Chapter 31
Thirty-One
Hikaru
Niki was on the phone with Erasmus. I wouldn’t exactly say it was an unpleasant phone call, but Niki was getting an earful from his frantic and worried son.
I’d told him he should call immediately, but Niki had had other things on his mind.
Namely doing me. Or more precisely, bonding with me.
That bonding had created its own sort of sticky mess, one I hoped to repeat at least daily going into the future.
My snickered giggle came out sounding like a choking donkey.
Niki sent me a questioning look which I waved off.
I was fine. More than fine. There was a time not so long ago that I wondered if I’d ever be fine again.
Thankfully, those times were gone. Tenzen Huxley would always be a part of me, but he didn’t haunt my present like he did my past. Niki made certain of that, and I was smart enough to let him.
Keir told me he was proud of how much I’d grown, that I hadn’t allowed Tenzen’s betrayal to jade me so much that I couldn’t see what was right in front of me.
I thought Keir was full of his usual bullshit but didn’t say so.
The poor gryphon had too much on his hands to add my petty squabbling to the mix.
Not that I wouldn’t go there if I thought it might take Keir’s mind off more pressing matters, if only for a time.
Understandably, Keir hadn’t been happy when I’d told him what Danzig said—that there was more hiding within the Magical Usage Council’s walls than any of us knew.
If Tenzen had thought it required hiding, that didn’t bode well for whatever it was.
I’d argued with Keir that he should blow the whole place up and move the council to a new building.
I’d even kindly offered to help place the explosives and set them off.
Surprisingly, Keir hadn’t immediately poo-pooed the idea.
In fact, I’d had a few joyous moments where I thought he might actually allow me to blow shit up.
Alas, that happy, fuzzy feeling hadn’t lasted.
As usual, Keir threw a wet blanket on my plans.
Keir thought blowing the place up could metaphorically and physically come back to bite the council in the ass.
The crappy thing about not knowing what Tenzen hid around the place was also not knowing if a raging inferno would truly destroy it, or if it should be destroyed at all.
Tenzen hadn’t hesitated to enslave a brownie child to get what he wanted, so who knew what other sentient creatures Tenzen might have captured?
And didn’t that just send shivers down your spine, thinking a living creature could be trapped somewhere within the Magical Usage Council Compound, or even elsewhere.
I don’t think I’d ever envied Keir, but if I had, I’d certainly been properly cured of that useless emotion.
As if thinking of Keir summoned him, a text appeared on my screen, its request simple.
Do you have a moment to pop in? Niki had gotten me my own phone, stating I could leave it in our home.
I was currently trying it out, unsure if I’d remember to keep it charged or not.
Most likely it would turn into a little more than an expensive paperweight.
Head tilted to the side, I contemplated the request. Glancing Niki’s way again, it appeared as if he might be on the phone for a bit longer. I had no doubt that when he ended the call with Erasmus, Lydia Boone’s call wouldn’t be far behind.
Typing a quick, be there soon, I laid my phone down and crossed the distance to Niki. He leaned my way when I went up on tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “I’m going to make a quick trip to see Keir.”
Covering the receiver with his hand, Niki leaned away from his phone and asked, “Problem?”
I considered the question and shook my head.
“I don’t think so. Be back soon.” Keir would have been a bit more insistent if something was really wrong.
I left a big, wet kiss on Niki’s cheek, grinning as he gave me a withering look.
With a little finger wave, I dissipated and reformed outside Keir’s door.
I could have just gone in, but I was attempting to be polite.
“I swear, if I weren’t dead already, you would have given me a heart attack decades ago.” Elvira’s ghost hovered a few feet away.
Within the building, with Tabitha nearby, Elvira could be seen by everyone.
I wasn’t certain if every ghost appeared as put together and dressed to the nines as Elvira did, or if she simply liked looking nice since everyone could see her.
Every once in a while, Elvira let something slip that made me think she hadn’t looked nearly so primly quaffed while alive.
Dead, she was magnificent. A raven-haired beauty dressed to perfection.
Clothing didn’t just make the man, they provided a certain type of armor to women too.
“That’s rich, coming from a ghost who goes wherever they want, whenever they want to.
