Page 62 of The Tenth Muse

“Maven! You scared me, what are you doing here?” Donella waves me over and holds the door open. I am greeted with my first sight of a living blob.

Maven looks like jello, both translucent and green, and I notice she bounces when she speaks. “Nell, who is this?”

“This is Lellies, from Earth. Put your foot out,” Donella instructs me as she does the same and Maven’s body squishes down so that she can run the bottom of her body over our toes.

“Nice to meet you, Lellies. I came to see if you still had that book on conflict theory and if I could borrow it,” they direct toward Donella.

“Sure,” Donella pads over to a bookshelf in the corner, crouches down and begins sifting through the cabinet below. “Anything else I can do for you while you’re here?”

“No, I’m good.” Maven’s eyes close and roll through their body to the other side to face Donella again. “But if you had some type of spell on that box over there, I’d check it if I were you. There were some bugs in there chittering for help when I got here.”

Donella’s arm stops moving, right in time with my heart.

“Don’t worry, I let them go. But it seemed like the box was keeping them trapped in there, so you might want to look at that.”

The slow blink Donella gives me is like something out of a tv show when a character breaks the fourth wall. I put my hands on my hips and cock to the side likeright?It’s just for a moment but that silent connection keeps the hysteria at bay. How are we supposed to find two bugs, therighttwo bugs, before tomorrow morning? Even if they haven’t made it outside the neighborhood, how do we explain that?

Knock, knock.

Excuse me, I’m looking for two bugs that are actually murderous witches on Earth. Mind if I do a quick check under your cupboards?

The out-of-control, your-fate-is-in-someone-else’s-hands, you-might-die-right-now feeling is trying to take hold on mylungs but, across the room, Donella’s relaxed posture gives me a little relief. She knows just how important this is to me, and what’s more, it’s clear their arrest was very important to her from the beginning, so if she’s staying calm, I can attempt to do the same. At least until Maven’s gone.

Having found the book she was looking for, Donella makes a quick matter of lending the book to Maven, agreeing to meet to compare data, and shooing them out of the door. When thesnickof the protective boundary closes, it only takes seeing the slow curve of Donella’s lips and her puffed out cheeks to let out my nervous belly laugh. Pretty soon my sides are hurting and Donella’s hands are on her knees.

“If there was ever a time for context clues …” Donella’s vibrant laugh fills the room again.

“It wasright there.” I make my way to the couch and Donella follows. “Maybe we gotta label the box next time. ‘Criminals inside, ignore their screams’.”

Donella chuckles, holding their hand out for the box. It spins towards us, wood chips falling away after it. I wipe some tears of laughter away so I can see it clearly. ‘Criminals’ is underlined and ‘ignore’ is in red, the full phrase taking up all the space on top of the box.

“A mistake I won’t soon make again.”

I smile at it—and her—but I have to know, “So what do we do now?”

Donella sets the box down between us before explaining, “Some magic is traceable, depending on whether you acquire the skill or use something that comes naturally to you. Since I used magic that I was born with, it carries a sort of pattern, similar to a fingerprint, that I can follow. So finding them won’t be a problem, it’s the ‘where I find them’ that might be an issue.”

“Wherewefind them, right?”

“I don’t think?—”

“You said you would protect me, right? With your awesome star sound power that you rudely did not explain to me before so I could gush about it. And I’ve already proven to be a very good listener so if you tell me to duck or hide, I will.” I bat my eyes for good measure, “Which means there’s absolutely no reason why I can’t come with you,right?”

Donella is silent for a moment, dragging her hand in her hair past her horns and likely questioning why she brought me here in the first place. I stay quiet and let my puppy-dog eyes do the work.

“Okay but we’ll take the board just to be sure.”

After a quick lesson on how to punch in the shortcut to direct the board home in case we get separated, Donella and I are on our way back through the city. I can’t see the pattern we’re following, but it doesn’t really matter because all of my focus is on Donella.

Donella with tense brows, shoulders bunched, grip firm on the steering bar, racing to hunt down my captors. Donella who’s tail sways when they're laughing. Donella who’s never had someone brush their hair. Donella who’s a bit of a nerd with a whole lot of heart.

I think I like this demon.

The board jerks to a stop and Donella’s pensive eyes are on me. Does she know I was staring?

“They’re in here. You can come in with me, it’s totally safe, but it’s a burlesque theater and you might see something you’re uncomfortable with. Do you want to stay on the board or go in with me?”

I look up at the building we’ve stopped in front of. It’s emerald green with posters of different people—er, entities, lining one side. On the other, a dark ticket window with a red sign. They must be sold out tonight. Should I take the chanceto go into a sold out burlesque show in a realm with completely different bodies and elements of seduction than I’m used to?

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