“You have to move,” the bus person said. “You’re bloc—”
Neeka snapped her head around and the guy put his hands up and backed away. Then she shifted into drive and bullied her way into the traffic. Jared wanted to ask who Party Girl was, but the waves of fury coming off Neeka did not invite questions. Eventually they pulled into the mall where his mom had bought him and Sarah the cellphones.
“She’s my sister,” Neeka said after she’d parked.
“Holy crap,” Jared said. “But she’s not like you at all.”
“Mother used all of us to make herself a powerful witch, but she drained Mallory’s soul more than anyone else’s. Now Mallory doesn’t care who gets hurt as long as she gets her way.”
Jared stared straight ahead. “Sorry.”
“It’s not personal, Jared,” Neeka said. “She’s bumping into you as a way to get to us.”
—
The clerk who’d sold the cellphones remembered Jared, but he wasn’t going to take the cracked cellphone back without a receipt. Then Neeka smiled and touched his hand and he blushed. Jared walked out with upgrades.
The ride back to Mave’s apartment was silent except for Neeka’s phone, which buzzed, dinged and rang. She didn’t look at Jared or her phone. When they got back to the building, she parked and, as Jared got out, dumped the Rug Doctor and bags of accessories and shampoo on the sidewalk. Then she hopped in the minivan and drove off.
Okay, Jared thought.
Jared saw himself as if he was looking down from a high building, standing like a doofus on the sidewalk, and paused in the middle of picking up the shampoo. The last time they’d shared minds, Wee’git had buggered off without saying it directly, but Jared knew he’d recognized Neeka as one of the otter people in human form, and now he felt his biological dad’s jealousy like a hot sting. He looked up at one of the trees that lined the street and spotted him in raven form.
We need to talk, Wee’git thought at him. Just because you’re ignoring danger doesn’t mean danger is ignoring you. Where is Jwasins?
He felt a fleeting mind touch his. Maybe Wee’git didn’t see himself as an instigator, but nothing was going to get better with him around.
22
QUEENS OF THE ANTHROPOCENE
Lala steam-cleaned the bedroom carpet and then Lourdes took over and steam-cleaned the living room. Lala stood beside Jared as he checked out his new phone, sitting on the counter swinging his legs. She took it from him without asking and added her name and number to his contacts, then Neeka’s, then Lourdes’s. That particular brand of otter politeness must be hereditary, Jared thought.
“Good enough,” Lourdes said, carrying the contraption to the bathroom, where she dumped the dirty water in the toilet and flushed.
Jared knew she was talking to her sister mind to mind, but he couldn’t eavesdrop. He wondered how they kept him out and would have asked, but their expressions were not those of happy campers.
Mave dropped in and clapped her hands. She invited them both for supper.
“We’ve got a family emergency,” Lala said. “We’re going to take off.”
Stay inside tonight, Lourdes said very loudly in his head.
Text us if Mallory comes near you again, Lala added.
But don’t tip her off, Lourdes warned.
“I hope it’s nothing serious,” Mave said.
“Later,” the girls said in unison, heading out the door.
Mave examined the steam cleaner. “This is our lucky day! You don’t think they’ll mind if I do my apartment, do you?”
“There’s buttloads of shampoo left,” Jared said. “And we don’t have to return it until tomorrow.”
—
They moved Mave’s furniture around and rolled her area rugs up and stacked them on the balcony furniture to keep them out of the blowing rain. While Jared watched, Mave happily cleaned her living room carpet. Sarah emerged from her alcove and headed to the bathroom without saying a word. She had two pink earplugs in her ears and a sleep shade pushed up on her forehead. She came back out rubbing her temples.
“I’m almost done!” Mave said.
“No worries,” Sarah said. I’m so stoned, it’s amazing I didn’t pee the bed, and I still can feel my fucking headache.
Someone named Mallory has Neeka freaked. She’s her sister and we’re supposed to avoid her. Jared pictured Mallory.
“I’m making a coconut, chickpea and root vegetable curry in the slow cooker!” Mave yelled over the cleaner. “It should be ready in an hour!”
Maybe this Mallory will show up and put me out of my misery. Sarah gave Mave two thumbs up then went to lie down in Mave’s room away from the noise. I’m never overdoing magic again.
When she’d finished, Mave threw a set of keys at him. “Jared, can you put the cleaner back in Olive’s apartment?”
“Sure.” Jared gathered all the little bits and dragged the Rug Doctor down the hall. Olive’s door was open. He couldn’t remember if Mave had locked it or not. The lights were all off and the curtains were closed.
He listened but couldn’t hear anything. He rolled the steam cleaner inside and then dumped the other stuff on the kitchen counter. The front door slammed and Jared turned and saw himself. When the doppelgänger tackled him, he realized it was Wee’git borrowing his form. Jared hit the floor, the wind knocked out of him. Wee’git pinned his wrists down.
“Help!” Jared shouted. Sarah!
Wee’git head-butted him and, while Jared was stunned, dragged him into the living room. His biological father then flipped him over and wrapped his arm around Jared’s neck in a chokehold and squeezed until Jared saw dots and dizzying geometric patterns. Wee’git eased off, settling down on Jared’s back.
“Let’s chat,” he said.
“Get off me.”
Wee’git leaned forward and squeezed again, a warning, then relaxed his grip. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Good job.”
“Why haven’t you told them about Jwasins?”
