The Englishman laid down his fork in a very precise gesture, his lined face calm but curious. “Does it mean so much to you, old friend?”
“Si, claro. There’s no way I can just let this shit happen.”
“Then contact your cousin. Just be aware that I will not consent to any use of demon magick. If I’m to be saved, I won’t invite more darkness into my soul.”
I guessed if I was knocking at death’s door like Booke, I’d care about my immortal spirit too. Chuch nodded, his expression brightening. As he went back to eating, he answered, “I’ll get on it right after breakfast.”
“I love the new place,” I said to Eva. “It’s beautiful.”
“It only took a firebomb to get him to remodel.”
I winced. “Yeah, about that—”
“Don’t even,” she told me. “You can’t be held responsible for what crazy people do. And from what I hear, that hijo de puta Montoya got his.”
“They both did,” I said, remembering how Dumah had devoured them.
Eva grinned. “And I got a sweet new house. It worked out.”
Chuch and Booke carried the conversation, talking about things unfamiliar to me. They had been friends the longest, after all. It stood to reason Chuch would take Booke’s impending demise personally. He wasn’t the kind of guy who stood by and let things happen either. Deep down I hoped he could find a solution. Between crazy dreams of Chance and midnight visits from terrifying supernatural beings, I had enough on my plate.
But that reminded me that I had a phone call to make. With a murmured excuse, I got my cell and went to the guest room. My hands trembled as I dialed Min’s number; she might well think I was nuts to interrupt her grief with such a ridiculous question. Yet I couldn’t resist the need to know if I was crazy or if I’d really seen Chance last night.
She picked up on the fourth ring. “Yi Min-chin, Magical Remedies. How can I help you?”
So the shop was open today. Life went on. I don’t know why it surprised me. I mean, it had been weeks since I called her that first time, and there had been no body to bury, no arrangements to make. Work probably kept her sane.
But I was quiet a beat too long.
“Who’s there?” she said.
“It’s Corine.” I forced the words out of a tight throat, hating what I was about to ask. “This may seem strange, but this is important. Chance said to ask you about his first-grade lunchbox.”
“It had Archie and Jughead on it,” she replied at once. “He hated it because it was a little rusty and so ‘uncool.’” I could hear her quoting him. “The thermos was broken at the bottom, but I held it together with duct tape. Chance had a lot of shame that year, but I told him it would be worse if he ended up in the free lunch program.”
Given his tremendous pride, I could only agree. “Then I have something crucial to tell you.”
“He’s not gone,” she whispered. “I hoped and I tried to trust Ebisu, but it has been so difficult.”
“Wait, did you know something?” I hadn’t realized Min had been aware that her romance in Japan, which resulted in Chance, had transpired with a small god.
“Not at first. But when he went away, he told me everything. That our son would face great trials, and that ultimately, he would rise.”
Whatever that meant.
“Not too specific.”
“The spirits tend not to be.” She went on, “You have no idea how this sets my mind at ease, Corine. Did you . . . hear from him?”
“I had a really vivid dream. I didn’t believe it could be real, but—”
“You had to be sure.”
I nodded, then realized she couldn’t see it. “He said to tell you not to worry. That he’ll find a way back.”
“If anyone can, he will,” she said with quiet assurance.
And madly, I believed her. The world had lost its luster without him. I’d managed to leave him once, but that was different; I’d known he was still out there somewhere, being Chance, doing Chance things. That made all the difference—this was stark, awful, and unbearable.
“He said he needs my help to pull it off,” I told her, making a sudden decision. “And he has it. I won’t stop until he’s back. I can’t. I love him so much.”
“I know you do. You always did.”
“I’ll keep you posted. I have things percolating.”
“Thank you, ddal.”
My heart twisted. Toward the end of my first relationship with Chance, Min had started calling me that, which meant “daughter” in Korean. I’d never dared to call her Omma, as Chance did, but this moment called for a leap of faith, a promise that we’d one day be mother and daughter, as she had expected.
“You’re welcome, Omma. I’ll call you soon.”
As she rang off, I heard her sniffle. Hopefully it was a happy sort of crying. God knew I had done enough of that in the last few weeks. But if there was even a small possibility of a happy ending, I’d move heaven and earth for it.
Before I rejoined the others, I had one more task to complete; I scrolled through my call directory to find Chance’s landlord. When he picked up, I greeted him in Spanish. “Good morning, sir. This is Corine Solomon, Chance Yi’s girlfriend. I was calling to find out the status of his rent. He’s . . . traveling right now, and I wondered when his rent will be due.”
Señor Gomez made some noise, rummaging through his files, and then he came back on the line. “He paid in advance, so it won’t be due for another month and a half. Thanks for letting me know he’s not home. I’ll have the guard look in on the place now and then.”
“I appreciate it . . . and so does Chance.” Or he would, I reasoned, if he wasn’t busy trying to crack a door between the planes. “Thanks for your time, sir.”
“No problem. Have a good day.”
Well, at least that much went right. He’ll have a home to come back to.
Feeling bolstered, I went back into the kitchen, where everyone was wrapping up their breakfast. To my surprise, Cami reached for me. I’d held her more than once before leaving for Mexico with Chance, but she didn’t know me in the sense that most babies required before permitting cuddles.
Eva shot her daughter a bemused look. “I guess she likes you.”
“The little mite has good taste,” Booke said.
From any other male, I’d have taken the remark as flirtation, but he was just being courtly. In person, he had the manners of a different era, which I found fascinating, as I’d always interacted with him as if he were my age or thereabouts. I probably wouldn’t have spoken as freely as I had in our shared dreams if I’d known I ought to be treating him with the respect due an elder.
I took the baby and propped her on my hip, as I’d seen Eva do. It didn’t seem as awkward as it looked, particularly when Cami curled into me. She gazed up at me with impossibly big, dark eyes—and then she pulled my hair. Aha. So it was the braid she wanted; I moved it so she could tug to her heart’s content. I might be bald by the time she finished but it was a small price to pay for a happy infant.
“You shouldn’t let her do that,” Eva scolded.
“Eh. Better my hair than my earrings. Did Chuch call his cousin?”
“Yep. Ramon is bringing Caridad over this afternoon to see if she can do anything for Booke.”
When I glanced over at the man in question, I noticed how bright his eyes were. He flattened his hands on the table, gnarled now, as they hadn’t been when Shan and I first entered his cottage a few days before. The knuckles were thick and swollen and I imagined it must be painful to hold a fork. If there was a spell that could reverse the ravages of aging, I didn’t know about it, other than the ritual Kel had mentioned, which involved Luren blood.