Page 3 of Cheater Slicks

“I’m serious, Mary. No more grave-dirt uppers.”

That was what Josie called it when I tapped into the potent death magic present in cemeteries to heal or recharge, which, I admit, had become atinyaddiction in recent days as I turned to it for a boost whenever my body craved sleep but I had other ideas. To the point Josie had asked me nicely to quit.

Cold turkey.

Or else.

With my sister, I didn’t need theor elsepart spelled out to quake in my boots.

Without mygrave-dirt uppers, the full weight of Matty’s condition really hit me, buckling my mind into a dreamless sleep lasting for forty-eight hours. I had pushed too long and too hard to reclaim my last repo, the monster truck champion who leased Camaro for one last spin around the circuit with her daughter. Mix in the “alien” abduction case with the 514 that landed me in hot water with a whole new pantheon of gods, and it was no wonder my body collapsed beneath the weight of the last week.

“I have given this child the power of her people, so that the spirit of the Alcheyvaha will live on in her.”

Anunit spoke those words to Dis Pater with a hint of threat in them when I dropped the bombshell that I had been named the new Alcheyvaha guardian on him in his office. The shiny new title, and the responsibilities that came with it, were the reason she started hanging around the shop.

Given how little I knew of the Alcheyvaha, yes, I did need lessons on their culture and how to preserve it. I was now the custodian of multiple burial sites chockful of god bones containing untold power. It wasn’t that I didn’t care or that I wasn’t interested. I had made a bargain and would keep my word. But, cold as it sounded, the Alcheyvaha were dead. My brother? He was still alive.

Had he not been afflicted, I wanted to believe I would have prioritized finding out exactly what she meant, but us Marys made each other a promise when we were children not to seek out our birth families, and I had been determined to honor it. Now I wasn’t so sure I still had that choice if I wanted to protect Matty and Josie.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Josie pinched my upper arm, right above my elbow. “You’re not tuning me out.”

“Oww.”Jolting from my cascading thoughts, I rubbed the sting. “Violence is never the answer.”

“Nice try, Mary, but I saw you crack a woman open like a nut and snuff out her soul not that long ago. Violence may not always be the answer, but it’s top five.”

“It didn’t used to be,” I mumbled, regret coating my tongue in a film more bitter than pecan kernels.

“Speak for yourself.” She cut her eyes toward the African violets on my desk, and they curled their plush, variegated leaves into tiny fists before shadow boxing with each other from their respective planters. “A well-aimed punch can save alotof time.”

“I want to blame this bloodthirstiness on you rooming with Carter, but redcaps have nothing on dryads.”

“To be fair, most dryads are very crunchy. Very granola. They’re very?—”

“Please stop.” A rumble in my stomach reminded me I skipped breakfast. “You’re making me hungry.”

“Good.” She clutched my wrist, tugged me to my feet, and hauled me outside. “You need to eat more.”

As soon as my foot crunched on gravel, Badb dove over my head, clicking her beak at me.

“Pest.” Josie waved her free arm above us to shoo her away. “Go bother Mr. Mittens.”

“Josie.”I smothered a laugh. “She terrorizes that poor cat enough as it is without encouragement.”

As we hit the stairs, heading up to Josie’s former apartment to eat lunch, I identified Badb’s problem.

Kierce was doing his laundry, as part of hishow to be a humanhomework, and he had dared to wash her cat bed. To add insult to injury, he’d spread it on a drying rack in the sun instead of giving it a quick tumble in the machine and returning it to her toasty warm.

Rookie mistake.

As I entered his apartment, ready to tell him so, a ripple in the air spun out faint purple ribbons of light.

Chills erupted down my spine at the telltale disruption of astral projection. “This can’t be good.”

News that warranted an in-person visit, without a warning text to expect company, promised to be grim.

“What?” Josie peered over my shoulder. “Did he forget to sort whites from colors?”

“No.” I stepped aside to give her room to come in. “Looks like Vi is coming for a visit.”

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