Author: Wildbow

Wild Abandon – 18.8 | Pale

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The car eased down the off-ramp.  A line of vehicles were backed up behind a slower moving truck, and Avery fidgeted.

It wasn’t that the highway was safer than anywhere else, here, but Avery adjusted, more on the alert now, her Sight scanning the surroundings.  On the highway, if anything happened, it was mostly up to her mom and her mom’s driving to avoid it.  Now it was up to her.  And it wasn’t exactly easy to do anything with Sheridan in the car.

Other cars were keeping pace with them, one leading, one trailing behind.  In the convertible, Sootsleeves was behind the wheel, cigarette firmly in her mouth, hair flapping in what had to be a bracing cold wind, given the temperature.  The one that was behind or sometimes beside them was a battered old car with tinted windows, a group of people inside belting out a song that included top-of-the-lung yodeling.

“You going to leave me hanging?” Sheridan asked.

“You were saying something and then you got distracted.”

“Apparently Verona thinks that Auntie Tracy and Uncle Sean got pregnant with Kyle at the wedding, and that’s part of why Auntie C is still pissed because she had dibs or something?”

“Oh no,” Avery’s mom sighed.  “And how did she get the information she needed to draw that conclusion?  Do I even want to know?”

“She’s just good at connecting dots.”

“It’s not like they’re hard dots to connect,” Sheridan said.  “It’s pretty obvious if you spend, like, five seconds in our family, which your friend did.  Did you seriously not know?”

“You have a two and a half year head start on getting this stuff,” Avery protested.

“I knew when I was Kerry’s age.  Kyle might as well have it branded on his forehead.  ‘Was conceived in a sloppy coatroom quickie’.”

“Sheridan!” their mom cut in, shocked.  She fumbled her words for a second.

“I think our mom’s actually lost for words.  Do I get points?”

“I didn’t know we were keeping score,” Avery said, eyes searching the area in a way that felt very ‘game mode’.  Player on the ice, who’s open, who’s not?  “But you get points in my book.”

“Nice.”

“No adjectives when talking about your aunt and uncle’s love life, please, Sheridan.  This is already a weird topic for the car.”

“I don’t even know how you know these details,” Avery said.

“About the ‘sloppy’, or-”

“Sheridan!  Come on.  Please,” their mom said.

“Okay fine.  I know because I pay attention?  Did you seriously only figure it out when Verona told you, Avery?”

“Kyle only found out when Verona brought it up.”

“Oh no,” their mom said.

Sheridan laughed.  “How did I have to miss out on that?”

“Maybe because we went for a walk together and you’re lazy and stayed behind?”

“That tracks.  Aw.  If you got it on video and you let me see, I’ll be your maid for a year.”

“No luck,” Avery said.

“Tragic.  But seriously, I think we should all have lurid details branded on our foreheads.  Kyle gets the adjective-free coatroom conception.  Breanne’s first crush was a cartoon character.  Uncle Declan cheated on his wife and got dumped by both women.”

“Let’s not be mean, come on,” their mom said.

“Do you even know me?” Sheridan asked.  “Come on.  I’m actually a one hundred and twenty pound girl with sixty pounds of mean, sass, and sarcasm in her.”

“You’re lovely, honey.”

“Ha ha.  As if.”

“What do you put on your own forehead?” Avery asked.  “It’s not as mean if you can poke fun at yourself.”

“You’re assuming I want to be less mean.”

“I think we’re done with this topic of conversation,” their mom said.  “I don’t see it going anywhere good.”

Traffic was moving off the off-ramp now.  She felt so tired- and it wasn’t because she’d woken up early and then rushed to go see Liberty or anything.  Watching out, not knowing what could come or from what angle, while constantly considering her mom…

“Avery likes big girls and cannot lie,” Sheridan said.

“What?” Avery asked, startled.  She looked at her mom, then back at Sheridan.  “What?”

“For your forehead.”

“We’re done with that topic of conversation, Sheridan.”

“What?” Avery asked, again.  “Why the ‘cannot lie’ bit?”

“It’s a saying, numbnuts.  You’re out to mom, I can say this now, right?  I can’t help but notice you’re not denying the ‘big girls’ part.”

“Sheridan, if you carry on with this topic, I’m grounding you.”

“I move to appeal to the court of Dad.  I’m just making conversation.”

“For the love of all that is holy, please.  I’m stressed enough as is.  Stop, or I won’t buy you snacks here.”

“Inhumane!”

“Would get me attacked, I bet,” Avery muttered.  “Having that on my forehead all the time.”

“You’ve got the thing on your backpack strap.  How is that different?”

“I can leave the backpack behind, and a lot of the jerks out there don’t even know what the flag means.  I don’t think Grumble knows.”

“Truuuue.”

Avery’s mom reached over to put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing for a second.  “I worry about you.  So much.  For so many reasons.  You too, Sheridan.”

“Good token follow-up.”

They pulled into the gas station, and Avery’s mom pulled up to the gas pump.  There weren’t all that many people around, but it was the middle of the morning on a weekday, and this was just one town off the side of the road.

Sootsleeves pulled into one corner of the gas station parking lot, while the Car Song circled the block.

Sheridan was the first one out of the car.  “Gotta pee.  Don’t leave without me.  Or do.  I don’t care.”

Avery sat in the passenger seat, a little shell shocked.

“She doesn’t know, right?” Avery’s mom asked.

“No, don’t think so.”

“Okay.”

“Scared me.  ‘Cannot lie’.”

“Yes.”

A second or two passed.

“Are we okay?” her mom asked.

“I think so.  I wish we hadn’t pulled off the highway though.”

“We need gas, and Sheridan needed to go.”

“Yeah.  I guess we’ll find out how this goes.”

“Go get some snacks.  Here, buy snacks and pay for the gas.  Keep an eye out for Sheridan.”

Avery took the cash, unzipped her bag, and pulled a sleepy Snowdrop out.  “Watch my mom.  Hide when I signal.”

Snowdrop sneezed.

“Nora wasn’t that big, was she?” Avery’s mom asked.  “She’s even on the petite size.”

“Oh my god.  No, don’t do that.”

“I’m just remarking.  Was Sheridan wrong, or-?”

“I’m out.  Bye, nope.  Nope.  Not having this conversation right now,” Avery said, getting out of the car, giving Snowdrop a momentary scratch.

This was a town Avery recognized, now that she thought about it.  One of the first lordship claims had been here.  It made it feel all the more ominous.

She wasn’t even halfway from the gas pump to the little gas station convenience store when a pay phone off to the side started to ring.

“Since when do pay phones still exist?” Avery asked.

She wondered for a second if she should just ignore it or if she should approach.  But she remembered Verona’s advice from all the way back at the end of summer, about Lords and lordships, and even though this wasn’t necessarily a friendly Lord, if they were trying to reach out…

She approached it, pausing, looking at Sootsleeves, who had a few pigeons perched on the side of her car.  She smoked, watching Avery through sunglasses.  No warnings or anything there.

Avery picked up.

The world went dark, and a low buzz filled the air.

