Thruor caught up with us at the hotel room. I’d dropped the glamors and raided the mini bar – what? Thruor was paying the tab.

“So…you think…you think I’m the reincarnation of Anansi’s wife?”

“You’re our lead candidate. We both sense…something…about you. And the way you reacted to his name.”

She dropped her head into her hands. “Do you know what Enitan means?”

“No.”

“Person of story.” She smiled weakly. “And my mother said she was told to call me that.”

It was, perhaps, the last piece. “Then how the heck couldn’t he find you?”

“Because I don’t want him to.” She looked up. “Okay. I didn’t want him to. I just wanted. I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

Clearly, she was on the verge of tears. “You wanted a break. You wanted not to be a goddess for a while. But you can’t do that for too long.”

Her head dropped into her hands again.

“He thinks you’re in the realm of the dead. He’s doing all of this crazy stuff to get you back. He loves you.”

And I knew that all that was really needed for him to get her back was for her to want to. She’d wanted a vacation.

A vacation. That was what all of this was about. I wanted to be sympathetic, but I couldn’t.

Then I thought of my own fear of actually dealing with Surtur and ending up with his job, and found more of that in my heart.

“Your vacation’s over,” Thruor said, gently. “Call him.”

She frowned. “I don’t…”

“You don’t need to remember how.” I let a small piece of fire curl over my hand then dissipate. “It’s inside you.”

“And do you think…”

“He’ll stop if you ask him. I’d…do pretty much anything my lover asked of me.” And I trusted that Kanesha would never ask me for anything that was beyond the pale. Never expect more of me than I could or would give.

“Ask him to stop,” Thruor said. “And ask him to let her go.”

She nodded, slowly. “Alright.”

Was a dusty hotel room in Sierra Leone really the right place to do this? Somehow, it lacked ceremony.

But I had thought of that entirely too late.