Page 57 of Another Damned Storm
Her brow came together. “What is going on with you?”
“Nothing. I was just doing some math in my head.” That wasn’t a lie, exactly. A giant problem plus a potential solution equaled a shitty plan that I already hated. It was a kind of math.
“Uh huh. Did you hear anything I just said?”
Did I? I wracked my brain trying to pluck out any of the words she’d said while I was deep inside my own head. “Something about the Brethren?” That was my best guess since that was the topic of conversation before I’d zoned out.
Hook cut me a worried look, but Lily just sighed. “I said Theloneus and Emerson used to take turns checking in on Matt and me once or twice a year, but I haven’t seen either one in about five years, give or take.”
Interesting.
I stretched my arms up and laced my fingers behind my head. “Matt told me life was pretty calm until about five years ago. Is that how you remember it?”
Her head bobbed from side to side, and the messy ponytail sticking out the back of her ball cap followed. “Give or take.”
“So, what changed? If I’m really the cause of all this—and I’m not saying I’m not—but why would things here stay normal for over twenty years? Why didn’t they start going sideways on day one? We had that big storm in the Nassa when we took care of Petra, and it was just the first of many.”
Neither of them seemed to have an answer. Which, no surprise there. They were right here in the thick of it with me. It was hard to see the big picture when you were clinging to the edge of the frame.
I unlaced my hands and stood, pulling the bracelet from my pocket. “Let’s go wherever we’re going.” Even if the Brethren couldn’t help shed some light on the situation, we could at least rule them out as having any part in it.
An hour later, after I’d successfully followed Hook as he flashed with Lily (score one for me!), we were all killing time in a park in Sabetha, Kansas. I’d never heard of the city before, but to be fair, calling it a city was generous. It might have been a third the size of Charleston on a good day.
“I guess wearein Kansas after all, Toto,” I muttered.
Lily offered me a pity chuckle for the bad joke, but Hook just gave me a quizzical look. Since I had all the freaking time in the world, I tortured him with a lengthy summary of the movie.
“Why are we meeting them here?” I asked a little later.
In my mind, a bigger city with more people made more sense, assuming the plan was to hide in plain sight. The three of us, soon to be five whenever the two ancient demons finally decided to show up, hanging out in an adorable neighborhood park seemed like a great way to draw all kinds of unwanted attention.
Lily shook her head. “Your guess is as good as mine.” She’d taken the time to part her thick, mahogany locks down the middle and put it in two dutch braids that showed off the lines of her neck and shoulder. I might have been imagining it, but I got the impression she harbored a bit of a crush on Theloneus.
I turned to Hook who offered me a little shrug. “I’m sure they have a reason.”
So we waited.
And waited.
Hours passed with us shifting positions and pacing. I’d gone from stretching out in the grass to sitting on the battered bench to swinging on the rusty swing set more times than I cared to count.
Weirdly, everyone in the park seemed to be trying hard to make it look like they hadn’t noticed us. We got the occasional nod from someone who was walking their dog or out for a run, but other than that, they pretended we weren’t even there. Until finally, when the afternoon sun was finally beginning its descent into evening, the air and energy around us changed.
A towering figure dressed in blue jeans, a heather gray t-shirt, and a pair of black shell-toe Adidas appeared from nowhere. I recognized him in an instant.
“Apologies for the delay,” Emerson said, his deep timbre dragging me back in time to the night we’d tried to de-shadow my brother.
Hook dipped his head. “We appreciate you coming.”
“Is it just you?” I asked, checking to make sure his buddy—brother, whatever—wasn’t lurking behind us.
Emerson cast a glance Lily’s way before answering. “It is. Theloneus is… unavailable.”
That sounded ominous.
Lily narrowed her eyes. “Is everything okay?”
He took a moment to study her. “It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
