“Affie, you know I’m involved with Duke Lear.” Affie had seen us together a few times.
“I didn’t know you wanted kids together,” he admitted.
“It doesn’t matter if I want kids or not. What does matter is a baby is missing. Justin’s baby.” I tried not to let my frustration bleed through. Conversations with Affie were always circular and dizzying, forcing me to battle against vertigo as if I were a child twirling in place and trying not to fall over.
“What’s his name?”
“Umm, I don’t think he has one yet.”
“Everyone needs a name,” Affie insisted.
“I’m sure he’ll give him one eventually. He’s still very new. First, we need to find the baby before we can name him.”
“What is wrong with him?” Affie’s hazy gaze snapped to mine with an alertness that took me aback.
“What do you mean?”
“I can feel…something.” His voice faded off.
“Don’t spread this around, but Justin told me his baby’s stomach was made of gears instead of flesh.”
“Oh. And you want him for your collection?” Affie nodded his head as if that would be a wise decision.
“What? No! I want him because Justin wants his baby back.” Or really his heir. I still wasn’t convinced Lear had any affection for the baby he helped spawn.
“Hmm, would he be better off with the duke or someone new?”
“Justin won’t mistreat him.” There were many things I argued with Justin about, but child abuse wasn’t going to be one of them.
“Is it wise to gamble with a child’s life?” Affie asked the air as if waiting for the single cloud floating by to answer his question.
“I don’t think it’s gambling to return him to his rightful father,” I answered carefully. I didn’t want to set Affie off by angering him and losing this rare stream of coherency.
“Maybe not, or maybe it will uncover uglier things. There are many dangerous worlds within worlds. Will you be the one to unravel them?”
“Are we still talking about the missing baby?” I couldn’t help asking.
Affie blinked at me. “I am. What are you talking about?”
Calming breaths didn’t work with Affie. My fingers twitched even though I knew strangling him wouldn’t get me my answers any faster and would probably result in a knife through my ribs courtesy of Oss. “Would it be easier if I had Oss talk to you?”
Affie hummed a few bars of a melody I almost recognized before he stopped. “I’m always happy to see Oss. The child isn’t within reach. If you find him now, it would be tragic for many souls. When it is time, I’ll let you know.”
“How will you know?”
“I have to go.” Affie leaped off the back of the bench and vanished in the shadows.
I snapped my head around, trying to discover the reason behind Affie’s sudden departure.
“Mr. Small. Imagine finding you here,” the magistrate’s smirk sent slime crawling up my spine.
There was no sign of Justin.
Asshole.
