Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

it all down before I die of curiosity.”
    â€œI will if you eat.”
    He obligingly took another bite, so I rummaged through his closet until I found the briefcase. He scooted over, making Medea protest until he scooped her into his lap so I could sit on the edge of the bed. While I sat beside him and wrote down everything I could think of, he finished all but half a sandwich (“Yours,” he said. “Eat.”) and fell asleep while I was still writing.
    I finished. “Adam?”
    He didn’t move, but I noticed that his hands were looking better. His pack was behind him again—for the moment at least. Or maybe it was just the way his magic chose to work this time. People who try too hard to explain how magic works end up in funny farms.
    I added “Sweet Dreams” at the bottom of the last page and left the notebook beside him. I slipped out of the bedroom and closed the door. I hadn’t taken two steps before my phone rang. It was Zee.
    â€œGet somewhere you won’t be overheard,” he said.
    I stepped through the open door of Jesse’s room—which was empty—shut the door, and turned on the music again. Adam was sleeping like the dead; it might last five minutes or several hours. No one else would hear anything.
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œI know you can’t talk to me about the woman who took our Gabriel,” Zee said. “So you’ll just have to hear me out.”
    â€œI’m listening.”
    â€œI have Phin’s grandmother here, and we need to talk. But no werewolves.”
    â€œWhy is that?” It wasn’t about the kidnapping, so I figured it was a safe thing to say without ticking off the fairy queen.
    â€œBecause she’s scared to death of them, was nearly killed by them. She can’t even look at one without a panic attack. And you don’t want to be around this lady when she has a panic attack.”
    I wondered if I’d have been as sympathetic if I didn’t have my own panic attacks. “Fine. Where?”
    â€œGood question. Your house is no more,” he said. “She doesn’t live here, so she doesn’t have a place. My house is no good. She won’t go where there are so many fae.”
    â€œWhat about the garage?”
    â€œIn fifteen,” he agreed. “Do you have anything that belongs to Gabriel?”
    I opened my mouth and closed it again. How specific would the spell be? Better to play it safe. “I can’t answer that question.”
    â€œGet something.”
    A woman’s voice said, “Something that is his . Something he is connected to, that matters to him or that has belonged to him for a long time.”
    â€œYou heard her?” Zee asked.
    I didn’t say anything.
    â€œGood.”
    He hung up.
    I didn’t have anything like that. Gabriel was incredibly organized; he didn’t just leave stuff lying around.
    I looked around the room. Jesse would have something. It was either that or go face down Sylvia.
    Thinking of Sylvia made me realize that I should have called her as soon as I found out about Gabriel. I would rather be stripped naked and walked through the mall with a pink feather boa. I would rather be boiled in oil. Rancid oil.
    I could call her on the way to the garage. First I needed to find Jesse, in the hope that she had something of Gabriel’s I could use.
    Conveniently, Jesse walked into her room just when I was about to leave and hunt her down. “I’m looking for Samuel,” she said. “He went walkabout. Ben says he ought to be fed because he didn’t eat anything this morning, and for some reason Ben’s pretty frantic about it. I didn’t expect to find Samuel here—but I didn’t expect to find you here, either.”
    â€œI was just coming to find you.”
    She looked at me, then at her stereo. “You like Bullet for My Valentine?” she asked. “Just like you were sharing my Eyes Set to Kill CD with Mary Jo earlier?”
    â€œSarcasm isn’t lost on me,” I told her. “You could tone it down and I’d still get the point. I was having a private conversation.”
    She gave me a tight smile. “Let me guess. Stuff I shouldn’t know because I’m a girl. I’m only human. I can’t be risked.”
    â€œYou know how to use a gun?” I hadn’t meant to ask that. I’d meant to just ask her for something of Gabriel’s. But I