Going to Atlanta for a few days.
>>Boaz taking you out on the town?
Nope. Family stuff.
>>*Yawn* Will you have any downtime?
Maybe. Not sure yet.
>>Call if you want company. I could drive up and surprise Cruz with dinner.
He’s gone this week?
>>Always.
I hear you. Boaz is never home either.
>>All the more reason for us to get together.
Let you know tomorrow?
>>Works for me. Drive safe!
The worst part of being kicked out of the Haint’s main operation wasn’t the hard labor required aboard the Cora Ann. That I actually enjoyed. It was the severe shortage of Neely. We hadn’t made much of an effort to get together since the whole livestream incident. He thought I was still mad, though I wasn’t, and I had my hands full with the million things happening in my personal life.
I missed him. There was a gaping best-friend-shaped hole in my heart in need of filling. Not that I expected him to take Amelie’s place, but an uncomplicated friend with mundane drama would be nice right about now. I bet a visit would cheer up Amelie too. We would just have to work on our cover story, so he wouldn’t be suspicious of finding her crashing with me.
“Grier?” a hesitant voice ventured. “I thought that was you.”
Busted.
I set my phone aside and braced myself to play nice with my cousin. Cousin. How weird was that? Linus was the closest thing I’d had to one growing up, but I never viewed him as family. For most of my childhood, I had simply considered him the nerdy son of Maud’s snooty big sister.
“Hey.” Glancing up, I gave her a finger wave. “I see you found my favorite café.”
“Is it?” Her left hand tightened around her cup, and I noticed her grape was missing. The evenness of her skin tone made me think the engagement must be recent since there was no pale band to indicate otherwise. Maybe she needed a break from hauling around that rock. I could picture her spraining her wrist lifting her hand with each sip. “I don’t drink coffee, but I wanted a place to sit and think. This fit the bill.”
Smiling politely through my disbelief, I attempted to make amends since this might be the last time I saw her. “About the other day…” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry I was rude.”
“No, I get it.” She sank onto the empty chair beside me. “I should have called or emailed before inviting myself to your house.”
“A heads-up would have been nice.” Maud had never stood on ceremony among friends, and neither did I. But there was a difference in having Amelie or Boaz let themselves in my home versus an unknown quantity inviting herself for a visit. “Things are crazy lately, and I get nervous when strangers appear on my doorstep.”
The word stranger made her flinch, but I wasn’t sure what else she wanted me to call her. We didn’t know each other. The rift in our family hadn’t affected her. No, it had been my mother who paid the price for Dame Marchand’s decision, and she was past worrying if I ever kissed and made up with her family.
“I’m heading home tomorrow.” She picked at the lid on her to-go cup. “I couldn’t decide if I ought to say goodbye or just leave, so I’m glad you’re here.”
Ah. Her vigil at Mallow began to make more sense. Though the only way she could have known where I hang out was by following me. That wasn’t creepy at all.
“Look, Eloise, I’m not saying we can’t be friends. We can start small, with emails or texts. You can call me when you want to chat. We can fill each other in on our lives and go from there.”
“That sounds fair.” She opened her arms and went in for a hug but froze halfway to embracing me like some elegant bird of prey swooping down on a grungy field mouse. “Are you a hugger? I don’t want to intrude on your personal space.”
“I’m down with hugs.” I embraced her quickly, and we stood. “It was nice meeting you, Eloise Marchand.”
Eyes bright with what I hesitated to label as hope, she backed out the door. “Back at you, Grier Woolworth.”
While I had it on my mind, I texted Boaz and Linus each an update. Eloise Marchand is on her way home tomorrow. That means Amelie and Woolly ought to be safe enough while we’re gone if she was involved.
There was always a chance she had been feeling out the wards to see what made them tick. Professional curiosity. Though Eloise hadn’t struck me as the ambitious type, the hungriest ones learned to hide their appetites early.
She came back? Boaz demanded.
Cletus mentioned you bumped into her at Mallow, Linus replied.
To the first, I clarified, Not at Woolly. At Mallow. To the second, I teased, That Cletus. He’s such a gossip.
The barista called my name, and I paid for my order while signing off with the guys. Packing my goodies on Jolene required ingenuity, but I was an old pro at food wrangling. By the time I got home, Linus was standing in the front yard, and my phone was ringing. Boaz, if I had to guess.
