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The movement of Vayne’s hand in Star’s blind spot was unbearable, and even worse was the fact that he knew that Vayne should fucking know better. 

So Star did what any anxious horse would do if a disliked person approached him suspiciously from behind: he snapped his leg back and slammed his foot into the inside of Vayne’s knee.

There was a pretty awful popping noise, and Vayne let out a yell, trying to grab onto Star—for balance or whatever else, Star wasn’t waiting around to find out. He jolted forward, whipping around to kick Vayne again, flinging him to the ground.

Vayne hit the ground hard, arms slamming to either side to try to catch himself, and Star saw properly what was in Vayne’s hand now: a rope halter. A blind rage and nausea swelled in the pit of his stomach as his gaze nearly took on a hazy, reddened sheen. “Enslave me?! You wanted to fucking tie me up? Make me yours? Fuck you!”

It looked like Vayne was trying to push himself upright, so Star kicked him in the chest again with a nasty cracking sound that was probably a rib giving way. Vayne hollered and Star slammed down on top of him, pinning him down, grabbing the halter in one hand.

It was fine to touch it; it just couldn’t go over his head or neck or his nature would force him to obey whoever had bridled him. Nevertheless, it stung to the touch, and he realized there was a spell on it, too—it shouldn’t take effect unless it was on him, or it’d affect Vayne too, but he did not like the realization and flung it down the sidewalk, away from him. “You motherfucker!” 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Vayne raised his arms and crossed them in front of himself with a painful gasp, trying to defend himself. “I’m sorry! I didn’t want to! I’m fucking sorry, okay?!”

“Is the warehouse even a real place?” Star demanded, grabbing those wrists, but not doing more than letting Vayne feel the strength he usually kept hidden. He was the same creature whether he was in human form or horse form, and he had the same strength in both forms. It was just if he chose to use it. The same weight, too, though he wasn’t going to drop twelve hundred pounds straight on Vayne’s midsection unless he had to. Not with the man apologizing and begging. “Or were you just going to take me right to my enemies instead?”

“It’s real,” Vayne stammered. “I think so, anyway, but yeah, it’s not—I don’t think it’s their headquarters, not really, I think it’s just supposed to be a drop-off point for hostages?” He stammered out a description and an address for the warehouse. “But yeah. I think they’re using the track as HQ, the warehouse is just a separate thing. I didn’t want to, Star, I fucking promise!”

Star pressed on his wrists a little too hard just to make a point. “I’m not sure I trust your promises right now.” But something Vayne had said just penetrated the haze of his anger and fear. A plural. “Wait, hostages?”

Vayne was shaking, breathing hard, and had gone a very unpleasant colour. “As far as I know. I wasn’t asking details, it just sounded like they were going after other people too to try to get what they want. I didn’t want to hurt you! I almost didn’t even lie! I did follow them, but they fucking caught me, Star, and they threatened my family and promised me riches all at the same time, what the fuck was I gonna do except go along with it? They could kill me in a fucking heartbeat, I’m just fucking human, Star, and—and then I come back and find you’ve got Georgio involved—”

Star’s breath caught. “Did Georgio know you were going to do this?”

“Georgio doesn’t know shit,” Vayne gasped. “He’s got no subtlety, he’s just a great guy who runs fast and is strong and doesn’t know when to stop talking. I wasn’t gonna risk Georgio in this shit, you’re the one who pulled him into things.”

Fuck. Star swallowed. “Is he okay?” He let go of one of Vayne’s hands, which flopped back to the sidewalk, and patted Vayne down until he found his phone, scrolling through his contacts list. Family, friends, contacts at the track, other jockeys—no Georgio. After a moment, he felt a bit embarrassed; Georgio didn’t have a phone, after all. But still, better to check.

Vayne let out a loud groan, tried to shift his position, and swore instead. “He’s fine. I didn’t lie. I got him loaded up in the trailer and had a friend bring him to a stable outside of town. Equine Equinox Haven. You can look it up. I just wanted to keep my bud out of it if they were threatening me.”

That was disappointing; Star could have used Georgio’s brute strength and, (he had to admit to himself) his support and friendship. But the rest of what he was doing might not be suited to someone with a bull’s body, and if he had time, he could always go fetch him back. “All right. Okay, Vayne, I’ll believe you. Tell me what happened with the guy. What did they look like?”

People were stepping across the street to avoid what was happening here, but Star was fairly confident nobody was going to call emergency services until Star did. This was the Valley, and if someone was getting a beat-down from a person who clearly looked fae, that was business they didn’t want to get involved in. The police wouldn’t want to either. 

Vayne coughed, and clearly regretted it. “Fuck, Star. I followed them, like I said, but when I rounded the corner after them they were right there. They were… terrifying. Something about them just, I knew that they would be willing to do every terrible thing to me if they wanted to, and any threat they made I knew they could carry out. I’d have done it if they didn’t offer me wealth but they did a full, a full stick and carrot thing. They want your boss, Dandelion. They thought as a jockey who you knew, I might be a good choice to try to get you as a hostage. They asked me to bring them one of the track’s halters, and they’d make sure you’d never get it off if it was on, they just needed to prepare some things and would bring it to me. That’s why I needed an hour, because they did. They were there when I called you and were listening to me set up the meeting, Star.”

“Oof,” Star breathed. He sat back, finally.

It didn’t seem like Vayne was willing to move again under his own power anyway. He sighed. “I thought you might figure out what I was doing. Should’ve realized it’d be the same in your human form as in your horse form.”

Star attempted to divert guilt off before he could really feel it. If he hadn’t acted quickly, what would have happened to him? And even after the first kick, Vayne had tried to grab him. His own safety had to come first. “What did that person look like?”

“They are not a person,” Vayne muttered. “They were… listen, I’m not kidding that they were hard to look at directly, but their skin was…cracked. Like the whole thing was a clay mask. They looked human but there was something else looking out from inside them. They were too tall. Their hair was so long it was like a cape. They had a height that went on over their head. I don’t know what the fuck they were but they weren’t human and they weren’t a normal monster like you.”

“Too tall,” Star muttered. That had been mentioned before. Cracked skin. “Abyssal, maybe?”

“What, a demon? Yeah, I’d believe it,” Vayne muttered, closing his eyes. “Being close to them was like every worst thought you’d ever had came bubbling to the surface.”

Yeah. That sounded abyssal. Star shuddered. “Okay. I’m gonna call you an ambulance.”

