When we leave the detention center, Faye and Willow are rambling about this Effie woman and how it makes sense to find her, despite all the dangers that clearly surround her name. All the while, I can’t bring myself to say much of anything about it out loud.
My mother told me stories about people who used yakaree to hurt others. They’d run to Mythics after being assaulted or bullied, and they’d beg them to put the spell of yakaree on their enemies. The next thing anyone knew, the person they’d put the spell on would be dead and had the mark of yakaree on their body, the letter Y with a slash through the bottom. I always liked to think it was a coincidence—these people dying and ending up with the mark—but yakaree has somehow made its way to Earth, which proves how powerful it is. Though none of them have the mark here, it’s clear the stories are true. The demise can happen to anyone, anywhere.
After driving to a rental car lot, Willow sees Faye off. As badly as she wants to come, she can’t swing it to New Orleans—something about being there for her grandmother and getting back to work at her bookshop. Frankly, I’m glad she’s taking off. She’s gotten on my nerves too many times to count.
When they hug goodbye and Faye drives away with her rental car, Willow returns to ours, plopping behind the wheel. The car is quiet for several seconds, droplets of rain splashing on the windshield and blurring our surroundings.
“Do you think we should find another way?” she finally asks, her gaze shifting to me.
I let the question linger. “Depends. Am I allowed to take my gun when we meet this woman?”
She smirks. “I think that would be best.”
“Then we’ll go. But if she tries to curse us, I’ll know it. There’s a hidden language in Vakeeli that goes back thousands of years, and if she knows the work of yakaree, then she’s likely ancient. This woman, whoever she is, is very cunning.”
“Well, let’s hope she’s nice.” Willow enters a location on the map app of her cellphone. “Fourteen hours. We’ll have to make an overnight stop.” She appears nervous as she grips the steering wheel and pulls onto the main road. “I’m worried that if we stop, though, Decius will find us. There’s no telling what he’ll use this time.”
“We don’t have to stop if you don’t want to. I can drive when you get tired,” I offer.
“What if you get pulled over? You don’t have any ID.”
“I’ll drive carefully,” I insist.
She considers that. “I guess…”
“You have very little trust in me,” I say, laughing.
“It’s not that. I just…I get nervous for you. Mostly because you don’t handle normal situations the way I would. You’re automatically defensive.”
“It’s just driving, Willow. We’ll be fine. I can drive and follow the arrow on your navigational thingy while you rest. We’ll be okay.”
She releases a breath. “You’re right. I’m just overthinking.”
“That you are.” I peer out the window at the passing trees and gray sky. My mind can’t help wandering to this Effie woman again. “This woman must’ve been banished. That, or she’s hopping back and forth from here to Vakeeli for fun, and if she can do that, she must be extremely powerful. You said it yourself that Beatrix seemed to be in pain just to send us here, and Beatrix is very old.”
“Yes, that’s true.” She twists her lips a split second. “Can guns stop Mythics?”
“This gun can.” I sit up in the seat, opening the revolver. “But there are only five bullets in the chamber. Better hope she’s not a vanisher.”
“A what?”
“A vanisher. The kind of Mythic who can vanish into thin air. It’s fucking odd, I won’t even lie. They disappear and pop up on another side of the room. I had to fight one once during a battle near Ripple Hills. It was not fun.”
She huffs a laugh. “Sounds freaky.”
I reach over to grab the hand resting on her lap. Her eyes flicker in my direction briefly before focusing on the road again.
“We’re in this together, you and I,” I tell her. “Remember that.”
She smiles, bringing my hand up to kiss the back of it. Her lips are soft, plush, and warm, and the mere grace of them sends a spiral of heat through me.
“Careful,” I murmur, grinning. “You’ll start something you’ll have to finish.”
She breaks out in laughter, pulling her hand away to swat at me playfully. “That is the last thing we have time for, Caspy.”
