No doubt the family thought Gigi was responsible for Canary’s daily bling, but no. One day she’d come downstairs and he’d been wearing a choker with his name spelled out in diamonds. Like a gangster bunny. And every day since he’d had something new, shiny and sparkly around his neck.
Gigi had so many questions. And no answers. Neither Canary or the bridesmaid dress had opposable thumbs for a start. And how come she never saw the same piece of jewellery twice?
Honestly, she should just be grateful her bridesmaid dress was houseproud and seemed to enjoy cleaning up messes. If the price she had to pay was her pet bunny being treated as a dress up doll, well, Canary wasn’t complaining.
If anything, since the bling had begun appearing, there had been a distinct sparkle of pride in Canary’s eyes. Which was silly, or was it? For a magical construct poison testing pet, Canary wasa conundrum. But he was her conundrum, and she’d never tell on him. The fact he was still alive and appeared to be getting more lively every year was a miracle in itself. Information she kept to herself, as otherwise she was sure one or more relatives with a scientific bent might wish to conduct an experiment or two upon Canary. And that often never ended well.
The debate over seed stratification was heating up. Many present seemingly had very strong feelings about the subject. There went the schedule. It would probably be hours yet before everyone felt they had been heard and lunch could officially be served. In the meantime, Gigi shifted to the left, her butt beginning to feel distinctly numb. Suddenly, without warning, she was pushed back in her chair, kind of gently, but still firmly, locked in place for two seconds, what the…?
Looking around she noted Aunt Patricia, technically her cousin, and Head Librarian, beckoning to her from across the stream. There was something about Patricia that commanded respect. When she said jump, you automatically did.
Discreetly as possible Gigi rose, making her way across the stream via the nearest small bridge, displeased to note that Nico Yanez, for some unknown reason, chose to follow her. Which didn’t appear to upset Patricia, who just smiled warmly and beckoned them deeper into the book section of the Library. Leading the way past empty reading nooks and towering bookcases.
Stopping at the very back wall Patricia pressed a knot of wood in the panelling, a keypad appearing, Patricia entering several digits, a door sliding open silently to reveal well-lit wide stairs leading downwards to the old wine cellar. Gigi recalled playing there as a child, but why would Patricia want to show them anything down there?
Oh. Halting on the bottom step, surveying the room. It was like a stage set for one of those international spy films, wherea lot of the exposition took place at command central. A place full of computers, screens, whiteboards, with lots of folders piled high on desks. In the middle of what Gigi was assuming was organised chaos stood Cullen, Patricia’s meld mate. With his immaculate three piece suits and perfectly cut dark hair, Gigi had always assumed he was a retired banker. But now, in this setting, she was thinking spy, and perhaps not so retired.
“Ah. Good. You’re both here.” His British accent lyrical and concise. “Please take a seat and direct your attention here.” Cullen held up a remote control and the six enormous computer screens on the nearest wall came to life. “Everything you need to get up to date with what we currently know about our impending threat can be found on these screens.”
“Um…” Gigi sank down onto a seat, staring at the screens, then at Nico, who’d taken a seat beside her and was likewise scowling somewhat blankly up at the six screens full of names, all connected to one another via either solid lines, broken lines or dotted lines. Some of the names were crossed out. Some were in bold. The names and the lines all in different colours; reds, yellows, blues.
It was a visual confusing cacophony of information.
“What is all this?” Nico demanded.
“Your briefing.” Cullen pulled an old fashioned watch from his waistcoat pocket, checking the time. “Should only take you a few minutes to take it all in. It’s pretty self-explanatory. I doubt you’ll have any questions.”
Gigi was relieved that the confused expression that settled upon Nico’s face matched her own.
“Could someone please tell me what’s going on?” Nico looked at Cullen, back at Patricia and then at Gigi.
“Honestly, you’ve been working with this data too long.” Patricia strode forward, grabbing the remote from Cullen, hitting two buttons. A lot of the lines and names disappeared.
“Let’s start with the basics first.” Patricia stated. “Connections and names we have solid confirmation of.”
There was a lot less information on the screen, but it wasn’t helping Gigi. “I’m sorry, what am I looking at exactly?”
“It’s your briefing.” Cullen supplied. “Darcy mentioned the two of you would be needing one.”
“She did mention a plot by a group of some known and some as yet to be identified deities who want to take over the Earthly Plane, remaking it into their own playground, didn’t she?” Patricia enquired.
“Er, yes. She mentioned a briefing and a partner but…” Gigi was still confused.
“Well, this is the briefing.” Patricia smiled, waving at the screens. “And say hello to your new partner.”
“Him?”
“Her?”
Gigi and Nico shared a look, first of horror, their gazes clashing, then of disdainful anger.
“No way.”
“Absolutely not.”
“He’s unprofessional, unfocused, and most of the time can barely keep his eyes open.”
“She makes cupcakes and drags a purple bunny rabbit around with her everywhere. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
