A Hall of Keys and No Doors by Emmie Mears

Author:Emmie Mears
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary, fiction, paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, magic, magical, love, family, lgbt, lesbian, gay, bi-gender, transexual, deborah harkness, discovery of witches, lev grossman, the magicians, china melville, the city, skeleton keys, key, keys, family curse, curse, magical objects
Publisher: BHC Press
Published: 2016-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

five hours later, ella and Jace sat in Tim Horton’s, slurping coffee from travel mugs. Three half-eaten doughnuts graced the table, a trail of crumbs leading in a circle around the plate.

Ella didn’t quite remember getting there. The warmth of the alcohol was beginning to fade, but Ella knew if she stood up, she’d walk about as well as a fourteen-month-old baby.

“Why do you want to sell your house?” Jace asked. Her words were still slurred, and her eyes shone with the alcohol.

“I can’t be there anymore.” The hours of being drunk weighed down on Ella. She never drank this much or this often. She blinked owlishly into her coffee. “The house is ruining my life. I went to every real estate agent in town, and they all said no.”

“Not every one,” Jace giggled.

Of course. Hope rose in Ella’s stomach. Or maybe that was a doughnut. Either way, she swallowed it back. “You’re a real estate agent.”

“Was wondering how long it’d take for you to remember that.”

Ella grinned. “No one’ll sell my house. But you will, right? You’re my best friend. And a real estate agent. You can sell it.”

“’Cept I won’t.” Jace’s giggles turned into titters as she nibbled on a corner of a doughnut.

“You won’t sell it? You have to. You’re the only one left.”

“Nope.”

She had to be joking. Ella struggled to focus on her friend. Just Jace being drunk Jace. The slowly-sobering part of Ella reminded her that maybe she hadn’t chosen the best time or venue for the conversation, but the rest of her ignored the thought.

“Jace. You have to sell my house.” Now the welling feeling was tears, not hope or bile. Ella felt one spill over and dabbed at it. “I can’t live there. Can’t.”

“You can.”

“Why won’t you do this?”

Jace stuffed the rest of her doughnut in her mouth. “You can’t control it, Ella.”

“What?”

“Life. You can’t control everything. You can’t make it what you want it to be.”

Her words were less slurred now, and the tightness in Ella’s chest contracted. Her heart stuck on a beat, then re-started at twice its normal pace. “I know.”

“No, you don’t. You try to fix everything the way you want it. You’re a control freak, Ella, and you can’t change life to the way you want it. I won’t take the listing.”

“Why are you doing this? Why won’t you help me?” Ella didn’t really think she could sell her house by herself. Jace was her only remaining hope of having a professional to guide her through it, and she was refusing? For almost ten years of friendship, Ella couldn’t recall Jace ever refusing to help her. When she needed tutoring in Spanish? Jace helped her. When her courage slaked leading up to dumping her girlfriend? Jace encouraged her. When she got the call about Stuart’s accident? Jace consoled her.

Loneliness crept up around her, entwining its fingers around her neck, threatening to choke her.

“Why won’t you help?” Ella hated the tinny note in her voice, the slight slur that muted the consonants, blurred the lines of speech.

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