She passed the bottle to Ibin. “Pretty sure the bottle’s enchanted.”
“Why, are you planning on getting smashed?” She took a swig and held it out to Ava.
“Yep.” She took the bottle back.
Nos turned from the crumpled train to face Ava. “How have you managed this?”
“No. Fuck you.” She glared up at Nos. “You don’t get to ask me questions.Yousaid I would have a choice with Rig. That I couldchoosewhether or not I made a contract with him. You lied.”
“I did not lie.” Nos folded his arms across his chest. His hands were mismatched. One, pale blue. The other, pale purple. “You would have entered a contract of your choice. The fact that he would have used his power to guide you into desiring that choice makes it, perhaps, a half-truth.”
“Oh,fuck off,”she swore through the laugh. “That’s a lie of omission.”
“And what of yourlie of omission?”He pointed at the grimoire, which was sitting in the grass next to her. “There is only one means by which you can access the power in that tome. And that is if you now wieldhisgifts, as you have none of your own. And the only way to do that, is if you have entered an accord with him.”
Ibin was now staring at Ava in silence.
“You told me this morning you had not signed a contract.” Nos was once more playing theangry principal.
Ava sneered. “I didn’t sign a contract. He made me swallow a fucking spider whole. So you and I are guilty of the same stupidbullshitgame. With one key difference between us, Nos. You want to know what it is?”
Oh, she was getting to him. He lookedangry.“Do tell.”
“I’m the one here scared for myfucking life!”
With a snarl, his expression a twisted mask of rage, Nos took a stilted step toward her as though he were going to throttle her. At the last second, his gaze flicked to Ibin, and he visibly leashed his fury, yanking it back like a rabid dog. Grimacing, he spoke the words through his teeth in a hiss. “I can assure you…you arenot.”
Whirling, his long, dark coat billowing out from him with the movement, he stormed away from her and toward the train.
She felt like she’d just been slapped in the face.
And she’d deserved it.
Holy fuck, she’d deserved it.
Ibin let out a long, heavy breath from beside her.
“I’m so sorry,” Ava muttered. “I didn’t know what else to do…”
“I know, honey. I know.” Ibin watched Nos and the little fae study the train. “And now, we don’t, either.”
Ava took a hard swig of the bottle and passed it to Ibin.
Ibin promptly did the same.
After another long stretch of silence, someone finally had to speak up.
And it wasn’t either of them.
“Can—can I ask a question?” It was the tiny, mouse-like fae creature who had arrived with Nos. She had metallic hair that glinted in the moonlight and a pair of gossamer, beetle-like wings folded at her back. “Where did this comefrom?”
Ava smirked halfheartedly. “My father loves trains. There’s this train museum…somewhere up in Maine. And one summer, he took us there. The only time he was ever excited to show me anything, was when he was talking to me about trains. He’d tell me all about the different kinds—oh, this is a saddle car, this is a coil car, whatever. This one was one of my favorites from the museum. It dated from, well—” She motioned at Ibin. “Her time.”
“But…” The little fae blinked her large eyes in confusion. “What’s it doinghere?”
“I guess my mind went ‘big, iron object’ and…poof. Train.” She shrugged. She wouldn’t explain whether or not it was the same train—which she suspected it was, pulled into the Web from Earth—or if it was a duplicate train. She didn’t honestly know for certain. “I don’t know how, otherwise. I didn’t eventhinkabout a train. I just needed help, the book opened, and I slapped my hand down. I don’t even know how I knew what to do.”
Serrik was going to have to do a lot of filling in the blanks.