“Okay,” Vayne mumbled, quiet, almost petulant. OHIP would cover the ambulance and whatever hospital stay he needed, and, given his line of work, there’s no way he wouldn’t have his own insurance to cover other recovery care. For clean breaks, magical doctors might even be able to fix him right up within days, and most of those were covered under private insurance, if not the provincial plan.

Still, no need to be totally rude about it. Star dug out the bread he’d got earlier and peeled off a slice, putting it in Vayne’s mouth. “Eat this in the meantime. It’ll kickstart your healing.”

“I’m gonna puke,” Vayne warned him around the mouthful.

“Don’t.” Star got up and dialed 911, letting them know that he was at the corner of Elm and Buller with someone who had broken his leg, maybe some other injuries. When he hung up, he looked down at Vayne on the sidewalk. “You’re not gonna tell them I did this.”

“Fuck no,” Vayne said. He sounded meek now. “A shitton of locals probably saw me trying to halter you anyway. There’s no way it’d go in my favour if I tried. You’re not going to tell others? The track? …Georgio? I want to go back to racing, and… you know…”

“Maybe not,” Star said. “I’m not in the mood to make promises right now.”

“Please, Star,” Vayne said quietly. “I was fuckin’ scared.”

Star didn’t want to feel bad for Vayne. Instead of answering immediately, he went over and picked up the rope halter, skin crawling, and tucked it away. He didn’t like the idea of keeping it with him, but he disliked the idea of leaving it out here even more. Besides, it might be a good idea to take it to someone who could figure out the spell on it. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. “I get it, Vayne, I do. But it’ll kind of depend on if you help them more after this.”

“Sure, yeah,” Vayne said to the sky. “I get that. We can circle back after this all shakes out.”

Star snorted and stepped around the corner, digging his phone out. His hands were shaking despite himself, and he quickly messaged the group chat about what had just happened.

Then he scrolled through the messages he’d gotten since he’d previously sent his update: Viv said she’d try to get out there, but was caught up with a client. Dandelion had just dropped Dom off at the Lindwyrm’s and was very worried now, and was asking how it went—well, asked and answered. Dom likewise was asking if he needed to come get Star. Adrien said that he had just gotten invited over to another girl’s place, but could ditch if needed, so he at least seemed fine.

But there was no answer from Caoimhe, who’d last said she’d gone to help a friend, no other details. No updates at all.

She might still be fine, he reminded himself. And he had more info now: an address for the warehouse, and the fact that the track seemed to be their HQ. Trying to assuage his worries, he tried calling her. 

It went right to voicemail, no answer, as if her phone were off.

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Of all the options, meeting up with Vayne did feel like the most promising. Someone claiming they had actual information about the mysterious Person In Black, rather than Star following up on threads that only might lead somewhere?

But something also felt odd about this, and Star wasn’t sure if it was like with Georgio, where he’d just misunderstood the person without getting to know them, or if it was valid. It just felt like it might be some kind of trap. That could be paranoia speaking too, though. Ultimately, Vayne would also have an investment in solving this. The track he raced at had been taken out of commission, and it wasn’t clear if it’d be in any shape to reopen by the time of Vayne’s next race. 

The best bet, Star decided, was to go there early and scope the place out, try to get a view of if it was a proper trap or not. He had the covert cake, which lasted an hour, and Vayne was supposed to be there in an hour, so it seemed like the perfect match.

Just for safety, he sent the group text an update of where he was going, and asked if any of them were able to come spot him and keep an eye on things from a distance. There were ways to neutralize fairies, after all, and no amount of advance planning would do any good if someone came at him with salt or iron. Having a backup against problems was common sense. But—they were also all busy, he remembered. The only one who hadn’t been was Viv, who at least had the advantage of being a witch rather than another fairy; maybe she’d be able to come watch from a distance. Better than nothing.

He received the address from Vayne and did a quick search; it appeared to be a coffee shop—not Beanheadings or anything like that, but a place called Parallelatte that he hadn’t been to before. That was a good sign; Vayne was offering a neutral space for them to meet up, and one where there’d likely be other people around. Star began to head that way.

When he was about ten minutes away, Star took the covert cake out and gave it serious consideration—after all, he had only one slice—for about seven seconds before shrugging and eating it. Better to use it now than save it for an eventuality that might never happen, not when he had his own glamour to fall back on for later break-ins. Plus, he’d expect people to be around for a trap, and not for a break-in! If he wasted it, he wasted it.

Besides, he didn’t want to get any closer before eating it—he didn’t want to run into Vayne too early and lose his chance to scope things out, or otherwise tip off anyone who might be setting up a trap.

It was an odd sensation when he ate the last bite, as if the world was suddenly crisper than usual, and his own awareness of himself more hazy. It was like shifting from actually inhabiting a body to being in a first person camera—although, when he focused, he could still see himself; he wasn’t invisible, just… forgettable.

He tried to shrug off the uneasy sensation of not knowing where his own body parts were, and continued on to the coffee shop.

It turned out that walking around a city during the day when you couldn’t let yourself bump into anyone or let your shadow cross them was a challenge, but he still made it to the address with relative speed. He checked out the inside of the building first, nobody noticing him even when he slipped behind the bar to make sure there wasn’t someone hiding there, or when he walked into the back area and found only boxes of coffee and similar things, no suspicious spell circles or anything of the like. He checked each booth carefully, even those people were at, trying to be conscious of his body and shadow enough to not let them touch anyone even while he was having difficulty focusing on them himself.

Certainly everything seemed safe, but Star couldn’t quite shake the uneasy feeling. Perhaps it was just the desire for everything to be narratively convenient and for the cake not to be a waste, but he didn’t live this long by not following his instincts. Sure, he knew that was the anthem of every horse, who did not stick around to confirm if leaves fluttering in the wind weren’t deadly, but…

He slipped back outside the coffee shop and positioned himself so he could see up both directions on the street, in case a trap were likely to be set there instead, and waited, trying to teach himself patience in a quick, easy lesson.

And about 15 minutes later, he saw Vayne start to walk around the corner and turn back, talking to someone just out of sight. Star’s heart suddenly pounded, and he pushed away from the wall he was leaning against, walking toward them. He couldn’t move too quickly, not without risking interacting with other pedestrians or getting hit by traffic that couldn’t see him, so he was still approaching when he saw Vayne reach out of sight and take something from the person Star still couldn’t see.

