Page 19 of Office of the Lost

Leopold frowned.“Who’s Minkis?”

Crispin shot him a look.“My pet squirrel, of course.He’s wonderful.I can show you some photos….”He stuck a hand in his trousers pocket but brought it out empty.“Oh.I may have lost them when we, um, transitioned.”

“Bummer,” said Leopold, who was relieved.He was in no mood to be subjected to cute pet pictures.He turned away and started his skidding, sliding way down to the water.It was a harrowing journey, but they both made it to the bottom without losing their precarious balance.

For a few moments, they both stood on the shore and looked at the pond.“Well.I suppose itisreflective.”Crispin looked doubtful.

“Is this gonna do the trick?You know, I have to work in the morning.Cleaning busses, not sitting in an office and filing reports about doodads I’ve collected.And it’ll probably be raining again.And I’ll probably do something soon that’ll get me fired, and—” He stopped and emitted a sigh as impressive as Crispin’s.“Just do the thing already.”

Frowning, Crispin pulled out his phone and stared at the cracked screen.“Thea?”

There was no response.

“Thea?We’ve found the pond.Now if you could— Oh, damn the black eye of Pothos!”

Leopold glanced over to see what Crispin was staring at and wasn’t even a little surprised to see an oily gray cloud making its way toward them.It was hard to judge the cloud’s dimensions.One moment it looked roughly human-sized and the next it seemed bigger than the hill they’d just climbed.Its edges shifted and its interior swirled, and there was something both sinister and purposeful in the way it slunk forward.

“I thought Fromlith said no monsters,” Leopold said tightly.

“It appears our giant friend was mistaken.”Crispin looked as displeased as if he’d eaten a mouthful of skunk-sprayed porcupine.

“What does it want?Why is it chasing us?”Leopold’s heart raced, a feat it was unused to on any regular basis.

Crispin shook his head frantically.“I don’t know!Thea!Help!”

The phone made a series of noises like an old-fashioned modem, played a bar or two of “We Are Family,” and spat a volley of greenish sparks that made Crispin yelp.He managed to keep hold of it, though, which was a minor miracle.

There was nowhere to run and no place to hide, and there were no roaring giants in the vicinity.Leopold didn’t even have a weapon—not that he knew how to fight a cloud anyway.And Crispin, who held his ground despite looking terrified, didn’t seem to know what to do either.Probably desk fae didn’t often face death.

The cloud slithered closer.It had a sound, Leopold realized.Or more accurately, sounds.Static like a radio not quite getting a signal.Glass shattering.The wind battering a house.Engines idling and then revving.All of them at once, making Leopold’s heart race and his skin feel goose-pimply.And it tugged at him, the way your foster mom tugs at your shirt collar when you refuse to leave the candy store of your own volition.

“Leave us alone!”Crispin shouted.“I am a curator with the Office of the Lost and I order you to stop interfering in my collection duties!”

The cloud didn’t seem impressed.Maybe Crispin needed a badge to flash.

It came even closer.Leopold couldn’t smell it—maybe only giants could—but he couldfeelit, alternately cold and hot, and with an electrical charge that made his hairs stand on end.

Crispin was holding his phone up like a weapon.“Go away!”

It didn’t.

And the weird thing—well, hell,everythingwas weird, wasn’t it?—oneweird thing was that although Leopold was scared, he also felt an urge to walk toward the cloud, to meet up with it, to touch it.It must be the same way moths felt about flames.

“Go away!”Crispin bellowed even louder.Apparently he felt no similar draw.

Leopold took a step forward.

Crispin grabbed Leopold’s arm, tight.

And the cloud spoke, its voice filling the air so thoroughly that Leopold could barely breathe.“Giiiiive himmmm to usssss.”Foggy teeth gleamed in its depths, gnashing like breaking glass.

Oh, shit.Leopold knew to a certainty that he was thehimin question.And for a brief time he was afraid that Crispin would simply shove him into the cloud and make his own safe escape.Leopold could hardly blame him if he did.

Instead, Crispin tightened his grip on Leopold’s arm and screamed, “Thea!Take us back to OotL!”

And then he dragged Leopold into the pond.

9

---