And her eyes had to adjust to the gloom.  Lightning flashed in the background, and it was like trying to see light on the far end of a forest- bits making their way between trees and branches.

Except it was wires.

She took an uneasy step, then stumbled, dropping to a crouch and managing to catch her balance there instead of falling over.

The ground was bodies.  Humans, in varying states of dress, piled up, stacked, draping over one another.  She could barely make it out in the gloom, and had to wait several seconds for various flashes of lightning or light to reach far enough for her to see.

They weren’t dead.  They lay there, barely breathing, eyes and mouths open, every last one of them letting out constant, low groans.  The buzz was the sound of all those groans combining, mingling with the sounds of fans, of technology, generators, maybe.

They’d been altered.  Their eyes were lit by some faint light from within- not enough to illuminate or read by, but enough that she could see each open set of eyes as her eyes adjusted.

And their ears had been cut off.  Some still bled, others looked red and raw, with only trickles, or beads of bright red standing out red in the light-flickers, against backdrops of clotted scab and skin painted with beads and smears of it.  Some had other injuries- limbs bent the wrong way, or they’d hurt their faces, or there were cuts.  But all were earless, and that was the worst damage for most of them.

Avery straightened, then picked her way forward, testing each footstep, wanting to apologize for each person she stepped on.  But they weren’t aware enough to care.

A knocking sound straight ahead helped indicate the direction.

The occasional flash that was close was enough that her eyes needed to adjust all over again from the start.  Or that was what it felt like.  She covered her eyes at one flash, and then let her eyes adjust, where she saw a table.

Not a table.  It was a row of air conditioner units, like ones from a big building.  fans on the top of each, some with wire guards, some without, were all spinning away, humming and squeaking, joining their noises to the dull buzz.  The knocking came from a shoe on one fan with a partial guard, that lifted up every time the blade passed, then banged against metal on the way down.

There were three different pay phones here, planted in the sea of bodies, two of the three standing at a slant.  The third had been slammed down someone’s throat, splitting it at the sides before disappearing into the general neck area and torso.  There was no light in that person’s eyes.  No buzz.  No fresh bleeding at the dismembered ears.

A man stood at the very edges of her vision, arms and legs limp and dangling.  Feet not touching the ground.

“Heya,” Avery said.  “Are you the local Lord?”

The response sounded like it played from an old tape player, pre-recorded and degraded.  “I am.”

The voice didn’t come from the man, but from something behind him.  Something black and covered in wires.  Big.  The line between it and the surrounding walls and wires was hard to make out.  Nothing glowed or shone, or caught any particular light.

“Announcing myself as Avery Kelly.  Second witch of Kennet, resident of Thunder Bay.  Finder and Path Runner.”

She waited, hoping the voice would reply.  It didn’t.

“I’d like to ask if I can pass through,” she said.  “I don’t intend to practice, except to communicate with my familiar.  I’m not with Musser.  If that helps.”

A piece of dark gray sheet metal moved to the side of the floating man’s head.  No, he wasn’t floating.  He was being held.

The metal had been torn away from other metal, and the uneven edge was dragged against the ear, sawing, until the ear came free.  The man’s struggles were feeble- he barely lifted his hands.  Blood flowed freely out.

The other ear was sawed off too.

“What if I say no?” the voice asked.  And it came from the same place, even as the man with the freshly removed ears was moved to the side, placed against the wall, and lashed there with wires wrapped in black insulation and black tape.  The fact the man hung from neck and armpit barely provoked a reaction.

That man had moved a good twenty or thirty feet, no problem.  Lifted like he weighed nothing.  Moved not like he’d been walked over, but like he was a doll in a typical dollhouse, being played with by someone or something life-size.

Something about this felt a lot like being in the Ornithologist’s realm.

Or being at the Forest Ribbon Trail with the Wolf.

Which made the words hard to find.

“I-I don’t honestly know,” Avery replied.  “Are you saying no?”

“I am.”

Avery hesitated.  She hadn’t expected that, and the unexpected in this kind of place sent a shock running through her.  “Oh.”

“Now what?” the voice asked.

“I thin-”

A body dropped out of the sky, caught a wire on the way down, and flopped over onto the row of air conditioning units.  Ragdoll limp.  The arm hit a spinning fan and was struck with enough force that it was thrown off, flesh sliced off into a peel, curling away from the inner elbow, hanging off the wrist.

A woman.  She convulsed where she lay, eventually going still.

Avery’s heart threw a shit-fit, like it was trying to break her ribs or suffocate her.

And the figure in the shadows just past Avery’s ability to see reached out, dragging her closer.  Picking her up.

“I think it’s up to you,” Avery managed to respond.  “What comes next.”

Wires were wrapped around the injured arm, holding things mostly in place.  Then the ears were removed from the sides of the head, using a tool that was neither knife nor saw, inefficient in every way.

“Are they alive?” Avery asked, still doing her best to calm down.  “Locals?”

“They’re decoration.”

“Okay.  That’s, hmm.”

Not super clear, Avery thought.

The woman was placed against a wall, sitting up.  Her hands were placed in her lap, her head adjusted so it wasn’t hanging forward.  Her jaw was pushed shut, mouth closed, but then fell open again.

The signs of technomancy were all over this place.  It might have even been one of the technomancy realms.  Wires, disparate tech, the focus on the phones, the buzz…

Technomancy wasn’t usually a realm that really stuck and held.  Technologies, especially communication technologies, had a way of coming and going.  That meant it usually had to latch onto another realm for any staying power, and both the Abyss and the Ruins were good candidates.  The memories and impressions of technology and the troves of old tech that were left for the earth to swallow up could all support those things.

This felt like it was in that direction.  The Lord here could’ve been an Other that bridged that gap.

Four more falling bodies made Avery jump- and when she jumped she stumbled.  She only just barely managed to avoid falling.  The leg of one banged loudly against the air conditioning unit, while the rest fell in the dark.

She watched as they were dragged into the dark.  Avery frowned, wanting to shift her footing and fidget, but not trusting the uneven ground.

She felt nervous.  More nervous because she knew she had a few maybe-escape-routes, but she didn’t know this kind of realm enough to be sure.  And this was a Lord’s space, both in that it was their region, and also that it felt like a pocket dimension.  So there was a chance the Lord could withdraw her ability to practice here.

“You having fun there?” she asked, to fill the silence.

“Yes.”

She wasn’t sure what answer she’d expected.

“It’s your move,” she told the Lord.  “You tell me if there’s a way for me to pass through, or whatever, I respond.”

The bad-recording voice replied from the dark, “There is another Lord close to here.  She has an Other in her domain.  A Child-Taker.  An old one.”

“The Beorgmann?” Avery asked.

“You know.  Good.”

“Okay?  And?” Avery asked.

“Give me something.”

“Do you want information?  A deal?  Help dealing with it?” Avery asked.  When there wasn’t a response, she added, “I was there when it was released.  I didn’t hear what was said, but the person who released it was Milly Legendre.  Sealer, among other things.  She’s our prisoner right now.”

“That will do.”

“What will do?  Milly?”

“Yes.”