It wasn’t clear what it was Vayne took; it looked like some bundle of cords or cables. Vayne opened his coat and shoved them into an inner pocket there, said something, waved, and headed up the street. Twelve seconds later, he passed Star unknowingly, heading toward the coffee shop.

Star broke into a run, but by the time he rounded the corner, whoever was there before was gone. He took a deep breath, trying to scent the air and get a sense of whoever it had been. He just got a melange of normal city smells, especially for down into the valley, a background hit of fairy magic, monsters, demons, blood and rust and vampires, sweaty fur and lycanthropy, and the occasional human smell, nearly drowned out by all the others. Whoever had been there hadn’t used a spell to get away or he would have smelled that stronger than anything else, they’d just either had a place to go—a getaway vehicle, or a nearby alley or street they’d intended to turn down—or were themselves invisible and unseen now.

That was not a great thought. Star walked a bit further up to look around corners and in alleys, but he wasn’t seeing anything, and he gave up. He let himself cross into the direct line of another human, letting the cake wear off—it was about to run out of its expected duration anyway—and headed back up to the coffee shop.

Vayne lifted a hand and grinned when he saw Star enter, beckoning him over. “Hey man. Good work this morning. I heard all about it.”

“Aw, shucks,” Star said, sliding in across from him. He declined a drink just in case, though he did watch a little longingly as Vayne took a big drink of his own coffee. “I just happened to have the right biology to help out there. If it were fire we’d be fucked.”

“Hah!” Vayne snorted. He was a small man, pale, with slightly shaggy brown hair he often wore slicked back like a greaser. In general, actually, he dressed like 1970s Travolta was his personal idol.  “Nothing anyone could do about that one, yeah. About that…”

Star sat back, watching Vayne seem to think through his next words. “About that?”

“So obviously, you know Georgio and I were both down at the track when that all happened,” Vayne said. “The thing is, I was following that person in black.”

Star sat up a little straighter at that. Vayne really might actually have some solid information for him. “You were? Why?”

“The day before,” Vayne said, “something weird happened. I don’t know if Dom told you, but he and I were called in to try to sort out the track double booking. When Georgio and I headed out from that, we went to pick up some of our stuff we’d already deposited by the paddock. On my way back, I saw some people talking to Dom, and then he wandered off like he was in a daze. It was weird, I noticed it first because one of them looked like you, but a chick. And the other was really hard to… to remember or notice what they looked like? They saw me, and I asked them what was up, were they new riders signing up here, and… then I have this big blank.”

“A big blank,” Star echoed. “That’s what happened to Dom, but he wasn’t even aware of the blank to identify it until I showed him proof.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t think they did as good a job with me because they hadn’t meant to talk to me first, maybe,” Vayne said, tone thoughtful. “And no insult, but Dom is a nice guy. He thinks the best of most people. Me, I’m a suspicious fucker. You know?”

Star kind of shrugged. He wasn’t going to just insult the person giving him info, but also, yeah. “It’s kind of your reputation.”

“When I left, all I had a sense was… there were people, I met them, and we talked about something to do with the track mix-up and all that. But I’ve been spending the last day trying to pick apart my memories. I still don’t have much,” Vayne added. “But when I saw that person in black at the clubhouse again I was like, fuck, I gotta see what they’re up to.”

Star leaned forward. “What’d they do?”

“They cast some kind of spell,” Vayne said. “I can’t pick that up the way your kind can or anything like that, but there was mumbling and a bit of hand motion and right after that all the screaming started so, yeah, spell. I figured that there’d be people at the track who could handle whatever happened so I followed this guy.”

Shit, this was juicy. “You followed them?? To where?”

“See, that’s the shit,” Vayne said. “I followed them way down into the Valley, super near the gate, and they went into this old like… warehouse? I figured they must have been using it as some kind of HQ. But I wasn’t stupid enough to follow them into it. I headed back, trying to figure out what to do with the info, and heard about everything that had happened. EMTs and newsies and police everywhere, Georgio being paraded around like some prize bull, everyone saying you were the hero of the day. Kind of got into my head a little about it, like, phew, this person had done something way bigger than I realized that I just walked away from, you know?” He finished his coffee, crumpling the cup as he lowered his hand back to the table. “So after you called to check in with Georgio, I made sure he was safe and out of it and had a good think. I hadn’t known for sure if you were in on it with them, since one of them looked that much like you, but it sure didn’t sound like it from what you were talking about him. I figured, you seem to be investigating this, I don’t know what else to do but tell you about this. I met up with friends to get some stuff to protect myself with in case that weirdo comes after me, but I don’t think I was seen, I just don’t wanna make myself more of a target.”

“Whew,” Star said.

Vayne nodded. “Phew,” he echoed. “So, you wanna know where that warehouse is?”

Slowly, Star nodded, tucking a loose strand of seaweed-tangled hair behind a slightly-pointed ear. “Yeah, I do. I don’t know for sure what they’re doing here, but I know it’s no good. Can you text me the address so I can head there later?”

“No, because I walked there and wasn’t keeping track of road signs, but I can show you where it is,” Vayne said. 

Secondary location, Star thought instantly, though the storyline added up, actually; Vayne hadn’t been anywhere around helping, even though Georgio had come to the track with him originally. And Georgio had mentioned that Vayne had talked to the Suspicious Duo the day before, too, which also fit his description. Sure enough, getting handed something could have been just a way to protect himself, too. 

Nevertheless… “You can’t just describe it?” Star asked. 

Vayne waggled a hand. “Not reliably. You know how things shift around in that tangle near the gate. It’d be easier to see the landmarks and go from there.”

That was also true. There were entire websites devoted to tracking how things shifted near the gate. ‘Old antique store that was there one day and gone the next’ wasn’t just a horror trope, it was daily life. “Fine, we can go there, so I can at least learn where it is. I can always go back later. Now’s good for you?”

“Now’s good,” Vayne agreed. “Can I ride you?”

“Mmm,” Star said, hesitant. “I’d rather not, nothing personal—”

“No, no, I get it,” Vayne sighed. “Bad knee’s just sore from the long walk up and down hill earlier. Don’t worry about it. Let’s get going.”

Vayne tossed his cup toward the garbage, missed, and got up anyway, heading out. Star kicked the cup up to his own hand and tucked it away while miming throwing it out. He was pretty sure at this point that Vayne was on the up and up, but if he wasn’t, having his saliva—or any part of the man—might be useful if they needed it later.

