Page 42 of Lost in the Fog

She chuckled.

He paused in front of a door. “This is the guestroom. The next room is mine in case you get scared in the middle of the night.”

“Why would I get scared?”

“When I sleep, I release ghosts. Strange things can happen.”

“Okay. I will deal with that if it happens. Meantime, I need to change, and I know just the caftan.”

She opened the door, flicked on the light, and looked around at the wide bed and the wall of closet doors. Gia walked to the doors and opened them, looking for her peach caftan. She found it and turned, noticing Ornolf in the doorway. “Please close the door. I have to do a quick change.”

He sighed and closed the door behind him.

She reached behind her and unzipped the gown she had on, shrugging out of it. The caftan simply slipped over her head and billowed around her as she moved.

Gia opened the door to the hall, and Ornolf was waiting for her. He grinned. “That will work.”

She smiled, and he took her hand to draw her toward his bedroom. “Just in case you see something that scares you in the night.”

Gia laughed. “And walking into your bedroom will make that better or worse? If you are sleeping and they escape, you will be soundly sleeping. Waking you would not be a great idea.”

He paused as he opened the door. “Fair point. But do it if you have a need.”

“Okay.” She looked past him and took in the bed, desk, dresser, and what appeared to be a meditation space. “You meditate?”

“I contain the fallen. Talking to them keeps them calm.”

“Oh. Right.” She checked the phone in her hand and tapped the tracker. “Dad’s almost here.”

“You have a tracker on him?”

“And he on me. He had a health scare last year, but it was just stress from fussing about me.”

“What kind of health scare?”

“Panic attacks that felt like a heart attack. He needs me off his plate.” She sighed. “So, shall we go back downstairs?”

He smiled. “You don’t want to see the ensuite?”

“Nope. I will trust there is one.”

“There is also a nest hidden in the hallway.”

“I haven’t had a heat yet.”

He blinked. “No?”

“I asked Regis, and she said that when I spent enough time in elf form, it would show up.”

“How much time have you spent in that form?”

“Total? About eight hours.”

“Why not more?”

“I don’t hang out with the Elite, and I am usually only in that form when I am not in my body. Apparently, that doesn’t count.”

“So, your soul is an elf.”

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