32
One year later
Periwinkle
When I push past the coffee-shop door, a bugle sounds over my head. I glance up in surprise, but there’s no sign of any actual instrument mounted on the frame.
“Sorry, sorry!” the barista calls over. “It’s been doing that for the last couple of weeks. At least it gives you a dramatic entrance?”
It did. I laugh and go over to the table I’ve spotted Sorsha sitting at.
The phoenix shifter gets up with a swish of her scarlet hair, grinning wryly and holding a steaming cup in one hand. “The city’s still a little wacky, huh? On my way in, I passed a streetlamp doing a strobe effect and a tree that looked like it was growing fully formed loaves of bread.”
“Yup. I’m not sure it’ll ever get totally back to normal.” The rift’s strange flood has left its mark on the city—we did welcome it to join us here, after all. “At least it’s hardly ever anything dangerous. The people who still live here and the new residents who moved in seem to see it as a plus. You never know what new special thing you’ll encounter.”
Sorsha chuckles. “It’s like the Everymobile times a million. If I can manage to live in that bizarro RV, I can see making a home in a place like this. Why don’t you show me what you’ve been up to?”
I buy a cup of hot chocolate to carry with me and lead Sorsha out into the street to more bugling.
Every month or so since we finished our clean-up efforts at all the warped rifts, one of the more established shadowkind has been stopping by to check on me in my role as the official ambassador to the shadow realm for Jackson City.
I’ve been on TV enough now, as well as speaking at conferences and rallies, that half of the pedestrians we pass wave to me or call out greetings. I really have become a sort of celebrity, although I haven’t established any retail brands yet.
I’ve had lots of other responsibilities to keep me busy.
I picked this coffee shop because it’s close to the things I want to show Sorsha—well, and also because the hot chocolate is the best blend of creamy and bitter darkness I’ve ever tasted. I sip it with a pleased hum and motion to the big wooden building with its vibrant paint up ahead.
“Mirage’s theater has gotten very popular. He’s doing two shows most days now, afternoon and evening. People arecoming from all the way across the ocean just to see his illusionary performances.”
Sorsha peers at the posters on the walls outside that promise vivid imagery and mind-tickling amusement. “Wow. I’ll have to catch a show while I’m here. Maybe I can convince the guys to come along too—Snap will definitely want to check it out.”
I beam at her. “I’ll come with you. It’s always fun to watch Mirage in his element.”
I’ve never seen the fox shifter happier than he is now, getting to delight and startle crowds of people every day—and being applauded for his efforts.
A skinny weasel-like creature slips out of the shadows ahead of us, darts across the street, and pounces on a floating candy wrapper. Sorsha watches it go. “The creatures that came out of the weird rift haven’t been causing any new problems, I take it?”
I shake my head. “It seems like whatever healing effect my glow had on them has been permanent too. They haven’t been getting aggressive—at least, not any more than the occasional regular being does—and no one’s disintegrating. Wins all around!”
And since things on the shadow-realm side of the rifts settled back into business as usual once I shrank them down, no new overly aggressive creatures have been forming and tumbling out. I just wish we could have saved the beings—both warped and regular—who got caught up in that chaos before we found the solution.
“How have people been reacting to the few beings that do lash out?” Sorsha asks.
More wins there. “We’ve held some informational seminars and put out public service announcements letting people know how to safely get away if they run into trouble. And our shadowkind police force that Raze is leading is always patrolling and ready to respond if there’s a call for help. It seems likethey usually catch the troublesome creatures before they do any major damage.”
Vim and Sorrel were particularly proud of an elephantine beast they managed to apprehend together on the edge of the city a few days ago.
Sorsha arches an eyebrow. “I could see humans getting pretty pissed off about even minor damage.”
I shrug. “I guess the kind of people who decide to live here are okay with taking the chance. Like explorers in the old days. It’s a thrill for them.”
A delicious kind of excitement laces the air everywhere I go, making sure I’m never the slightest bit hungry.
“I suppose that makes sense.” Sorsha cocks her head at the sight of the park we’re just coming up on. “This is new, isn’t it?”
“Yes!” I motion to the elaborate water fountains that weave across the grassy lawn next to the playground. “My friend Fen helped set it up. She found an underground spring here that keeps the fountains going without any expense to the city.”
We turn the corner at the park and continue along a few more blocks before a construction site comes into view up ahead. Beyond the plywood barrier, an elegant limestone face is partway through construction.