He followed Vayne out the door, the other man opening his jacket and letting the cool air in after the warmth of the coffee shop. They walked together in silence for five, then ten minutes. Vayne’s walk grew a little more unsteady, starting to approach a limp, the unbalanced walk of someone who was feeling a bit tender. It left him a couple steps behind Star, still visible in his peripheral, but not quite walking with him on the sidewalk.

“Hang on,” Vayne said suddenly, voice unsure. He reached to catch Star’s arm, then his other hand came up higher, just a shadow out of the corner of Star’s eye. “You have something in your hair.”

Star tensed. He didn’t like not seeing what Vayne was doing and wanted to pull away, but also didn’t want to offend the irritable man, not if he could provide—or withhold—a direct path to where the Suspicious Duo might be using as their home base…

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On the one hand, letting Dom and Dandelion walk back to Dom’s place together might be mildly dangerous, in case the suspicious duo had their eyes on Dom. But they surely couldn’t keep track of him at all times, and Dandelion was strong; Star was confident that they’d have to do something subtle and nasty to get to him, so whatever they were going to do probably wouldn’t be while Dom was with Dandelion. Still, it was nerve wracking to leave the two people who seemed to be targeted alone together.

Though… maybe giving them some time to chat would let them work things out and Star wouldn’t feel nearly as in-the-middle as he had been.

Split the difference, he decided, tired of thinking it over. “I’ll walk with you back to Dom’s place, then say bye from there,” he said. “I was thinking of heading up a little anyway. Besides, I need Vayne’s number from you, Dom.”

“Do you?” Dom asked, a bit disapproving. “He’s a jackass, Star.”

“Sure, but I need to talk to my new bestie Georgio and Georgio does not have hands to answer calls with,” Star said. “Georgio’s expecting it, don’t worry.”

They began to head uphill, Dom reading the number out and Star dutifully typing it in, then hitting dial. It almost went to voicemail before Vayne answered. “Jack Vayne. Who is this?”

“Hi, Vayne,” Star said. “It’s Son, That Ain’t Right.”

“The fuck you’d get this number? From Toulali?” That was Dom’s last name. “We’re competition, you know, he shouldn’t—” Vayne’s voice cut off; Star could hear the ambient loud grumble of Georgio’s voice in the background, though he couldn’t make out the details. “Ah, hell, Georgio says he’s expecting a call. Whatever, I guess you were heroes together earlier, I should’ve realized you’d have bonded or some shit. Here. I’m putting you on speaker.”

Not Star’s favourite way of having private conversations, but it made sense. “Hey, Georgie Porgie. You with me?”

“We at nickname level, Son?” Georgio growled cheerfully. “You ready to send me flowers too?”

“I’ll think about it,” Star said, rolling his eyes. “Any news?”

“Yeah, some,” Georgio said. His voice just sounded like that, Star had decided, but he at least dropped the overblown metaphors most of the time when just chatting. “I did get to talk to Heronika. Garrett was the scheduler who’d double booked us. So maybe the dynamic duo were trying to ELIMINATE WITNESSES.”

He sounded way too loud and excited at that last part. “Or maybe they’d worked directly with him and were worried he was going to talk,” Star said. “Hard to say.”

“He was taken to Branwin Central Hospital,” Georgio added, smug. “Asked around. Obviously I can’t go there, but you might be able to. You’d have to wear shirt and shoes and not be a naked lil monkey.”

“I do when I have to,” Star sighed. “I just like to have my sexy, silky, unblemished perfect skin free to the air, Georgio, you don’t wear pants either, you get me.” Both Dandelion and Dom were looking at him, Star abruptly realized. Well, let them. He wasn’t wrong. “But yeah, I’d wear ’em to a hospital. Okay, that’s an option, sure. Anything else? Did anyone see the guys in question?”

A bullish sigh. “No such luck. The only other thing I found out is that they’re closing things down for a bit at the track Building should be shut up tighter’n a nun’s panties. No races for the next week, Toulali should’ve got a text about it, I’d bet. They haven’t cancelled any two weeks out yet, it’ll depend if they can drain the standing water and get things fixed up properly by then, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

“So it’s basically abandoned until they can get it pumped?” Star murmured. “Interesting.” That meant he could break in at any time, theoretically. “Let me know if you hear anything else, though I know you probably won’t given… not being at the track. You going to a nice field somewhere?”

“Don’t worry about Georgio,” Vayne said. Background noise dimmed; he’d taken it off speaker again. “I got a nice stable for him just outside the city.”

“Lots of room to run around?” Star asked dryly.

“You think you’re so funny,” Vayne said, and hung up. 

Star shook his head as he glanced back up at the other two. “What a guy.”

“I told you,” Dom said. “…My place is just up this road.”

“Then I’ll peel off from here,” Star said. “You two be careful, okay? Situational awareness. Look both ways before you cross the street and behind you so you don’t get jumped.”

“I’ll take care of him,” Dandelion said, leaning in and giving Star a lingering kiss on his cheek, just next to his lips. “You do the same for yourself.”

Star flustered, backing up a few steps., “Yeah, yeah,” he said lightly, waving a hand and turning to go. He peeled off another piece of bread and chewed it as he headed off. So that was interesting news, and led to several possible next steps. Star checked his wound absently as he chewed; it was healing nicely, so there was no need for a doctor even if he did go to the hospital, though he supposed he could always use it as an excuse if he needed to get in to see Garrett, since the EMT had been insistent he should go. And of course, the racetrack was no longer swarming with people, from the sound of it, so that was also a new option.

The bread wasn’t satisfying, and Star knew he needed to eat some real meat. Not letting himself have complicated feelings about what was always a guilty pleasure at the best of times, he swung into the Humanburger restaurant and ordered a number 4, bringing the tray back to his table as soon as it was ready. 

Star peeled the wrapper back, and the familiar scent hit his nostrils, flooding his mouth with saliva. Legally, Humanburger meat wasn’t actually human, but whatever trick they did with it did make it taste and feel much like the real thing. He took another bite, then a third almost before he’d swallowed the first, the flavour almost making him shiver with a satisfaction he’d denied himself for almost too long.

A deep breath, and he forced himself to slow down before he annihilated the burger fast enough to make himself sick. Half to distract himself, he checked his messages to make sure that his general group had been checking in on the hour as needed. Along with messages he’d already seen, he’d got a couple new ones:

Dandelion had sent him a selfie of himself with Dom packing in the background, though Dandelion’s own image was slightly blurred. 

