| |
"How was your appointment?" Ajax asked as I walked in the door.
"Absolutely divine," I replied, unable to keep the grin off my face. I spun, arms outstretched. I had magic back in my life again.
Just the smallest, quirk of a smile revealed Ajax's flat row of teeth before he sternly got everything under wraps again. "Well, I'm glad. Because there is plenty to do. I think I heard a mouse in the ballroom."
That stopped me in my tracks. The mice on the Other Side were nothing you wanted crawling through your walls when you were in full power, much less in my condition. They settle in, building tiny houses that become red-light districts, and suddenly there are little rodent casinos beneath your floorboards. They bring in an element, if you know what I mean, and sooner or later, one of them gets infected by a vampire or zombie and you're fighting off a horde of teenie tiny skittery monsters. I wilted. "Oh, please don't make me deal with rodents..." I begged.
"I had to check in a family of ghouls," Ajax informed me. He pointed his stubby finger at the ballroom. "Go!"
I didn't even bother dropping off my satchel in the office, just turned and dragged myself over to see how bad a situation this was going to be. I gave a nod to a vampire who had stopped by the kitchen for an early breakfast before his night flight.
"Excellent bloody marys," he stated.
Before you get your knickers in a twist, Mary donated that blood at a fair price. I may not like the fact playing nice with one vampire nest was necessary to keep the nest of the one I killed from descending on the No Spell, but I was going to do my best to make any turf war as cruelty-free as possible.
I walked into the ballroom, grateful that at least the goblins hadn't returned. It was dark inside, all the drapes drawn to keep out the brutal rays of our two suns. Talk about ways to fade your tapestries. I set down my purse and waited, listening for the telltale sound of little feet.
I really hoped they weren't undead already.
And then I remembered the healer said my new glasses would be able to spot things magical. I pulled them out and put them on. It'd be so nice to figure out if our furry friend should have already passed to the great Cheese Shop in the Sky, or if we would be able to have a nice chat about relocating to the outer garden. I scanned the room but it was too dark. I strode across the parquet floor and pulled back the curtains to let in the rising moonlight.
"What under the two suns is going on?" I whispered, staring at the window.
There were the stained glass figures of twenty girls in the pane. They had not been there before. There was a girl with a turquoise pillbox hat and another with wild brown hair. As I stared at them, their flat faces of lead and glass shifted. And then they were staring at me. They were seeing me.
I ripped my glasses from my face.
They were still there, but now frozen in different positions.
My heart felt like it might leap from my chest.
The door behind me opened and I yelped.
"What?" grumbled Ajax.
"You... um... you startled me," I replied, my voice faint.
"I didn't know you wore glasses," Ajax remarked crossly, pointing at the rims in my hand. "You should tell me so if they are ever knocked from your face in battle, I shall be able to take countermeasures to protect your ocular weakness."
"They aren't those sorts of glasses, Ajax." I gave them a good wipe and pointed at the windows. "Do you see them?"
He squinted. "What's that? I thought all the stained glass disappeared."
"Our stained glass featuring all the great battles of the Other Side disappeared. These are new."
He seemed momentarily confused. "Did you redecorate?"
"No, I did not redecorate," I hissed, starting to freak out. "Why are there now twenty young women depicted in stained glass??"
"Huh." He crossed his arms and stared harder.
I marched over to him. "And when you put these on? They move."
He took the rims from my hand suspiciously and then placed them on his nose. His face paled as his eyes got big. He snatched them off.
"Huh!" he stated, regarding at the glasses with newfound respect.
The bell rang in the lobby.
Ajax looked at the window to the glasses to me. Reluctantly and apologetically, he held them out. "We have guests arriving," he stated with forced calmness.
"Mummies?" I replied, swallowing.
He nodded grimly.
"Try not to sniff as you walk past their bandages," I reminded him, taking back the black rims. The rhinestones glimmered in the moonlight. I was trying desperately to appear as if everything was normal. I was not allowed to melt down about the fact that the exact number of missing Jane Does were now in our windows and these glasses brought them to life. "It's unbecoming."
We both stood for a moment longer, then turned back to stare once more at the girls.
The front desk bell rang again.
"Huh," we both said in unison.