Chapter 24: I’m Obviously Never Leaving

I trudged to the creepy bedroom, exhausted and worried sick about Addison. Tobin and Yvette were already in there getting cozy on the demon print loveseat. They stopped mid-grope.

“Don’t mind me, I’m taking a shower and going to bed.” I wished I had some aspirin but with my empty stomach, it was probably just as well.

“You aren’t leaving tonight?” Yvette asked.

I took off the glove and put it on the dresser. “Apparently not.”

“Did Jamison leave?” she asked.

“Not yet.” I caught myself looking surprised in the mirror as clean new floral print pajamas appeared in front of me on the dresser. I noticed a glass pitcher of ice water and some cups on a table near the bed, along with soda crackers on a plate.

“He’s delinquent on some licensure stuff. They won’t let him keep his baton without renewing the permits, so he’ll be here a while. Anyway, I need to break the news I won’t be leaving with him,” said Tobin, nuzzling behind Yvette’s ear.

“How’s your tail and paws?” I asked Yvette.

“Better than they were before,” she said. “Now that I have a distraction.”

“Rowr,” said Tobin.

“That’s good,” I said to her. We said we’d catch up later.

They left. I headed into the bathroom. On the vanity was a basket of brand new toiletries including a bar of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a packet of fizzy tablets for nausea.

That night I slept fitfully, with dreams about not being able to get out of a maze.

I lay half asleep, taking in the aromas of coffee and bacon, with sunlight streaming in through the window that looked out onto the wrought iron fence. My headache was gone, replaced with hunger pangs.

Knocking on the door forced me to wake up all the way. “Coralie, if you’re awake...breakfast is ready downstairs.”

Rufus. I wondered what time he went to bed, or if he even had.

“Thanks, I’ll be right down,” I said. The bedside clock read 9:15.

“Whenever you’re up to it,” he said.

The other glove had returned. I started thinking about Addison and our conversation about the hospital food.

My thoughts strayed to the mess I’d made in Rufus’s bedroom, and whether his laboratory still looked disastrous. Yvette and I were probably magically barred from there now.

What would Addison say?

I waited for the sadness to pass before I went downstairs.

As I made my way to the kitchen, I realized that Rufus’s house was filled with large windows and hung with mirrors which brightened the rooms and made them almost cheerful in the morning light. The place seemed to have lost its oppressive atmosphere.

A buffet was spread out on the kitchen table: bacon, eggs, roasted potatoes, baked beans, toast, butter, honey, and two kinds of jam, along with tea and coffee. Yvette and Tobin were already helping themselves.

“Those look comfy,” Yvette said about the pj’s.

“Thanks, they are,” I said.

Rufus was showered and changed but not well rested. He stooped glassy-eyed over the oven, pushing ham steaks around a buttered skillet with tongs.

Tobin mentioned that Jamison had gotten his licenses current and decided to take a break from work. “His wife is a saint. She constantly writes him notes which he puts in his pocket and forgets about. He’s a genius at magic though.”

“Even though he turned me into an opossum,” said Yvette. “That was unexpected.”

“But it led us together, my sweet,” Tobin said, and kissed the top of her head. “Anyways, he said he was very happy for us.”

Rufus rolled his eyes and drained his coffee cup. He looked like he needed a lot more.

“So with James going home we decided to stick around here,” Tobin said. “The meals are too good to pass up.”

“Plus we want to keep you company,” Yvette said to Rufus between bites. “You know, after everything.”

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“Lucky me,” Rufus said tiredly.

“I’m sorry for the mess I made in your room. I can clean it up,” I said to him.

He poured himself more coffee. “It’s already been taken care of.”

That was a relief. “And I’m also sorry for letting all the undead creatures out.”

“It was for the best.”

“What about your laboratory?” I asked.

“I have a company coming. It’s far less complicated than you think,” he said. “Please eat something.”

“Everything looks delicious,” I said.

Rufus nodded with his mouth full. I chewed some toast and dreaded asking him when I would possibly be getting home.

We ate in silence. Yvette and Tobin slipped away paw in paw, no doubt somewhere private.

Rufus yawned. He finished his coffee and announced he was going back to bed. “The basement has been made inaccessible to all of you. Coralie, please find something quiet to do. I know you like to read.”

I finished eating alone, my tiny hopes dashed. It was obvious nobody saw the same urgency for me to return home as I did. Maybe the Dorien Consulate could help me arrange a way. I took care of the dishes, put the food in the refrigerator, and went back upstairs to get the gloves.

My outfit from the day before was laundered and folded on the dresser. If only we had that service at Addison’s. Actually we do, but it’s me and there’s no magic involved.

I hashed out my plan to leave and go the our Consulate's office as I waited for Rufus to fall asleep. He would probably be out cold for hours after yesterday’s events.

In the meantime, I got ready for the day, left the pajamas in the hamper, put Runaway Rabbits back in the closet, and made the bed while I listened for Rufus’s snores.

How would I even find the Consulate? Using the Chimbrelis was out of the question. Maybe there was a directory around here somewhere, or a map. The sitting room seemed like a good place to start looking. I recalled seeing some magazines and mail on a side table that had a bunch of drawers.

As soon as I heard Rufus’s snores, I crept downstairs. The sitting room had nothing useful. No maps, atlases, or anything. The mail was a men’s apparel catalog and something from the water utility company. There were other built-in drawers, painted shut. I gave up trying to pry them open, not wanting to crack the wood.

Where was Yvette? She’d know where to look, or even where the Consulate was, if I was lucky.

My appetite came back with a vengeance so I went back to the kitchen for a plate of ham and potatoes and a cup of tea. I quietly searched the drawers as I ate, hoping one of them would be a junk drawer. There was but it contained books of matches, scissors, postage stamps, pens and pencils, and some copre coins.

Discouraged, I slid into a chair. Across from me was a napkin holder. Stuffed inside it were a brochure and tickets for the city’s botanical gardens and a map of Kitlo. I wanted to yell for joy.

The map took up the kitchen table as I unfolded it. There was the Dorien Consulate, marked with a tiny symbol denoting a government building. According to the legend, it was a few miles away on foot. I had no money for cab fare.

I went through six napkins copying down directions to the Consulate because the pen kept tearing holes in them and I couldn’t find any normal paper to use. It wasn’t perfect but it would have to do. Besides being reluctant to take it from the house, the map was too unwieldy. It took me ten minutes to refold it the right way.

In my head I rehearsed the story I planned to tell the officials while I finished tidying the kitchen: I’m here visiting an elderly relative but my traveling papers were stolen. Hopefully they wouldn’t ask to speak to any of my nonexistent family members.

A hush fell over the house as I slipped on the gloves. What would be worse, getting lost or getting all the way there and they were closed?

Although anxiety made me want to leave as soon as possible, I needed to say goodbye to Yvette and Tobin. They were nowhere to be found.

I crept to the front door. It was massive, stained dark, and carved with dragons, boars, stags, and other beasts. My hand had barely touched the doorknob when I was scared witless by Rufus staring at me across the foyer on the stair landing. I froze.

“Thanks for picking up after yourself,” he said.

“I thought you were asleep.” My voice felt too loud. “Thank you for all the stuff you did. Feeding us and everything.”

Rufus nodded. “Where are you going anyway, out for some air?”

I couldn’t tell him about my plan to go to the Consulate. He’d think I was an even bigger idiot than he already did. He would positively cackle.

A familiar, cold pain stabbed at my finger. The marble rolled out of my glove and bounced onto the floor. Before it could zip away, I reached down and grabbed it. The room lurched.

Something pulled me forward. Below me, the room dissolved into a whooshing blur.

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