Page 67 of Jade Lion and the Witch Boy
I run off, and Kai follows. Down the alleyways I go, chasing a memory. After two turns, I come upon a small storefront. I gasp and take in the sight before me
“Sebastian, where are you going?” Kai asks when he catches up.
“This…this is…” I point to the door.
“What?”
I gaze up and read the word “Antiques” on the sign. I recognize the brown door and storefront.It’s exactly like it was!
I frantically tap Kai’s chest and look back at the store. “This is…the store where I found you!”
Kai gives me a confused expression and swallows the rest of his cone. “I thought you said it was on the other side of the bay.”
“It was,” I say. “Maybe it’s a chain or something?”
Without saying another word, I walk into the store. It’s just as dusty and dark as it was a year ago. After my eyes adjust, I spot a figure sitting on the desk.
“Good to see you again,” the woman says. She’s still smoking a pipe, and it’s as if the entire year didn’t change her.
“You…you remember me?”
“But of course.” She shoots me a coy grin, and I sense Kai standing behind me. “I remember all. Too much, to be honest.”
I turn and smile at Kai, then back to the woman. “I spotted that cat again. The moon cat. Is he in here?”
She chuckles and puts down the pipe. “Oh, that creature never stays still.” She hops off the desk and walks toward us. “And he won’t be back.”
“Why not?” I ask with a frown.
“He looks for witches and wizards who have a void in their lives. Usually men.” She stands by a wooden drawer on an old armoire, then opens it. The woman looks at me and adds, “But you, dear boy, seem very fulfilled. Both of you.”
My cheeks warm, and I can’t help but grin. “But I thought your store was over the bridge? Or do you own many?”
“My store and I go where we’re needed. But only in this dimension.” She rummages through the drawer. “Unlike that cat with the moon-shaped mark. Haunted hearts, that lucky feline gets to traverse the multiverse, finding witchy men in alternate dimensions who are pure of heart.”
I exchange a confused look with my boyfriend. “Multi…what…how do you know that?”
She shrugs. “The cat told me.” When she pulls out a small book, she smiles in satisfaction. “Ah, here it is.”
She saunters over to Kai and hands him an ancient, leather-bound tome. The intricate carvings on the cover appear to be mystic in nature.
“What is this?” Kai asks.
The woman smiles coyly at us. “Something that I believe belongs to you.”
Kai opens one page to reveal a faded, tenuous drawing. I gasp. The sketch resembles something I haven’t seen in, well, a year.
“The jade lion totem,” I murmur. I touch Kai’s shoulder. “That was you! Your imprisonment.”
“Ah, there is much to learn from the past,” the woman says.
Kai ponders the drawing and leafs through to another section of the book. Each page has unfamiliar symbols, and sketches of other animals. Kai gazes at the first page, then quickly shuts the book. He sternly looks at her and says, “You kept me in your shop for decades. Why?”
She shrugs and saunters back to her desk. “I don’t know what you mean.” She picks up her pipe and puffs on it three times. “Forces of good are rewarded with patience. Life has a way of putting us all where we’re meant to be, and when.”
I share a resigned look with Kai. I highly doubt we’ll get any straight answers from this pipe-smoking woman, ever.
Before he can interrogate her further, his cell phone vibrates. He picks it up and turns back to the door. The only calls he gets are strictly for business, so this could be urgent.
