Page 72 of Office of the Lost

Due to the magic spell or whatever hex the OotL people had put on this room, Leopold couldn’t send Chaos outward.But what if he could pull Chaosinward?

There was a lot of Chaos in the worlds; any idiot could see that.Incarcerated or not, Leopold was a part of that Chaos.He was Chaos.And the Chaos was him.So all he had to do….

He reached deep inside himself, metaphorically speaking, and discovered a single thread.He gave it an experimental tug, and it moved.

When he pulled harder, it moved some more.

He imagined a fishing reel somewhere in his center.The handle might be a little hard to turn, as if there were a giant fish on the other end, but with patience he could manage.

If this worked, the worlds would become increasingly dull, bereft of music and dance and storytelling and painting and… all of the things that made life worthwhile.Including love.

People would notice pretty fast, and they wouldn’t be pleased.

The Office of the Lost would have to dosomething.Like maybe come open the door to find out what he was up to.

Was he willing to hold Chaos hostage in return for his release?Sure.They were already holding him, and he was Chaos personified.

“After all, turnabout is fair play.”Grinning, Leopold set about it in earnest, reeling in Chaos.

27

Crispin

Leo.

He was doing this.It had to be him.But how?

A sudden surge of hope swept through Crispin.

The building across the street snapped and straightened, transforming itself into an assortment of unbending lines on a plane as flat as Qylzryd’s stomach.

Crispin shook his head to clear outthatparticular image.He was very angry with Qyl at the moment, and the memory of the man’s magnetic charms was not going to distract him.

Down the street, a series of sizzles and pops accompanied a row of trees as they shivered and flattened.They dropped a season’s worth of paper-thin leaves in an instant, which tumbled to the ground in a rustling clutter.

Minkis chittered anxiously on his shoulder.“Not good, Acorn Man.”

He nodded.“Maybe not.But I’d bet Leo’s behind this.”

“What’s the little bushy-tailed rat on about now?”Aspin glared at him.

Crispin’s eyes widened.“It’s happening to you too.”His once muscular and very handsome brother was flattening out, becoming a mere wisp of his former self as his cheeks and nose drew back and his hair lost its luster, making him look like something in a funhouse mirror.

“But not to us.Curious.”His mother lookedexactlythe same—though was it just his imagination or was her silver gown a little more tattered and worn than before?

The two of them were increasingly out of place in this strange new world.

Her eyes narrowed.“Why is your… pet not affected?”

Crispin glanced at his best friend, who was still chittering away on his shoulder.“I don’t know.Maybe because he’s so close to me?”He scratched the squirrel under the chin, and Minkis let out a pleased little squirrel growl.“It doesn’t matter.Right now we have to get to the Office to save Leo, and put an end to this.”

“You think he’s responsible?”One eyebrow arched, as if the Fairy Queen conceded the possibility that Leo was more powerful than she’d believed.Or perhaps it just signaled that she thought Crispin was crazy.

“Yes, I think Leopold is doing this.Somehow.”His mother’s use of the personal pronoun was a marked upgrade from what she’d called Leo before.Progress, of a kind.

“What about me?”Aspin’s voice was a shadow of its former self.He was flailing about and ultimately lost his balance and slipped to the ground, floating downward for a few feet before settling onto the equally flat pavement.“Help me!Don’t leave me here!”Even his voice sounded dull and toneless.

Crispin sighed.“You’ll be fine if we can get all of this fixed.”He knelt and began to roll up his brother into a tight scroll.

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