Page 82 of Midnight Auto Parts

“Thank you.” I hated how my voice broke. “I’m sorry to drag you into this mess.”

“When I agreed to mentor you, I promised to share my knowledge and my aid so long as you never abused your powers. When you became my friend, I knew you would uphold your vows. Now you’re the next best thing to a daughter to me, and you’re out of your damn mind if you think I’ll let you face this alone.”

Tears pricked the backs of my eyes, but I glanced at the ceiling to keep them from falling.

“We should go.” Kierce stood and inclined his head toward Vi. “We’ll return soon.”

“See that you do.” Sudden fierceness turned her sharp. “Be careful out there.”

After ending the call, I braced to tell him my other news. “Ankou’s tree is inside the commune.”

The bits and pieces I had overheard made me more confident when I strung them together for him.

“That explains…a lot.” He shut his eyes. “Has anyone else eaten from it?”

“The Morgans won’t share, which makes me wonder if they’re addicted to whatever it’s doing to them.” I had to believe the fruit was to blame for their willingness to turn a blind eye to Anunit as she took out the women, one by one. “Could the Morgans have saved Anunit’s victims with the fruit?”

Pomegranate from the divine tree Kierce gifted me had saved Badb once from certain death.

“Divine fruit reflects the one who planted the tree, and their purpose in doing so.” He stared at me from under his lashes. “I doubt any fruit borne from Ankou’s seed would heal or help. It would be as mischievous as he, its purpose the same. A twisted solution to those who consumed it, one that consumed them as well.”

“Rosalie is pushing back, but Patty is a lost cause.” I decided that when I realized why Patty was urging apples on her sister. The fog was clearing from Rosalie’s mind, and Patty wanted to cloud her judgment again. “Why do we need more dirt?”

“The soil you used this morning is ash.” Kierce’s gaze touched on the trash can in the kitchen where he must have swept the remains. “It glowed hot, like coals, then glittered and charred like wood but didn’t burn where it touched us or the nightstand.”

“I forgot you sprinkled it over our hands.” I massaged my temples. “There’s a vagueness to my memories, like some of what I saw and heard is still slowly returning to me. It’s different from when Dis Pater summons you.”

“His power tugs me to him. I don’t expend any of my own. Perhaps the same is true for you.”

“But projecting myself inside the ward was all me, which left me physically and mentally tired?”

“Ask Vi. She knew to anticipate it, so she must experience it too.”

“I would love to hear I will outgrow the sluggishness, but there’s always a cost to performing magic.”

“Yes.” He carved a path toward the door. “Everything has a price.”

As the women in the commune were discovering, and we would too, if we didn’t make amends with Anunit.

Patrol cars speckledthe perimeter of the ward where the road edged past it.

Though it was on the shoulder, clear of regular traffic, officers had set up roadblocks to protect anyone from driving into the equivalent of a brick wall.

From the number of uniforms milling around a tent set up near the tree line, more officers were using magical means to determine the exact shape and size of the affected area.

Kierce and I wore our lanyards and kept out of their way. No one stopped us as we collected plastic bags of fresh soil. Three of them. To cut down on the number of trips out here. Curious whether Carter was in this location or the previous, I dialed her number, but I got no response despite knowing she had replaced her phone.

“Do you think Anunit is denning at this location or merely hunting?” I put the question to Kierce after we were safe inside the wagon. “The bones are at the other site, but she can’t very well rain vengeance down on the thieves if they’re here and she’s there.”

I blinked, and Kierce was gone.

I blinked again, and Kierce was back.

Mashing my lips flat, I grumbled, “You made your point.”

A god, even a dead one, shouldn’t have a problem blipping between locations.

Anxious to be rid of the bones in my pocket, we returned to the abduction site. Though abduction might not be the right word. Voluntary abandonment site? Park and ride? I wasn’t sure anymore.

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