Page 82 of Office of the Lost

Crispin got an odd look on his face and sighed.“I think you’d better ask Minkis.”

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Crispin

The life Crispin wanted was at his fingertips—he could feel it.His life mate, his mother’s approval, and a future he’d never dreamed of.

Including King of the Fae, not that he was sure he wanted that.He loved working, but being responsible for the Estateand all of that magic sounded like heaping handfuls of responsibility.Still, something about it appealed to him.He’d be the literal Keeper of Order.

Fromlith had left a path of destruction as he’d widened—and heightened—the corridor to make room for his own passage.A piece of the broken doorway wall crashed to the ground, reminding Crispin of how out of his control the current situation was.Some Order-Keeper I am.

“You okay, Crispy?”Leo’s concern brought him back to the present.

In response, Crispin hugged him tightly.As long as he had Leo on his side, he could accomplish anything.“Yes, I’m much better now.”

“What were you saying about Minkis?”Leopold looked around.‘I don’t see him.Wasn’t he with you?”

“He’s… gone ahead.It’s… complicated.”Juzir had told Crispin something that had shaken him to the core.He turned to his giant-friend.“Fromlith, can you and Juzir keep Bidulla and her minions occupied?”She’d thrown everything she had at them, from a trio of Mazurian mercenaries to the entire office staff of OotL.Crispin wasn’t exactly sure where all the minions were right now.

Because Juzir’s magic was limited here by the Office’s dampening properties, he couldn’t port them around the place willy-nilly, but hecouldmake life difficult for Crispin’s former supervisor.

“You got it, future King.”

“I can help.”Aspin pulled his sword.“I know I’ve been an ass to you, little brother.But what you did today….”He blushed.He actually blushed.“Love you, little bro.I’m proud of you.”

Crispin blinked.He was fairly certain all thirty-seven known hells had just frozen over, even the one made mostly out of soured mead.“Um… thanks, Aspin.”

His brother crushed him in his over-muscled arms, pulling him so tight that the air squeezed out of Crispin’s lungs in an undignified gasp.

“I… um… love you too?”he squeaked.He didn’t mean for it to come out as a question, but there it was.“You… need… to let… me go.”That last part was nothing but a raspy whisper.

Aspin didn’t seem to notice the question mark.He dropped his arms, and suddenly Crispin could breathe again.“So what now?”

Everyone turned to face him, including Minkis, who had apparently just returned.“What now, Acorn Man?”

Crispin felt a little queasy.He wasn’t used to being the one that people turned to for answers.Especially not all the people, all at once.

Leo leaned in and whispered, “You can do this.”

Crispin squeezed his hand gratefully.“We go to see the Oracle.”

If Juzir was right—and it would explainso many things—the Oracle would know who was behind this, and why Crispin had been sent to collect Leo.

The corridor shook.“That’s our cue.”Juzir winked at him.“Go!We’ll keep Bidulla and her cronies occupied.You’re going to owe me more than a bathroom remodel after this.”

Fromlith winked at them with an enormous eye through the broken wall.“Go get them, Your Future Highness.”He lumbered off in the direction they’d all come from, and Juzir scurried after him, casting fiery spheres as he went.

“Come on, then.”Crispin climbed over the wreckage, taking Leo’s hand and helping him through the door.

Thea whistled a happy tune in his pocket.

“Hey, I know that one.It’s from theWizard of Oz.”Leo frowned.“Well, we justsawa wizard, so I’m not sure it’s the most accurate….”

Crispin laughed.He’d missed Leo’s mental wanderings.“Close enough, I suppose.The Oracle is… magic.Of a sort.He/she/they always know what needs to be collected, and where.”Ahead of them, the white corridor was still fae-sized, not having been pounded out of shape by a passing giant.“Come on.”

They started down the hall, checking the doors as they passed, each neatly lettered with a unique numerical code.Other than that, there was nothing to set them apart.

They followed the hall past a couple hundred more doors, and then the corridor split into three directions.

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