Page 29 of A Lost Light

A sudden rush of unaccustomed emotions swept over me, and I shuddered. All the fear I hadn't let myself feel during my recent mission. The terror when I'd felt my luck dry up and a bullettear through my side. And the overwhelming hope and joy at knowing I was safe again. It was all very strange. I lifted a hand and wiped a tear from my cheek.

The pretty creature before me gave me a soft smile. “I apologize. I'm trying to keep my powers to myself, but I understand it does takes time to grow accustomed to my aura.”

I shook my head. These people were so strange. And fascinating. I felt like I should be taking notes.

“Come on,” the green-haired witch said tiredly. “All of the healing stuff is upstairs. We can get you patched up and you can pick a bedroom where you can get cleaned up and rest.”

I nodded my consent and followed this strange group into the sprawling stone mansion, my gaze darting around furiously as I took in every detail of the famed Lovell House of Horrors. It really was homier than I had expected. Although if it was currently inhabited by this particular witch, perhaps her clear earth energy had dispelled some of the residual evil lurking about.

With my glasses on, I expected to see ghosts in a place this old, and so steeped in lore. But they were suspiciously absent. Not a single faded shade or sad spook to be seen. Strange.

We crossed an echoing entryway with an intricate pentagram and casting circle woven in among the glossy marble tiles, stopping at the foot of a massive, curving staircase that swept up to the second floor. The witch—Oleander, my somewhat overwhelmed brain finally supplied—stopped and turned back to me. “Can you make it up the stairs? I know we stopped the bleeding, but that wound must hurt like a bitch.”

I gave her a grim smile. “Several bitches, actually. All of them quite vengeful. But I will persevere.”

She looked skeptical. A large hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned my head to look up at the towering hulk of a gargoyle. “I can carry you, if you'll let me?”

I looked around at the assorted faces of my rescuers. “This all seems rather unreal,” I observed. They all just… pulled a stranger out of a jail cell, brought him home, and started treating him like he was part of their strange family. Peculiar. But I reallywastired and hurting. “If it's not too much trouble, I will definitely take a ride.”

He gave me a strange look and blushed slightly. I reviewed my words and smirked, holding out an arm in invitation. Far be it from me to pass up the opportunity to cause mischief. Though my comment really had been innocent.

The gargoyle swept me up into his massive arms as if I weighed nothing, and we all proceeded up the stairs. The small, fiery one with the mistrustful golden-brown eyes vanished in a shower of sparks, confirming my assumption. Jinn. And with all the attitude of a fire elemental. He was waiting for us when we reached the large workroom on the second floor.

“You can put him in the chair there,” Oleander directed my hulking chariot. Then she paused by the workbench. “Wait. I never asked.” Her gray eyes skated over my now destroyed pencil skirt and low heels. “What are your pronouns? Bella said 'he,' so I just assumed, but….”

I smiled as the gargoyle gently deposited me into a wingback chair like I was a princess in distress. “Thank you, sir,” I said, patting his massive bicep. Then I turned my attention to the witch.

“Male,” I told her, a bit thrown off, but also delighted, by this whole conversation. Not many people bothered to ask outright. “I simply enjoy pretty things. I've never understood why a man can't enjoy a smartly tailored dress now and then.” I gave her a wink. “And I did particularly enjoy expressing my smart clothing sense and my lack of fucks given for gender norms during my time with the SA. There were a couple of particularly bigotedcoworkers Ilivedto torment.” I shrugged. “I'll answer to he, him, them… but thank you for asking.”

She nodded as she and a couple of the others started pulling jars and pouches down from the shelves and cabinets around the room. Pausing, she pointed to each of her companions in turn, ending with herself. “He. He. She. He. They. He. He. She.”

I nodded, and she carried on with her spell making, chucking things into a large mortar. The slender fae woman with the cute antlers and the hunting knife at her belt leaned a hip against the workbench and watched me. They were all watching me. They were just mostly being subtle about it. Well, except the jinn. He was still blatantly glaring.

“You knew we were coming for you,” the fae woman said evenly. “You didn't seem surprised to see us.”

I shrugged. “I didn't knowyouwould be showing up precisely. But my powers told me that it was lucky I got caught and thrown in that SA jail. So, when you showed up, I had a good feeling about your appearance.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Your powers?”

I sighed. Right. When the SA accepted my story about defecting from the rebel cause to join the alliance, they were happy to swallow the lie just to get at my powers. But even they didn't know exactly what all those powers were. They simply knew I had an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time, and a much higher than usual percentage of success at all of the tests they threw my way when they hired me. True shifters like myself were rare, and our magical abilities varied widely. And the SA was chomping at the bit to have one on payroll to study.

How much should I tell these people?

Oleander Lovell was Bella's little sister. I had trusted the rebel leader withsomeof my secrets, out of pure necessity. The rebel faction seemed like the only safe choice when it came toprotecting my family. And I knew that if I was going to ask for that protection, I needed to make myself valuable to them. So, Bella and some of the others knew about my luck magic. I supposed I could share at least that much with these people, since Bella could just tell them anyway. But the rest I kept to myself, for now.

“Luck magic,” I said evenly. “I get this feeling about things. It never guides me wrong. And I have the pleasure of always being in the right place at the right time. It's a cat thing.”

The fae didn't respond, she just watched me with narrowed eyes.

“If you're so lucky, why is there currently a bullet hole in your side?” the jinn drawled as he lounged against the fireplace mantle on the other side of the room.

I met his golden eyes and had to resist the urge to stick out my tongue. This one was a complete brat. I could smell it from a mile away. I had no patience for those sorts of games, especially not after the day I’d had. “I was hopingyouall could enlighten me on that,” I said calmly, not rising to the jinn’s snide, baiting tone.

I glanced at Oleander again as she ground things together with her mortar and pestle. “You called me to you, but I could sense that void around you,” I said honestly. “When I stepped through that, I felt my luck magic disappear.” I shrugged. “It felt like… suddenly I was standing in a sea ofbadluck. Maybe some kind of karmic backlash from all the good luck I usually pull my way? I have no idea. All I know is, I knew something bad was going to happen. But then I stepped closer to you and my luck magic came rushing back in and I knew I was where I should be.”

She frowned at me. “That sounds plausible. And… really fucking dangerous. Let's keep you away from the nullifier from now on.”

“I agree,” I said succinctly, even if I didn’t fully understand what “the nullifier” was or how it operated. I assumed that was the cause of my sudden lack of luck.

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