Page 123 of The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland
“Jesus.”
“Not in my world, no. Can we get to the point, please?”
“Can you help me find her?”
“Mmmm. No.”
“No? Just like that?”
“She’s cloaked herself somehow. She’s a strong little thing, too, huh? That’s good, because she’s in danger. But you knew that already. You also know who’s after her. Look, I don’t get why you even called me. You didn’t believe me on the elevator, and I can’t help you.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe.” Frantic, she said, “Can you just tell me how this works?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m new to this. All of it. I’ve been doing my best to learn, to study, and I really appreciate both your books, but I just need toknow how it all works.” If Evie could just point her in the right direction, maybe she could find Minna and fix what was broken. “Can you just tell me? Since I’m kind of like you?”
“It’s different for everyone. You know how people’s fingerprints are unique? Magic is like that.”
“How is that possible?”
“Who are you to think you should know?”
Beatrice gripped her phone tighter. “Excuse me?”
“Seriously. What makes you so special? The world’s been trying to figure this shit out for millennia, but you thinkyoushould be the one to figure it out?”
“You’ve figured it out.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m twenty-nine. Twenty-four years of seeing ghosts and I still can’t tell if there’s one in a hotel lobby with me or if it’s a bellhop in an old-fashioned costume. I have nothing figured out, except that I need to get a new phone number.”
“I’m sorry.”
Her sigh was pained. “What actually matters to you?”
Dad. Iris. Minna. Cordelia. Reno. “My people.”
“Why do you love them?”
“I… just do.”
“You’ll get no extra control from knowing why you love them. You might have less. What happens when you just accept how you feel?”
“I get terrified.”
“So the fuck what?”
She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
Evie went on, “Whocaresif you’re scared? We’re all scared. Not everyone has the power you do, though. Use it. Act on it.”
“How do I know what to do? And then, how do I decide to act?”
“Sometimes we have to act before we think. Sometimes that means we get arrested for indecent exposure, but other times it means we’re following Spirit. There are times when the only thing to do is to act before thinking a single damn thought.”
“But—”
“Don’t even ask. You were born knowing how to do it—you just have to find your way back there.”
