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“Beverly’s convinced that animals can help,” Minnie said. “I can talk to them. Just tell me what you need.”
I needed my mates, I needed my friends, and I couldn’t save them alone. Even though I knew I’d regret bringing Minnie into this, I told her everything in a mad rush of words, as though I couldn’t stop them once I started to let them out.
Minnie listened without interrupting, then nodded. “I’ll ask every animal in town to look for portals and signs of suspicious magic. They’ve been worried about the portals too since a chicken on a rocket flew out of one and crashed into a goose. It’s the only thing the birds have been talking about. I’m sure they’ll help, and the squirrels will too. They just like spying, and we could always bribe them with more nuts. And the raccoons are very clever and sneaky, so they might see something. And mice can go anywhere.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Wait here.” Minnie rushed into the building. She returned with coffee, water, a plate of waffles topped with fruit, and a side of green salad. My stomach growled loud enough for Beverly to startle next to me.
“I told Bob I’m still negotiating with the squirrels, and I’m trying coffee and waffles. He seemed to buy it. I also said they’ve started a strike out here so no one should come out. You’ve got time to eat in peace, and no one will tell the cops you’re here—not that Bob would anyway, but one of the customers might.”
I thanked her again. As I inhaled the food, Minnie strolled to the edge of the patio where it met the forest and flapped her arms while she talked to every bird she could find. Then she got on all fours and twitched her ass while she talked to the squirrels.
When I had finished eating, she said, “You smell like you need a shower. How about I book you a hotel room on Screech? Do you need some new clothes? I’ve got vials of spelled clothes I’ll never use, but they’re mostly ball gowns. Or we could stop by an ATM.”
She was kinder than I deserved. “Thank you. I’ll pay you back later after all this, I promise.” I leaned in to hug her as thanks.
Minnie’s nose wrinkled and recoiled. “Umm… maybe later.”
“Fair enough. I smell like a dick that fucked a hole in a dumpster.”
Beverly headed back to her lodge on the river to tell her forest friends to look for portal magic, while I went to the hotel Minnie was kind enough to book. She promised to ask more animals for intel and report back. I showered for the first time since before leaving prison, and as I lay down on the bed in a towel, I spotted it.
The mini-bar.
My breath caught and my body tensed. Without even deciding to, I crossed to it and cracked it open. Nuts, chocolate, and yep, little bottles of alcohol.
Ah, shit.
I hadn’t had a drink since going to prison and entering therapy almost two years ago, but it was easier not to drink in the joint. Sure, people fermented juice in their toilets, and Ram’s contraband network brought in bottles. But I couldn’t just open a fridge and find alcohol. I had to search it out, and though I often wanted to, I had managed not to.
Now that I was faced with a selection of drinks, my mouth watered and my heart ached. I ran my fingers over the small bottles: beer, rum, wine, and pre-made cocktails.
Just drink it,my brain said.The craving will go away, and your grief will be less for a little while.
It’s a lie, it was always a lie. I clenched my fist at my side. I couldn’t save anyone if I was blackout drunk.
You don’t need to get blackout drunk. Just a little buzzed. Bzz bzz,my brain said.
I pulled my trembling hand out of the fridge, away from the bottles. It’s never just a little, though, and I needed to remain alert to keep trying my portal spells.
With my skin crawling, I took a deep breath and called up my magic, wrapping it around every bottle and whispering a spell on trembling lips.
The drinks exploded into dust.
Noooo, something screamed and kicked within me like an angry toddler. I sat on the floor and put my face in my hands, counting my breaths. Stay dry for Jag, for Elliot, for Moe and Juniper, hell even for Ram. You have to save them.
Chapter 34
“AgentTiptoefoundsomething,”Minnie said, entering my hotel room as I opened the door a day later. A mouse was perched on her shoulder, their whiskers twitching. “There’s a building near the prison—”
I tensed. No wonder I hadn’t sensed any dark magic when searching Silver Springs. The prison was the one area of town I had steered clear of. I should have fucking known that anyone hiding from me would go there.
“Tiptoe says the building is big and empty,” Minnie continued. “Full of mice and rats. They call it the Kingdom because people don’t go there, and they can run free. Or at least, they used to. One person is living there now, and Tiptoe says they keep making puddles in the sky, but the mice can’t reach them or splash in them. They have a metal circle that makes balls in the air. They scare the mice and rats.”
My heart raced. “That’s the Astrosmos relic. Can Tiptoe show me which building they’re in?”
Minnie tilted her head as though listening to the mouse on her shoulder. She twitched her nose in the same way as the mouse. “He knows the smell of the Kingdom.”
