Page 18 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part Two

CHAPTER SEVEN The Grapevine

“Getting chill,” Lochlan said as he snuffed his pipe. “I’m going to check on Ivy. She may’ve made supper.”

“Alright,” Keir said without any indication that he cared whether Lochlan left or stayed.

It had grown dark while they’d sat on the porch, most of the time in silence. Keir noted that it was especially dark because of the moonless night.

Lochlan had stood to go when they first heard the unmistakable sound of giant wings flapping. Keir came to his feet to watch as a creature standing almost six feet tall, with a wingspan of eleven feet, landed in the lane just beyond the porch.

Looking through his sephalian eyes informed Keir instantly that the visitor was probably friend, not foe. An instant later, he recognized him.

Lochlan knew him as well. “Good evening, Chieftain.” Lochlan stepped off the porch so that he wouldn’t be looking down on the leader of the gargoyle clan.

“Clerk,” was all that Bulent said.

“Would you care to come inside?” Keir made the offer but wasn’t entirely sure Bulent’s wings would fit through the doorway.

Bulent turned his head to the side and appeared to be taking the measure of the porch. “The structure wasn’t built to hold my weight.”

That wasn’t entirely true. Bulent could make himself as light as air. He could also make himself small enough to fit through the doorway with no trouble at all, but he believed that information was need-to-know. He also believed the clerk and the enforcer didn’t need to know either of those things or that he was a little claustrophobic when inside buildings.

“A pity,” Lochlan said. “To what do we owe the honor of a visit?”

“I heard through the grapevine that the Magistrate found a bit of trouble.” The old gargoyle’s words ground together like rocks in a tumbler so that even other magic-kind had to listen carefully to understand.

Lochlan glanced at Keir. The last thing they’d wanted was for word to get out that Rita was compromised. It could destabilize the entire fae community.

“Where’d you hear that?” Lochlan asked.

“Friend of a fifty cousin, twice removed, is a friend of the judge. He told me she calls him J.D.”

Lochlan glanced at Keir. “I see.”

“I’m here to offer my services,” Bulent said.

“Your services?” Lochlan was genuinely confused.

“J.D. told me to say, and this is a quote, the judge did me a solid when she ruled in favor of my nephew. I’m here to square up.”

“That’s, ah, most honorable. But how do you plan to, ah, square up?”

“If I’m understanding the situation, the judge is trapped in the dreamworld.”

“Well…” Lochlan began.

“Let’s say I’m right,” Bulent interrupted and far be it for Lochlan to disagree. “The problem is what you might call my purview.” He paused. When neither Lochlan nor Keir spoke, he went on. “We’re guardians of the night.”

Keir and Lochlan looked at each other, then back at Bulent.

“Anddreams,” Bulent added as if the clerk and sephalian were slow.

“Ohhhhhhh,” Keir and Lochlan said in unison.

“You think you might be able to retrieve her consciousness?”

“I can certainly assist in that endeavor.”

“Well, how do you feel about teamwork?” Keir asked.

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