“I guess we’re in a place where I could let her out, make a deal.  If her family was responsible for binding that Other, they could bind it again.”

“No?  No what?”

“Don’t let her out.  Ensure she can never bind again.”

“You mean kill her?”

“That would be one way.”

Avery shook her head.

“Or remove her ears, her eyes, her tongue, her hands.  That is another way.  Or run electricity through her until her senses leave her and never return.  That would be how I would do it.”

“She’s a prisoner.”

“If you are hesitant, give her to me.  I will do it.”

Avery frowned.

She jumped again as another man fell, hitting wires on the way down and pulling a cascade of wall-mounted breaker boxes down with him.  He was buried as he landed, one of the boxes sparking as it lay across him.  He wasn’t wearing pants.

“Why?” Avery asked.

“The Child-Taker would accept it as a favor.”

“Hmmm.”

The man was dragged out from beneath the pile of debris, by hands or limbs Avery couldn’t see.

“I don’t think I could kill her or anything.  But if you want her kept away… we can keep her prisoner, I think.  I’d have to talk to people.  It’s not totally up to me.”

“Swear.”

Avery shook her head.  “No.  I don’t know enough.  I don’t know if she’s escaped already.  I could swear and be forsworn right away.  No.”

“Tell me you will do something that matters to keep her secure.  Tell me so I can tell the Child Taker that in good faith.”

“She’s a prisoner, I don’t think we have any reason to let her go just yet.  So… maybe?”

“Keep her from communicating with others.  Keep her where she is.  If she or her words escape your side’s custody, you will not have permission to safety enter or pass through our territories.”

“Our?”

“Mine and my allies.”

“That’s, uh… I’d like a time limit.”

“No.  If she goes free, our tolerance for you ends and must be re-earned.  You may come to any of us before then to negotiate that earning.  Come with ideas and offerings fresh.”

“Alright.  I think I get it.”

“She is in the custody of Thunder Bay?”

Avery nodded.

“Tell them the same applies to them.”

“They might not like that.”

“I don’t care,” the voice replied.  It finally finished the fifth person, the pantsless guy, removing his ears, and pushed him into the ground, to fill a gap.  Bodies around him moved and shifted as they were pushed up against, until they were all thoroughly wedged in together.

Twelve severed ears were laid on the very edge of the air conditioning unit, closest to the voice in the dark.

“Can I ask your name?  It would help.”

“I have no interest in helping you.”

“It would help me get this done, communicate to them, get everyone in line, serving your goals and ours.”

“I have no interest in helping you.”

Metal banged, sharp, and Avery thought a body might have fallen, but it hadn’t.

The bang came from within one of the center air conditioning units.  It banged again, then again, as the fan collided with metal.

Smashing itself to pieces as metal and plexiglass with an ‘A.G.’ company logo and graffiti on it slowly rose.  The fan blade bent, repeatedly smacking the wire cage that had kept any reaching hands from accidentally getting stuck in the way, and then, as one piece rose up, it hit it and broke off, flying into the darkness.

Until the little motor without blades attached was left whining and squealing, a pay phone standing tall and proud from the air conditioner, looming above.

Avery paused, checking the coast was clear and that nothing else was being presented.  To reach the phone, she had to put her foot up on the side of the air conditioning unit- about three or four inches of metal between her foot and the nearest blade.  The metal had blood, old and new, covering it.

She stepped up, grabbed the phone, and put it to her ear.

The light was blinding.

“Where were you?”

Avery blinked, and turned around.  It took her a second to get her bearings.

Sootsleeves was on her guard, surrounded by more mice and birds than before, sitting on the upper edge of her car door cigarette lowered.  The Car Song had parked.  Her mom stood by the car, frowning.

“Do you have the money for the snacks?” Sheridan asked.

“I’m going to buy something,” Avery said.  She checked her footing.  The images of the mutilated, droning bodies stuck in her vision in the same way staring at a bright object and then going into the dark could leave an imprint behind.

“You didn’t get snacks already, did you?”

“Nah,” Avery said, fishing in her pocket for the bills her mom had given her.

“Because you’ve got something on your cheek, looks like jam, maybe?”

Avery rubbed, missing whatever it was twice before Sheridan took hold of her wrist and moved her hand into it.

Tiny flecks of blood.  From the falling bodies.

Avery went into the gas station store, picked out a peach iced tea and some nuts, and then left them with Sheridan while she went to the counter to get the key to the bathroom.  She got the remaining flecks and smears, washing hard.

Sheridan was just leaving as she exited.

“Sir?” she asked.

“I’m a sir?” the guy behind the counter asked.

Avery shrugged.  “Sure?  Hmm.  Have there been a lot of disappearances around here, recently?”

“Why?”

“Just wondering.  Wondering if someone’s messing with me or if this town and area are suddenly missing a few hundred people?”

“Someone’s messing with you,” the guy said.

“Okay.  Thanks.”

She gave him the key back, then went to the car.  She sensed Snowdrop getting tossed around, and jogged the last bit.  Sheridan had taken the passenger seat, pitching the bag into the back.

“Everything okay?” her mom asked.

“Mm hmm.  I guess,” Avery said, taking her snacks out of the bag that rested on the center console.  “No more stops?”

“You’re really eager to get to school, huh?” her mom asked, tone artificially bright.

I hope the way is clear.

“Yeah.  Yeah, I am.”

Avery checked Snowdrop was okay, discreetly sharing some nuts and raisins from the trail mix, and sat quietly, watching out the window, as they pulled back onto the highway.

Both Sootsleeves and the Car Song moved closer, and Avery wondered if they were more protective after Avery had been scooped up by the pay phone Other.

Then she saw.  They’d left one region and passed into another.

The area was slowly changing tint, in the same way everything around could look blue if the sun was shining directly onto a giant blue object.

But the object wasn’t giant.  The tinting drew her eye over, and she saw a distant figure on top of a water tower, dressed in blue, wearing a gold crown.

A gargantuan shape, easily capable of standing taller than the water tower, even grazing the clouds above, was visible only as blue tint, see-through where there was none.  It looked like a woman without arms, or a woman with a cloak or dress that draped down in a way that hid her arms from view.  She walked so she stepped on rooftops, skipping when she needed to cross a street.

The huge, translucent woman bent down by the water tower, as if bringing her ear close enough to hear something being said.  She nodded.

Both the huge woman and the little crowned figure on the water tower watched their car as it moved down the highway, cutting past a town smaller than Kennet.

Avery’s mom laughed, high and nervous.

“What’s going on?” Sheridan asked.

“Nothing- don’t worry,” their mom said.  “Right?  That’s what they say?  No worries?”

“Right,” Avery replied.

“I think Mom’s losing it,” Sheridan said, in a stage whisper.

“I might just be,” their mom replied.  “Let’s get you girls to school.”

“Please,” Avery said.

She hated being late.  She jogged down the hall as fast as she could without making noise.  She opened the door to Mr. Carlson’s class, not hiding her embarrassment as she interrupted.

Jeanine was sitting in the middle of class, surrounded by some members of the team, including Hui and Putnam.  Nora sat at the back.

“Ms. Kelly, welcome back.  Class started ten minutes ago.”

