Page 52 of Office of the Lost

When it was over at last, they lay side by side in the nothingness, panting.

“I could stay here forever, just like this.”Crispin had never felt so glorious.So at ease.So right.

Leo’s home reminded him of the Un-Place.Were they one and the same?

Leo shook his head.“Damage to fix, remember?”

He sighed.“I know.”He stared at the blankness—what would be sky in another world—and wondered at such a perfect moment.A stray thought occurred to him, dragging him back to the present.“What did you do?Just before…?”

A lazy grin on Leo’s face told Crispin he knew exactly what “before” meant.“I made them come to me.To become a part of Leopold, and not the other way around.”

“So you’re now…?”

“Mr.Chaos?”He grinned.“Yeah, pretty much.”He shook like a dog, and a whole world of riotous colors exploded out of him, spreading out into a great open field of flowers under a blue sun.“Pretty neat, huh?”

Crispin sat up, hugging his knees, concern impinging on his pure ecstasy.“But are you really stillLeo?”

Leo thought about it for a moment.“I think so.I can leave the rest behind.It’s like… swimming in an ocean, maybe?I can dry off, but I’ll always have a bit of it with me.”

“You’ll carry some of it with you?”

“I guess.”His face scrunched up in that adorable way.“Are you sure you want to be with me?Things tend to be a little… unpredictable with the LeoMonster.”

“After all that happened, and you ask me that?”Crispin laughed.“I… I think we’remeantto be together.I can’t explain it any better than that.You’re the missing part of me.”Maybe it had happened the first time he’d opened the Door, when he’d been brushed by what had become Leo.Maybe it didn’t matterwhy.

A flight of butterflies in a thousand colors exploded out of the vast nothing, surrounding them in chaotic color.

Chaos wasn’t something to fear.He understood that now.“Of course I want to be with you.”

Leo smiled, and the butterflies vanished, leaving just the two of them.“So, how do we get started fixing the damage we caused?”

Crispin was grateful for that shared pronoun.“Well, we need to fix Thea.Can you take us to a particular place and time?”

Leo closed his eyes.“Like where?”

“The Office of the Lost.Early in the morning, before everyone else is there.”

“Not sure.It feels… I think if I concentrate on what I want, I can take us where we need to be.Maybe.But it may not be what you expect, and I will be… limited once we get there.”

Crispin frowned.“Limited how?”

“I can do anything here.”He held up his hand, and clouds gathered above them, thunder clashing with rain.He waved again and they disappeared.“But in the real world, not so much.I’m still figuring it out.I’ve never been corporeal for this long, before… well, before being Leo.”

Crispin kissed his cheek.“And you have no idea how glad I am of that.”He stood, dusting off his pants.Well, of course there was dirt in… Chaoslandia?He held out his hand.“Let’s go.Are you ready?”

Leo grinned.“Thought you’d never ask.”

Their hands touched, and the world dissolved around them.

20

Leopold

Leopold’s head was swirly.

That was pretty excusable, given what he’d been through lately and what he’d discovered about the universe in general and himself specifically.He had an odd duality going on in his head, where on one side he was Leopold Lane, screwup and loser.And on the other he was an ancient, mighty force of nature.That was enough to make his head spin.

He was also a guy who’d just had a beautiful, ecstatic, sexy experience with an elf—excuse me, a fae—who loved him.And whom he loved back.

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