Page 30 of Cheater Slicks

“Anunit chased her around the living room for a solid five minutes.” Josie flapped her hands. “That gator canmove.”

“Poor Badb.” I flicked the brim of Anunit’s hat, but it didn’t budge. “Don’t torment the crow.”

“She is plump and slow.”Her reptilian skin brushed against my throat.“I could not help myself.”

Fear forgotten, Badb burst out with an ear-splitting caw and flew at my face—no, at Anunit.

Apparently, even though the others couldn’t comprehend her speech in this form, the crow understood Anunit just fine.

“She says she’s the ideal weight for a crow of her height,” Kierce translated for the rest of us, “and she is faster than the pathetic excuse for—” He shut his mouth. “The rest is difficult to translate.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” I swatted at Badb, whose claws passed dangerously close to my eye. “Please, call off your attack crow.”

“Come with me,cher.” Jean-Claude held out his arm to Badb. “Let’s get you some of that bread pudding you like.”

Certain Anunit was about to zing Badb about Jean-Claude fattening her for the kill, I set her on the floor before she got me flogged. Call me a chicken, but I didn’t want to lose an eye from their petty squabble.

Quick as a blink, Anunit scurried out of the room and down the hall. I was too glad for the ensuing quiet to call out and ask for her plans. I would probably sleep better not knowing them.

“We’re all awake,” Rollo grumbled, “we might as well seize the day, yeah?”

From the rumpled state of him, which I was just noticing, I was convinced he hadn’t been to bed yet.

And, recalling that I hadn’t seen him before I fell asleep, meant I had an unenviable task ahead of me.

Josie, stretching her arms over her head, nodded. “I’m game.”

“Might as well,” I agreed, and the four of us sat across from one another on the crushed velvet couches.

For the next half hour, Kierce and I updated Rollo on what we had seen and learned so far.

Minus one key discovery I couldn’t quite figure out how to word without sending him into a tizzy.

Buying myself time to woman up with the bad news, I fielded questions about why Harrow was sleeping in a guest room down the hall. Josie almost wet her pants recounting how Pascal told her Anunit had worn Harrow like a Halloween costume. That segued into Kierce filling in more details about how he aided Anunit in the transference of her essence into the hatchling, and its reanimation, leaving off with a quick update on Harrow’s current condition.

Jean-Claude returned for that part, reassuring us that Harrow was fine. Tired, but fine. He ought to be awake in a few hours, and then we could send him home. Hopefully without him pressing charges.

“Folks rise from the grave for parades all the time.” Rollo scratched his jaw. “That’s nothing new.”

“These souls are tethered to living bodies.” Kierce stared off in the direction of the kitchen. “We couldn’t touch them. We couldn’t affect them.” He angled his head like he did sometimes when Badb was communicating with him. “They have no idea who they are, as far as we could tell, except for Vi.”

“What do you meanexcept Vi?” Rollo’s expression twisted. “What does he mean,maringouin?”

So much for breaking the news gently. “You weren’t here?—”

“All of a sudden, you don’t know my number?” He shot to his feet. “What did you find?”

“We located Vi’s soul.” I stood too, uncomfortable with him looming over me. “She’s trapped in the Midnight Parade, the same as Matty. She’s still got some sense of self. Either because she hasn’t been there as long or because of her power. She’s used to astral projection. She’s spent a lot of time outside of her body. That might be the difference.” I held up my hands in a placating gesture. “She’s our top priority. She’s the only one lucid enough to help us figure out how to break the enchantment.”

“I don’t know how, but this is your fault.” He stabbed the air in my direction. “Yours and your man’s.”

Ah, yes. This was more like it. This felt normal. This I could handle.

For as long as I had known him, Rollo could only last for so long without blaming his woes on me before I worried his head would explode.

“Rollo, are you half parrot?” Josie squawked.“It’s Frankie’s fault. It’s Frankie’s fault. It’s Frankie’s fault.”

The impression ripped a snort out of me, but Rollo looked ready to spit nails.

---