Page 100 of Midnight Auto Parts

Juiced and ready to go, I led Kierce to the nearest exit and climbed over the gate while he hovered behind me with his arms outstretched in case a fresh pang caused me to slip.

We reached the golf cart, and Kierce insisted on helping me in before driving us back to the shop.

“Where did Badb go?” I searched the skies. “She ditched us at the side gate.”

“She’s pouting.” He kept his eyes forward. “She claims a shipment of crickets arrived at the Dinkel’s.”

“For fishing?” I didn’t know them but recognized the name from running past their mailbox. “Or…?”

“They breed small reptiles.” He flexed his fingers. “They caught her carrying off their box and fired table salt at her from a pest control gun.” He exhaled through his nose. “They’ll never know peace now.”

“Harsh.” I clucked my tongue, absolutely not considering the merits of a pest control gun that worked on thieving crows. “They should have let her have the crickets. It would have been cheaper in the long run.”

As Mittens and his owners had discovered since Badb moved in.

After Kierce parked his ride near the garage, we switched out vehicles. I didn’t even have to jog up the stairs to retrieve my purse or keys. He did it for me.

There were definite perks to having a boyfriend.

Especially one whose backside looked that good while running errands.

To gently send the message I was driving, I posted up outside the driver side door on the wagon with my hand out for the keys. He dropped them in my palm with a faint smile that told me I wasn’t fooling him. I got in, heart thumping for the task ahead, and waited until Kierce settled next to me before speeding off to meet Carter.

He didn’t say anything but kept eyeing the speedometer with obvious concern.

“I have a bit of a lead foot.” I slowed down to the legal limit. “Pascal always says that everyone goes five over and the police give you ten.” I recalled my position as his driving instructor. “But we must obey the law. Signs are posted for a reason. Do as I say, not as I do.”

When we arrived at the commune, spotlights had been switched on, illuminating the area. Five white vans idled off the shoulder of the road, their headlights adding another splash of light in the darkness. Officers with firearms in hand had been posted in the grass next to the vehicles’ open doors, ready to secure anyone we managed to free. We passed more of the evacteams on our way to the command post where we found Carter speaking with two men and a woman.

After she caught my eye, I stepped up beside her, drawing everyone’s attention.

Kierce, however, remained outside, his gaze turned up to the sky. No doubt searching for Badb.

“This is Frankie.” Carter gestured toward me. “She can answer your questions.”

Questions rained down after I warned them Anunit was on the prowl and cautioned them against handling any bones they found inside the ward. I leaned into the cursed object angle to avoid giving them intel on god bones and their potential uses while there was an exposed pit of them nearby.

The witches had already devised a plan for disabling the ward and wasted no time adapting the strategy to account for Anunit as they gathered their things and trekked out into the woods. On their heels, Carter and I emerged to discover a patch of runny white gunk streaking the back of Kierce’s shirt.

“Your bird did that?” Carter wrinkled her nose. “What did you do to make her mad?”

“Ignored her earlier.” He shrugged out of his beloved shirt, leaving him in a white tee. “She was sharing a story about how the neighbors wronged her, but I was driving. I told her I had to focus and to tell me later.”

“She’s like that. Petty. Strikes when you least expect it.”

“Leave the shirt.” Carter pointed to a chair that she must have been using, based on its orange spots. “This is a stealth mission. Not a luau.”

With reluctance, he parted with his beloved Hawaiian, and we went to join the witches.

“Can you narrow it down for us?” The shorter guy greeted me with a toothpaste commercial smile. “This is denser than weexpected. To make the most of what we can do, we need to refine our attack as much as possible.”

“No problem.” I located the area I had marked for Carter and let myself probe for weaknesses along the barrier. “The disruption begins here.” I found a stick and stuck it in the dirt as a marker then homed in as the energies fluctuated next to me. “It ends there.” I marked it too. “This is the entirety of it.”

“Thanks.” He posted up beside me. “This will make things easier.”

“Unless it doesn’t,” grumbled the taller of the pair. “This ward is thicker than any I’ve ever seen.”

That happened when you used god bones. Lots and lots of them. It was overkill, really.

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