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“Do you think you could teach me how to drive one of these?” Soini asked, looking excited.
I looked back at the house. “Ask Claire. It’s her car now.”
I went back inside.
Chapter Twenty-two
I went looking for my roommate, to make sure she was okay, but she wasn’t in the kitchen. Or the laundry room or the pantry or her bedroom. I’d come back downstairs, intending to try the backyard next, when a fey tapped me on the shoulder. “You have a guest.”
I frowned. I wasn’t expecting anybody, and despite the myths, Louis-Cesare didn’t need an invitation to come in. He had a master power, called the Veil, that allowed him to phase out of this plane of existence for a moment, and bypass whatever pesky ward was in his way. Of course, maybe he was trying to be polite.
“Who is it?”
The fey shrugged. “Says he’s your son.”
I raised an eyebrow. Then I walked over and raised the door latch and stuck my head out. And found a lump on the steps.
It was an odd-looking thing, wrapped in enough layers to leave it a generic mountain of clothes. In addition to what had to be six or more coats, there were scarves, a hat, dark glasses, what looked like several pairs of gloves, and an umbrella. All this despite the fact that it had to be in the mid-eighties and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
I leaned against the doorframe. “My darling boy.”
“Shut up and let me in.”
Apparently, it was an angry lump. “You know, I don’t recall having a son.”
“I didn’t say ‘son’; I said ‘child’—”
“Which I also don’t have, unless you count Stinky.”
“—I can’t help it if those weirdos you live with don’t lis—what? The fuck you don’t!”
I clicked my tongue. “Now I know I didn’t raise you. Such a potty mouth.”
“Yeah. ’Cause if I’d been brought up in your crazy-ass family, I’d be so refined. Now let me in!”
“And them?”
I nodded behind him, to where a crew of assorted additional lumps were huddled together under some umbrellas, similarly attired.
And looking miserable, what I could see of them.
“I hadda bring ’em. It’s a long story, and thanks to the damned sun, I can’t even think straight. Now get out of the way!”
I considered it. He was talking through a scarf, which muffled his voice enough that I’d have had no idea who was speaking if the fey hadn’t said something. And even still, I wasn’t taking chances.
“Ahhh! The fuck?” the lump screamed, when I tried to pull down the scarves to take a look. Gloved hands batted at me, and angry eyes glared, barely visible behind black shades. “Are you crazy?”
“I need to verify. So you’re going to have to come up with something—”
A string of profanity, impressive in its scope and extent, greeted that comment. “How you expect me to verify when I’m on fire?”
“I don’t see any smoke.”
“Well, you’re gonna in half a minute, so I hope you got more of that salve. You can rub it on my whole body this time, ’stead of just my ass—”
I sighed and swung open the door. “Come in, Ray.”
Ray came in.