“Sorry.  My family woke up before six this morning and left early, we tried.”

“Well, I appreciate the effort.  I know Mr. Artrip raves about your contributions to the school track team, so I think we can cut you some slack.”

She was aware of the eyes of the entire class on her.  “I don’t want special treatment.”

“Alright, then I’ll give you detention.”

D’oh.  “I don’t want that either.”

The class laughed, Jeanine more than most.  Hui was making a show of slapping her hand against her face.

“After practice?” she asked.

“Talk to me between classes.”

She nodded.  Then she hurried over to her seat, sitting by Jeanine, letting him continue his lesson on business.

“Screwed yourself over,” Jeanine murmured, the moment he turned around to write on the whiteboard.

“Yeah, maybe.  But wouldn’t people have hated me if I just took the offer?”

“No?  Because you’re a star.  You contribute to school crap, you get school benefits.  It’s not rocket science.”

Jeanine sounded so innocent as she said that, but Avery could remember how the Dancers had gotten to leave early every day for a week last year, back in Kennet, and how weird that had seemed.  Especially when the Dancers weren’t even a school thing, specifically.

It felt a lot like every other conversation she had with Jeanine went this way.  An inability to connect.  Weird arguments.

“It’s good to have you back,” Jeanine said.

Hui, a seat in front of Avery, glanced back and put a fist out and back.  Avery gave her a quick fist-bump.

Putnam, sitting the aisle over, same row as Hui, shot a quick smile Avery’s way.

Team stuff she’d wished she’d had back in Kennet.  It was nice.  The Jeanine stuff was awkward but overall… nice.

She glanced back at Nora, who lifted up her fingers from her workbook to give a tiny finger-waggle wave.  Avery smiled.

Team stuff aside, she really, really wished she was sitting by Nora.

“Hang out later?” Jeanine murmured.

“I dunno.  Don’t get me wrong.  I really want to, but there’s a lot going on.”

Jeanine looked away, and there was a look in her eyes that was almost an eye roll.

Avery suppressed a sigh.

Avery jogged around to the front of the school, looking around.  She wished Snowdrop attended school, so she could have her helping.  Instead, Snow was guarding the above-garage patio back at the house, fast asleep.

Nora was sitting on the front steps of the school.  Big black duffel jacket, black sweater, a gray plaid skirt, and something on the skirt that made Avery think of the bag that some guys wore with kilts.  Avery liked that.  The black and gray was broken up here and there with decorations on backpack, the bag on the chain, and the candy jewelry.

“You waited.  All this time?”  Avery had done a quick thirty minute track practice and then gone back into school to have a conversation with Mr. Carlson about ‘detention’, which he’d waived after all.

“Listening to music.  It’s cool.  Glad you weren’t much longer.  It’s too cold to sit for too long but too annoying to stand around.  Is that okay?  Me staying.”

“Super okay,” Avery said, beaming.

“We didn’t get a chance to talk much before,” Nora said, standing, drawing her shoulders together in a kind of sustained shrug.

They stood about five feet apart, Avery smiling, Nora about as visibly happy as she got.  Avery wanted to hug Nora, but the moment to do that would’ve been when they reunited, and Nora had been sitting down, and Nora wasn’t out so an ill-timed hug would’ve been awkward.  Just in case Nora’s mom was in the parking lot or something.  So Avery just stood there, hands in the pockets of her nice sweatshirt, bouncing faintly on the spot.

“What’s up with you?” Avery asked.

“My mom is on a yoga kick.  She keeps asking us to do it first thing in the morning.  My dad says no but my brothers are gung-ho for it.  I don’t know why I led with that bit of news.  I told you most other stuff by text.”

“Wait, how do you get gung-ho for yoga?”

“Getting yoga shorts and yoga tops and choosing yoga mats with patterns.  Learning new stances.”

“Your brothers are weird.”

“Aren’t they?  I know you’re supposed to think your family is normal but they’re realllly weird,” Nora said, narrowing her eyes.  “Really happy and obedient and normal.  They’re almost smug about it.  About being good, and about the yoga.”

“I can both imagine that and have a hard time with it at the same time.  Does that make sense?  Like I can picture it, but it’s weird.”

“Try living it.  I was eating steel cut oats in the kitchen this morning and there they are in the other room, they aren’t even twins, but they’re mirroring each other, doing downward dog while looking so pleased with themselves it’s oozing out of them, and my mom’s just taking this supposedly relaxing activity and stressing out all the way through it.”

“And your dad?”

“Nah.  Not his thing.  He’s all, have fun, I’m going to go putter around in the back yard.  Except without that many words.”

“Huh.”

“So that’s my life right now.  Really hoping this is a phase except also not really, because my mom gets super down when she gets into something new and it doesn’t work out.  It’s unsettling.  There are scenes in a lot of kids movies like it, where the family’s being weird, but when you’re living it, it’s… weird.  I’m explaining badly.”

“You’re fine.  It makes me think of a nightmare.  Not like, terror, fear, all that, but one of the bad dreams that leaves you lying in bed, wondering why it bothered you.”

“Yes!  Exactly.  Except that’s my morning, probably every morning for the next while, and I’ve been talking about myself for minutes and I haven’t even asked how you are how are you?” Nora asked eyes widening.

“I’m- I’m-”

“You got stuck in town for a while?”

“Yeah.  I don’t even know where to begin.  I’m not good at explaining…” Avery trailed off.

“Sounded like lots of family.”

Avery took the chance to get her phone out and stand next to Nora, flipping through to get to the photos of the family together for Thanksgiving dinner.  It let her stand next to her, her arm pressed against Nora’s.

Nora leaned in closer while Avery flipped through.

“Wasn’t that bad.  Like, usual family arguments and stuff, you know?  Dad’s taking care of Grumble- that’s Grumble.  Uncle Sean chips in some money sometimes, but only sometimes, and then he gets resistant to giving even a few hours of his time to taking over for a bit.  Dad’s peeved about it.  Apparently Aunt Clara had dibs on Uncle Sean or something and then Aunt Tracy got pregnant with Kyle in like, no time at all…”  Avery pointed out faces as she talked.  “But like, mostly normal.  Not like, your mom gritting her teeth, veins standing out in her neck and forehead from trying way too hard at yoga, and your brothers peeing themselves in glee from doing upward dog or whatever.”

“Downward.  And it’s not that bad, but what you’re describing is kinda closer to that than it is to ‘normal’.”

Avery leaned into Nora a little harder, which got Nora leaning back in the opposite way.

“You talked to your dad?”

“It went okay,” Avery said.  She considered for a second, then said, “But my parents found out about some of the stuff my friends and I got up to before I left town, and it’s like, they aren’t super mad or anything, but they’re disappointed, and worried, and confused, and blaming themselves.”

“What kind of stuff is getting all those parent emotions?” Nora asked.

“I don’t want you to think I’m a bad person or anything, especially when I can’t tell you everything.”

“Never.  I’d never think that,” Nora said, with an emphasis that caught Avery off guard.  Nora did the side-eye nervous thing again.

