Page 70 of The Best Trick

He snorted softly. “Right?” He was still staring out at the neat row of homes up the street, palm trees shooting up randomly here and there. “Drove my mom crazy. I wouldn’t let her kill anything. God, I’d put up such a fuss. And where we were living, we had doors open all of the time.”

I smiled, imagining him as a little blond cherub ruling the household with his tiny little iron fist.

“Later it was me rescuing them. I’d rescue everything I could. One year my neighbor’s dog got sick, and their family didn’t have the money for a vet. It was the middle of nowhere, and people barely had money for food. I wouldn’t let them kill her—I took the dog and googled the shit out of her symptoms. I got her back. It was allergies. After that, people were bringing me pets. I would google things. I’d do splints from YouTube videos.”

“Wow!” I’d known he’d always wanted to be a doctor, but not this. “That’s amazing.”

“It wasn’t ideal. Those animals deserved better, but I was all they had.” He paused, slid a finger over the steering wheel. “People thought I had this gift, but if you observe any animal really closely, you learn things. You don’t need to ask them questions. I mean, it would be handy, but…”

I brushed a lock of hair behind his ear. “Yeah.”

“People are easier in that you can talk to them,” he continued. “Though they’re so much more complicated. But to heal a person. To make a person’s life worth living. Or save their life. There’s nothing like it, Ice. Nothing.”

He went silent, and I worried he was thinking about the man he killed. Of course, he was thinking about that!

“You have saved so many lives,” I said, kicking myself for pulling him down this path.

No response.

Maybe Odin was right—that Thor was still haunted by the life he took. Really, how could he not be? I wanted to say more, but there was movement around the corner of the house—Zeus and Odin coming out from the side.

“Not at their stealthiest,” I said, trying for a joke. Zeus waved us over to the front door. “Really, really,reallynot stealthy.”

“Let’s see what’s up,” Thor sighed, getting out.

We joined Zeus and Odin at the front door.

“Change of plans?” Thor asked.

“Roger that,” Zeus said, knocking loudly.

“Time to have a talk,” Odin said.

Zeus knocked again.

“She’s in there?” I asked.

“Yup,” Zeus said.

“And Doris?” I asked.

“We’re gonna find out.” Zeus pounded on the door this time. No sound from inside the home.

Odin pulled out his little lock-picking tool.

“Erp!” I said.

“What? It's rude to not open the door,” Odin said, breaking through the lock with ease and pushing the door open to a lavish living room, tastefully appointed with the latest home fashions, including a plush and curvy white couch upon which Clarice and Harold and Harold’s bushy brows were huddled.

After a long beat of them adjusting to the outrageous new reality of us in their place, Harold stood up. “What are you doing? You can’t just come in here!”

“I'm going to call the police,” Clarice said.

“Are you, though?” Thor said as Odin kicked the door shut behind us and, more significantly, three guns came out.

“We don't care what you've been doing,” Zeus said. “We're here for the dog. You give us the dog, and nothing has to happen.”

Harold and Clarice looked confused. “What are you talking about?” Harold asked.

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