Page 188 of The Seven Rings
“She’s darker than she was, Owen. The more they… lighten up the manor, the darker she gets. I think it’s right, she can’t do real damage to Sonya, to any of us without breaking her own curse. But.”
“Yeah, I’ve gone there. She’s a lunatic. She could lose it.”
“Curse broken, but Sonya’s the sacrifice. That’s not going to happen.”
“It’s fucking not.”
Owen shifted forward.
“Look, I’m going into Cleo territory again, but it feels like Sonya’s made—don’t ask me how, exactly—but she’s made to be the one to find the way through. A Poole, but not. She’s had choices from the time Deuce told her about her dad, the inheritance. She made all the choices that brought her to this point. She’s going to make the ones that get through to the until.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
When Sonya came back in, she didn’t find Cleo in the kitchen. But she saw the top oven light on, and a bowl inside covered with a cloth.
Curious, she opened the oven door, peeked under the cloth. Then looked down at Yoda.
“Best guess? This is bread dough. Why it’s in an oven, that’s not turned on, but the light is, I can’t say.”
After she closed the oven door again, she got out a beef stick for Yoda. Like a very good boy, he sat, took it politely, then ran wildly away to enjoy it.
Grabbing a Coke for herself, she headed back to the library.
In just under an hour, Cleo came down from her studio.
“Kitchen duty?”
“It’s time to punch down the bread dough. If it did what it’s supposed to do. And I’m going to get the sauce on for the lasagna.”
“Sounds like kitchen duty to me.”
Sonya rose to join her.
“I can handle it if you’re in the middle of something.”
“I’m in a good spot. I picked up another book cover job, and I want to think about that one anyway. How come the dough’s in the oven with the light on?”
“It said that’s a good rising temperature. Now I punch it down, it rests a bit, then I divide it into three, let it rise again.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I’m just doing what I’m told. It’s science, and that’s not my area.”
“Mine either. You don’t have to know anything about carburetors or manifolds to drive a car. I don’t even know exactly what they are. Any movement upstairs?”
“Not a sound. Usually there’s some banging or bumping, but it’s dead—get it?—dead quiet.”
She gave Sonya an elbow bump as they walked into the kitchen. “You knocked her flat.”
“I did, but honestly, I think the laughing was the knockout punch. Bullies hate being laughed at.”
Cleo took the bowl out of the oven, set it on the counter. Crossed her fingers, and removed the cloth.
“Look at that!”
Sonya did. “It’s a lot bigger than when I looked.”
