Page 43 of Love Lives

"Uh, sure." I sat on the couch with my nephew and wiped his mouth with my thumb as if I had any idea what to do with a baby. He was cute, at least. And for once, he didn't try to bite my thumb as I swiped his mouth.

"Baba!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I totally agree with you." I grabbed his little hands and waved them up and down, which he seemed to find amusing. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as his Daddy talked into his phone. Thankfully, the call didn't take him longer than a minute.

"That should take care of that." Collin pocketed his phone. "I didn't tell him what you want from him, so he should show up soon."

"At this rate, he might as well move in here."

"Could you imagine even more people living under this roof?"

"There'll be more when Jared gives birth," I reminded him.

Collin made a face. "Honestly hoping we won't be stuck here anymore by then." He took his son back into his arms. "Guess we gotta find a way to get rid of Vlad."

I nodded, even though I didn't think that alone would solve the problem... and in spite of the fact that I didn'twantto kill Vlad for reasons I couldn't even explain to myself. Something to do with those weird dreams, probably.

Something that could be explained to me by Atlus’s journal.

* * *

"Please enlighten me," Puck said, eyeing me up and down. "What did you summon me here for? You are aware that I have other things to do, yes?"

"Of course. Please sit." I gestured to one of the comfortable wooden chairs on the porch. I'd moved the witch out here because it was the only place around the house where we could have a modicum of privacy for this conversation.

Puck sat, but he didn't look happy about it. "Your family really has no regards for my time."

"And yet you keep coming when we call," I said as I lowered myself into the chair next to his.

"Something that you should be glad about. Enjoy it while it lasts." His gaze swerved across the front yard, then back to me. "Did you know most witches pay a premium to get advice from someone as knowledgeable as I am? Information doesn't come for free."

"What kind of payment are you looking for?"

"That depends entirely on what you want."

"I want to get another look at Atlus's journal."

One of Puck's eyebrows arched up, but other than that, he showed no reaction. "Do you have any idea how valuable an object like that is?"

"Are you saying I have nothing to offer that might interest you?"

Puck looked up at the sky in thought, expression carefully neutral. "Why do you want to look at the journal?"

"I've been having dreams that I can't make sense of," I admitted, because I didn't think I was going to get anywhere without offering him at least a grain of truth. Puck wasn't stupid; he'd know if I was lying.

"Visions?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not visions. Unless you can have visions of the past, and through other people's eyes."

My words gave Puck pause, which surprised me. Shutting the witch up wasn't usually an easy feat. "Are you telling me," he began, twisting one of the rings on his fingers, "that you're getting visions of Atlus's life?"

The way he looked at me, I got the feeling he was about to grab me, carry me away and strap me to a table so he could cut into my brain and dissect it.

Jackpot.

Now I had him exactly where I wanted him.

"That might be what I'm saying," I offered, trying hard not to smile and give myself away. "But if you want to know what I've been seeing..."