He hadn’t been trying to harm me.
He’d been trying to warn me.
13
TheVictrolahadgonesilent. The sword cane lay on the mantel next to the bow tie. The fire was out, and Patty Melt looked up at me forlornly from the cooling hearth.
Somehow, I knew: no amount of flames would bring him back again.
Shehad stopped him.
I ran my fingers through my hair and gripped it at the roots, letting the dull pain be a sharpener for my thoughts.
Patty Melt squeaked at my feet.
When I looked down, she gently reached out a tiny paw and set one of my bootlaces on fire.
I quickly swatted the fire out. “Thanks, baby,” I said. “I know you care.” I scooped her up and closed my hands like a cave. Light flared between my fingers and went out, and I felt Patty Melt return.
I closed the window. Closed the Victrola. Returned to the fireplace and crouched, to survey the damage.
Inside the fireplace, the broken glass was gone. In its place, a single, sparkling drinking glass lay on the irons: pink fluted cup, hollow purple foot, and in between, the stem—holding the whole thing together—was a perfect pink glass flamingo.
I sagged to the carpet, rocking with helpless, silent, borderline hysterical laughter.
When I finally managed to pull myself upright, my stomach growled.
There might have been an interdimensional goddess on the way, preparing to destroy my soul, but even that wasn’t enough to stop my hunger. Magic took it out of a person.
I remembered Daniel’s snacks, and staggered to my feet.
I stumbled back to the kitchen, bringing the lights up as I went, and then I collected everything I found in the refrigerator except for the soft-sided cooler, which I suspected held blood. I didn’t look.
I carried everything to the living room and laid it out on Prospero’s dainty side table. It didn’t all fit on one side table, so I dragged over a second one.I should call Daniel, I thought.I should call Mom and Poppy.I should call Berron.
Instead, I sat on the sofa and began mindlessly eating cheese cubes.
When I looked up from my food haze to find only empty containers, some sense returned. I typed and copied the same text to everyone:I’m fine. Will give you more details in person.
That should buy some time.
I dusted crumbs from my hands and leaned back on the couch, only to be interrupted by the sound of a key in a lock. I sat up and more thoroughly wiped my hands on my jeans, wondering why Daniel had come back so quickly.
The door opened.
It wasn’t Daniel. It was Jessica, swathed in black: black boots, black tights, black skirt, black leather jacket, and a thick black scarf.
“How did you get back so fast?”
“I was barely a block away.” She stopped in the entryway and blinked at me. “What are you doing?”
“Didn’t Daniel tell you?”
“Of course Daniel told me.” She approached and gave me a very unflattering onceover.
I became acutely aware of a trail of cracker crumbs down my front.
“Oh myGod, did you eat all the food?” She picked up the empty plates and dropped them back on the side tables with a crash. “Were you raised in abarn?” She stalked to the kitchen and flung open the refrigerator door, peering into the depths like it was Aladdin’s cave of wonders. “There’s nothingleft.”