Adrien had sent him a selfie also, this one unblurred, though he was smoking a joint while surrounded by cute girls, so he was definitely taking this whole thing seriously. A cat tail was visible in frame, so Star had to assume he was at least out at one of the girls’ places, and not out somewhere that he could easily get jumped in a crowd. 

Caoimhe’s message was a little more alarming; hers said that an old friend had called her and asked for some help, so she was going to go deal with that. He texted her back and told her to message if it was related in any way, and Caoimhe sent him a thumb’s up back immediately, so presumably at least she hadn’t been kidnapped or anything. Yet. It probably wasn’t related, though. Caoimhe had her own life to live.

That whole thing had killed at least a half hour, especially given how he’d forced himself to slow down on the burger. He finished the last few bites, hit up the restroom, and headed back out into the brisk, late-afternoon air. As soon as he stepped out, he got a chill that he wasn’t sure was entirely the air, a sense like he was being watched. He turned slowly, taking a look around him, but didn’t spot anything out of place.

Anxiety, he reminded himself. He was uneasy, on edge, undecided about next steps, still unfamiliar with the shape of the threat. He was just asking for trouble. Next he’d see a bag in the wind and start running or something—

Star almost jumped out of his skin when his phone rang. He fished it out quickly, seeing Vayne’s number on the screen. “Vayne? What’s up?”

“Hey,” Vayne said. “Listen, I’ve separated from Georgio for now, didn’t want to say this in front of him because I’m worried. He’s headstrong and hot-blooded and rushes into things, you know?”

“Yeah,” Star said. Star was too. It was basically required to be a racehorse. “Okay, what is it?”

“I may have some news about the situation,” Vayne said. “I got the gist of what you were looking into, and obviously I saw what happened at the track today. You were looking for a person in black, right? Creepy? Skulking around?”

Star’s pulse quickened. “Yeah, I was.”

“Okay, well, I have to finish some stuff up, but if you want to meet me in a little bit, I’ll send you an address. I don’t want to talk about it over the phone, don’t know who’s listening. I’ll text an address over. I can be there in an hour, hang out until evening, so come by if you can.”

“Vayne,” Star began, but the other jockey had already hung up.

Well, hell. That raised even more questions. He licked some burger grease off his fingers absently as he put his phone back, trying to figure out the best next step.

There was the hospital, though he didn’t know how much of a lead it would be, especially since he wasn’t sure if Garrett was conscious or ready to talk, or even alive—but if he wanted to go today instead of tomorrow, it wouldn’t be open to visitors for too much longer. 

There was the track—though that was likely to have to stay locked up and thus unoccupied for a while, Star if people might catch him trying to sneak in if he didn’t wait until dark, but there was always the risk someone else might have the same idea and might get there first, too. 

He could try to follow up with whatever was going on with Caoimhe, though he doubted it was related. 

He could go right to Vayne’s address as soon as he got it, see if he could set up and keep an eye out for things before Vayne got there. 

Or fuck, something else he had yet to think of.

Star let out an audible whine and stomped a foot. Oh, he hated decisions.

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Star bowed deeply to the Lindwyrm. As a fairy, he knew better than to thank the Lindwyrm—though in this case it would likely be fine, since they’d already offered him something other than words, he didn’t want to antagonize the dragon. “I’m grateful,” he said softly. “Dominic is a man I have offered control of my life to, and he has repaid me in glory. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the situation, but the risk—”

“Either a demon or a witch, and another brook horse,” the Lindwyrm said, briskly. “Lord Dandelion has explained, including updating me as more information came in. I believe I have the gist. I will not get further involved, not for any blood or words, but I will offer my hospitality and protection, as discussed.” 

Star didn’t look at Dandelion, who’d surely school his expression in front of the Lindwyrm but who hated being called Lord. “Then I’ll withdraw for a moment to reassure my human that all is well here.”

He took Dom by the shoulder, bowing again and encouraging Dom to do the same, and stepped back into the hallway, shutting the office door behind him. Dom let out a soft breath, and Star heard himself letting out an echoing one.

“How’re you doing?” he asked Dom, softly.

The silence lasted a beat too long. “I’m fine,” Dom said, then kind of gave him a rueful expression. “Sorry. Not lying, just… overwhelmed.”

“I bet,” Star said. “You want to talk about it?”

“I… I don’t know. I guess,” Dom muttered. He ran both hands over his short, tightly-coiled hair. “To be honest, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to just be actively afraid of supernatural things.”

“Even though you’re down in the Valley all the time?”

“People forget,” Dom said. “You get used to it. It becomes background. There are other fears I’m more used to.” He laughed ruefully, still low. “When I rode you the first time, I was petrified, but what you were offering me… I mean, I didn’t want to say no. I just knew that deals with monsters went bad a lot, but you seemed so legit. And then you were. I rode you and I was perfectly safe. It kind of, after that, I just kind of started to roll with it. But… maybe it’s why I’d been nervous about meeting your boss and band. Like, it’d draw me deeper into a world I was just a visitor in.”

It’s your world too, Star didn’t say. Plenty of humans stayed far away enough from the Valleys to only have the barest of interactions with otherworldly folk. He drew a slow inhalation, tasting Dom’s sweat in the air, the sense of belonging that he had when he scented Dom, someone he’d quietly added to his herd even knowing it would almost certainly be temporary. Dom would leave, or die, or some other such thing. It was natural. Still, he braced himself for rejection.

“Do you want,” Star said slowly, “after this is all done and we know it’s safe, I mean, do you want to call it off? Go back to finding work as a jockey elsewhere?”

“I don’t think so,” Dom said quickly. “I mean—” Another one of those shaky laughs. “I guess it might depend on how this all goes. If something goes horribly wrong and I get hurt or something, maybe I’ll change my mind, so I’m not going to promise, but… I don’t want to. This is the world you come from, Star. It’s the one you’ve lived in this whole time.”

What was that meant to mean? Star shook himself a little. “So?”

“So I don’t want to just walk away from the lived reality of someone who’s important to me,” Dom said, tone raw.

Star sighed, leaning against the wall, which was cool against his back. He closed his eyes.”I walked away from it myself, you know?”

There was the rustling of cloth as Dom came to lean against the wall next to him. “What d’you mean?”

