3
Ness
“Trust me,”Cerri said as she knocked on Addie’s front door.
“You left Vi at the café by herself. Audra is going to have our asses if it’s burnt to the ground by the time we go back.”
Truth be told, I didn’t really understand why Cerri had brought me here. I’d asked her for help, and she’d been quick to reply that she had an idea. However, Cerri had been secretive about what that might entail. I hadn’t expected to pull up to Addie’s house.
The little cookie-cutter house matched just about every other house on the street. It’d likely been built during one of the post-war booms, when the country realized there were more citizens than houses once the soldiers had returned. That also made it very cheap and inconspicuous.
I glanced at Addie’s neighbors. The lawn to my right had a chain link fence and a Beware of Dog sign attached to it with zip strips. The lawn on my left housed a riding lawn mower with four flat tires. With neighbors like that, Addie’s non-descript house blended into the background.
Addie answered the door with sweat dripping down her face. She wasn’t dressed to work out, and her eyes were ever so slightly too wide. I sniffed the air to see if there might be anyone hiding beyond the door, but the only scent I caught was earthy and cold. It wafted off Addie despite her clearly sweaty skin.
Of all my friends from Bad Moon Café, the coffeeshop we worked at, Addie’s arcana was the most mysterious of them all. She rarely spoke of it. If she did, her words were cryptic. It seemed that Cerri had deciphered that code, though.
“Ness needs your arcana,” Cerri said as she pushed past Addie.
Addie gaped at Cerri before taking me in. I gave her a grimace and hefted the box in my arms as if that would mean anything to Addie.
“Can I come in?” I asked. “I can explain inside.”
Addie stiffened, clearly hesitant. When she looked back at Cerri, who’d disappeared inside, Addie’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not sure how much help I can be.”
I nodded. “That’s fine.”
It wasn’t. My hopes were high. Cerri hadn’t failed me yet. I hoped that she was right about Addie.
Finally, Addie stepped aside and let me through. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the hem of her shirt before closing the door behind me. Cerri was already in the kitchen, prying the cabinets open. She pulled out boxes of tea that Addie eyes suspiciously. If I had to guess, I would have figured Cerri had planted those boxes here when Addie hadn’t been looking.
While Cerri prepared tea, I set the box down on the coffee table. Addie didn’t approach it. She stared, her jaw clenched. One eye twitched. She almost looked like she could hear something that I couldn’t.
“Are…are you okay?” I didn’t dare touch her. Addie looked like she might shatter if I made any sudden moves.
Several heartbeats passed before she jerked her chin upwards. She almost looked startled, like she’d fallen headfirst back into reality without warning. She blinked several times before moving to kneel beside the coffee table.
“Where did you find this?” she asked.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Ah, about that. Ryder stole it from Alvin’s basement.”
Addie groaned. “I shouldn’t be surprised. It reeks of death. You know what this means, right?”
I nodded, unable to speak the truth. Cerri stopped what she was doing. Her gaze fell on the box while we all acknowledged what had happened.
“You can help, right?” Cerri asked. She gathered three steaming mugs and caried them out to the living room.
I accepted one. A chill that had gripped me since I’d stepped inside suddenly vanished. It was as if it’d been hovering over me, and I hadn’t even noticed until the warmth of the mug banished it. I glanced around, uncertain of the source of such a chill.
I couldn’t find where the chill came from, but I noticed the way Addie clenched her fists atop the coffee table. She didn’t reach for the mug. It sat, untouched, near her tight fist while she glared at the box.
“I can’t do it,” she said, finally.
My stomach dropped. I opened my mouth to argue, but quickly shut it again. I had no right to make demands of my friends, no matter how badly I needed help. They could only ever do what was within their abilities.
Cerri, however, didn’t take no for an answer. She set down her mug and looked Addie right in the eyes. “You’re never going to get any grasp on your arcana if you don’t practice.”
Addie swatted her mug off the table. The mug and its contents went flying across the room before cracking against the far wall. I stiffened, wary of what I’d just started.