“But like…” Avery tried to find the words.  “People picked fights with us and we fought back.  And after my parents kinda let me down and weren’t paying attention to me, we found adults to confide in.  Mentors.  And my mom and Lucy’s mom were all, like, what if these people were abusing or exploiting us?  They wouldn’t know.”

“Oh wow.”

“It’s a lot to unpack and I’m barely scratching it but like… we kind of ran wild and our town was dying and there was so much crap happening and we just kind of… were around that.  Parties where screwed up things happened and stuff.  I dunno.”

“Makes sense why you were nervous about going back.”

“Yeah.  I guess.  Yeah,” Avery agreed.  “And going back, my friends are in the middle of it, and leaving, I’m leaving them in the middle of it.  I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about them.  They can be intense but they’re really cool.  I really want you to meet them someday.  I really really want that.”

Nora nodded.  “Do you want to go do something, talk about it some more?  I have ulterior motives, I want to spend time with you, catch up.”

“Isn’t that just motive?” Avery asked.  She studied Nora’s expression.  “I’m not saying no.  I really want to too.  But I might get called away.”

“I’ll take what I can get.  If you get called away, video call me later?  Or is that too greedy?  Is that weird?”

“No.  It’s great.  Yes.  Or I can call later even if I don’t get called away?”

Nora nodded.

“Be greedy,” Avery said.  “I can’t think of me saying no, except when there’s other stuff I gotta do.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Can we hang?  Somewhere we can be girlfriends instead of pretending to be friends?”

Nora nodded.

It actually took a bit of time to find a good spot.  There were teenagers in the park and home wasn’t great, according to Snowdrop’s sense of Rowan hanging around.  Nora was pretty sure her family would be around.

Avery felt antsy by the time they finally found a spot in the woods alongside a bike trail. She wanted to kiss her, but went for a hug instead, self-conscious.

“Missed you,” Nora said, hugging back tight.

“I wish we sat next to each other in class.  I wish we had more classes together.  I wish you could stay over,” Avery murmured.  “You talk about being greedy and I worry if I talked about how much I want to spend time with you I’d scare you away.”

“Same here.”

They kept hugging.  Avery saw the candy jewelry- a preserver candy that dangled from wire, maybe a bent paperclip.

“Can I eat your earring?”

“What?”

“I got up early, rushed through my routine, then I was in the car eating snacks for hours, then school.  I worry my breath stinks.  Can I?”

“Yeah.”

It was silly, but Avery took the candy in her teeth, biting with increasing pressure until it cracked in half, then took one half into her mouth, gently maneuvering the other part until it was free of the wire.  She pulled back, smiling, the one half sticking out from between her lips.  “Wan’ haf?”

Nora kissed Avery to take the other half.

The side of the path had a rock that was really only big enough for one of them.  They sat next to each other for about as long as Avery’s rear end could tolerate with what was basically a quarter-seat, before she had to give up and slide down to sit next to Nora’s feet, while Nora scooted over to take the rock for herself.  They both faced the same direction, watching through trees as some people did a practice or something with frisbees, past the bike path and in a patch of grass.

“Sophy asked me to try playing in a band she’s thinking of putting together,” Nora said.  “You know Sophy?”

“From the team?  For sure.”

“You told her I drum?”

“Should I not have told her?”

“It’s cool.  Anyway.  She offered, and I figure I’ll try.”

“That would be so cool.  Yes, for sure.”

“It’d be nice to have somewhere to play where I don’t feel pressured to stop if my neighbor gets home.  She says she and her cousin aren’t very good.”

“That might be awkward when you’re really good and they aren’t.”

“I don’t think I’m really good.”

“I want to see you make more music.”

“Hey,” Nora said.

Avery twisted sideways and looked up.

“You done that mint?”

“A while ago, now.”

“I was trying to suggest, you know.  Making out.  In a cool way, without saying it directly…” Nora said, squirming slightly.

“I’m not good at this.  Flirting.”

“No, no, you’re good, I’m just a ditz.  It’s good,” Avery replied, sitting up.  She raised herself up.  “Let me make it up to you.”

“See, that sounded cool.  You can pull it off.  Effortlessly cool.”

“Shut up and kiss me already,” Avery said, leaning in.

“That too.  Full body tingles here.”

“Shush!” Avery laughed, covering Nora’s mouth, then uncovering it as she leaned in further.

Avery Kelly.

Avery Kelly.

Avery Kelly.

Avery kissed Nora, trying to put the message out of mind.  No.  Not now.

Avery Kelly.

Avery Kelly.

Avery Kelly.

Avery almost snarled in frustration as she pulled her phone out, checking.

“Everything okay?” Nora asked.

“It’s not you.  You’re great.  I’m getting called.”

No messages on the phone.

“Do you have to go, or can you turn it off?” Nora asked.

“I can’t turn it off, I don’t think, but I’m pretty sure I don’t-”

Avery Kelly.

-have to go either.”

Avery Kelly.

Avery Kelly.

Who was that?

Fuck Ann Wint.

Avery stood up, texting Ann.  Is this an emergency?

The reply came back:  No.  But come anyway.

Avery typed back.  No.  I have other plans.

Avery Kelly.

Avery Kelly.

Avery Kelly.

Avery did her best to reach back emotionally across that channel, the same way she communicated with Snowdrop, to convey just how displeased she was with Ann.

Snowdrop, a short distance away, joined in with hissing signals.

Avery Kelly.

She suppressed a sigh of annoyance.

Nora reached out, and grabbed one of Avery’s fingers in her hand.  She held on.  “You have to leave?”

“It’s not an emergency.  I don’t want to go,” Avery said.

“Good.  I’m glad.”

Avery turned, smiling.  And Nora was pulling on her hand, so she let her hand move, moving closer to her.  Nora pushed Avery’s sleeve up.  There was the arrangement of various bands, bracelets, and ornaments on Avery’s arm.

“Want?” Nora asked.  She held up the twist of ornamental wire that Avery had pulled the preserver candy from.

Avery nodded.

“Where does it go?”

Avery considered the various options.  Friendship bracelet from Olivia, used when she awoke.  The bracelet from Verona.  The charm bracelet, the black rope, twisted around into an ‘8’, and so it went.

There was a ribbon she’d tied on as a whim.  It had been from flowers her dad had given her mom, keeping the bunch together, and she’d taken it.  Thinking of the Forest Ribbon Trail.

She chose that.  A bit of silvery wire twisted around the knot, decorating it.

A bit of silver lining to a dark cloud, maybe?  A nice reminder, maybe.

Avery Kelly.

Jesus Christ fuck me fuck her…

When Nora let go of her wrist, Avery put her hands on her shoulders.  “Distract me?”

“For sure,” Nora replied.

Avery followed the very established connection all the way to a nice house in a nice neighborhood.  She stormed up the driveway, down the path, and knocked, ready to unload.

The door opened, and Avery’s fury was stifled in the face of a half-sized Ann Wint, Destroyer and Chainer.

Ann’s daughter, she belatedly realized.  The similarity was definitely there.  The girl was wearing a private school uniform, even though classes would have ended a while ago.  Avery couldn’t imagine wearing something like that and not changing at the first chance.

