lift. Have a sit if y’all want to wait; drinks are on the house if you want ’em.”
Cooper frowned slightly. “I thought you said cars don’t work here.”
Rudy’s expression was unreadable. “The people in town still have some horses and mules and such. Haven’t had to resort to eating ’em quite yet.”
“We might take you up on those drinks in a little while,” Cooper said, beckoning the Warlock and me to follow him outside to the shaded gas pumps where Pal was resting.
“I don’t like this,” Cooper said, his voice hushed even though we were surely out of Rudy’s earshot.
“What’s to like?” I replied. “There’s been some kind of local apocalypse and the phones don’t work and we can’t escape.”
“He says.” The Warlock crossed his arms.
“Do you want to coldcock the old guy and ransack the place looking for his cell phone?” I asked. “Because I sure don’t.”
“The healing crystal works,” Cooper said. “So, obviously some magic can still function here. I think we should try to open a mirror to call for help.”
“How?” I asked. “You guys have never been good at that kind of magic in the first place. I could try it, I guess, but I don’t have a pointer.”
Cooper suddenly looked a bit embarrassed. “I do.”
He got his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out the folded card containing a lock of my father’s hair.
I stared at the pointer. “Where did you get that?”
Cooper cleared his throat. “I found it on the floor of Mother Karen’s office, near the fireplace.”
I gave my boyfriend a hard look. “And why were you in her office?”
“You were really upset, and I didn’t know why, and I thought I should try to find out.”
“Did you mirror my father while I was asleep?”
He paused. “Yes, I did.”
Cooper’s admission made me unreasonably furious. “Goddamn it all to hell—”
“Jessie, he is kind of a jerk, but I think he actually means well—”
“I am not calling that jackass and asking him for help!”
“He seemed very concerned about you, and told me he wanted you to contact him again. And he might be our only option here.” Cooper held the card out toward me. “I think we’re in over our heads. And I think Magus Shimmer has the power to get us clear of all this.”
“No way,” I fumed.
Pal heaved himself to his feet on the oil-splotched concrete, looming above me. “Surely my ears deceive me. Surely you are not refusing to do what you can to help us all get out of this dust-blown, sweltering, fly-infested gulag because your pride has been injured?”
I bit my lip. Pal was right. And apparently also really pissed off at me. My hand still trembling, I took the card from Cooper.
“Fine. I’ll give it a try. But I’m going to try contacting Mother Karen first, just so you know. What are we going to do if the mirror magic won’t work because of the suppression spell?”
“We’ll figure something out,” Cooper said.
“Do you have the power of creation in that hell fragment of yours?” Pal asked.
Yes, I do.
“Try the spell in there. Mirror magic should be workable from within a hell dimension,” Pal said.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go back inside; I’ll ask to use the ladies’ room and try opening the mirror in there. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go into my hellement.”
“Hellement?” Cooper frowned. “What hellement?”
“It’s sort of a long story,” I said. “I’ll explain later once I understand it myself.”
chapter
fourteen
Mirror Matter
The women’s restroom was practically spotless; evidently Rudy had time on his hands and nervous energy to spare. I locked the door behind me, then turned to the mirror above the sink. Could it work? I slipped my father’s pointer into a side pocket of my backpack. After rummaging through the main compartment for a few moments, I found a long strand of Mother Karen’s hair. I tucked the strand up under the corner of the mirror’s frame and touched the glass; it seemed impossible that I could enchant the materials. Every time I tried to focus on Mother Karen’s office, tried to focus on bringing out my Talent, it felt as if a strong hand was closing around my throat, my mind.
Time to try a different tack. I went into the toilet stall, hung the pack on the door hook, and sat down on the toilet. Could I even get into my hellement in this place? I stared down at my blackened stump.
Despite having no flames to concentrate on, slipping into my hellement was