Page 4 of Out of Sight

“Ah. Great. Thank you for coming here to assess it.”

He leaned back. “You think I will leave you like this?”

“Sure. I have had folks look at it before. They always forget.”

He shook his head. “I am going to be at your side until the curse is broken. Thanks to the new djinn and mages camping on the new palace’s doorstep, the current power flows freely, and we now have a variety of energies to call on. You will not be alone until we have solved this. Coms will be open, and we will find the source of this curse.”

Ted looked at him. “I need to finish the project first so that the office is cleared out and you have the app. I also need the payment.”

Nora smiled and held up her phone. “Payment has been issued. You are good.”

“Thanks, Nora. Sabin isn’t worthy of you.”

He grinned. “I know. I consider myself lucky every day I draw breath.”

Nora smiled, and Aurora pressed her sticky hands to Ted’s face, squeezing her cheeks. “Me face!”

“Yes, Aurora. You face.”

Avor looked at the toddler with a soft smile.

Ted smiled. “Imagining Ira at this age?”

He blinked. “We have met before?”

“Oh. Yes. I helped your wife make an in-house app so that inventory gets easier when she steps back for her new duties. I met you then. We all had dinner and discussed the tricky parts of dessert making. There were several dark elves skulking around and waiting for leftovers. Nice place. You two went off to tuck Ira in, and I ceased to exist.”

Avor’s face was horrified. “We have met?”

“Yes. I didn’t explain the curse yet. I was saving that for after coffee, and then everyone was gone, and no one came back in. You two had gone on to other nocturnal activities, and that was that. I left.”

“When was this?”

“Eight months ago. Right after Vaayu came by.”

He closed his eyes and thought about it, his eyes wide. “Oh no. There it is. You were helping Ira colour a project for school.”

Ted smiled. “Yes, I was.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Six years or so. Since before the current festive population came out.”

Avor paused. “Why don’t we all go to the office? You finish that project handover, and then we will all go to the new palace where experts can hopefully be assembled.”

Ted shrugged. “Just let me finish lunch, and we can be on the way. I am not doing any of this on an empty stomach.”

The entrées came, and Ted and the others ate quickly. Aurora helped by stuffing meatballs into Ted’s face and laughing when she growled.

Ted got some chicken nuggets into Aurora, and then she was handed over to her dad. Sabin got his daughter eating, and Nora gave a warm smile. She glanced at Ted. “That is why we are having another one.”

“Because he can wrangle a dino-nugget?”

Nora smiled. “Because he did it without me asking.”

Sabin snorted. “Aurora and I have a deal. I keep finding dino nuggies, and she goes to bed on time.”

The toddler stiffened and said, “No nap!”