I really do feel like he has some of the answers to the questions that I have, and that it’s important that he’s a part of the conversation as a whole. Although that second reason doesn’t really make sense.
Plus, I feel like he’s been in the basement for a while, and I know that he has a house in his pocket realm, but he’s got to be lonely.
I would be.
I was, although I had Betty to talk to, and she kept me semi-sane.
I pause, actually, maybe she didn’t, I mean, I was talking to a gun, and she wasn’t enchanted then.
I shrug, you know what, it doesn’t matter, she’s enchanted now, and I was talking to her and the Voices.
The Voices murmur in agreement.
Of course they are voices in my head that no one else can hear, so that might be more of a tick in the crazy column instead of in the sane one.
Thankfully, before I spiral any further than I already am, the basement door glows and then slowly opens.
Zephyr isn’t standing on the steps looking at me like I’m a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket, so I’m assuming that House is the one who opened the door for me, and if House opened the door for me, then he thinks that it's okay if I go down there and speak to Zephyr.
The torches on the walls light with a welcoming glow as I descend the steps deep underground.
When I get to the bottom, I’m kind of disappointed that Zephyr isn’t floating in the middle of the room like he was when we first met him. I feel like the image that he’s shown us is only the very tip of the iceberg. The way that he holds himself and the way that he tracked my movements as I moved across the room this morning tells me that he is coiled violence, a predator.
I felt that as soon as my eyes landed on him. He’s deadly.
And as I stand here in the basement and in his space, my instincts scream at me. He is not what he appears to be, he’s acting in a certain way for our benefit, not because that’s who he is.
Despite all of that, I can’t definitively say that he is a danger to us. Which is incredibly confusing. Even the Voices aren’t much help, not chipping in either way.
He’s here, in my house, and he’s not going anywhere for a while because he’s on the run from something, and because I don’t know whether he’s with us or a threat to us, it means that in all the spare time that I have, I’m going to have to figure it out and get to know him.
Chapter Six
Neith
My feelings are conflicting.
The best way to get to know him better and to judge his true intentions is for him to hang out with us, to let his guard down.
“Zephyr?” I call out. “I’m pretty sure you can hear me, in your pocket realm house. At least I think you can because you answered Ethel. Anyway, I came to say thank you for the pastries, they look and smell absolutely divine. I also came to see if you wanted to come up and sit with us? I think I can explain more of what you felt last night, the death magic, and if I’m completely honest, I’m hoping that you can explain a couple of things to me too.”
I realize that I’m rambling, so I snap my mouth closed.
As I wait for him to appear, I could have woken him up or something, or he could be naked, I smirk and then frown slightly as my brain throws an image of Zephyr shirtless in his suit pants at me.
Oh damn.
I am not sure how I feel about that at all.
I mean, I know he’s hiding muscles under that suit, but I’m pretty fucking shocked that my brain decided to throw that at me.
Doing the mature adult thing, I ignore it and busy myself with looking at the other things that are in the basement. It’s a room full of curiosities despite the fact that it’s quite small, and I didn’t really get the chance to look around properly the last time that we were here because there were so many of us in here, and I was worried that Ethel had kidnapped someone.
After seeing Ethel fight off the ghosts, I’m not entirely sure that I could go up against her and succeed.
She’s skilled.
As I reach my hand toward a dust-covered book, the Voices shout a warning at the same time that the book fucking growls at me and tries to bite my fingers.