“Overprotective much?” I gathered my treats and met him on the lawn. “She didn’t follow me home.”
As if the smarty-pants comment had jogged his brain, he scanned the road. “Russo?”
“Her sedan was sucking on Jolene’s tailpipe the whole way to work, but I haven’t spotted her since.”
“That’s good news at least.”
“At least?” My pulse kicked up a few notches. “Does that mean there’s bad news?”
“There’s been another attack.” The grim cut of his mouth should have warned me. “I was checking the perimeter when I heard Jolene and came to meet you.”
“Is Woolly okay?” I took a step toward her before remembering we could commune without contact these days. “Woolly?” Curtains flipped in the window, a hearty wave to show that all was well. “What about Amelie?”
“Woolly is fine,” he answered, unaware of her presence in my head. “Amelie is woozy and nauseated. She crawled out onto the back porch after the attack, the same as last time, but whatever Heinz gave her must still be in her system. She didn’t black out, and she’s able to talk.”
Not even the scents of hot chocolate and marshmallow perked me up. “This proves there’s some type of connection.”
“Yes,” he allowed, voice gentle. “We’ll figure out how to protect her.” His fingertips skimmed my forearm. “And you.”
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I nodded. “Did you hear another boom?”
“No.” He lifted the cellphone dangling from his hand. “Woolly called me, and I came.”
His cell, not the carriage house landline. “How did she get your number?”
How will Boaz feel once he realizes you’ve got another boy’s digits? I projected at her.
The front door opened, and the hallway runner flapped like someone had taken one end and shook it.
I think my house had just stuck out her tongue at me.
“I gave it to her,” he said as though it ought to be obvious.
Okay, so it should have been. It’s not like I was jealous my house had his number. He could toss it out like beads at a Mardi Gras parade, and I wouldn’t care. The implications are what worried me—that the two of them talked when I wasn’t around to police their conversations. Woolly was smart enough to recognize the value in having his private line, but it still left me torn between happiness that they were mending bridges and concern over what an all-access Linus might be like if she greenlighted him to enter the house again.
As usual, he read me too easily. “Should I not have done that?”
“It’s fine,” I decided. “I’m sure it comforts her knowing she’s got a better way to get in touch with you.”
His expression told me he wasn’t buying the level of okayness I was projecting, but I wouldn’t relax until I put eyes on Amelie and hands on Woolly.
“I almost forgot.” I selected a to-go cup and held it out to him. “I brought you something.”
Linus accepted the cup, and a laugh escaped him before he cracked the lid and checked the contents. “It’s empty.”
“You don’t eat or drink. I figured chocolate-scented air was as close to a treat as I could bring you.”
“I do eat and drink.” He cradled the cup between his hands as if the nonexistent contents warmed him, but it must have been the thought that counted. “Just not much or often.” He brought the cup to his nose and inhaled, smiling. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
“You’re welcome.” I poked him in the side. “How come you can skip meals and stay fit while I work five nights a week on the Cora Ann but I’m a scarecrow?”
“You’ve been through a lot, Grier. Recovery takes time.” His shoulders hitched, and I could tell he was suppressing laughter. “Besides, you love food. Would you really give up churros?”
“No.” I recoiled from the very idea. “Churros are my favorite food group. I couldn’t live without them.”
There had been too many years spent living on drips of water and scraps left over from the guards’ lunches. Treats, sweets, churros—those were things about as likely to appear on your food tray in prison as the goddess herself.
“Then leave it be.” He put it gently, but I sensed the firmness behind the command. Lifting his cup, he turned toward the carriage house. “Make sure you’re packed and ready to go. Our ride arrives at dusk.”
A sour tang splashed the back of my throat. Our ride. I hadn’t put any thought into how we would get to Atlanta. The urge to volunteer Jolene almost overwhelmed me, but we had luggage to consider. There was nothing for it. I had agreed to go, I had made the preparations, it was time to suck it up and endure.
I took the stairs and kicked off my shoes, wiggling my toes against the flaking planks. The symphony that was Woolly’s wards rose around me, blanketing me in her love, and I exhaled with relief that she was unharmed.