“A long time ago,” Star began, and made a face. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel Dom’s eyes on him. “No, I don’t want to begin like it’s a story. I was raised in a herd. We’re herd animals; a lot of fairies are solitary, but brook horses are herd animals. For a long time, as a colt, I didn’t question what we did? Even before the gates, there were enough humans who could cross over into our world, or where we could edge out into theirs to hunt. Rivers and things like that are often between-points. Anywhere a lot of people die can be, and rivers are like that. It just wasn’t reliable, not like it’s been since the gates have opened again.” Not that he’d experienced the first time the gates were open, long before his time, back in the age of myth. They’d closed off for the intervening millennia, and had reopened around twenty-five years ago. “So they’d wander in, or we’d find a spot and slip through, and then either lure someone over to us as a human or a horse, depending on how the hunting seemed best.”

“Drown them and eat them.”

“Yeah,” Star agreed softly. Fuck, he was hungry. He hated being hungry while remembering it. “I met a boy by the river. Fell in love, though it was really a crush in retrospect. I mean, I was just a colt. It felt like the whole world, though. Spent days playing with and talking to him, until my sister saw us and forced me to drown him.”

“Forced you…?”

Star shook his head. “I was afraid of being driven out, or rejected, or beaten,” he said softly. “So I did it when I was told I had to. Of my own will, but coerced.”

Dom let out a hiss of breath.

“Then we ate him, of course.”

“So you left?”

“No. I’m a herd animal,” Star said. “And I was a child. Where would I go? So we kept on like that, which was fine until I met a girl running from an abusive father. I was a bit older then. A teenager, though of course I still considered myself a colt since I wasn’t a full-grown stallion. She found the beautiful horse by the water and sobbed against me, and I killed her father for her. I didn’t do it in front of her, and she pretended she didn’t know what I did, but she knew, and she’d ride me and hug me and whisper thanks to me time and again. I refused to drown her when the herd confronted me about being so weak a second time.”

Dom’s fingers brushed his own, and Star let him take his hand. “So you left the herd then?”

“No. Not until after they drowned her. She tasted incredible. I couldn’t do it any more. I ran as far as I could, made myself as small as possible under a waterfall and sobbed as if the fall itself were my tears. I felt like my only options were two different forms of death for my own heart. Dandelion found me there and offered me his hand and protection. As two exiles, he said. So I walked off with him and never looked back.” Star sighed softly. The old story tasted bitter on his lips. “It’s okay if you need to walk away from a situation that isn’t good for you, Dom.”

Dom lifted the hand he was holding to his mouth and kissed the palm of it, then curled Star’s fingers around the kiss for him. “You’re very brave.”

“I really am not.”

“I want to be as brave as you,” Dom said softly. “And I want to stay with you. But if I can’t, it won’t be your fault. Okay?”

It wasn’t a promise, but it’d have to be enough. Star shook himself again and pulled away with a smile. “Okay. Let’s go talk to people and learn more about this place.”

For a moment, he thought Dom was about to protest, but he just nodded, letting Star’s hand drop. “Lead on.”

Star did, taking them back to the selkie, who was packing up her harp. “Hello, miss.”

“Hello, sir,” she responded. “Finding it to your liking, then?”

“My friend here is likely to stay for a time,” Star said. “I was hoping, since you were so kind when we first talked, that you could tell me a bit about your lord the Lindwyrm.”

Her lips seemed to tighten briefly. “You surely didn’t come here knowing nothing. He’s an archivist, a collector of stories, and will offer home in exchange them, and additionally will offer protection for those who will give their blood to maintain this old house. He’s very knowledgeable about the things he has heard stories of or studied, and not about much else, as he never leaves the home. But if he’s offered to protect you here, he’ll keep his word.”

Star tilted his head. “Is it okay if someone else gives the blood and stories? My lord Dandelion offered to.”

“Dandelion?” She seemed somewhere between shocked and taken aback, and certainly had recognized his name. But then, Dandelion was a famous musician, and she was a musician as well, so it probably wasn’t that different from if Star had said something like my lord David Bowie or My liege Mick Jagger. “That’s the lordling who came in here?? Goodness.”

“It was,” Star admitted. He decided to skip the fact that he also was part of the band. “Does that make a difference?”

“Not to the Lindwyrm, surely,” she muttered. She shook her head. “It’s fine to get it from a third party; it’s still an exchange. If the Lindwyrm agrees, there’s no problem.”

“Any rules I should know about?” Dom put in.

She turned his head slightly toward him. “Violating his hospitality could cost your life. If you do something to the other tenants here, I mean. Tidy up after yourself, be polite, and treat the other tenants like expensive furniture: nice to admire and enjoy, but don’t do a thing that you’d expect to harm them.”

“Can you show us to the room Dom would be staying in?” Star asked lightly. “We’d like to take a look.”

“I’m afraid not,” she said shortly. “I can’t see the signs on the doors. I know where mine is, and one or two others, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you which rooms were empty for certain.”

“I can do it,” another voice put in, and the cat-sìth walked in. They transformed as they went, shifting into an androgynous youth in black capris and a black sweater with a white shirt peeking out from underneath. Their hair was short and fluffy black, and cat ears poked out from it, along with two tails winding behind them. “Leave it to me.”

The selkie nodded to them and turned back to her instrument, and the cat-sìth gestured. “I overheard everything you told her,” they said cheerfully. “Come with me.”

Dom and Star shared a look, but followed obligingly. “I didn’t catch your name? I’m Dom,” Dom offered. 

“Call me Miette,” the cat-sìth said, and Star updated his almost-blank impression of them to terminally online. “Don’t let Eva freak you out.” It was probably Éabha, Star realized after a moment, not Eva. “She’s overly cautious, even paranoid. Well, a demon holds her skin, so she’s been in hiding for a long time. Leaves a girl bitter boots, don’t you know?”

“Sure,” Dom said, like that was a turn of phrase that made sense to him. “Yeah, I could see that. If I had to go into hiding without half of me, I think I’d be nervous about crossing any lines myself.”

“Good man,” Miette said approvingly. “The Lindwyrm’s fine. He’s brisk, but in my experience, he treats his people as people he cares for as a liege to his subjects, not as an owner to furniture. And he’s very accommodating to the fact that different folks have different needs. Why, we keep all windows closed in here at night to keep his protection stronger, but he lets me keep mine open so I can come and go at all hours, and just puts additional warding on my room. Here we are, then, this is the most likely room.”

They stopped at one that had a blank sign on it; Star noted the ones they’d passed all either had names or symbols that surely represented the people inside. Miette opened the door for them, and gestured.