” Elvira hadn’t been the best influence on me while growing up.
As one of the few entities within the Magical Usage Compound that could follow wherever I went, Elvira had a penchant for either aiding in my pranks or at the very least, not ratting me out.
Elvira’s plump, crimson lips pulled into an easy smile.
“Too true.” She floated toward me, ankles barely visible and her feet conspicuously absent.
“Be nice to him.” Elvira’s tone was more concerned than authoritative.
“Keir’s… He’s struggling.” Elvira shook her head, her thick raven hair effortlessly floating around her shoulders.
“Tabitha’s worried. So am I.” Elvira pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, tugging at it.
My tails twitched as I considered permanently coming back. My stomach dropped at the idea. I would never ask Niki to leave his business in California, and moving back into this building made my stomach drop and nausea creep up my throat. Still, if Keir truly needed me…
“I can see your mind spinning.” Elvira floated even closer.
Her spectral hand cupped my face. Elvira’s touch was always cold, sucking the warmth from my skin.
“He would never ask you to come back, not permanently.” Not for the first time, I wondered if Elvira could read my mind.
“That’s not why he asked to see you.” Elvira’s thumb traced down my cheek before she pulled her hand away.
Easing back, Elvira’s head cocked to the side.
I’d seen her do that a thousand and one times before. Her medium, Tabitha, was calling her.
“I need to go.” Elvira floated even further away, her form becoming increasingly transparent. “I am one of the few that can go where Director Huxley ventured.”
Elvira disappeared, leaving me alone with the knowledge that I too was one of those individuals. That was the reason Keir contacted me before, to retrieve our fallen friends.
Heart heavy, I closed the distance to Keir’s door and knocked. The quiet, “come in,” was all the welcome I required.
Just as before, Keir’s quarters were warm and welcoming. Little had changed except the gryphon who called this space home. Shoulders slumped, eyelids drooping, and face pinched and drawn, Keir looked like sleep had become a foreign concept.
Despite his obvious exhaustion, Keir waved me inside. “Thank you for coming, Hikaru. Please, have a seat. I’ll get the tea.”
Guilt ate at me. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Nonsense. Tea is never a bother and besides, all I have to do is pour it into a cup.” Keir offered me a kind smile as he momentarily disappeared into his kitchen, quickly returning with a steaming cup of heavenly smelling tea.
I really needed to carve out a space in Niki’s home for a proper tea station.
“You look good,” Keir said as he sat across from me. I only wished I could the same about him.
“Thank you, I… Niki’s good for me.”
“Hmm…that seems obvious. I suspicion you are also very good for him.”
“Naturally,” I quickly responded.
Keir’s soft chuckles eased the tightness in my chest. It looked like Martin was slacking.
I’d need to scold the oak dryad. Keir obviously needed more laughter in his life.
With that in mind, I set my teacup on the coffee table and leaned forward, my elbows firmly planted on my thighs.
“I don’t mean to sound like a brat, but you look like shit, Keir. ”
Eyebrows barely lifting toward the sky, Keir gave another soft chuckle before also setting his teacup down.
“I wish I could disagree but…” Keir spread his arms wide.
“I’m afraid the proof is obvious to all with eyes to see.
Besides, I’m too damn tired to belabor the point.
” Leaning back, Keir rubbed his forehead before pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I wish I were an anomaly, but I’m afraid everyone working for the council has been run ragged.
And then there’s…” Keir inhaled deeply, his mouth pulling down into an even thinner line.
“We seem to have acquired an interested djinn.” Keir’s already poor color blanched a little further.
I straightened. “Aurelia or Helios?” I didn’t think the first created djinn, Ajita, would have much interest in the council, although I could be wrong. I also hoped there wasn’t another one flitting about.
“Helios mostly, although Aurelia has popped up once or twice as well, along with her pets.”
“The scuttlebutts.” Fuzzy Britches came to Aurelia pregnant. Ironic really, considering Aurelia had wanted a scuttlebutt and now not only had one, but four.
Keir cringed. “Disturbing creatures. Fiercely loyal. So far, they’ve reacted favorably to everyone but Martin. I’m not certain why they don’t like him.”