Night and Silence by Seanan McGuire

Author:Seanan McGuire
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2018-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

IF I’D THOUGHT the atmosphere in the car was uncomfortable before—with Tybalt brooding and Quentin exhausted, and me and May trying to deal with Gillian’s disappearance—it was nothing compared to what happened when we added Janet to the mix. She sat in the middle, crammed between Quentin and May, both of whom eyed her mistrustfully all the way across the city. It would have been funny if it hadn’t been so damn tense. Janet looked like an ordinary housewife, rumpled and out of place. May had returned her purse, and she clutched it like she feared it was going to be taken away again. Quentin watched her warily, not saying a word. May slumped against the window on her side of the car, obviously exhausted, making no effort to conceal her hostility.

“Where are we going?” Janet asked, after we’d been driving for ten long, silent minutes.

“To see a friend of mine who may be able to clear up some of what’s going on, and better yet, who makes an excellent babysitter for unexpected grandmothers in need of temporary protective custody,” I said tightly.

Janet’s eyes widened. “What? I thought you were taking me with you.”

“No, we’re taking you away from your unwarded, indefensible home, so Cliff doesn’t get hurt when whoever may or may not be messing with you shows up.” Keeping my voice level was more difficult than I’d expected. “You’re not coming with us. We need to be free to go anywhere the trail leads, and I don’t feel like you’d be welcome in most places, especially if you want to play ‘innocent little mortal woman’ and not have us broadcast your identity to anyone who wants to know why we’re hauling you around.”

“Where are you—”

“To my favorite aunt. She can answer a lot of questions for me, and I know she has space. I mean, her guest room is currently full, but she has a couch. You can probably sit on it, assuming she doesn’t make you stand in the corner and think about what you’ve done.”

Janet stared at me, expression hurt. “I haven’t done anything to you.”

“You’ve done everything to me. To all of us. You broke the Ride, if you are who you say you are. That means this world is your fault.” I pulled to a stop on the street in front of the Luidaeg’s alley. Technically, it wasn’t a legal parking place, thanks to the combination of red curb and fire hydrant. I wouldn’t get a ticket. No one who came to see the Luidaeg ever had to worry about anything as mundane as the police.

Being turned into something unpleasant and chucked into the bay, on the other hand . . .

There was a moment when I thought Janet might bolt. I took one elbow. Tybalt took the other. With her safely pinned between us, we marched on, Quentin in the lead, May ready to tackle her if she somehow broke free and tried to run.

The Luidaeg’s door looked like it always did: rotten

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