Page 66 of Clubs

“If this is about that trouble your boyfriend’s into—”

“Thank gods.” Breathing out a sigh of relief, I clasped a hand over my heart. “Genevieve.”

“Something’s wrong. Of course it is. You only call when something’s wrong. Just like the rest of you.”

“You want to get coffee sometime?”

“I prefer tea.” She paused. “But this is business, I’m assuming.”

“If you want to call it that, sure. Business. Or, a massive exposure risk.”

“Oh, bloody hell.” I could practically hear her rubbing her temples. “What is it?”

“Are you on a protected line?”

“I’ll call you back on one.”

And so, she did. Almost every call I made to Genevieve, I used my disposable phone for. That was why she knew it was me when I called.

I explained the situation, ending with, “Do you know anyone who can help? Someone powerful enough to help me erase the last week from his mind? Or, maybe even a Fae. They’re good at this. They could fix this in a heartbeat, right?”

Again, another deep sigh echoed through the speaker. “Well, I’m really not sure if you’re ready, but if they get mad at me for this, I’m blaming you. Both of you. And Emory. And your little sister. You all are taking the blame for this. And you better tell them so, do you understand me? Because I do not want to hear it from them. Especially Jeremy. I do love when he talks mean to me, but—”

“Jesus Christ, Genevieve,” I snapped. “Do you know someone or not?”

“Quite testy for someone who’s in such dire need of help.”

“Well, forgive me. I’m a little bit worried we’re all about to end up in some CIA testing facility where they try to map our genomes and duplicate our abilities and—”

Genevieve cut me off with a laugh. “The CIA will do no such thing. Do you have a pen and paper, darling?”

I didn’t have any paper, but I had a pen in my purse. After finding it in the rubble, I said, “Go ahead.”

She stated an address ending with, “It’s not far from Minneapolis, Minnesota.”

Breaths stopping in my chest, my heart pumped faster. “But that’s a day’s drive. I’ve never even been to Minnesota. Do they know I’m coming? Should you maybe let them know?”

“Believe me, when they see you two, they’ll know you. Just tell them about your dreams. The memories, I mean,” Genevieve said. “And I’ll drop you a crystal. Should land on the bar at Spades. That’ll give you a clear enough image of the place so you can teleport there.”

Well, that was much more feasible. “Okay. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much.”

“You owe me far more than a thank you,” Genevieve said. “But don’t forget that I warned you. I’m really not sure if you’re ready for what you’re about to learn. But, you got yourself into this mess, and I don’t know how to get you out of it. And I’m sorry, but I can’t keep playing these silly games. They can handle you from here on.”

I had no idea what that meant, and there was no point in stressing about it. Not right now. If they could help, they were who I was asking for.

“Either way. Thank you.”

Genevieve started to say something else, but I had already flipped the phone shut and started inside. I was barely halfway down the hall when a clunk sounded, followed by Declan yelling, “Jesus Christ.”

Sure enough, when I made it to the end of the hall, stepping into the dining area, there it was. A little gem, clear in color, laying on the center of the bar.

“She might be a bitch, but she always pulls through for us,” I said, jogging to the little rock. “When we get there, our line is that Genevieve told us they could help us understand the memories I keep seeing.”

“Genevieve.” Declan was still tense from the jolt of the teleporting crystal when I met his gaze. “Of course. It’s always Genevieve who does weird shit like open a little portal in the middle of my bar and drop a crystal through it.” He paused. “Wait, this is something to do with the par animarum?”

“Hell if I know. That’s just what Genevieve said. And she told me to warn you that we were not ready for this, but we don’t have another choice.” Grabbing his hand from his side, I snatched the crystal off the counter. “So, fingers crossed we don’t hate ourselves after this.”

Declan said something, but I paid him no mind.

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