Page 31 of Ride or Die (The Body Shop #5)

A finger poking me between the eyes was my first clue we had made it home to Thunderbolt.

“As cute as it is watching you and Kierce cuddle like anacondas,” Josie drawled, jabbing me again, “we’re at Bonaventure.”

“Pretty sure anacondas don’t cuddle.” Matty turned off the wagon. “They constrict their prey and cut off its circulation?—”

Unconcerned, Josie bobbed a shoulder. “Sounds like cuddling to me.”

“Does Carter know you’re into asphyxiation?”

“We don’t kink shame in this family,” Josie tsked then grinned. “And wouldn’t you like to know?”

Before she paraded out the hentai boxed set she gave him as a joke, which he watched, I wiggled free of Kierce’s arms. As often as she threatened Ankou with hentai as punishment, I got the feeling those DVDs were preowned, and I really didn’t need to know anything more about it.

Ever.

Careful not to jostle Kierce, I crawled over the front bench seat and out Josie’s door into the night.

A dark blur drew my eye to where a crow lit on a powerline with a prim ruffle of its glossy feathers.

The omen.

Of course, Dis Pater would send her to track my movements in case I decided to run.

“ Jefa , home at last.” Paco greeted us at the gate, his gaze sliding past me. “Where are my brothers?”

“Right here.” I turned as Matty appeared with the box in his hands. “With Matty back to…”

Huh.

Paco hadn’t asked after my brother, who had been the purpose of the whole trip, which meant he already knew what had happened and that Matty had been returned to his usual self.

Amusement glinted in his eyes as he caught the drift of my thoughts. “The Buckley Boys kept me informed while my brothers were away.”

“Why am I not surprised?” The trio traded in hot gossip, and we gave them lots of fodder in NOLA. They could have bartered for it or called in favors easily. “The Buckley Boys don’t miss much, but your brothers can fill you in on the rest.”

Lifting the lid off the box, I murmured a few words to summon Pedro and Pascal from the ether.

As soon as they had reformed, Paco was there, slapping their backs and grinning from ear to ear.

Then I brought forth Anunit, smiling as she stretched her wing and swished her feathered tail.

“Thanks for taking care of them.” Paco slung an arm over each of their shoulders, tugging them in close. “Send word when you’re ready to reopen the shop, and we’ll be there.”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

Hours had passed since we left New Orleans, and there had been no word from Lucia or from Vi.

Vi would have called or texted if Lucia had shown up looking for me at the townhouse, which meant she was still MIA.

The longer she remained in Abaddon, the less likely her chances of escaping it unscathed.

But Dis Pater was waiting on me to make contact, and I didn’t have time to dawdle or dwell.

To avoid jostling Kierce, I elected to ride home on the front bench tucked between Matty and Josie while Badb watched over Kierce in the back.

The trip was short and sweet, and my heart swelled when The Body Shop came into view.

Home was still standing. Part of me hadn’t believed it would be until I saw it with my own eyes.

“We don’t have long.” Matty pulled the wagon into my usual spot. “What’s our plan?”

“And don’t try to hog all the glory,” Josie butted in. “We’re all in this together.”

“Okay,” I breathed out, ignoring the sharp twinge at involving them. “Together it is then.”

Ignoring the clock tick-tick-ticking in the back of my mind, a steady reminder Dis Pater was waiting, I told them everything I let marinate in my head during the long trip home.

They poked holes in my ideas then helped me patch them.

Their input was valuable, clever, and given without their usual bickering.

The two of them had endured so much at the hands of the gods and their self-serving schemes.

This was proof they could be mature and rational in a crisis.

They wanted more responsibility, and I had to believe I was doing the right thing by letting them have it.

I always did my best to protect them from danger, but that approach kept blowing up in my face.

As long as I was…whatever I was…they were at risk, and the best way to keep them safe was for them to learn how to defend themselves.

“I can’t believe that actually worked.” Matty blinked at me. “I expected you to put up more of a fight.”

“You’re not going to pretend to let us help—” Josie narrowed her eyes, “—then lock us in a closet while you face Dis Pater, are you?”

“Oh.” Matty glowered at her. “You mean like what you did when you ditched me to go to Abaddon?”