The room was nice; a bit old-fashioned, like a room in a B&B that marketed itself on its old Victorian home quality. There was a big queen-sized bed against one wall, a nice roll-top desk, a big radiator heater already humming away, and a door into an en suite bath, which was a definite nice add, Star thought. It wasn’t huge, but it was elegant and comfortable. And, yes, a window, with a lovely old oak tree outside it.

“This is lovely,” Dom said. “I… yeah. I can stay here.”

Star’s heart leaped a little. “So you’ll accept protection?”

“Like we discussed,” Dom said, “I want to help, so I want you to call me out the moment I can be useful in anything. I really don’t want to be just left on the sidelines. But it sounds like the protection will be here whenever I’m in the house, and that’s fine as long as I don’t expect to get any additional help outside.”

“That’s normal,” Miette put in, shamelessly jumping into their conversation. “Most of us have things to do, so we come and go. The Lindwyrm never goes outside, so obviously that protection doesn’t follow.”

“Then I guess we should go do an agreement,” Star said. He nodded to Miette, who nodded back, then left them, wandering down the hall like they had nothing better to do. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Dom said.

The exchange was brisk; once Dom agreed, the Lindwyrm simply turned to Dandelion, who drew a vial of silvery blood for him. He had apparently already given stories, so there was nothing else to do.

“You can begin to stay here immediately,” the Lindwyrm said. “Come and go as you please.”

“Then I’ll go pick up some of my things,” Dom said. 

Dandelion rose, fingers pressed to his bleeding wrist and sealing the wound across. “I’ll come with you,” he said. “You ought to be protected by me until you’ve made it back here. Star, what would you like to do?”

That… was a good question. He followed them out, noticing that the selkie had left the main room now, presumably having gone back to her own; he wouldn’t get any more answers from her, it seemed. He was hungry and needed to eat, so that was probably a first step. But he also needed to plan more about what he was going to do next. Where should he go? Who should he talk to, and what should he do?

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“I want to keep you safe,” Star repeated, watching Dom’s gaze slide away from his. “But I also want your help, and regardless, this should be your decision. No, it has to be your decision,” he corrected himself, as Dom looked back at him again, surprised. “If you want to help, you should be allowed to help.”

Dom swallowed visibly, throat bobbing. “But?” he prompted.

Star gave him a wincing smile. “But I think we should at least meet Dandelion’s friend. If he insists you have to stay there the whole time, that’d be a red flag, but if he offers a safe place to return to, at least for the next few nights or when you’re not out doing the stuff you need to… well, is that a bad thing? If you get there and you decide, okay, let’s do this, well, then you’ve made the decision with all information on the table.”

The tension seemed to seep from Dom’s shoulders. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “We should meet him.”

Relief and guilt warred in Star, though he wasn’t sure why he was feeling the second one. Maybe just from trying to talk anyone into anything, he thought, annoyed, and squeezed Dom’s hand once more before releasing it. “I’ll let Dandelion know.”

“Yeah. Eat your bread,” Dom added. “I’m worried about the cut. There’s no way they can trace you through your blood, right?”

Was there? Most of the blood would have dissolved into the water right away, too diluted to really draw out. But some would have got in the other nixie’s mouth, and while a nix couldn’t track by blood alone, that didn’t mean something else couldn’t, especially if they managed to get the blood out without the nixie having swallowed it. Star was sure the impulse would be to swallow; it would be his, and he’d sworn off that sort of thing a long time ago. “It’s unlikely,” Star said uneasily. “I don’t think it’ll happen. But I’m not going to say it’s impossible.”

“Cool. Great. Just another thing to try to keep in mind, I guess,” Dom said.

Trying to assuage Dom’s worries, Star took a big bite of the bread, chewing as he texted Dandelion back. Haven’t decided but we’d like to meet him. If Dom’s allowed to come and go freely but is protected in the home that’d be the most likely scenario we’d say yes to.

Dandelion texted back an address and a thumb’s up emoji, which was as good an answer as any, and Star ate another bite, forcing himself to keep going until he’d finished the slice. He wanted meat, but the bread would do for now. He could get a real meal once this was dealt with.

Turning back to Viv, he said, “I think we’re heading out for a bit now, okay? Text me if anything comes up?”

“Wait a sec,” Viv said, beckoning him over. “I was trying to figure out if there was anything else you might need, and they suggested some of this cake.”

“Covert cake,” the brown-haired ‘babe’ said. “My brother made some earlier as an experiment and we’re mostly out, but we’ve got one slice left. It’s a bit experimental but great for sneaking.”

“Your brother?” Dom asked, frowning.

‘Babe’ waved a hand. “Oh, I don’t work here. I’m just around enough to help out once in a while. My brother’s training under Antoine, so lots of experimental spell bakes end up here and I eat whatever to help test edge cases. It’s my privilege as—”

Antoine took the cake box that ‘Babe’ was holding. “Okay, that’s enough info for our customers,” he said dryly. “Covert cake is fairly good at keeping you from being seen or heard for about one hour. We’re working on a mix to try to extend it. There’s only one slice right now, so use it when you really need to not be noticed or seen for an hour.”

Star took it, vanishing it into his portable pocket. “How much?”

“$10. As noted, it’s experimental and was made by a novice.”

He paid up. “Any other warnings?” 

“Yeah. If you, or whoever eats it, interacts with someone directly, the spell will instantly break,” Antoine warned. “And for some reason, your shadow crossing any part of them, including their shadow, counts as direct interaction. So you’d need to keep your distance. Also, you can’t eat it and your freebie slice of protection pie at the same time. They don’t interact well.”

Star considered that. “That’s probably fine,” he said slowly. “Makes sense. Either you think you’re going to get into a scrape and take the pie, or you’re gonna try to avoid one and take the cake.”

“One hopes. With experimentation we might refine it, but that won’t be a quick process,” Antoine said. “I appreciate your business. Come by again if you need anything. If you call a day in advance I can try to get more whipped up.”

Frankly Star had already eaten more than enough baked goods with the slice of bread alone, but it was worth keeping in mind. “Will do. It’s a kindness. I appreciate it.”

He bowed slightly, gave Viv a farewell wave—looked like she had gotten into conversation with this ‘babe’, probably about witch stuff, and he and Dom headed for the door.

“It’s not far,” Star said, reviewing the address again. “Really close to the gate.” That was just a fifteen minute walk from the bakery. “You comfortable walking?”

“Sure,” Dom said. He fell into step beside Star.

