“If you’re going to say pathetic, you can save it.” I got to my feet, buckling my thigh bag around my waist and grabbing my phone from the table beside the bed.
Of course, his real body wasn’t there.
“You’re very sure that’s what I wanted to say. Perhaps you’re projecting.”
“Perhaps you’re predictable,” I mumbled, sending off a quick text to Yuna that read, ‘I’m about to make a bad decision.’
Her reply was immediate.
Where should I meet you?
I paused, looking to Merric as if he knew what I’d said.
“I can’t read your phone from there,” the fox informed me. “I’m surely not psychic.”
“We’re going to the bayou. All three of us.” I glared at him as I said it. “Where do you want to meet me so I can pick you up?”
Merric considered my question. “I doubt your darling cousin is going to let you go without a very insistent argument,” he answered, not addressing my question. “What are you going to do? Will you really confront her directly?”
I stared at his face in the mirror. “Where do you want to meet?” I asked again.
“Tell the cecaelia to meet you at the diner we ate at. I’ll be there too. But you know…” finally he looked at me, yellow eyes narrowed. “If we do this, you’ll owe me that unrestrained debt.”
“I don’t care. I told you before that I’d do it. Nothing has changed. I’m much more afraid of my friends getting killed and people paying for my mistakes than your stupid debt.”
“Oh?” His tone was almost offended. “I’ll have to remember that.”
Then he was gone.
Chapter 28
When Merric was gone, I shoved my cards and crystals into my bag, grabbed my keys, and opened the door to my room.
Aveline stood there, mouth pressed into a line.
“I heard you talking to yourself,” she informed me coolly.
“That’s not entirely accurate,” I admitted, but didn’t elaborate.
“I’m not an idiot. And I know you better than you think.” Arms folded over her chest, she blocked my doorway and my only escape.
“Fine. I’m leaving to go help my friends. Is that what you wanted to hear?” I made a flapping motion with my hands that didn’t make her move, and scowled. “Are you going to move?”
“No,” my cousin replied. “Do you know why?”
My scowl deepened. “Because you think I’m not strong enough to help anyone. Because you think I’m just going to get in the way, or someone’s going to have to save me or whatever.”
“No.” She studied me, silent.
Now I tossed my hands in the air. “Then I don’t know, Av! But I’m not going to stand here playing twenty questions with you.”
“I told them you wouldn’t stay put when you woke up. Do you remember when you were a kid and your mom would beg you to stay in the house because of your health?”
Her change of direction surprised me. “Yeah, so?”
“Do you remember what you did?”
“Of course I do.“
“Tell me what you did every time your mom tried to convince you to stay home.”
“Well, when I wasn’t sick, I found a way out,” I said, not understanding what she wanted. My hands found the hem of my tank top and I twisted it between my fingers, unsure.
“And?” She pressed.
“And what? I’d sneak out, call you, and we’d run off into the woods.”
Aveline’s lips pressed together once more. “Exactly.”
I didn’t see the point.
Was she trying to make some parallel? Trying to get me to remember some stupid lesson that I was sure I’d never learned back then? Or was she trying to say-
Oh.
“Well I’ve hardly even managed to sneak out yet.” A small grin curved over my lips. “It seems premature to throw rocks at your window just now.”
“I see. I jumped the broom, then?” She held up her keys. “I’m driving.”
“You’re going to have passengers.”
“Are you implying my car isn’t good enough for your fuck buddies?”
I snorted and shoved her lightly. This time she moved back and followed me down the hallway.
“If I ever fuck that fox, you can ground me,” I promised. “And anyway, are you sure you want to go? We aren’t exactly going to go play in the woods until our moms drag us home.”
“Obviously. But you’re going to need my help. What’s your plan? Break down the door of wherever the witches are hiding and ask them to stop?” She snagged her Baphomet-headed backpack from the table and stepped outside to hold the door for me, then followed me to her vehicle.
When she started her car, I grabbed her bag from the floor behind her. “What’s in here?” I asked, surprised at how heavy it was.
“Look, George. I’m not an idiot. I wasn’t cooking while you were in the shower. But.” She turned to me, catching my eyes. “I was serious. I don’t think you or I can do much good for your friends. You really should let them handle it.”
I was not going to explain the intricacies of my newfound resolution and the fact that Yuna and Merric would only help if I helped as well.
“If you don’t want to come, I can still drive.” I opened the backpack curiously when she didn’t object, finding filled curio bottles and wrapped objects. “But I’m taking your arsenal with me.”
“I’m not letting you go alone,” my cousin informed me, putting her car in reverse and pulling out almost in front of another car. The person honked. Aveline cheerfully flipped them off.
“Where am I going?” she asked.
I told her the address of the diner we’d eaten at and she nodded.
Yuna stood on the sidewalk, arms crossed and scowling. The cecaelia was dressed similarly to me in ripped black jeans tucked into boots and a cropped black t shirt that hugged her chest. I didn’t see her sword on her, but I hadn’t the first time either.
The reason for her scowling was likely
