Page 12 of Secondhand Garagyre

Ihave just “saved” her from her own pets.

Notmy finest moment,Imust admit.Slowly,Ilower us back to the ground.Myfeet have no more settled on the ground whenIam assaulted by the two creatures.Whostill have not stopped making that awful noise.NowIunderstand what the additional scents clinging toPaisleyare from.

It’sthese two… things.

“Laithog, put me down.They’rejust excited to see me, and they love meeting new people.Thefact that you’re not human, apparently, doesn’t faze them because they’re still begging you to pay them some attention,” she says with a fond chuckle.

Complyingwith her request,Iease her down, being mindful of the state her body is in, and allow her wee feet to once again resume their contact with the ground.

“Please, little one.Tellme you did not pay coin for these poor creatures?Theydo not appear… natural?”Iask, disbelief coloring my tone.

“Oh, stop that.They’readorable!Allowme to introduce you toMerryandPippin.Merryis the red and white, whilePippinis a black-headed tri.That’sthe name of their color patterns and why they aren’t identical.Theyaren’t litter mates, but they did come from the same breeder.”

Ibite back a heavy sigh at the obvious love in her voice for these things.Ican feel their beady little eyes staring up at me expectantly. “Theyare staring.Whyare they staring at me?Itis most unnerving.Dothey ever stop making that infernal racket?”Iask in rapid fire.

“Merry!Pippin!Hushup!Sit!”

Tomy surprise, the irksome little beast immediately ceases their yapping, and their freaking fluffy posteriors descend the short distance to the ground as they followPaisley’scommands to the letter.

“Sorryabout that.Thebreed is known to be yappy.Iwould imagine your hearing is fairly sensitive?”Theupward lilt of her words indicates a question.

“Yes, my hearing is rather acute.Theirnoises are borderline painful to me.”

Atthe crestfallen look on her face,Irapidly correct myself.

“Ah, actually, it is more abrupt than painful.Thetone of their noises is piercing but will not cause me any damage.Donot worry, littlePaisley.NowthatIknow of their existence,Iam sureIwill become accustomed to their noises,”Isoothe.

Steppingaround her,Iscoop up her keys and hand them to her.Ipull my wings close to my body and duck into the house, holding the door open for her and her tiny beast. “Comeinside.Itis cold out.Iwas promised a meal, andIam quite looking forward to it,”Isay with a charming smile.

Sherolls her eyes at me, butIsee the tiny grin she tries to hide as the three of them step past me and into her home.

Chapter Fifteen

LAITHOG

Paisley’shomeembodies every element of the word.

Iknow not how long she’s lived here, but a being can tell that she’s settled in and settled well.Thewalls are all a crisp white with a softer white trim, with the exception of what she explains to me is called an “accent” wall.Theseaccent walls are all done in shades of what is called turquoise.Thecolor matches many of the stones in the various pieces of jewelry she adorns herself with.

Itwould seem that my little female has an eye for shiny trinkets.SomethingIwould need to keep in mind for future reference.Thefirst thing she does after entering her home is move to her sleeping chamber, to remove her jewels (so she says), then promptly shuts the door in my face.

Asoft chuckle is my only response to her nonverbal demand for privacy.Itleaves me alone to wander about her house, inspecting it at my leisure.Tomy consternation, the two tiny, mishappen beasts follow behind me, the sound of their claws clicking on the hard wood floor makes my eye twitch inirritation.ThesmirkPaisleysent me as she closed the door earlier told me she did that on purpose.

Cleverlittle female.

Anevergreen tree in the corner of what appears to be the communal room of the house perplexes me.Itis covered in shiny pieces of material, ornamentation, and some sort of sparkling lights.Thecross at the top appears to be the crowning piece.Ittakes me a moment to recognize the symbol and what it represents.Thereligion of the one god was very young and new whenIlayahanandIwere fighting the dark forces trying to sweep across the land.Itseems it is more common now than then.Nohuman then would have boasted such an item so boldly in their home, but it is interesting, nonetheless.

Windingdeeper into her home,Idiscover a room full of books.Floor-to-ceiling shelves litter three of the four walls, and there isn’t an inch of available shelf space on any of the vertical shelves to be had.Asmall desk sits in the corner to the left, while a large glass front cabinet takes up the remaining wall.

Atingle runs across my skin, catching me by surprise.

Butwhere is it coming from?

Tappinginto the magick within,Imethodically check each shelf, the desk, and finally the glass-faced cabinet.It’sthere thatIfind the source of the tingling sensation from moments ago.Reachingout,Ipull the door open and pick up the small wooden box on the bottom shelf.Flippingopen the lid,Ifind a box full of depleted crystals.Isee pieces of raw amethyst, black tourmaline, obsidian, labradorite, and many more.

Howfortuitous!

Tonightis the first night of this lunar cycle’s full moon.Thesecrystals will be incredibly powerful after they’ve been charged by the light of a full moon.Silently,Iclose the lid to the box containing the crystals, return it to its place and close the door.

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