“Twice?” Hunter crinkled his nose. “But that would make his actual niece, like, ancient.”
“How oldisancient?” asked Flora, turning the question on me. “Personally, I don’t think I’m quite there yet.”
“Okay,” said Hunter, holding up both palms. “The math isn’tmathing here—onanylevel. But I don’t think I super care about that. All I care about is that Ireallyfeel like you shouldn’t be in the library unsupervised. Honestly, I don’t thinkIshould be in the library unsupervised, but I guess I keep holding out they’ll eventually offer me hazard pay. Bottom line, are we good now? Can I foist this hobgoblin with her spectacular vernacular off on you, Hart, and go back to my Quasimodo bell tower—aka the nine hundreds?”
“You’ve never met a hobgoblin in your life, have you?” asked Flora. “I’ve half a mind to sneak one under your bed in the wee hours, I do. If for no other reason than to teach you a lesson about the fair folk.”
“Whatever you do,” Hunter said, shifting his focus back to me, “please don’t marry into this family.”
A furious blush heated my face. “Um… I’ve got it from here, Hunter, thanks.”
“Then I’m out,” Hunter said. “This place gives me hives. Too many colors. Deuces.”
He threw up a sideways peace sign before swinging away and fast-walking out of the children’s department—probably wanting to make himself scarce before someone under the age of ten saw his name badge and asked for help finding a book, logging on to a computer, or with tying a shoe.
“Look, lass,” said Flora, concern knitting her expression, “I hate to bother you at work, but I didn’t have much of a choice after what we found in the Hallowed Halls.”
“No,” I said, “it’s okay. I’ve been worried sick about Grim. What is it? What’s happened?”
“I was hoping—perhaps in vain—to find out you’d seen him in the last day or so.”
“The last I saw him was Friday night,” I said, blushing again—and hoping desperately Flora didn’t ask for details.
“That’s the night Johann found Grim’s hourglass abandoned in the Basins chamber. I was out with Pluto, chasing Cedric’s soul down—except we found out too late it was a clever decoy.”
“Cedric?”
“Aye,” said Flora. “He’s loose—but I don’t know how. Or, unfortunately, where.”
“Oh no…”
I gave the children’s department a scan. I swallowed hard, too, overcome with the need to get the heck out of here in case the wizard came to the library looking for me. To finish the job he hadn’t been able to with the bookmobile.
Clearly, in his pursuit of ruining Grim, he didn’t care who he hurt.
I couldn’t be around my patrons.
“Johann was away in the Netherworld Forest,” said Flora, “walking with Lady Red, who asked to speak with him about… Well, Johann has something like a stalker.”
“I know who Johann is,” I said.
“Grim told you?” She tilted her head, surprised.
“I… sort of guessed.”
“Oh,” said Flora. “It’s a sensitive topic for Johann, which was why he followed Lady Red out to the forest. She wanted to ask him about the smashed-up Volkswagen parked near one of the larger portals—to see if its presence there meant anything to him. She thought it might mean the portals had been breached, and he—we—were compromised.”
“That’s… well, that wasmycar,” I told her. “Grim probably took it to the Netherworld to hide it after Cedric demolished it trying to kill me. But, Flora, where’s Grim? What’s happened to him?”
“We don’t know,” she said. “But I do know souls are dogpiling. I’m making my deliveries, but the adult spirits are backing up. Grim’s not doing his job. Usually, if one of us stays put for long enough, he and I can find each other’s signature—but I can’t feel him anywhere in the world.”
This was terrible. Horrible.Worsethan I’d imagined.
Clearly, something had happened to Grim. And Cedric was to blame.
“What about The Few?” I asked. “Have you spoken to any of them?”
“Johann has tried summoning Sir White, but he won’t answer,” Flora replied. “Neither will the others. And we’ve searched the Hallowed Halls from top to bottom for Grim. Everywhere but his chambers—but we can’t get in. Johann and I both tried.”
