My heart swells up at his words. I can’t believe I spent decades without Loxley, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life without him.
***
The fall festival is as busy as ever. Fortunately, Loxley is well-versed at putting up my glamours. He adores my turtle form, but human guise is probably for the best when it’s not Halloween. I’m still wearing my quintessential trenchcoat, but a tank top underneath. It’s blazing hot today, and the crowds aren’t making it any cooler. Regardless, I adore being able to walk around in public and hold my guy’s hand.
We walk past several booths, occasionally perusing the handmade crafts. When we come upon a large line, Loxley getsexcited. He points excitedly at the vendors making fall-themed cotton candy.
“You hungry?” I ask. Leaning in, I whisper, “Do you need to feed off of me?”
“No,” he says with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes. Sure, he’s still cursed, but we’ve gotten into a groove of daily feeding from my wrist, and I’ve gotten used to the temporary pain. I always generate my own arcana, so I’m good with him waking me up every morning. We get to sleep together every night, so no complaints here! He’s learned to control his empath powers, and I check up on his headaches every so often. He can get irritated by my vigilance, but I don’t care?I’m his cautious turtle boyfriend. With his glamouring and my constant check-ins, we take care of each other.
“I just wanted…pumpkin spice cotton candy.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Wait here?” He points to the one unoccupied picnic table, and I nod.
The moment he leaves, a crowd of kids pushes me to the side. My trenchcoat nearly falls off, so I hike it back up. Panic seizes me when I feel my large pocket is missing something. My locked tome!
“You dropped this.” An Asian woman with gray hair stands behind me. She hands me my tome, and the relief in my chest is significant.
“Thank you.”
She gives me a coy look, like she knows something about me. Can she see through my glamour? There’s no way…right?
“That’s an interesting book you have there. The design reminds me of centuries-old texts.”
Is she like a museum curator or something? “Oh, uh, yeah. That’s exactly what it is.”
“You know, some locks like that don’t have a key.”
She studies me, and I try to walk away. But something about her makes me stay. “Oh?” I ask, scrutinizing the locked book.
“But I’m sure you can open it if you use your…energy.” That last word is filled with more meaning than I can configure. Before I can say more, she walks away, but not before taking out a pipe and lighting it up. The woman saunters off through the crowds, smoking without a care in the world.
Loxley walks past her, waving smoke out of the way. He turns back to her, then to me. His face dons a pensive look as we sit at the picnic table. “You recognize her?” I ask.
“Maybe…” He shakes his head and smiles again. “Want some?” He offers me a bit of his massive cloud of cotton candy. I take a tenuous nibble and sit down. As Loxley eats, I stare at the book in my hands.
Energy…
An idea dawns on me, an instinct I need to chase. Looking around, I notice the crowds aren’t paying us any attention. So, I bring the book below the table. Concentrating for only a moment, I shove a spark of arcana into the lock.
Click!
I gasp and bring it back onto the table. Loxley leans forward as I turn the pages. There are symbols I don’t recognize, as well as language symbols?Chinese, Korean, and some English words.
“It opened with magic,” I say.
Touching the pages, the significance of it all weighs heavily on my heart. My biological parents wanted me to have this.
When I turn to the last page, I can see why: there’s a montage of old, black-and-white photographs. Each one has a corresponding sketch of an animal. There’s a turtle, a Chinese dragon, a bird of sorts, and a lion.
“Is that Kai?” Loxley asks.
My heart stops when I gaze at the photo next to the turtle. Despite the blurriness, I do recognize the young dude’s face as a little kid version of Kai.
“The Four Guardians,” I whisper. A chill runs down my spine at the gravity of it all. I knew Kai was having difficulties finding his other descendants, but I think I have the answers in the palm of my hands, literally.
