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 I said if you came here, you had a good reason for doing it.
 Before that.
 That I lied for you& that you re a terrible liar& that I got your back& 
Click. Something in her eyes changed, and the weirdest little smile came over
her face, and she shook her head.  It s a funny universe, she said. Then,
without explaining what the hell that little business had been about, she
said,  Can you lie for me a little longer? I know there s a problem, and I m
here working on it. And I m the only one who can. One of the rrôn killed
Molly, and stole the Vodi necklace, and now I m trying to get her, and it,
back. The two of us think we can reverse the problems on Earth.
Pete closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Okay. He hadn t even
considered the possibility that Lauren had just snapped. She had been under a
lot of pressure, but& fuck. He got out his cop voice the reasonable one that
worked best on people who were right on the edge and carrying big guns and
said,  Lauren& honey& Molly has been dead for a while. We all went to her
funeral with you. Remember? Why don t you come for a walk with me, and we ll
go get Jake, and go home, and we can talk about this. I m sorry 
She gave him a cockeyed grin and held up a hand to cut him off.  That s very
good. Nice tone, nice delivery. I m impressed. But I m not cracking up. The
Vodi necklace that big hunk of gold Molly had around her neck when she died
the first time is a magical artifact. It brings the wearer back from death.
Pete remembered back to the day Eric got shot, and to Lauren s panicked rush
to get him out of the hospital and through the gate into Oria before he died.
 I thought you said bringing people back from the dead was& bad.
 It is. Well, if you or I did it, it would be. The Vodi necklace keeps a lot
of who Molly was intact, so that what comes back is mostly her. It isn t
perfect. And every time she dies, she loses a little of who she was.
But& well& there may be some good news there, if we can get her back. Maybe. But
first we have to get her back.
 So she already& came back& once. And you saw her.
 Everyone here saw her. She got here the day you were over at the house the
day I left. She was real, she and I have work to do, and we may be able to
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carry out our parents plans.
 Only she s dead. Again.
 Yeah. For a while.
 Eeuw. That s& eeuw. Has to suck to be her.
Lauren raised an eyebrow.  I d guess so. Anyway can you lie for me a little
longer?
 You re working on the problem now? The one that the old gods are leaving
Earth to escape?
 Yes.
 I can lie for you. What should I tell them?
 Obviously something a lot more convincing than what I told you. I m not a
good liar.
Pete considered that for a moment.  Well, I am.
And again she gave him that strange little smile.  Maybe not quite as good as
you think. So be careful, okay? If they think they can t trust you, they ll
eat you in a New York minute.
 That fast? Pete sighed.  I guess I ll go, then. See if I can t come up with
a convincing lie between now and the time I drive home. When you get back, you
have to see me first so we can get our stories straight, though. Deal?
She laughed a little.  Deal. And I hope&  She turned and glanced at the
green-glowing mirror in the corner, and shook her head.  Doesn t matter. I
hope I make it back to Cat Creek so we get a chance to get our stories
straight.
He realized she was in danger, and that the only thing he could do right at
that moment was get out of her way. He didn t like that. When he got back to
Cat Creek, he would be doing something useful but not anything that would keep
her safe. He found that he very much wanted to keep her safe.
He went over, hugged her, and said,  Take care, okay. And I ll see you when
you get home.
She nodded, and gave him a hard squeeze.  Thanks.
The whole long, convoluted trip back to Cat Creek, he found himself somewhere
between despair and walking on air.
CHAPTER 17
Copper House
LAUREN, finishing the next gate, discovered that Jake had already arrived and
was teaching Doggie to play Superman. Jake, red silk swirling behind him,
stomped like he was trying to bring the roof down. Superheroes did not walk [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]