“Quit making this about you.” She flicked her fingers at him. “I can’t gang up on Frankie by myself.”

“Not sure two people constitute a gang.” He swatted her hand. “We need to draft Carter and Harrow. That would give us proper numbers.”

Okay, so, the quiet hadn’t lasted long before the bickering made its triumphant return.

But Josie and Matty wouldn’t be Josie and Matty if they weren’t picking on each other a little. Or a lot.

Before they could break out into a slap fight, I asked, “Have either of you heard from them?”

“They had to check in with Chief Leer,” Josie said. “As soon as that’s done, they’re heading our way.”

Chief Leer wasn’t my favorite person. I didn’t like the way he looked at me like I was a golden ticket that he couldn’t wait to redeem when the time was right.

But he was over them at both the Savannah Police Department and the 514, the department’s new para law enforcement task force, so it wasn’t unusual he would demand to see his officers upon their return.

Especially since Anunit had kidnapped Harrow, resulting in the hastily patched-up vacation plan Carter arranged as a cover.

“We can’t wait for them.” I had to get moving. “Anunit and I will go ahead.” I took a breath, reminded myself they could handle it, and exhaled. “You and Matty follow. Stick to the plan. No matter what.”

Josie twisted on the bench, casting Kierce a concerned look. “What about him?”

There was no point in leaving him behind. Dis Pater could summon him from anywhere.

“Bring him.” I climbed across Josie and got out. “Make sure you crack a window for him.”

“I’ll be sure to park in the shade while we’re at it.” Matty attempted a smile. “I’ll leave him water too.”

“Smartass.” I laughed, hoping he bought it, then waved them off before summoning Anunit. “Ready?”

Weary eyes met mine, and she nodded with Dinorah clutched in her mouth.

She crossed to me, opened her mouth, and prompted me to retrieve the blade.

Seeing as how I was more likely to drop the weapon on my foot and chop off another toe than defend myself with it, I figured the gesture must be symbolic.

“Give me a second.” I rushed to the office, punched in the code, and dug around in my desk for a leather belt I confiscated when I caught Josie using it like a whip to chase Matty through the garden after he fell on one of her plants and squished it flat. “Here goes nothing.”

Threading the leather through my belt loops with one hand, I locked up with the other, cursing myself for eating so many beignets. The fit was tight, but I could breathe. Just not deeply. It would have to do.

Holding my breath, I slid Dinorah through the belt so the sheathed blade hung at my waist. Any fear it might slip free vanished when I drew in a breath and the bone pinched me. Oh, yeah. That sword wasn’t going anywhere. Excellent. Having a muffin top was finally paying off.

Armed and ready, I returned to Anunit. She materialized fully, and I threaded my fingers through her fur.

I catalogued the experience to hone my understanding of teleportation.

The burial ground was a familiar location, and with my bond to the Alcheyvāhā, it made tracking how Anunit navigated that much easier.

Located near Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, which straddled the line between Georgia and South Carolina, the local burial ground was tucked away in the woods off the road near Limehouse, South Carolina.

Once upon a time, the area had been remote, but urban development threatened to uncover the divine secrets hidden deep in the earth.

I could only hope the wards that blazed to life when I became an official guardian, the same ones that barred gods from all the burial grounds, would work the same way for humans who got too close to powers beyond their understanding.

“Here goes nothing.”

Except it wasn’t nothing. It was everything . Everything hinged on this going off without a hitch.

Before I could decide how to summon Dis Pater, he appeared before me in a rush of brilliant light.

“I was starting to get impatient.” He walked a slow circle around me. “You took your time getting here.”

“I told you my plans.” I pointed to the sky. “You had eyes on me the whole time.”

No Ankou, but the omen perched in a tree, watching the spectacle unfold.

“I have to protect my investments, and Kierce is in no shape to monitor you yet.”

An echo of his screams as I heard them through the phone rang in my ears with sobering clarity.

“How do you want to do this?” I held still, kept my posture relaxed. “Do you draw from the earth or…?”

Still pacing laps around me, Dis Pater widened his circuit of the perimeter to include the entire clearing. I wasn’t surprised he expected betrayal. I was a little insulted he thought I would be so obvious about it.