The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 2 by Ken Brosky, Isabella Fontaine, Dagny Holt, Chris Smith, Lioudmila Perry

your dreams. It usually takes some time, which is why I’m loathe to tell heroes until … well …”
    I turned in my seat, glaring at him. “Spit it out.”
    The rabbit winced. “Well, until after the hero has survived a few encounters with Corrupted.”
    “Oh, I totally get that.” Seth laughed maniacally. “Train ‘em slow. Let the weak ones die off right away. It’s like when we had trainees at the burger joint, and we wouldn’t teach them how to run the cash register until they’d worked for at least a couple weeks. Cuz so many quit right away, you know, it would just be a waste of time.”
    “Give me some quarters,” I told the rabbit.
    Briar dug in the pockets of his vest. “I do believe I have some nickels, but I fear larger currency is out of the question. Too many coins and my vest pocket puffs out and it simply doesn’t look right.”
    I grabbed the change he had, then grabbed the change sitting in the empty beverage holder beside Seth’s soda.
    “Where are you going?” Seth asked.
    “I need to shower,” I said. “And brush my teeth.”
    And think.
    I went into the truck stop’s women’s restroom. There were only two shower stalls, and one of them was being used. I took the other one, inserting the necessary change to start it up, setting my hand purse on the little steel tray beside the shower. The first blast of water was cold and I adjusted it as quickly as I could. When it was steaming hot, I grabbed my little travel bottle of shampoo.
    I don’t know about you, but in my opinion showers are always a good time for serious reflection. And this evening’s shower was a reflection festival . Music stolen. A mysterious orphanage. A deal with a dwarf.
    The library.
    The fencing team.
    High school.
    Joey Harrington.
    Chase.
    The incredibly short life span of the hero.
    Where did it all end? How would it end? When the princess had mentioned Juliette, it had been a terrible reminder of the hero’s mortality. I’d hoped for another message from Juliette, something that might guide me. A few sentences to set everything right and make me calm again and maybe even tell me how to survive for a long, long time.
    Or just a secret telling me how to get back my real life.
    The shower turned off just as I finished getting the suds out of my hair. I used the complimentary towel to dry off, then zipped up my hand purse, double-checking to make sure the fountain pen was still there. My purse was in a sorry state. It contained, in no particular order: a pen, an empty bottle of shampoo, a travel toothbrush and travel toothpaste, a tube of lipstick, and a little disc of foundation.
    I went back out to the half-full parking lot, hoping for a decent night’s sleep, one without any dreams of the orphanage or anything else. Normal dreams.
    Inside the car again, I pressed my head against my soft pillow and listened to Briar nibble on the giant marshmallows. I wondered if he even needed to brush his teeth at all, or if dental hygiene came free of charge when you were created with magic. The green lights of the massive gas station sign at the end of the parking lot seemed incredibly bright, burning through my eyelids.
    “Hey,” Seth said in a low voice. Outside, a big diesel truck rolled by. I fought the urge to open my eyes. It was just a truck. Not some terrible Corrupted growling and salivating as it looked in through the window. We were safe here. The doors were locked. The fountain pen was in my handbag next to my left leg.
    “What is it,” I mumbled.
    “Do you think Trish is going to turn out like that fiddler guy? I mean, like, if she doesn’t stop drinking and partying.”
    “I defer to the rabbit.”
    Briar, caught off-guard, finished a marshmallow and cleared his throat. “Well, I would certainly recommend she not, ah, imbibe any distilled spirits … at least until she is older and perhaps a little wiser, mmm? And perhaps even then it would be best to, ah, avoid making a habit of it. Alcohol is