Page 35 of Midnight Auto Parts

“I’m sure he said a great many things when he had you alone.”

“It sounded like he…” I searched for a polite way to ask but found none. “Did he take your memories?”

“Of the Alcheyvaha?” He read into the gap I left for suspicion Dis Pater had stolen more. “Yes.”

“That’s why you didn’t know they were there,” I realized while dread blossomed in my stomach.

Because if Dis Pater could hit reset on Kierce, what assurances did I have he wouldn’t delete me one day too? Just lift us each from the other’s minds and set us marching off in opposite directions?

“I remember what I knew about them before, and I remember his specific instructions on forgetting too. He had good reason for what he did.” He noted my disbelief and, in some ways, mirrored it. “This time.” He shook his head. “We must return.” He didn’t sound happy. “There will be repercussions for disturbing the gods’ rest.”

“What about the abductions?” I gazed after Carter. “What would old gods want with all those vehicles?”

The people, sadly, had plenty of uses. Particularly for gods. Starting with the old favorite—sacrifice.

“I don’t know.” His gaze locked with mine. “But we’re going to find out.”

Once the coast was clear, not a flashing light to be seen or siren to be heard, Carter and I sneaked over to Mallow to retrieve our vehicles. The cashier was on her phone, her animated expression convincing me she was recounting the earlier incident to a friend and didn’t notice as we pulled out without using our headlights. A pang of remorse struck me for the girl, but I hadn’t exactly planned for my soul to get sucked from my body and sent on an East Coast beachside vacation.

With Carter leading the way back to the abduction site in her truck, I had a moment alone with Kierce.

“Dis Pater mentioned his home is warded with a god bone.” I flexed my foot. “A toe bone, I assume.”

“I’ve never met a god with all ten.”

The matter-of-fact way he stated it caused me to splutter a laugh. “Are you serious?”

“Sandals were on trend for thousands of years.” He raised his eyebrows. “I’ve seen a lot of feet.”

“They’re easier to hide too. Feet, I mean.” Much easier than hands. “Slap on socks and shoes, and no one would know how many of your toe bones have been used to fortify your home or other holdings. It’s clever, really.” A new thought struck me. “How common are osteokinetics?”

“Among the death god pantheons, it’s a common talent.”

“But it’s still unusual for Ankou to carry around a god bone, right?”

“Few are as exceptional at bone manipulation as Ankou, and his god enjoys flaunting it.”

To get a better grasp on him, I finally worked up the nerve to ask, “Who is his god?”

“I’m forbidden to speak the names of the gods. We’re not allowed to reveal who we serve.”

Good old plausible deniability. “The crow at the train shed called Dis Pater by name.”

“Yes.” His expression locked down tight. “I remember you told me that.”

Briefly, I considered thumping my forehead on the steering wheel. “Does it mean she was a god too?”

“For her to know how to mark a soul for Him, she’s either a goddess or a well-informed god blood.”

That would mean a third god had an interest in Thunderbolt.

Dis Pater. Ankou’s god. And an unknown.

“How is this my life?” It was nuts, or I was. “People talk to gods, pray to them, but they don’t talk back.”

And prayers, despite what I had been taught, usually went unanswered.

Not even when you were small and terrified of the creatures prowling the corridors in the night, dressed in their habits, masquerading as nuns. No god had ever stepped out of a stained glass window to protect me. I had to learn to protect myself, and my family. Even that hadn’t saved me when a god finallyappeared to me. No. Dis Pater had focused his energy on me like sunlight through a magnifying glass, only ending the torment when my heart quit beating. Whether it had restarted or not, he hadn’t cared one whit.

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