Leaving the house, she shut the door behind her with a click that felt far more final than it should have. Heading to the car, she jerked in surprise as she turned to find a giant undead vulture perched on the railing, staring at her.
“Hi, Eurydice.”
The vulture puffed up, fluffing her feathers, and let out a low grumbling noise that Maggie could only assume was some kind of greeting, Or some kind of goodbye. The vulture was simply staring at her, as if asking her a question.
“I have to think things through.” Maggie looked off to the car. Harry was sitting in the passenger seat, playing on his phone, patiently waiting for her. Looking back to the bird, she smiled faintly. “Take care of that overdramatic dumbfuck for me, will you? Don’t let him crawl too far under a rock.”
The bird let out another grumble as if to say that was her entire job in this world. She spread her wings and took off into the air. Eurydice had never been one for small talk.
Climbing into the driver’s side, she smiled at Harry. “Hey.”
He tucked his phone back into his pocket and smiled back. “Where’re we going, boss?”
She thought about it for a moment. “First stop, we’re going to the Cape to find a nice hotel on the beach. After that? Anywhere we want.”
Turning the key in the ignition, she headed out. Yes, she could drive. But after clipping the curb, she realized it had been a long time since she’d driven a car. Snickering, apologizing to Harry under her breath, she left Gideon’s home behind her.
But something told her she would not abandon the man so easily. At least not for long. They had too much nonsense to resolve before she could walk away from him once and for all. That was her newest problem—dealing with the past she now remembered.
For now, though, she was free. She had control. And lich be damned, her mind was her own once again.
That was good enough for now.
“You gonna tell me what the fuck happened?” Harry glanced over at her as she drove.
She knew what he meant. But she let out a long rush of air. “I don’t know if I can tell it to you in the hour it takes to the Cape, but I’ll try.”
“What?”
“I remember everything. Literally everything.”
“You said.” He shifted lower in his seat, the leather upholstery creaking. His eyes were wide as he watched her. “What happened? What did he do?”
“I’ll start at the beginning.” She looked over at him at a red light and smiled sadly. “Your name is Leopold.”
He blinked then stared out at the road ahead. “Leopold.”
“Yeah.” Reaching out, she put a hand on his shoulder. She knew what it felt like to learn new facts about the past.
“I hate it.” He wrinkled his nose. “I think I prefer Harry.”
Laughing, she hit the accelerator when the light turned green and made her way toward the highway that would take them to the Cape and away from Gideon. “Harry, it is.”