Page 38 of A Lost Light

“I think… maybe someone should know. But only the right people. The careful people who will keep it a secret, but will be on the lookout if there's ever an issue related to these creatures.”

“I think you are very wise,” she said with a fond little smile. “If that's what you think is right, then it probably is. We won't tell anyone. Except maybe someone who could safeguard theknowledge. Someone in power, if we can ever find anyone like that who is trustworthy.”

I nodded, feeling relieved. Being a person was amazing. But it was also very hard work sometimes. “Can I still write about it in my journal?”

She ran a finger lightly over my spines in a friendly caress. “That should be okay. But maybe just keep things vague, so only you know exactly what you're referring to. Just in case anyone ever reads your journal.”

“Yes,” I said happily. “That feels right.” I started to climb the stairs, but paused on the third one to look back at her. “Oh! I found a book you might want to read. About familiars.” I sighed and glanced up the stairs. “It's all the way up in the third-floor library, though.”

She quirked a wry look at me. “That can't be fun for you with those little legs.”

I shrugged.

She narrowed her eyes in thought. “There is a dumbwaiter. It's old and I've never checked to see if it works. Maybe we can fix it up and make it into a Bis-sized elevator?”

I chirped happily at that idea.

She held up a hand though, quieting me. “No using it until we're sure it's safe, though, okay?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “I understand.”

“Until then, you ask someone for a ride, okay? There's no reason to be self-conscious about it, and everyone here would be happy to help you. If they give you any attitude, tell them I said I'll turn all of their meals into slugs. I saw the perfect spell in one of the family grimoires the other day.”

I squeaked a laugh and stood on my hind legs as she reached for me. Scooping me up, my witch stood and carried me back to the library.

This was what a familiar relationship should be. A partnership. We were powerful together. Probably in more ways than either of us realized, since we hadn't really practiced using our connection. But we were also family. I felt loved. And I loved my witch. And that was how it should be.

Still… interdimensional void creatures! What would come at us next? I couldn't wait to write in my journal.

Chapter 20

Andy

Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised about anything anymore. Life just got weirder and weirder around here. Every time I thought I'd seen everything, some new freaky shit popped up to prove me wrong.

Void creatures. Now there werevoid creatures.

At least they had agreed to leave us alone. For now. But who knew how long “for now” meant to giant energy blobs that lived in the void between realms?

I sat on the edge of my bed with a sigh, feeling useless. We couldn't go back to Magea, or to Planus. But clearly, we couldn't stay here either. Even without the threat of being devoured by void creatures, this whole pocket world thing just wasn't sustainable. I was going to run out of insulin. We were going to run out of food. The energies here just weren't sustaining for any of us.

And yet, I really didn't want to drag everyone into the stupid war that was going on outside our little sanctuary. My resentments and old grudges aside, no one here deserved to befreed from one form of enslavement in the bestiary just to be immediately used again to wage war.

They deserved peace. Happiness. We all did, damn it. It just wasn'tfair.

A soft knock at my door drew me out of my childish thoughts. I could sense Elijah's warm, bright energy on the other side of the wooden barrier. “Come on in,” I said, my voice just teensy bit petulant.

He came in and shut the door behind us, giving us some semblance of privacy. “That is so strange still,” he commented, his deep voice no longer hollow, the way it had been when he was a ghost.

When I arched a brow at him in question, he grinned. “Not being able to drift thorough walls and floors, having to use stairs and doors to get to you. It’s all very strange.”

I laughed. “Oh, no, notprivacy. The horrors.” Though I hadn't really minded, much. I pretty much got used to having a ghost, or a jinn, or a boogeyman, or occasionally a water weaver just pop into existence wherever I went. Privacy wasn't even a concept around here.

Elijah crossed the room to join me, sitting beside me on the edge of the bed. The glimmering golden branches of his wing brushed against me as he settled, sending warm energy through my aura. I immediately felt relaxed.

I was used to Hasumi using their emotion magic on me to help me when I was feeling stressed or sad. But this was different. More subtle and unconscious. Elijah didn't seem to ever have totryto send out feelings of comfort and calm. They followed him wherever he went.

It was more obvious to me now, after spending time in close quarters with a living angel, why humans saw them as some holy beings. If they all had the ability to radiate this presence, divinitymight seem like a reasonable explanation to those who weren’t in the know.

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