“I guess so.” Note to self—look up how to kill bone-marrow-sucking trolls.
Silence descended for several seconds, then Megan said softly, “I saw the way you looked at her, Liz. The way you held her.”
“Like I was going to drop her?”
An exasperated sigh whispered across the miles. “You know that bitchy, ass-kicking, demon-killing loner thing doesn’t fly with me, don’t you?”
I didn’t answer. Because, yeah, I knew.
“The baby was getting to you,” Megan continued. “You were falling for her. Just like you fell for Luther.”
I swallowed, and the fear at the back of my throat tasted like ashes. Which is what Faith and Luther would be if the Nephilim found out that I cared.
“You’re wrong,” I said.
“Sure I am.”
“So. Everything okay by you?” I asked.
“Dandy,” she snapped. “Business is good. My kids are fine.”
“How’s Quinn?”
“Quinn? The bartender?”
Among other things, I thought.
“Yeah, him,” I said.
“Good, I guess. He comes to work on time. Drops a lot, but he always pays for it.”
Would Megan ever see any other man but Max? Should she? I didn’t know the answer to those questions any more than I knew the answer to a lot of others.
“Why are you in Wyoming?” Megan continued.
Not only was the reason too complicated to explain, but the less Megan knew about what I did and where I went the better.
“Never mind,” she said when I hesitated. “Just be careful.”
“Always am.”
“No, you’re not,” she muttered, and hung up.
My next call was to Luther. He answered on the second ring. “Where are you?” he asked.
Faith cooed in the background. I could almost see her smiling. My chest tightened painfully. Love or a heart attack? They probably felt damn near the same.
“Where are you?” I countered.
“Summer’s place.”
“Faith okay?”
“You wanna talk to her?”
“No, that’s—” I began, but he had already put the phone by her ear.
“It’s Liz,” Luther said. “Can you say Liz?”
“Ga!” Faith blasted in my ear drum.
“Ouch!”
“Ouch!” she screamed.
“Shh.”
“Shh! Shh! Shhh!”
Hearing her voice made my chest loosen a little yet, oddly enough, hurt even more.
Luther came back on the line. “She repeats everything.”
“You don’t say?” I switched the phone from one ear to the other. “She’s advancing pretty quickly.” And now that I’d talked to Sani I knew why. Magic in the blood. Poor kid.
“It’s lucky we’re living out near the rez where there aren’t too many people, not to mention the sparkly dust Summer uses to make us fade into the landscape. If anyone human saw Faith one day and then a few days later . . .” He trailed off.
“I think homeschooling is in her future.”
“If the world doesn’t end first. How we doin’ on that, by the way?”
“Better and better. I have a lead on the Book of Samyaza.”
“Shut up!”
“Shut up!” Faith echoed with the exact same inflection.
“Whoops,” Luther murmured. “You want me to get Sanducci?”
“He’s still there?”
“Yeah. Though he’s getting twitchy. He’s gonna have to go and kill something soon just for the hell of it.”
“Summer?”
“I don’t think he should kill her,” Luther said.
“I do.”
The kid had been being a smart-ass, but I couldn’t resist taking a shot at the fairy, even when she wasn’t around.
“He doesn’t let her out of his sight,” Luther muttered.
“Good.” She couldn’t be trusted. So why did the news that Jimmy was keeping both eyes on her annoy the crap out of me?
“You want to tell him about the Book of Samyaza?” Luther asked.
“No. And don’t you tell him, either.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure it’s true. I’ll check it out and get back to you. Until then, keep your lip zipped. I don’t need any help. You hear me?”
“I don’t know how I could avoid hearing you when you’re shouting in my ear.”
“Do not tell Sanducci about the book or even that I called. Do not tell him where I’m going.”
“I don’t know where you’re going,” Luther muttered.
“Thatta boy,” I said, and ended the call.
Sanducci would be on board with getting the book. What he would not be on board with was the possibility of raising Sawyer back to life. Since I might have to do just that, I’d leave Sanducci out of it.
I had a short jump to Minneapolis, where I picked up a direct flight. Once I’d strapped myself into my window seat and nodded to my neighbors, who’d brought books and appeared ready to use them, I checked out for most of the trip. I had a doozy of a dream.