Page 36 of Mostly Shattered

I love a good New York slice, but I wouldn’t want to eat pizza every night for an eternity. The thought makes my stomach grumble.

“What are you thinking just now?” He stares at me so intently, like I’m the only thing that exists.

“I’m craving pizza,” I answer. It feels kind of like a slight because he can’t have any. “I guess you don’t know what that’s like.”

“People taste like what they eat.” His eyes dip over me. “Would you like me to escort you to a pizzeria?”

Of course, he took my comment like it was some bizarre offer to feed him.

I instantly shake my head and lift the book. “I want you to tell me what this is all about.”

“Very well.” He nods, but I sense his disappointment. “George had a premonition that led him to the prophecy.”

That makes sense. My grandfather was skilled at premonitions, even more so than Uncle Mortimer.

I’m not going to think about Uncle Mortimer right now. One problem at a time.

“He mentioned that if the amulet ever broke, it meant you had saved my life, and I would owe you a life debt. He made me promise to keep you safe. It was only after gifting you the necklace that George discovered the prophecy linked to the amulet, but by then, it was too late. You had already put it on. He entrusted me with that book for safekeeping, cautioning that we must act when the moment arrives.”

“What do you need me to do?” I inquire, hoping it’s something easy, like tossing the pieces into a river or chanting an eerie incantation.

It won’t be. It never is.

“Do you know the story of how the trolls buildtheir mountains to hide away from the world?” he asks.

I shake my head in denial, even though it sounds vaguely familiar.

“It was in the time before time long before magic was tamed and before man overtook the planet like a plague. They built their homes over an ancient power, an evil so great it consumed everything. It’s that magic they tapped into when they made their little trinkets for the gods.” He nods at the pouch I’m holding with the book. “The amulet did more than protect you. It kept something asleep, but now that it is broken, that ancient evil has been poked awake. The amulet must be mended, and the evil needs to be stopped.”

Fuck me. Ancient evil?

“Mended? What, like with super glue?” I don’t expect that to be the solution, but a girl can hope.

“This is not the time for jokes. This evil will consume all of us. Humans, vampires, trolls, ghouls, everything. It will bring us to the time that was before. Into chaos and pain. Humans are lucky. They will die quickly. We immortal will face an eternity of anguish.”

“Who’s joking?” No part of me finds this funny. “I’m very serious. Do I look like a lapidarist? I don’t know how to mend magical jewels.”

“It was my desire to take you down into thecatacombs tonight so we could figure this out,” he says. “There is a troll who?—”

“How much time do we have?”

“We should act soon. I’ve felt a shift in the paranormal realms, a stirring. Can you not feel it in the air?” He lifts his arms to the side.

I glance around the graveyard. He keeps thinking I know something I don’t. I shake my head. The only thing I feel right now is a hint of period cramps, carb cravings, and a deep fear of an ancient evil taking over the world.

You know. The usual.

“I wanted to allow you time to mourn your brother. I thought you would approach me before now. I’ve been waiting. Since George didn’t share this with you before his death, I realize now that I should have contacted you first.”

I never imagined it would turn out like this, but this reset I’m experiencing might end up worse than the previous timeline. I could end up losing everyone all over again.

The weight of the broken amulet feels heavy against my hand. What happens when I fix it? Does time start over? Will Paul and Diana remember me?

Will Paul die all over again?

What happens if I do nothing? All humans die, and Anthony and my parents suffer for an eternity.

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” It’s a rhetoricalquestion. I pull the book and the amulet close to my chest. “I should go home and read this.”

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