Page 47 of Shadow & Stars
My kind weren’t exactly decent to his, many witches treating warlocks as if they were second class citizens. A vile practice in need of quashing.
I guess the end of magic evened the score now.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Been bored out of mind, so yes. Any friend of Darcy’s is cool with me. Unless you try fucking me over. Ghost or not, I’ll make you regret it.”
“No fucking. Erm, I mean…” Shit.
He laughed. “I can live with that. Follow me. There’s some beds upstairs. Can you use a bed?”
“I’ll give it a go.” My shoes were interacting with the bare floorboards, so fingers crossed.
The answerto the bed question was a yes. Kind of. I sat on the mattress, but unable to interreact with the blanket or the flat pillow or even the towel Jaz offered me.
So weird.
“Sorry, mate,” he said.
I shrugged. “It’s the least of my problems.”
The bigger of two bedrooms had two single mattress and a couple of black bags filled with canned goods and bottles of water. Nothing much else aside from a few more battery lanterns.
I couldn’t touch anything, which upset my stomach over the food.
It really wanted some grub.
Jaz kept his distance, moving the other mattress close to the door in case he needed to bolt—in his words.
“I’ll be gone in a few hours,” I said. “Just need a power nap.”
“Get a full night if you like.” He picked at his dirty nails. “It’s cool.”
No full night. Even taking a rest like this wasted precious time. I just needed a quick recharge and then I’d find Queen Piper.
The only flaw in my plan was her location. With everything going on in London, she might be out of the city in some secret location. I remembered her number from when we usedto communicate about my jobs, when she played intermediary between me and her mother. If I could find a phone, I’d give it a shot. Well, I’d have to ask someone to make the call for me.
Man, this was getting complicated.
And how to get the time jar from Butterfly… Hmmm. We’d need some serious muscle and firepower against Ismael’s gathering army.
“Is there a phone here?” I asked.
Jaz shook his head. “I ain’t got a mobile phone either. But there is a corner shop close by with a phone box. But I’ve got no cash for it.”
Did a reverse charge still exist like when I was a kid?
“Thanks,” I said.
I could ask Jaz to call the new queen for me.
“No worries. You calling Darcy?” he wondered.
I shook my head, suppressing the painful reminder of killing my best friend. It stung every part of me like a group of furious wasps over and over again.
“Sorry. Shouldn’t be asking questions about him.”
“It’s fine. When was the last time you saw him?”