“Can I help you?” the girl asked, in the tone of someone who had zero interest in offering help, and already thought Avery was far beneath her notice.

“I want to talk to your mom.”

Tiny Ann Wint looked very unimpressed.  But she motioned, and had Avery step inside before closing and locking the door.

It felt weird that the girl wasn’t shouting across the house like someone in Avery’s family would’ve.  Maybe because the house was just big enough that that was futile.

It was very nice, and very modern.  Open concept, white walls, lots of edges.  Glass between railing and stair.  A whole wall looking out on a pool in the backyard was more glass.

Probably hell to heat, Avery thought.

Avery could hear conversation.

“Get sixteen bottles, and if we need to we can bring some up from the cellar to supplement.  I know the people who’ll still be drinking late in the evening.  Some won’t care if we bring out swill, the others will appreciate finer vintage.”

“Can I leave that to you?”

“Make a note, to remind me.  I’d normally remember, but with everything going on with my special projects…”

“Let me know if I can help.”

Ann audibly scoffed.  “You can’t, Jeffrey.  But it’s fine.  I think I’ll manage.  Will your friends be coming?  I know they drink.”

“Mother?” tiny Ann Wint asked, as she leaned into a doorway.  “A guest.”

“Who was it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Next time ask.”

“It’s Avery,” Avery called out, stepping to the side until she could see Ann through the door, along with a guy who was probably Ann’s husband.  The age seemed right.  Avery would’ve said he looked like a mildly attractive man with ten out of ten hair and ten out of ten clothes, but after Verona had thought Kyle and Jeremy were good looking, she wasn’t sure at all about the standards of straight girls and women.

“Intern?” Mr. Wint asked.  “From your special projects work?”

“Essentially.  She runs errands and messages for us sometimes.  Except for today.  I called, Avery.”

“I know you called.  Repeatedly.  Rudely.  After I said to bug off, that if it wasn’t an emergency, I’d come later.”

“Some privacy?” Ann asked her husband.

He left the room, taking tiny Ann Wint away.

“Come in, Avery.  Shut the door.”

Avery entered what turned out to be a study, shutting the heavy door behind her.  There was a kind of suction vacuum, with how close the door was to the floor, forming a perfect seal.

The inside was a mixture of white marble panels, cracked glass that was apparently supposed to be cracked, and matte black.  A swivel leather desk chair sat behind a desk that was the cracked glass panels holding up a slab of black wood, with papers spread out uniformly across all of it.  The laptop, even though it was large, looked tiny in that space.

Behind the desk was a half-bookshelf, with lots of tomes bound in what looked mostly like black leather.  The ones that weren’t black leather were on the bottom shelf, where they were partially obscured by the surrounding furniture.  Above that half bookshelf was an arrangement of old weapons, sorted so they formed a circle of radiating points.  All were blackened, damaged, tarnished darker with age, or mixed parts that had been polished with parts that had been allowed to degrade.  One of the axes near the top was broken, each separate piece mounted so it was in the approximate place it should be.

Avery paced.  “You go out of your way to re-bind your books in black leather for the aesthetic?”

“Hm?  No.  The practices I do, the assumption is black leather.”

“Uh huh.  Edgy.”

“I gather you’re upset.”

“You think?”

“That feeling cuts both ways, Avery,” Ann said.  She moved behind her desk, looking at papers.  “I am astounded and bewildered by the fact you didn’t report directly to us at the first opportunity.”

“I gave you the info by phone.”

“Which isn’t nearly good enough.  We had a meeting.  It was the most convenient time for everyone involved.  I called so you could attend.”

“Somehow I’m not part of everyone?” Avery asked, heated.  “No.  Screw that.  You were rude.  You used magical connection name-calling practice to call my name over and over and I’ve read the damn Essentials text now.  It’s right there, in language spelled out for little kids who are about to learn the practice, don’t do that!”

“I know it’s spelled out.  My daughter’s going to be awakened come winter.  I’ve been re-reviewing them, and editing a copy with details and notes appropriate to what I’ll be teaching her.”

“Is this room soundproof?” Avery asked.

“It is.  I could murder a man here and my husband and children would be none the wiser.”

Avery nodded to herself, taking that in, digesting, and trying to work her way back up to being pissed off enough.

“I’m not at your fucking beck and call, Ann!” Avery raised her voice.  “I’m not your pet, I’m not your messenger or errand girl-”

“You are.  You have run messages and errands both for me.”

“I’m not yours!  I’m a messenger for Thunder Bay, not you!  I made the deal with Thunder Bay’s Lord, She Who Drowns in Moonlight!  Not you!”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to gainsay me.”

“I’d be right to,” Avery said.  “It’s even in some of the Essentials books.  If you abuse certain privileges, you can get cursed, or lose karma.  Like calling people’s names.”

“Privileges are afforded based on power.  Those with more power, clout, and coup are in their rights to call on connections, and even abuse mechanisms like a called name as they see fit.”

“You are not better than me, Ann,” Avery said.  “I don’t even think you’re stronger than me.  I’m not your intern, I’m not your messenger, I’m not your errand girl, I’m not your pet.  Don’t call me by saying my name three times unless it’s an emergency.”

“We’re in a time of crisis, virtually everything’s an emergency by dint of the situation.”

“I’ve been moving from crisis to crisis since Spring.  I call bullshit.”

“You think we aren’t in crisis?”

“If I dropped literally everything for every crisis, I wouldn’t get anything done.  You’re, what, planning a party?”

“I’m planning an event.”

“Yeah well, I got stuff to do too.  I’m not at your fucking beck and call, okay?”

“Even if I’m acting Lord?” Ann asked, leaning over her desk, hands planted on its surface.

Avery frowned.

“The Lord of Thunder Bay is healthy and well, I believe.  I wouldn’t worry.  But in her stead, I’m leading the council.  We just held one council meeting here.  Which you missed.”

“I call B.S.,” Avery replied.

“Beg pardon?”

“About you as acting Lord.  Did the Lord of Thunder Bay actively assign the role to you?  Of acting Lord?  Special powers?  Privileges, sway?”

“The Lord of Thunder Bay rarely speaks, so she wouldn’t designate.  Much is left implied.”

“So she didn’t.  Even if she did?  We have a different relationship, Mrs. Wint.  If you   become Lord, I’ll renegotiate the terms of what I contribute to Thunder Bay with you then.  Until then?  No.  Fuck all the way off.  Don’t do that again.”

“Are you done?”

“Are you done?  Say it.  That you won’t call me like that again.  Not for a non-emergency.”

“I reserve the right to do what I must.  We are, as I stressed, in crisis, Ms. Kelly.  We all must contribute.”

“What the fuck have you contributed in the last week, Ann?  Seriously?” Avery asked.  “Seriously, let me know, because I was there, facing Musser down, I was there, countering one of his last big Lordship claims.  I was there, when most of his guys that weren’t sitting around being Lords showed the fuck up in my town!”

Ann raised her eyebrows slightly.

“Did you even read my fucking emails!?” Avery asked.

