Page 85 of Midnight Auto Parts

“I’m an orphan. I was raised by…”I cast my thoughts back to what Kierce had told us,“…the Perchten.”

“No.”She recoiled from me. “That is not possible.”

“I assure you, it is.”I almost laughed at her indignation.“My siblings and I?—”

Breath left her lungs in a gust, and she padded forward.“You have siblings?”

“We’re not blood relatives.”I ignored the urge to defend us Marys.“We chose one another.”

“I see.”The great beast searched my face but found only more confusion to twist her features.“You and I will meet again, Frankie Talbot.”

Quicker than a blink, she stole the meat and loped into the trees, disappearing like a phantom.

As soon as she was out of sight, I lost all coordination in my limbs and melted into a puddle on the dirt.

“I should have asked her.” My teeth chattered as my adrenaline ebbed. “About the women.”

“We had to save ourselves first.” He lifted me, gathering me against his chest, and buried his face in my neck. “Though I suspect that was more your doing than mine.”

“You couldn’t hear her?” I wriggled closer to him. “You’re sure?”

“Growls and yips. That was all. I wasn’t aware you were speaking to her either.”

“Why?” I wrinkled my nose at the iron tang in the air and the sticky substance on my arms. “Why me?”

“She’s a spirit.” He sounded thoughtful. “I could smell eternity on her.”

“All I could smell was chicken.” I pretended to sniff my shirt. “I think it’s coming from me.”

Pride stretched his cheeks as he gazed down at me. “You held your ground against a divine creature.”

“This must be how I seem to you when we start talking about your title.” I pinched his cheek. “You’re adorable when you geek out.”

“She had language.” He stroked my cheek thoughtfully. “She articulated words?”

“Yes.” I laughed, surprised not to have found it strange. But when you were talking mind to mind with a divine animal…I mean…why not? How was her ability to speak any stranger? “That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Very good.” He smiled. “It means you can appeal to her to spare the lives of the others.”

“She called me godspawn and you godmade. Do you think that’s the difference? In the talking thing?”

“Perhaps,” he allowed. “You can speak the divine tongue. That you were never taught makes me curious if the children of gods are born knowing it. Anunit would speak, I imagine, aversion of the language that predates even that.” He still eyed me as if I were a wonder. “You might contain multitudes of languages that require only a spark to set them alight within your mind.”

“That is just too weird.” I checked the woods for signs of Anunit but found none. “We need to return the bones to their skeletons.” I shivered. “I don’t want to give her a reason to pay us another visit.”

Then there was Vi. She was waiting for us. And boy would I have a story to tell her.

“Return them to the original configuration,” Kierce warned me, turning away. “Ask if you need help.”

Using the method he taught me, I managed to determine placement on my own. Though I did request he check behind me. I worried any mistakes would result in Anunit showing up at the shop and deciding the siblings that had interested her looked tasty.

Armed with Kierce’s seal of approval, we left the burial ground. Stinky and stained as Kierce and I were, I was more grateful than ever for the magic keeping my wagon pristine inside and out.

Pedro was deep in conversation with a customer when we reached the shop, so I waved to him and hit the stairs. I half expected Josie to be waiting for us in my apartment, but the coast was clear. She must be working in the garden, tending her plants. I bet they missed her. They were so used to receiving her undivided attention.

Were plants like dogs, who took offense when their owner came home smelling like other dogs? I ought to ask her sometime. She might laugh at me, but it would make her smile.

After shooting Vi a text, Kierce and I showered. Not together. Sadly.

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