Page 93 of Book of Night
It settled back into place, a cloak on her back, a carpet at her feet, a veil. Real magic. Her magic.
It was never great to get punched in the face, but Charlie found herself smiling through her split lip. Until she realized that to have followed her from thehospital, Adam must have tailed hertothe hospital. Which meant that he knew where she lived. And as angry as he was, he might drive straight there.
She picked up her cell and, cradling it painfully against her cheek, called Posey.
It rang. And rang.
“I know you’re awake,” she muttered.
Posey’s voice mail started up. She must be Zooming with a client. Charlie tried her again, letting it ring, hanging up and calling right back.
Finally, Posey picked up. “Charlie, I’m—”
“You’ve got to get out of the house.Now.”
“Why do you sound so weird?”
Charlie didn’t have time to explain about her swollen lip. “Seriously. Now. A coffeeshop. The drugstore. Doesn’t matter where. Just pick up your laptop and your wallet, go out the back door, and hop the low fence into our neighbor’s yard. The one with the trampoline.”
“What’s—”
“I am going to stay on the line while you do it.”
“I’m in the middle of a card reading,” Posey protested.
“It’s got to beright now,” Charlie said.
“Gimme a sec.” Charlie could hear her talking to someone in a conciliatory way, although she couldn’t make out the words. Hopefully explaining to her client that she had to go.
She came back a moment later. “You know I can’t drive.”
“I will be with you the whole way,” Charlie said, keeping her voice calm and low. Radio voice. Hostage negotiator voice. “I promise. I’m coming to pick you up.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
“Please,Posey.” So much for staying calm. “Hurry.”
“Fine. The backyard?”
“So you’re not visible from the street.” Charlie wanted to get on the highway and race toward home, trying to beat Adam, but she knew it was better to focus on getting her sister out of the house. “Just. You know. Quick.”
As Posey moved through the house, grabbing some things she said she needed and herding Lucipurrr into a cat carrier, Charlie dug her fingernails into the mound of her thumb. She wanted to scream at Posey to move faster. She wanted to do anything but sit there in the parking lot, hurt and powerless.
Some huffing and rustling later, Posey said, “Okay, I’m outside with the cat. I’m heading toward the back.”
“Go over the fence,” Charlie said. “You’re almost gone.”
“You’ve got to explain—”
“I will, I promise. And I’m sorry.”
“What if the neighbors—”
“Just keep going. Don’t look back. Go, go, go.”
“Okay,” Posey said, sounding fragile. “I’m over the fence. You know I hate walking through someone else’s property. What if Elias comes outside and yells at me for cutting through his yard?”
“You’re doing great, all you have to do is keep going. Avoid the main roads, and cut through to…” Charlie tried to think. There were a lot of streets crisscrossing around there. It would be easy to choose the wrong one. She didn’t think Adam knew what Posey looked like, but a woman with a cat carrier was hard to miss.
