Page 18 of Cheater Slicks

“Get in front of him.” I yanked him front and center. “Let him pass through you.”

Wrong choice of words because that was exactly what Matty did—danced through him without a hitch in his stride. As if his own body hadn’t been standing there. As if he hadn’t recognized himself.

“Matty.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat, refusing to give up yet. “You need to listen to me?—”

“Hey, pretty girl.” His attention landed on me, his eyes duller than before. “Want to dance?”

Understanding really and truly dawned then, that the light in his eyes hadn’t been recognition. He would have given the same greeting to any girl who walked up to him. I had seen what I wanted to see the first time and not the reality.

“You just said that,” I whispered, chin wobbling, my arms falling limp at my sides.

“I couldn’t feel him.” Pedro turned sorrowful eyes on me. “It was like he wasn’t even there.”

“It’s not your fault.” I gripped his forearm, contenting myself with this one small piece of my brother. “We’ll figure it out. We’re not out of time or options yet. We’re going to fix this.”

This time, I let Matty go. Let him dance his way to the woman and ask her his question. She turned to him, smiled, and they began a slow waltz that spanned the width of Ursulines Avenue.

He never looked back.

Not even when I called his name.

A ruckus drew my attention from Matty toward the rear of the procession.

Though I couldn’t stomach giving up on him altogether, I couldn’t ignore the shouting either.

“Kierce,” I cried out, racing for the scuffle. “Try to break Matty out.”

“I’ll go with him,” Pedro told me. “See if I can help.”

Maybe they would have better luck together than he had with me.

The voice spouting profanities caused my throat to tighten, and I ran toward it. I found Vi with two strapping young spirits walking arm in arm with her. They were walking, anyway. Vi was swinging in their grip, hissing and spitting vile curses that made my ears burn.

“Vi?” A whisper wasn’t going to get the job done, so I tried again.“Vi?”

“Frankie?” She quit struggling and hung between them. “Thank God you’re here.”

“You know who I am?” I couldn’t stop my head from turning toward Matty. “You remember yourself?”

“For now, I do.” She snarled her lip at the men to either side of her. “For how much longer, I can’t say.” Her eyes softened on me. “You saw Matty?”

“He didn’t know me.” Hot tears poured down my cheeks, sadness and joy mingling. “I was worried you wouldn’t recognize me either.”

“The magic nibbles on me. On all of us. Feels like tiny ants biting.”

Sure enough, as I scanned the parade, I spotted a few of the more subdued revelers scratching their arms, but they didn’t miss a step. “This spell, or whatever it is, is feeding on you?”

“The headaches…” she hissed through her teeth, “…they come on when I think about it too hard.”

That could explain the revelers’ laissez-faire attitude when it came to going through the motions on autopilot. “Do you think that’s what’s causing the memory loss?”

“That would be my guess, but it’s like pouring water through a sieve to hold on to my thoughts.”

“How did you end up here?” I pressed my luck, hoping she could recall any details, no matter how small. “Rollo couldn’t tell us much.”

“A patron had me searching Ursulines Avenue for a missing soul.” She frowned. “His wife?” Her pause sent a chill racing down my arms. “Yes. His wife. She’s in a coma.” Her relief to share that much was short-lived as a wave of pain rocked her in place. “He’s an oungan and sensed there was more to her condition than simple illness. He called me in to consult, as a favor, and sure enough. He was right to worry.” I held my breath as hers steadied. “Her symptoms matched…your brother. Mathew?”

“Yeah,” I said, voice thick. “Matty.”

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