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Carter and Kelly leaned eagerly over the table, staring down at the bones as if they would reveal all the mysteries of the world. They looked like idiots.
Joe stood quietly next to me.
The old witch squinted at the table.
“This is so exciting,” Carter whispered to Kelly.
“I’m not sure what we’re supposed to be looking at.”
“I know. That’s what makes this so exciting.”
“Huh. Okay. Now I’m excited too.”
The old witch sat up in his chair and said, “Fairbanks.”
We stared at him.
He stared sightlessly back at us.
“Fairbanks,” I said slowly.
“The answers you seek are in Fairbanks.”
“Like,” Kelly said, “as in Alaska?” He squinted at the table, trying to see what the witch had seen.
“I really fucking hate Alaska,” Carter muttered, eyeing the bones as if they’d betrayed him.
“Richard Collins is in Fairbanks?” Joe asked.
The old witch looked up at him sharply. “I didn’t say that. I said the answers you seek are there. This will set you on the proper path. It will begin to lead you home.”
“Home,” Kelly breathed.
“Home,” the witch repeated.
Carter stepped back from the table. “Great! Wonderful. Awesome. What the hell are you all doing still standing around? We gotta get moving. Alaska, here we come!” He was already halfway out the door before he turned and stuck his head back in. “Thank you. Your help is appreciated. But also, maybe consider not hanging the skeletons of someone’s pet from your ceiling. It’s very I-shouldn’t-be-trusted-to-babysit-your-children. Just a suggestion.”
And then he was out the door.
Kelly stood to follow. He paused, looking at Joe and me before he turned to the old witch. “Thank you,” he said quietly and then went after his brother.
“How are we supposed to know you’re telling the truth?” Joe asked.
“Joe,” I snapped at him. “Don’t insult—”
“It’s fine,” the old witch said. “He doesn’t know me. It’s a fair question to ask.”
“But—”
“Gordo.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at both of them.
The witch said, “You don’t have to trust me, Alpha. I am not your pack. I live here, in this place, and I know how it looks. How I appear. But I have a certain… fondness for wolves. I always have.” He stood slowly and moved toward a bookshelf on the far wall. He took a large volume from the middle shelf. He turned and came back to the table, sliding the book toward Joe.
Joe glanced at me. I jerked my head toward the witch.
He took the book.
