“What… is it?”
“That’s Allander.He’s a salamander.”
“Doesn’t look like any newt I’ve ever seen.”
“Not an amphibian-type salamander.He’s a fire spirit.An Elemental.Didn’t Moncrief include them in his stories?”
“He had fire, water, earth, and spirit faeries and elves.”Anything else she remembered fled her mind as she stared at Allander, a creature nothing like any in the book.
The creature lifted his lip in a snarl, revealing cat-like teeth.
“They don’t like being stared at,” Cyntag murmured, guiding her to the mirror.Her gaze zeroed in on him first, his sharp features and then his dark eyes… except they weren’t dark.An ember like the flame atop a candle flickered in their depths, exactly what she thought she’d glimpsed.
“Your eyes…” Hypnotizing, tugging at some deep part of herself…
“Look at yourself, Ruby.”
The sound of her name, blanketed in the richness of his voice, shuddered through her.She pulled her gaze to her reflection and gasped.“My…” A flame dancing in an unseen breeze, inhereyes.
Movement at Cyntag’s shoulder caught her attention.The dragon—the friggin’ dragon tattoo—ran its tongue across its upper lip.
Overwhelmed, she pushed away and turned to face him.No embers in his eyes, no moving tattoo, and no whatever-the-hell that thing was sitting on his desk.She searched her reflection.Just her hazel eyes, wide and unsettled.She didn’t even think about it, just reached out and ran her fingers over his tattoo.His skin was warm but otherwise felt normal.
You’re touching him.
Yes.Soft, smooth skin.Hard muscles.
She blinked and jerked her hand back.“What did you do to me?”She ran to the desk and patted the place where the creature sat.Nothing.
“I lifted the Veil so that, through me, you could see the Hidden.It’s all here; you just can’t see, as I explained.”He ran his hand down her arm, twining his fingers with hers, and stretched her hand toward the empty space.Except it wasn’t empty, because she felt the skinny arm of the creature.Parchment skin, short, coarse hairs.“Now you can feel it.”
He released her, and she pulled her hand back.She stared at her tingling fingers as she rubbed them together, then at the desk.“It’s still there, right this second?”
“Allander, light the candle… please.They don’t speak, but they insist on respect.It’s not always reciprocated, but Allander has been with me for many years.We have an understanding.”He nodded for her to look at the candle, because her attention was riveted on him.
When she turned, the flame came to life.
He leaned back against the edge of the desk.“Have you ever seen something in the corner of your eye, only to look and find nothing there?Or heard a sound somewhere in your home but couldn’t find the source?How about the ubiquitous missing sock or keys that aren’t where you left them?”
He tilted his head toward the invisible being.“Elementals, usually.They’re in the non-physical plane all over the world, but we can see and touch them because of our own otherworldly essence.Some are mischievous, others a nuisance, and a few dangerous.A lot of what’s considered poltergeist activity is either their doing, demons, or Deuces.”
She reached back to the beginning of what he’d just said.Something in the corner of her eye?“Sometimes I see shadows move among the parts in my resto yard, but I can never find what causes them.”No, no, no, this couldn’t be real.“I figured they were feral cats.I sort of attract them.”She focused on his last word, remembering it from Mon’s stories.“Deuces who make orbs?”
“Most can make orbs of some kind, some more deadly than others.I need to find out if there’s a select group of Deuces who can make the kind of orb you saw.That will help us narrow down who could have sent it.”
“Us?”
“You and I have a lot of work to do before someone comes after you again.”
“Like hell I’m working, or doing anything else, with you.I need fresh air.”She grabbed at the candle, snuffing out the flame and sniffing the black wax.“You’ve got some kind of hallucinogenic substance in here.Or somewhere.”
“Those weren’t hallucinations, Ruby.”
“Stop saying my name like… that.”She reached for the door, amazed when she turned the knob and stepped into the hallway without his hand clamping onto her.She didn’t dare look back.Everything he’d told her, everything she’d seen, bounced around in her head like a hundred rubber balls.
Glesenda watched her stalk past with a puzzled expression.Outside, sunlight beckoned, and people walked past the studio, nice, normal people.
Don’t turn around.Just keep going.
