Page 16 of Raising the Sun

“Tarotcard,” he corrected me, and I rolled my eyes.

“Whatever. The point is, it was a waste of time.”

“Then why are you looking for the guy?” he asked, tone a little too knowing for my liking. “Are you expecting a refund on yourwasted time?”

“You’re impossible.”

“And you’re full of shit,” he said. I sent him a dry glare through the phone, hoping he could sense it. “Something happened, didn’t it? I know you, Iz, you can’t lie to save your hide. I don’t know why you even try to.”

Thinking a phone call with Wayne would be a quick, no-details-exchanged chat had been very optimistic on my part. He was a perceptive arsehole at best, a psychic at worst, and as he said, no matter how much I tried to deny it, he did know me. Too well. The only person who actually did. And though he always let me solve shit on my own, it never put him off asking questions. Especially if he thought I was in trouble. He was a pretty good big brother.

The best, really.

“Okay, yes, something happened, but—” I cut myself off with a sigh, scrubbing a hand through my hair. My skin was starting to feel way too tight. “Look, I don’t want to dig into it right now. Iwill, once I find a way to reverse it or figure out another route, but I’m at capacity for socialisation and I need to process it all myself first.”

“Hey, no pressure! It’s your business and I won’t push, even though I’mdyingto. But…” He hesitated. “Are you safe, Iz? That’s all I care about.”

“Yeah, I think so… Yeah.” The demon hadn’t killed me yet. That was my gauge. “I was just… I was hoping to make it all go away quickly, y’know?”

“You’re not gonna like what I’m about to say…”

Judging by the cringe in his voice, I didn’t doubt it, but I hummed for him to continue, anyway. May as well take whatever advice he had to offer.

“If the guy said you have tolearn a lesson,then that’s the only way out of this. The terms of the agreement have to be honoured.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Ididn’tlike that answer. “Wonderful.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he said after a beat, voice filled with regret. It made the tension in my body ease. “I should have given you more warning about the whole thing. I just… I half expected you to look at the sign and go home.”

I huffed a faint laugh. “Desperation got the better of me. The window display wasn’t too shabby either.”

“I’m sorry, Iz.”

“Don’t be,” I said easily. “You did nothing wrong.”

I bumped my head against the headrest, staring up at the car roof for a moment.

I hadn’t meant to make Wayne feel guilty. Maybe I’d felt a little blamey in the beginning, but ringing him was a last-ditch attempt at fixing a problem, nothing more. While yes, he wastechnicallyto blame for giving me the cursed address, he hadn’t forced me to act on it.I’dchosen to go inside,I’dchosen to take the spell, andI’dchosen to perform it. He’d meant no malice, that went without saying. He’d noticed my suffering, seen what he thought was a reasonable solution, and tried to help. How could anyone fault him for that?

Besides, whether he actually had helped wasn’t clear yet. I’d just have to wait and see.

“You know, you can usually transfer things like this to someone else?” I knew exactly where he was going before he even added, “I could take—”

“Absolutely not.” I sat up straighter. “This is my mess, so either I’ll fix it or I’ll suffer through it. Not you. No.”

“Alright, alright,” he agreed, though it sounded strained. “Well, if there’s anything I can do, you know I’m here for you.”

For the first time in too long, I felt myself smile properly. “Yeah, I know. I’ll keep you updated. Maybe.”

Wayne laughed, the sound genuine and rich. “After twenty-eight years, I’ve learned not to take your weeks of silence, or your refusal of help, to heart.”

“What did I do to deserve such an understanding brother, huh?”

“I’m a fucking saint. I have to be, to deal with your stubborn arse.”

I snorted, not exactly disagreeing. “Love you too.”

The call ended not long after, and I sat there for several minutes, staring at nothing. While I felt a smidge lighter having spoken to my brother, all it had really achieved was drilling in the fact that nothing could be done. I’d tried, and I’d failed. I had no other options but to either accept the terms and have my needs fulfilled,orspend the rest of my life with a hellish being attached to my hip. There was no current favourite, surprisingly, but no matter what I chose, only one thing was certain…

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