Both were silent for a little while, and then Dom cleared his throat. “So,” he said. “You’re really worried, huh?”

“I mean. You’re my friend,” Star stammered, suddenly flustered and not entirely sure why. “You’re my rider.”

“Yeah,” Dom said. “I still don’t really… understand how this happened. Us, I mean. Rider and horse. Is it really enough for you to stick around right now?”

What was there to say? The horse Dom had been hired to jockey for had died suddenly. The owner had unfairly blamed Dom and fired him as a jockey, and Dom was left mourning a horse he’d bonded to and the loss of income and a job he was passionate about, and worried that his reputation would have been harmed. He’d lost everything at once. Star could relate to that.

So he’d offered his services. A new league, riding a horse of his own choice. He hadn’t gone by Star at the time, but they brainstormed the registered name over drinks, tears turning to laughter. “We just met at the right time,” Star said.

“I know. I mean, I remember how it happened, I just…” Dom swallowed. “You trust me so deeply, and now my mind’s been compromised and you’re still trusting me, and still helping me. Going out of your way to do so even though—I mean, it’d be safer for you and your lord if you just disavowed me right now.”

Star knew what Dom meant about trusting him so deeply. But Dom had trusted him first. When Star had offered to become Dom’s mount, he hadn’t done so blindly. Star had said he needed a show of trust, and Dom had willingly mounted him and let him run—him, a nixie, a brook horse, what would be called a kelpie if he’d come from another territory than he had been, fairies who were known to drown and kill and eat anyone who dared ride them.

The show of trust had been enough that Star owed him one in return. So he let Dom put a bridle on him. When a bridle was on him as they rode, he was completely responsive to all of Dom’s desires. He was required to be. It made him subservient to Dom in every way, and he only got his freedom back after the race when the bridle came off.

Dom hadn’t liked it, not really, had even offered to ride bridleless, but receiving commands was how a horse was ridden by a jockey instead of just following his own feet. Dom wouldn’t be doing anything without one, and the offer would have been empty. Star had tried to explain that it was just a domestic horse’s nature, to learn to respond to a bridle and have difficulty fighting it with a good rider, and Dom had argued that Star wasn’t domestic. It was true; it was a magical enchantment built into his bones as a brook horse. Impossible to make a normal human fully understand.

“I’m not going to disavow you,” Star said. “You’re important to me.”

“As a rider?”

This was all too much. “As you,” Star shot back. “Hang on, I have to text everyone.”

Dom fell silent and Star hurriedly buried his gaze in the phone, walking blindly as he sent a general message to the group to update them on the progress, and to remind everyone to give him regular check-ins if nothing had changed and updates if they did.

“I think we’re here,” Dom said, a short while later, and Star finally dared to glance up.

The air was thick with magic and strangeness, this close to the gate. For Dom, it would feel like a high pressure front, a headache and faint pain that he likely couldn’t avoid. Acclimatization to a gate was hard; if Dom didn’t come down to the valley regularly to ride, staying a place like this long term would be very difficult for him.

But he did, at least.

The mansion looked old, Victorian-style, though Star had no way of knowing if it actually was a heritage home that had been preserved through the shift in geography or if it was a newer home created in that style. There was a gated-off front garden, with a path that led to stairs up to the front door, and a personal garden that wound around the entire building. The building itself was painted an ominous black, including the building’s turret tower. 

The gate wasn’t iron, though; if Star didn’t miss his guess, it was silver, which would cause a problem to a variety of creatures, but Star wasn’t among them. He let out a breath as he led Dom in through the front gate. A large cat, almost the size of a dog, black with a white spot on its chest, was loafing on the lawn and keeping a close eye on them. Star glanced aside at it, making eye contact. A cat-sìth, standing guard—another fairy creature. It didn’t say anything to Star, but when Star inclined his head, it inclined its own back.

What kind of place was this, anyway? Clearly a fairy place, between the lack of iron and the cat-sìth out front, but what did that mean, in this case?

Nobody answered his knock, but when Star tried the door, it creaked open. He stepped inside, gesturing Dom in after him. To the right was a sitting room, where a beautiful woman who smelled of the sea sat, playing a harp made of bone to a handful of people, some human, some other fairies. 

“Hello,” Star called, and the woman put a hand on the strings to still them, turning towards him and Dom. Star realized she was blind, her white eyes not focusing on them. “My noble Lord Dandelion arrived earlier today and invited us here to meet the host. Where might I go?”

She was silent another moment, assessing the sound of his voice, and likely, the general scent and aura of him. He was sure she was a selkie, and wondered where her skin was—did Dandelion’s friend hold it hostage, or was she here under his protection, perhaps to hide from whoever had it? “Straight down the hall and to the left,” she said, softly melodious. “There’s a sitting room. Your lord has been in a meeting with mine for a time.”

“It’s a kindness,” Star told her with a bow he hoped she’d sense, if not see. He left her gazing blindly and thoughtfully after them as he led Dom that way. 

“Is it just me or is this place a little uncanny?” Dom whispered.

“Fairy hideouts often are,” Star said, with more confidence than he felt. The door was where the selkie had said it was, and he knocked briskly. 

“Come in,” a low voice said, and Star obligingly opened the door.

Behind him, Dom choked on a half-voiced curse, and Star could see why. Dandelion sat in one chair on the near side of the desk, but behind it, sprawled across a large chaise lounge, was a fifteen-foot-long dragon. He was slim and elegant, black scaled with a gold undertone, and his eyes were remarkably human. The dragon sat up as they entered, and he moved oddly; it was natural, like he was born to it, but with a sort of sense like he was being puppeted by something inside him, like how it felt to watch a Lunar New Year lion dance.

“I am the Lindwyrm,” the dragon said to Star with no preamble. “My old friend here said your friend may need a place to stay and be safe from those who might hunt him. I sell hospitality for stories, and protection for blood. Your lord already agreed to share stories to allow your friend to stay here as needed and leave freely as desired, and has also agreed to give a vial of his blood should your friend need protection at all times when under my roof. Are these terms amenable?”

“W-well,” Dom said. “We just met, I haven’t quite decided—”

“You may explore my home if you wish to confirm its safety and suitability,” the Lindwyrm interrupted briskly. “Question anyone you want, myself included, to make sure you know what you are getting into.” He seemed impatient and a little bored. Well, after all, Star had kept putting off coming. “Then, once you decide if my home is amenable to you, we can finalize the deal.”

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