A week after we’d captured Hecate, Rebecca stopped by the apartment on her way to Parsi. Her arm was still in plaster and someone had drawn a complicated protective hex on it.
“Nice art,” I said. “Who did it?”
She looked down. “Johnny. I ran into him last night at the diner.”
Ran into him, my ass. Johnny Asari was making a play for my sister.
“I hope you have better luck than I do at love,” I said.
“You saved her,” Rebecca replied. “You saved the whole city.”
It didn’t make me feel any better. Willow’s rejection still stung.
She changed the subject. “How’s it feel to be a rock star?”
I popped the top on a beer. “Grand.”
One of the things I liked about my sister was that she never ragged on me about my drinking. She probably hoped I’d fuck up my liver and keel over, which, since I was mortal now, could actually happen.
I offered her a bottle, but she waved it away. “It’s a little early for me. I’m on my way to work,” she said. “Which brings me to why I’m here. The aunts want you to come back to Parsi Enterprises.”
I wasn’t surprised by much these days, but she’d done it. “To work?”
“Of course to work,” she said.
“Why?”
“They’ve decided we need to stick together,” she said. “Wyrd family united and all that.”
I studied her face. “I’ll think about it.”
“It’s a solid offer,” she said. “You can’t work at Eternity Road forever.”
“Why not?” I asked. “The aunts want me back in the bosom of the family, but they don’t trust me with their secrets.” The two items of power were the harpy’s silver feather and Hecate’s Bead. Nona had told me Medusa’s mirror was the third item of power, but the aunts knew more than they were telling me.
“They don’t trust anybody,” she replied. “Including me.’
“What’s the real story about why you left?”
“You mean why did I steal the money?”
I nodded. “I’m assuming you had a reason.”
“You’re the first,” Rebecca said. “What makes you think that?”
“You don’t strike me as someone dumb enough to double-cross the Fates for the hell of it.”
“I’m not,” she said. “I had my reasons. Maybe someday I’ll tell you about them.”
A silence fell, but she didn’t make a move to leave.
“Something else on your mind?”
“I had an interesting offer and I wanted to talk to you about it,” she replied.
“Then talking about it means you know, talking about it,” I hinted.
She made a face. “Smart-ass. Johnny Asari asked me out and I wanted to know what you think.”
Was my sister really asking me for dating advice? “About Johnny? Talbot thinks he’s a dick, but there was a girl involved in that decision-making process.”
“There usually is,” Rebecca said dryly. “So you’re cool with it?”
I didn’t tell her I already knew about her and Johnny. I was touched she’d considered my feelings at all. “You’re worried that I’d be offended because Johnny wants to take over House of Hades? Don’t be. I don’t want it.”
“That’s not what he thinks,” Rebecca replied.
I shrugged. “I can’t help that.”
“The aunts are furious about it,” she confided. “And we haven’t even gone on our first date.”
“They’re usually pissed about something,” I said. “Do what you want. What your heart wants.”
Rebecca gave me a peck on my cheek. “Maybe you should take your own advice.”
Maybe I should. It hadn’t worked out for me so far, but I was the son of Fortuna. Luck was in my nature.
“I thought you hated me,” I said.
She met my eyes. “What can I say? You’re growing on me.”
After she left, I finished the beer and hit the streets. Eternity Road was located in a less-than-desirable location in Minneapolis, but I liked it. It had become home to me, the only home I’d known in two hundred years.
I hadn’t given up on finding Baxter. Part of me felt responsible for him. Hecate probably would never have noticed him if it weren’t for me.
We’d already gone through the house Hecate had commandeered. It had been a scene of vile depravity, blood-soaked rooms, and the stench of despair, but no Baxter.
I drove by the morgue. Baxter’s car was long gone, of course, probably collecting dust at the police tow yard. He could be anywhere, if he was even still alive.
I’d driven halfway around Minneapolis without any luck. I decided to search Morta’s for the silver harpy feather. Hecate had been contained, but I’d learned the hard way to hedge my bets.
Morta lived downtown so I pointed the car in that direction. I used a quick obscura spell and slipped in without anyone, including the security guard, noticing. I listened, but didn’t detect anyone else in the apartment.
I let the spell slip away. I needed to concentrate on my snooping.
The portrait of my mother still hung above the fireplace. In it, she wore a red dress and the silver chain with the charms that I now wore around my neck.
I headed for the bedrooms and collided with Claire in the hallway. The collision left both of us disconcerted, but Claire recovered first.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I replied.
“This is my mother’s apartment,” she reminded me unnecessarily. “I have a key.”
There was something twitchy about her, though. Like she’d been caught doing something wrong.
She didn’t ask me why I was there, either, which I found interesting.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” I asked. “Tangling webs and all?”
“I’m the boss’s daughter,” she said. “And I was on my way. Morta asked me to pick up something for her.”
She was lying. She wore blue jeans and a Minnesota Twins tee. I’d wear that to Parsi, but Claire never would. She favored power suits and expensive jewelry when she was at the office.
She tried to step around me, but I blocked her way. “Want to tell me what you’re really doing here?”
She deflated. “Same thing as you. Looking for the harpy feather.”
“So you did find something out from the Book of Fates?”
“Not much,” she said, “but enough to know my mother has it.”
“Why were you looking for it?” Suspicion was clear in my voice.
“I just wanted to know where it was,” she said. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to take it.”
I’d been suspicious of Claire, but now I was curious. “Why do you want to find it so badly?”
She shrugged. “They never tell us anything,” she replied. “They tell us that we are the new generation of Fates, but then they keep things from us, like we’re children.”
I studied her face. “I’ll make a deal with you,” I said. “If I find it, I’ll let you know.”
She flashed a grin. “And if I find it, I’ll do the same.”
I was getting woozy from all the warm fuzzy family time I’d had. We walked out of the building together and I escorted her to her car. I watched her drive off, wondering if I’d been wrong about Claire all along.
A sudden gust of wind nearly knocked me off my feet. I thought I heard a snicker, but when I looked around, there was no one there.