Page 39 of Veil of Blood and Bone

“You know how Barnes is.”

The glyph burns a hole in my pocket through breakfast, oatmeal and frozen strawberries. The freezer section is our best friend because I find things on sale and save them for later.

At least something in our apartment works. The fridge might go too warm at times and too cold at others, but the freezer is great.

I bend to kiss Audra on top of the head even as she pushes me away. “You good?”

“Yeah. Laverne is coming to help me get to therapy today. She’ll pick me up at ten.”

Audra’s weathering the troll disaster better than I am. Her shoulders are thrown back, a healthy glow on her dusky cheeks, and her eyes bright.

I can’t ask for more. “God bless Laverne.” Sometimes our landlady did good. “Text me if you have any issues. Or if you want to talk.”

“Are you okay, Helene? I know you like to pretend there’s nothing wrong, but our lives changed yesterday.”

She folds her hands around her mug of coffee, graced with more creamer than a diabetic can dream of.

“For the sake of my sanity, I’m going to brush the troll incident under the rug,” I reply.

Is it safe to go outside?

Audra sighs. “Then I guess I’ll see you after my appointment.”

Should I let her?

I stop in the doorway, fingers frozen on the overloaded hook, our winter coats draping to the floor. “Hey, kid? Why are you so casual about all this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, anyone else with half a brain would run screaming and not look back.” My tongue knots.

“You’re not running,” she says with enough snark to pickle an onion.

“Apparently I should be.” There’s still time. Right?

Audra shrugs. “It means I’m right, Hel. It means Mom was right all those times she felt like it was time to run. There’s more out there than we know what to deal with. ‘There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’"

I scoff. “Don’t spout Shakespeare at me. We have a big problem, and if I make it through the day…”

“I know. It’s on the calendar. Big talk. You and me.”

“Love you big,” I add before shrugging on my coat.

“Love you bigger.”

Laverne Anderson owns the rickety Victorian but stays in a neat new build on the other side of town. Fortunately for us, she keeps the rent reasonable and also helps drive Audra to her therapy appointments at Lewis Gale, because unlike us, Laverne has herself a nice minivan.

I jog down the front steps, squinting in the scalding light and patting the rune in my pocket like I would keys. Then the potent scent of roasting coffee hooks me straight through the nostrils, and I stop in my tracks.

How bad would it be to treat myself to a basic bitch designer coffee? It’s pumpkin spice season, after all. And the cafe does a mean oat milk latte.

My gut grumbles, settles, and if I’m going to face Barnes I’ll require fortification more than frozen strawberries can provide.

“Course correction.”

I glance both ways then jog across the street between cars. I don’t need chia seeds from the grocery store. It’s a trade I’m willing to make as I push open the door and step inside my own personal heaven.

Of course, The Hollow Grind already has a line snaking toward the sidewalk. It’s too good not to be the most popular spot in town. This close to the start of the working day, neighbors and tourists have the same idea—caffeine before commitments.