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The missing woman was bigger than I but nearly everyone was. I glamoured everything until it was exactly the same thing I’d worn before—fringe, boots, hat, and all. I didn’t bother to cross the room and listen to Jimmy’s conversation. Once had been enough.
For several lifetimes.
I thought back on all the occasions I’d thought he was hiding something, those prickles of unease with Jimmy, Ruthie, the entire situation. But instead of pushing for an answer, I’d been dazzled by him. How could I not be? I’d been waiting for Jimmy Sanducci for centuries.
The door opened. Jimmy saw me sitting on the edge of the bed and smiled. He almost looked as if he meant it.
“You’re good,” I said.
His smile faltered. “Thank you?”
“I actually believed you cared.”
Confusion flickered across his face, then he glanced through the open door, at the window, and again at me. “You heard?”
I shrugged. I had, just not the way he thought.
“Let me explain—”
“I’m sure Ruthie had her reasons.” She always did. “Although I’d think the Leader of the Light would be above pimping for the greater good.”
“It’s a long story. I—”
I zapped him with fairy dust, and he stopped talking. I guess what he’d been about to tell me wasn’t merciful. More about making him feel better than making me not want to dive into a fresh patch of rowan or stab myself in the throat with the nearest cold, sharp steel.
Had Ruthie wanted us to bond? Had she needed me to protect him? She could have just asked. There was something more to this, but right now, I didn’t want to know.
“Listen,” Jimmy said, and that he could speak meant I should. “Bad things are coming. We’re going to have to do whatever it takes to win the coming war.”
The hair on my arms lifted. “Armageddon?”
“It’s almost here.”
I closed my eyes. The last war. The only one that mattered.
Who would win? Our Book said one thing. Theirs said another.
The universe craved balance. God versus Satan. Angels versus devils. Good versus evil. Us versus them.
I’d seen so many things in my sleep. I opened my eyes and stared into Jimmy’s all-too-familiar face. I’d seen him die. But I’d also seen him live.
Because of me.
I loved him. Did it matter if he loved me back? Perhaps my love wasn’t real, just a fantasy manufactured by our side so that I would protect him. But it felt real, and it wasn’t something I was going to be able to magic away. I’d tried.
I’d promised everything I had, everything I was, to keep him safe. And looking at him now, even knowing what I did, I knew I’d promise the same damn thing again tomorrow.
We needed him. Without Jimmy Sanducci, the side of good, of light and right would not survive. I wasn’t certain of much, but I was certain of that. I had to be.
“There will be demons,” Jimmy said. “Scores of them. And the only thing that can stop them is us.” He held out his hand. “You with me?”
Since being with him was all I’d ever wanted, I took that hand, and I kept my promise. It wasn’t easy.
But, then, deals with the devil never are.
* * *
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