“I perused.  It’s hard to say what is hyperbole in text and what is not, and I didn’t want to call attention to exaggeration.  Digital media may be less watched by the spirits but they nonetheless will notice if you give them cause.”

“I wasn’t exaggerating!  There were seventy practitioners, Ann!  Some pretty important ones too!  I just left my friends behind dealing with Anthem fucking Tedd.  I left them!  That’s what they’re doing tonight!  Without me!  And I’m here because if I’m going to hold the tatters of my actual life and family together- they made my parents aware, Ann!”

“I don’t involve you in my family issues, do the same for me.  If you held-”

“No!  No, because I’m making a point here!”

“If you held your own against the kind of numbers and power you describe, that’s impressive.  Can I continue?”

“No, because I’m fucking continuing I was talking, pay attention to what I’m saying!  I’ve been in the thick of it!  And I just got back, I just got part of a day to go to school and catch back up on life, to chill, to enjoy people I enjoy, and what do you do?  You shit all over it!  You pull this stupid crap that fucking ten and twelve year old practitioners know not to do because it’s in the most basic rules for practitioners!  Fuck you for interrupting my limited time with cool people with your rude shit.  I’ve been in the thick of it.  What have you done?”

Ann sat down in her chair.

“Held down the fort in the absence of our Lord, so to speak.  She is trying to find a way forward, reaching out elsewhere, I’m trying to make sure her seat is still here when she gets back.”

“Any immediate attacks?” Avery asked.

“Not yet.”

“Yeah, that’s bull.  You want me and my time?  Schedule me.  Ask nicely by email.  Don’t call me like I’m a dog of yours.”

“Will it prevent another repeat outburst like the one you’re having now?”

“No,” Avery said.  “If you don’t agree not to do it again, I’m liable to use my words and even possibly an Oath, not to listen to you or acknowledge you.  I’m pretty sure I can block your metaphorical number by doing that.”

“If you do that, I’ll get to the council, declare you uncooperative.”

“I’m on out there, on the metaphorical freaking field, I’ve been dealing with Charles and Musser, I helped found a Lost realm last weekend.  I raced through a ton of Paths.  I’ve made friends and networked those friends with the wider practitioner community.  If people here want to deal with the Carmine Exile?  And they have to choose between you and me?” Avery asked.  “I think they pick me.  If they want to deal with Musser?  I think they pick me.”

“If you want to make this gamble, knowing it could mean you’re not allowed in Thunder Bay…”

“Don’t,” Avery said.  She approached the desk, standing over it, hands spread out and flat on the surface, like Ann had been earlier.  “Don’t go there.  If you even hint at that threat, that’s it for us.  I won’t have that hanging over my head.  Not after working my ass off and putting everything on the line.  Not when my family- my parents, they’re stressing, they’re struggling, they’re part of this now.  I’ve sacrificed.  If you try to hold that over me, I’ll-” Avery struggled for a good finisher.  “I’ll make you regret it, Ann.”

Ann leaned back.

“Please apologize,” Avery said.  “For calling me like you did.  And for the threat just now.”

“I don’t often apologize, as a personal rule.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.  Anything a practitioner says or does contributes to patterns and spiritual expectations.  Apologies give, they breed a weakness, and with forces I wield, I don’t want any chinks in my armor.”

“Seriously?” Avery asked, again.

“I’ll amend my stance.  I won’t call you again.  I won’t threaten your family.  But I do need your assistance.”

“With?”

“You’d know if you attended the meeting,” Ann said, standing.  “We investigated what you described.  Nothing about Franky.  We wondered about the goat, but the goat is harder to interview and analyze.  Nothing turns up to Sight or our diagnostics.  We don’t have a strong shaman to call out the spirit of the goat in a form like your familiar- one that could talk and work with us.”

“Okay.  Well… my source seemed credible.”

“The Carmine Exile seemed credible?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright.  Then we’re stumped.”

“Charles seemed to design his Lords to be counters and tricks.  He made this one, apparently, to deal with a situation like Florin Pesch taking over the Lordship, giving that Lordship over to someone else.”

“Florin would have left after.  It’s not him specifically.  We don’t know who would’ve been Lord?”

“Raquel Musser was named.  Florin thought he could negotiate that.  But it didn’t sound certain, and that happened after Franky and her goat showed up.”

“Hmm.  Maybe it’s not a counter?  Something more general?”

“Something, if I had to guess, that works on a level that nobody in Thunder Bay can really answer.”

“Spirit has already come up.”

“Mmm, true.  What diagnostics did you do?”

“On Franky?”

“Or the goat.  Or both.”

“For both, we did a quick card reading.  Not a strength but Sourav manages.  Some of the same tricks we all use for item identification.  Nothing stand-out.  Analysis under Sight, nothing.  Nadine, Dav, and Jason from the Glean Team wanted to kill it and study the remains.  We were worried something might be nestled inside.”

“What’s the worst possible something?”

“Demon.”

Avery raised her eyebrows and nodded.

“More likely… I don’t know.  There are myths, a prized horse, killed, turned out to be the prized steed of a god, earned a god’s wrath.  We debated it, and decided it’s better to leave alone.  Or, more precisely, we debated killing Franky Reiber, which upset some of the tertiary council members, and they got stubborn enough to refuse even killing the goat.”

“Yeah well, I might’ve been on their side.”

“As is, we’ve pooled instruments together.  Thea was kind enough to provide a great number of quality instruments.  Nadine brought over some measuring tools.  Sourav had some.  We have people keeping constant eye on each of the instruments.  Taking turns.  If something goes wrong, if the levels of echoes rise, scales tip, or cards start agitating, they’re to call for help immediately.”

“Hmm.”

“We’re at a loss.  We considered sending them away, but that could be the trap.  Franky was upset at the idea.”

“Well, she lived here most her life, if I remember right.  And there’s kind of a lot of monsters in the region.”

“True,” Ann said.

“I don’t think that’s a sign of anything, except that she’s human.”

“At which point we’re still at a loss.”

“Hmmm.  Alcazar?  Turn the woman or the goat into a place, go into the place, see what turns up?”

“Do you know someone?”

“Me.  We did one with the Carmine Furs, a bit ago.  Trying to figure out who killed the Carmine Beast.  Learned a lot.”

“This is similar to us expecting there to be a bomb inside a package.  And you intend to dive into the package, amid wires and buttons?”

“I guess, yeah.  Do you have better ideas?  Or do you want to keep this as a thing hanging over our heads for a long while?”

“This might be our best option, and it’s not a good one.  Would you be willing?”

“I think I could do better than a lot of people.  But I’d need support.  And help, I think.  In case it gets nasty.”

“Who would you want?”

“I’d want my friends from back home.  But I guess if I had to choose… ugh.”

Avery thought through the various residents of Thunder Bay.  Most of the ones she liked were gone now.

There was one answer, but Avery had a borderline phobia around the man.  Still…

“Ugggh.  Odis?  He knows pocket realms.  He’s done the thing with his bus line.  His practice gets into the blackforest stuff, with the gingerbread house realms that you go into.  Some of that applies.”

