Page 97 of Dead End

“You know I can’t afford a piano.”

“Check the classifieds. Someone is always giving away a perfectly good piano.”

“I’ll get right on that as soon as I stop an army of gods from killing me and everyone I love.”

Otto ran his hand along the closest shelf. “Ray did an excellent job.”

“He’d be thrilled to hear you say that.”

Otto continued to inspect the shelves with his hands, feeling the grooves and carvings.

Anna poked her head through the doorway. “Lorelei, there’s a tiny lady outside who claims to be a goddess friend of yours.”

I glanced out the window. Kamikins stood on the bridge, hands on hips, where she’d been stopped by two assassins. “That’s Kami. She lives here.”

“Oops. Sorry about that. Can’t be too careful these days.”

“Sounds like you have quite a full house,” Otto said.

“Very much so.”

West appeared in the library, holding a half-eaten crispy cake. “Are you ready to start?”

I stared at the treat. “Where did you find that?”

He glanced at the snack in his hand, like he’d only just noticed it. “Goran gave it to me.”

“Are there any more?”

“No, sorry. Last one.” He hesitated for a split second before thrusting the treat toward me. “Here. You can have the rest.”

I was sorely tempted. In the end, I couldn’t deprive him of it. “That’s okay. You can have it.”

He stuffed the second half into his mouth and mumbled a nearly unintelligible “thanks.”

Kami stood in the foyer as we made our way to the parlor room. “You’re home.”

“I am. We’re about to have an important meeting that Ithink you’ll want to join.” I observed her calm demeanor. “You don’t seem surprised to see me.”

“You can take the goddess out of the prophecy department, but you can’t take the prophecy out of the goddess.”

“What did you see?”

She clasped my hand and tugged me toward the staircase. “Come with me.”

“Two minute warning,” I called over my shoulder.

Kami shut the door of the guest bedroom behind me and retrieved her messenger bag from the closet. “Remember this?”

“Um, your bag? Sure.”

She opened the flap and produced one of the items from inside.

A collar.

Right. Kami had told me there were eight collars in the bag. According to Nabu, eight deities had tried to take over Dilmun. There were also eight deities on the Board of Directors. It seemed an unlikely coincidence.

“I told you a vision told me to take these,” Kami said.

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