That late, Cyrus encountered no traffic. He pulled up in front of Edge’s house ten minutes after leaving his own. He texted Nora, and a minute later she came to the the front gate with her dog. She’d changed clothes, too. Jeans, white shirt, leather jacket, and boots.

Cyrus kept an eye on the street as the gate yawned opened and then closed behind her. He unlocked the car doors. Nora let her dog hop into the backseat, and then she slid into the front passenger seat next to Cyrus.

“Hi,” she said.

“Ready?”

“Definitely.”

He peeled away from the curb and headed in the direction of Nora’s Piety Street place. They drove for a few minutes in silence until Cyrus felt calm enough to talk.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I can’t tell if I’m over-reacting or under-reacting. Or in shock.”

“Same.” Cyrus glanced at her. “Town this size, you get a lot of kooks. Most are harmless. I’d say ninety-eight percent are harmless. The question is…is she in that ninety-eight?”

“Or the two,” Nora said, then sighed.

“Come on. Tell me everything she said.”

Cyrus listened to her story, then said, “She thinks you’re the dangerous one.”

Nora raised her hands, also baffled. “I admit, I’m no angel. I’ve broken laws and broken hearts.”

“And feet.”

“Broken feet. Noses. No, just one nose. Ribs. Two ribs, if I remember correctly. Busted my fair share of balls. Consensually and non. Though he was asking for it. And so was he. And him, too.”

“I get it.” Enough with the ball-busting talk already.

“But dangerous? And it wasn’t just, ‘You’re scary, and I don’t like you.’ She got specific. She said I was going to hurt innocent people. Kids, maybe.”

“I saw you with Edge’s little girl. You’re not dangerous to kids. This woman sounds nuts.” Cyrus shook his head again. “And could she be a little more specific? Like, help us out here, Gwenda.”

“Gwenda?”

“Wasn’t that the witch in Wizard of Oz?”

“Glinda.”

“Who the hell’s Gwenda then?”

“Ex-girlfriend?” Nora asked.

He shrugged. “Good guess with me.”

Nora laughed. Good to hear her laugh. Been a rough night for the lady.

“Can I ask you something weird?” Nora asked.

“Shoot.”

“You don’t believe in it, do you? Witchcraft and fortune-telling and stuff?”

Cyrus had to think about that, really think about it. “I don’t want to believe in it, but it scares me. Why would it scare me if I didn’t believe in it a little?”

“Good point.”

“Plus, ah…” he began.

“What?”

“Don’t laugh, but I meditate.” Cyrus glanced at her to see what kind of face she made. She didn’t make one. “The therapist Paulina sent me to suggested it, made me promise to try it. I did and it kind of surprised me how much it worked for me. It got me down into deep places in my head,” he said, tapping his temple. “When I’m down there, I see things sometimes. I figure things out. It’s hard to explain.”