“He’s liable to send Thea in his stead.  If you want an expert in localized realms, she would be a top choice.”

“I think that’d be a disaster, actually.”

“I’ll tell her to cooperate.”

“Your orders don’t matter as much as you seem to think they do.  Again, I think it’d be a disaster.  I’d rather go alone.”

“I’ll talk to them.  I’ll get back to you.”

Avery sighed, shaking her head.

She walked across the office, looking at the art.  Lots of paintings of ruins, some almost calligraphy-like, black ink on white paper.

“What Lords did you run into?”

“I put it all in the Black Box.”

“Raymond Sunshine’s big crisis tracker?” Avery asked.

“I don’t use that.”

“Why the hell not?  It’s kind of made for this kind of situation.”

“It’s clunky.”

“That’s dumb.”

“Technology is not in my suite of interests or concerns.”

“This is like you’re at war, queen of a castle, enemy at the gates, and thousands of lives depend on you thinking of a synonym to truce.  And in this metaphor, you won’t pick up a damn thesaurus.  That’s dumb, Ann,” Avery said.  “Come on.  Don’t be a dink.”

That last word seemed to raise Ann’s hackles.

“Don’t be a dink,” Avery repeated.  “Use the program.  Seriously.  I’ll cut the giant lady made of water some slack for not knowing computers or data tracking or whatever but come on.”

“I’ll take a look later.”

“Okay.  Look for the possibly Abyssal Pay Phone and the lady and her gigaphantom.  Apparently they’re shuffling around.  Some moved to other locations because Musser and his core group are out there, problem solving.”

Ann raised an eyebrow.  “Abyssal Pay Phone?”

Avery shrugged.  “It may be a Ruined Pay Phone.  I know your whole deal is dual mastery of the Abyss stuff and Ruined stuff.”

“Yes.”

“But also, like, back to what I said before?  These are traps, I think.  And if it seems like it’s just your thing, it might be a trap the Carmine Exile wants to use to take out a really strong practitioner.  You.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s technomancy, and if you’re so bad with tech you can’t navigate the Black Box-”

“I can navigate it.  I just haven’t had the time or inclination,” Ann said, testy now.

“Well, whatever else I might think of you, you’re strong, it could be a trap.  So… keep that in mind.”

“I will.”

Avery nodded.

Ann straightened, rubbing at one shoulder.  “I should get ready for dinner with my family.  And I have an event to plan with my husband.  I’ll be in touch about Thea joining you.”

“Odis.  Not Thea.  Seriously.  Please.”

“I know him, I know them, I know he’ll ask Thea to go.  He isn’t nimble.”

“Then you might have to get someone else to go diving into a lady and her goat.”

“We’ll see.  I’ll be in touch.”

Avery nodded.

Ann went to the door, opened it, and held it for Avery.  Then she walked Avery to the door.

Tiny Ann Wint and her younger sister were at the dinner table, with their father looking over their shoulders as they did homework.  They looked up at Avery and their mom.

“You’re awakening the older one?” Avery asked, quiet.

“That is the intention.  I may change my mind, depending on what happens in the meantime.”

“Kind of a crazy world to awaken a kid into.  Bad situation, too.  It’s like, I want to have kids one day, a lot of them, but what kind of world is this to bring kids into, you know?”

“We thought the same thing when I was little.  The cold war was back then.”

“Always a crisis,” Avery said, quiet.  “I don’t think that’s an answer though.  It’s worse, when you think about it.”

“It’s fine.  She’s capable.”

“She’s what, nine?”

“She’s capable enough, Avery,” Ann stressed.  “She’ll do well.  She’s my daughter.”

Avery shook her head slightly.

“Send me the information on the Alcazar ritual as soon as you’re available.  I’ll review it before we do anything.”

Avery nodded.

She went home.

“Hey skates,” Rowan said, as Avery came up the stairs.  “We ordered in.  There’s vegetarian stuff for you.  But it’s cold by now, so you’ll have to nuke it.”

“Cool.  I’ll get that after.  Where’s Mom?”

“Mom’s on the patio, I think she’s all familied out, after last weekend.”

She’s wiped out for other reasons, Avery thought.  She already knew her mom was on the patio.

She let herself through the door and stepped outside.  It was pretty crisp out, now.  A sweatshirt wasn’t enough to stay out for the long term.  Her breath fogged.

Her mom was wearing her jacket and boots, and sat in a patio chair, looking up at the sky.  A blanket was on her lap, and Snowdrop was hidden away in the blanket.

“She’s been keeping me company.”

“I know,” Avery said.

“I’ve been giving her scratches.”

“I know.  We’re bonded.  I can feel what she feels.  I know you’ve been giving her treats,” Avery said.  She poked at the side of Snowdrop’s tummy.

Snowdrop rolled onto her back, limbs spread out.

“In your text, you said you were talking to Ann?”

“She’s in the notes.”

“It doesn’t mean much to me.  I don’t understand all the terms yet.  Or who the people are.”

“Okay, uh.  Well, she thinks she’s in charge but she’s not.  She was pestering me, wanting updates.  I told her where to get my updates, we talked about situations.  In a couple nights I’ll be penetrating a woman and her goat.”

The joke didn’t really land, or get the reaction that would let Avery move on to clarifying.  Her mom was silent, just looking worried.

“Using magic to turn them into a place.  Then going in, seeing what turns up.  I’ll probably have backup.”

Even if the likely backup is worse than no backup at all.

She didn’t add that, out of concern that it’d make her mom more stressed.

“I don’t know how to keep myself from losing my mind with worry when you’re gone,” Avery’s mom said.

“I don’t know either,” Avery admitted.  “If there was real trouble, Snowdrop would’ve reacted.”

“But she can’t stay with me every time you go.”

“No.  I need her.”

“Have you checked your texts?”

“I used magic to get around, I figured I’d catch up on everything when I got back.  Why?”

“Jasmine called.  Lucy went to the hospital.”

Avery’s heart did an ugly tumble in her chest.  She pulled out her phone.

“She fought America and Anthem Tedd.  Jasmine’s sick over it.”

Avery sorted through her messages.  Nothing recent from Lucy, that was bad.

“Verona says they won.  Lucy’s pretty battered but she’ll be okay,” Avery noted.  “That’s, hmmm, a pretty good outcome, considering.”

Her mom looked up at her, the look in her eyes almost wounded.

“What?” Avery asked.

“She’s hurt enough for her mom to want her to go to the hospital.  This is a registered nurse, someone who knows what she’s doing.  And that’s a victory?”

Avery shrugged.  “I’m not happy Lucy’s hurt.  But she’s going to be okay.”

“But if that’s a victory, sweetie, then what does a loss look like?”

Like Gabriel.  Like Reagan.  Like us getting kicked out of the Blue Heron and Musser taking power.  Like echoes and wraiths invading the town.  Like my friends getting hurt.  Like losing friends to betrayal.  Like losing John.  Like Charles becoming Carmine.

Something unacceptable, in short.  Like everything that was unacceptable, as the stakes got higher.

The right answer was damning, but the silence wasn’t any better, and there sure felt like there was a lot of silence.

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