bed, drawing the blankets up and turning toward me.
“It’s going to be okay,” she said.
“I know.” We were both lying, but the comfort behind the words was real.
“Brogan,” she said after a moment.
I dragged myself back from the edge of sleep. “Mmmm?”
“It isn’t…it’s harder than I thought.”
“The book?” I mumbled.
But she didn’t have a chance to answer.
Red light snapped on and flooded the room, a klaxon shattering the air.
“Breach!” Elmer’s voice echoed down the hallway. “We’ve been breached.”