Page 34 of Midnight Auto Parts

With more grace than I had ever possessed, Kierce navigated the rear of the store and located the door. Carter pushed it open and pointed to a bar across the way. Kierce hustled through the alley, and we let ourselves in through the back, ending up in a hallway leading to the bathrooms.

Safe from immediate detection, we walked out of the bar and into a diner one street over. I got looks for Kierce carrying me, but I was enjoying the ride, and the excuse to snuggle against him.

“You must be newlyweds,” the hostess cooed. “This is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah.” Carter nudged Kierce toward a booth in the back. “They’re lovey-dovey all right.”

The bird reference earned her a scowl from me, but she pretended not to notice.

“You can put me down.” I patted Kierce’s chest. “I was winded for a minute, but I’m fine now.”

Once the three of us sat, Carter got right to the point. “What the hell happened back there?”

“He was summoned by his god,” I answered for us. “For some reason, my soul went along for the ride.”

“Yoursoul?” She rubbed her arms like she was scrubbing off spirit cooties. “You left your body behind?”

“It’s called astral projection,” Kierce explained. “It’s dangerous for someone with her talents.”

The number one reason Vi hadn’t wanted me toying with astral projection was the tendency for people like me to wander into the spirit world and forget to come back. I had experienced the sensation before, when I snuffed out souls, but my siblings had always been there to pull me back. To leave my body and travel hundreds of miles to a place I had never been? That was new.

On the upside, I had shot right back to my body without a hitch. Maybe the true danger had been while I was alive. Had I gotten lost, I would have died. Now that I had gotten death out of the way, I might learn the control required to utilize the skill.

“What I’m hearing is,” Carter drawled, “we’re not telling Josie about this.”

“That would be for the best.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “I need to talk to Vi about it but…”

After her ordeal, she would require time to heal, and I didn’t want to heap more worries on her plate.

But, proving I could be taught, I did text her a brief summary of events. Rollo wouldn’t show her anytime soon, assuming he didn’t delete it outright, but it was the best I could do. It would have to be enough.

Kierce held my hand under the table but set his sights on Carter. “I must examine the burial ground.”

“Why do you sound certain that’s what it is?” She faked interest in the menu. “You weren’t before.”

“I have been given this task.” He flexed his jaw. “I have no choice but to fulfill my god’s will.”

A twitch of his fingers in mine hinted he wasn’t happy about that, and it made me wonder again how it was he became the Viduus. I bet he questioned it too. His life had been erased from his memories with time. Or so we had assumed. Now that I was aware of Dis Pater’s penchant for memory erasure when it was convenient for him, I was no longer certain of anything except Kierce was bound into Dis Pater’s service. Eternally.

A call interrupted whatever question had Carter leaning forward, and she rose to take it outside.

“Dis Pater had a name for the remains.” I thought back on it. “Alchy? Alcheyv?”

“Alcheyvaha.” Kierce drew circles on the table with his fingertip. “They were old gods.”

“The burial ground…” the blood in my veins turned to ice, “…it’s full ofgodbones?”

After learning about Ankou’s gift of bone manipulation, this development didn’t sit well with me.

Paired with the disappearance of his god tree? Yeah. I wasn’t happy about this one bit.

Too many of his favorite toys were appearing in the same place at the same time to be a coincidence.

“How did I miss it?” He wiped away the design as if it held potential. “I should have sensed it.”

Ankou’s god tree pinged on my radar, so how could a heap of god bones not cause a blip?

“I was wondering.” I dove through the opening he left me. “About what Dis Pater said.”

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