I snorted. “Let’s hope she doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass.”
“It’s on me if it does.”
“I said ‘she.’”
Ryann nodded. “Yep, and I ignored you.” She gestured to the books. “Let’s go through what we know, so we can figure out what we don’t know.”
“Well, Nash’s blood can be used as a substitute for extinct ingredients in a spell. The spell will allow Erebus to unlock Atlantis. And… yeah, that’s about it.” I smiled sweetly.
Nash had been staying at the Winchester House with Melody and Luke, the safest place to be without a djinn curse to protect him from blood hunters. Melody was currently sifting through her mind palace to find any information she might’ve missed about Atlantis and the Gateway, but other than that, our options had pretty much dried up. And Erebus hadn’t been in touch, aside from that text.
Lux hadn’t contacted me again either, which I was grateful for despite knowing the reprieve was only temporary. Juggling the whims of two Children of Chaos might have made me spontaneously combust. But I couldn’t share the weight of my troubles. Not even with Ryann. Lux would’ve gutted me like a trout.
“That’s really all Erebus gave you to go on?” Ryann frowned.
“Why do you sound surprised? He’s not exactly verbose.”
She smirked. “Have you been reading the thesaurus again?”
“Hey, a guy’s got to sleep. Something about the Vs always sends me off,” I retorted.
“So, we don’t yet know what the Gateway is or where it might be. That’s right, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “Yup. We also don’t know how it opens, though it involves Nash’s blood.”
“I suggest we start reading, then.” Ryann plucked two books from one of the plump bags and handed one to me. A puff of dust expelled upward when I opened it.
“What makes you think there’ll be something in these books, anyway? Especially if Melody hasn’t dug anything up.” I stared at the mighty tome, dreading the prospect of leafing through it… and the rest of them.
She shrugged. “Melody has gaps in her Librarian knowledge, and maybe one of these has information that can fill that gap. At the very least, there might be a legend or something that we can work from. There’s truth in—”
“Stories. Yeah, I know.” I hadn’t heard anyone say that since the monastery, but it seemed to be making a comeback.
With the occasional slurp as Ryann risked her life for coffee, we sank into companionable silence as she created a mountain of books on the table in preparation for a reading marathon. I skimmed the pages, eyes primed for any mention of Atlantis, absorbing as much as I could. It was difficult with Ryann sitting so close. Her knee kept nudging mine… very distracting.
I glanced at her once I was sure she had her nose buried in her book. She looked cute in research mode. All she needed was a pair of glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose, and I’d have gone wild. I still remembered the way she’d looked at me when we’d parted ways at the Winchester House…
Hope is harder to live with than resignation. It seemed my brain had decided to turn into a horoscope, but it had a point. Before, I’d thought there was no chance for anything between us. Then she’d looked at me like that, and now I had to deal with a futile hope. She was an improbable dream, since she was with Adam and she loved him. I just had to look at their pictures, even though it encouraged a little mini-vomit in my mouth, to see how much they cared about each other. He was the man every woman wanted, the man every parent wanted for their daughter.
“Did you find anything?” Ryann’s voice broke my thoughts.
“Huh?”
She grinned at me. “You looked like you’d had a eureka moment.”
“No… Actually, I was thinking about deal-breaking.”
“Oh?” Her eyebrows went up a notch.
“Well, I keep thinking about Davin’s amulet.” I hadn’t been, but it seemed like a good topic to get my mind off the Zodiac Killer. “It got him out of his deal. Yes, he had to die and resurrect himself for it to work, but maybe that’s what the amulet does—grants the ability for anyone to resurrect themselves. Davin’s a Necromancer, but he shouldn’t be able to do that. Maybe it’ll work for me.”
Ryann’s eyebrows lifted even higher. “What are you saying?”
“My only shot at escaping Erebus’s service might be that amulet. And, since Davin has it, I guess I need to take it from him.” As the words came out, the idea solidified in my mind. He had the answers, which meant he was the only person who could help me out. Willingly or unwillingly. I wasn’t above beating it out of him.
Ryann downed a huge mouthful of dysentery. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Finch. Going after Davin is a surefire way to get killed. Every time you’ve fought him, you barely scraped through.”
“I killed him a couple times, too.” I faked a smile.
“And he bounced right back.”
“If I take his amulet, he won’t be able to,” I reminded her.
“That’s a pretty massive ‘if.’”
I sighed. “But it’s the only—”
My sentence was cut short by a loud knock at the door, which quickly drove a pin into our conversation. It was probably for the best, given how circular the discussion had become. Everyone knew Davin was my only way to escape my deal, but nobody seemed eager for me to go after him. I thought the payoff was worth the risk.
“Pickle?” A familiar voice called through the paper-thin walls, followed by another knock. “Pickle, are you in there?”
“Crap, it’s Adam!” Ryann hissed.
I arched a brow at her. “Pickle?”
“Not now, Finch!”
Yeah, this was probably a good time to make myself scarce.
Two
Finch
This was where my anxiety about getting battered came into play. I would be in a bit of a pickle if Ted Bundy found me here. Or would I? Ryann hadn’t seemed to think it’d be a big deal, so I didn’t understand her—or my—panic. It wasn’t as if we’d done anything wrong. We were just sitting here doing a little innocent research. So why were we staring at each other in shock, like we were guilty of something else?
“You need to get out of here,” Ryann whispered.
“I thought you said he always called before coming over! What do you want me to do, hide in your closet? Get behind a curtain? Duck under the coffee table and hope for the best? I’d even hide in your fridge, if it wasn’t the size of a can of beans.”
She rolled her eyes. “Be serious, for once!”
“I’m not sure I’m your main problem.” I pointed to the mass of magical books. “He’s going to have more to say about all this than little old me.”
Ryann’s eyes bugged. “Crap, you’re right!”
“Ryann, you in there?” Adam’s voice echoed into the room. “What’s taking so long? I might get mugged standing out here.”
Ryann stood up, fidgeting. “Hold on, Adam! I need to throw on some clothes. You’re early—I just got out of the shower!”