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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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It can be anything you want, but if you want to explore, let me know, and
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Heeeeeey all, I hate to do this two days in a row, but I got some very bad news today (yeah, separate from yesterday’s stuff) — one of my cats is sick and we got some pretty bad health news about him. I’m currently processing it and learn about our next steps to maintain the best quality of life for him, and I expect to be able to write tomorrow, but unfortunately all my brain power is going into this today. But I have some great ideas around your suggestions and I’m looking forward to writing it.

Day 14 turn-in for suggestions is extended to the usual time tomorrow once more (so Oct 17 at 3 pm PST) so anyone who needs the time to catch up, go for it! If I need to go a day or two into November to wrap things up, I will, so don’t worry about that either.

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Hey folks, some stuff came up today!

Day 14 turn-in for suggestions is extended to the usual time tomorrow instead of today (so Oct 16 at 3 pm PST)!

Be good to each other!

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Star stepped aside into the men’s room so that he wouldn’t risk anyone running into him, pulling himself up on the sink counter to sit. He swallowed, feeling too emotionally raw, too honest. He wanted to call Dom or Dandelion, hear their voice, but he also didn’t want to be speaking and add one more element that could break his glamour.

He texted Dom back first: I’m really worried, Dom. These people are willing to kill, and if you’re not a benefit, you’re a loose end. It sounds like Viv has gotten hold of a guy with some kind of protection magic, so meet me at the Twilight Council Community Association building? My heart says you should be going into hiding, but if nothing else, we’re gonna get some kind of protection against mind control on you, k?

Thumb hovering over the send icon, Star hesitated a few moments, then just tapped it. There was nothing that expunging his fears could gain here. He shook himself, then just sent Viv a quick text as well: Ok, on my way.

Stepping out of the bathroom, he began to briskly walk down the hall, sticking to the walls as much as he could, peeking into rooms. It was quickly apparent there wasn’t much he could do here, not without being willing to take risks while everyone was running around. He saw Heronika dashing past on her way outside and let her go, hoping that Georgio was able to talk to her, like they’d discussed.

Ugh, maybe he should talk to Georgio about getting some kind of headset or other hands-free phone. But if he’d wanted one, he’d already have one. Most of those still needed buttons pressed, or had systems like Alexa, Siri, or Lilith in them, and Star didn’t trust any of those eavesdropping digital sneaks. Whatever, he’d mention it to Vayne if and when he called.

That same sulphurous tang of magic tickled his nostrils as he passed the offices, and he gave a quick jiggle of a doorknob, but it was locked up tight. A peek in the window didn’t show anyone inside, either. Not necessarily something too suspicious—there were certainly a few witches who worked here as well; how else would they have any magical protection against cheating or things like that? But he didn’t love it. He certainly couldn’t break in right now, not with the building so active. Maybe he should come back here later once the activity had died down, he thought, then remembered the flooded track out back; if the other nix was using it as a base, he probably shouldn’t come alone if so. 

Regardless, no point thinking too much about that now. When nothing else turned up on a quick scan, Star headed back outside, fetching his phone again. Every step was exhausting, and he didn’t dare transform to his other self to go faster, not when he needed to rest up. Instead he trudged toward the TCCA building on foot, letting the glamour fade once he was a few blocks away.

Once the glamour had faded entirely, Star auto-dialed Dandelion, waiting a ring and a half until Dandelion picked up. “Are you okay?” Dandelion asked. His voice sounded odd, which was normal; phones didn’t like to carry a sidhe lord’s voice and tried to shake the timbre of them as the signals traveled.

“I guess,” Star said, a bit strained. He felt a hitch in his voice as he inhaled and tried to ignore it. “I’m just worried. A bunch of people almost died and they were—the other nixie was specifically trying to drown someone in particular. Can you and your friend meet me and Dom at the TC? I’m gonna try to talk him into whatever safety measures he needs.”

A sigh that glitched out slightly. “Sorry. My friend doesn’t leave his home. He’s tentatively willing to host your friend, though, so if you can talk him into coming, I’ll give his address to you at that time.”

That was understandable. Without details, Star had to assume that Dandelion’s ‘friend’ was a fairly powerful monster. He wondered what Dandelion was offering to make this deal, but wasn’t going to ask, not when Dandelion was clearly still in the guy’s home and could be overheard. “Okay. I’ll see what he thinks.” He should probably say his farewells now, then, and get his ass over to the Twilight Council a bit more quickly. “I miss you,” Star blurted out instead.

A long pause, enough that he thought the phone might have given up entirely. Then, “Oh, my darling, my sweet Schaum, my perfect vassal,” Dandelion said, pained. “If he says no, I’ll come to you right away. You shan’t be without me much longer.”

Schaum was the name that Star had been giving out to people in lieu of his real name, back when he and Dandelion had first met. It meant foam, because Star had felt fragile then, ephemeral, ready to dissolve. He didn’t feel that far from it now, and he imagined Dandelion could tell. “Bye,” Star choked out, and hung up.

He put his head down, wiping tears from his eyes, and hurried onward.

The Twilight Council Community Association was an old building in a central location, with a big lobby that had pamphlets about What to do when you discover you’re a witch and So you’re magic! and that kind of thing. There was a big board where people could sign up for various apprenticeships or lessons, and a bunch of rooms for practice and council meetings in the back, though it also hosted community events like teaching different forms of spellcraft to see what was suited to a person, or old spellbook reading days, things like that. There was a receptionist, presumably who could help look people up or get them in touch; they were a demon, with black-flame eyes and curling red hair. They gave Star a cheerful wave when they entered. “Hi, can I help you today?”

“I’m meeting her,” Star said, pointing to Viv, who was sitting on a chair playing a mobile game while she waited. The receptionist nodded, and Viv looked up as Star slid in. 

“You good?” Viv asked. “Your message was …uhh, alarming?”

“Yeah, it was pretty fucking alarming at the time,” Star said. “I got bit. Your guy isn’t here?”

“Naw, he has a bakery nearby,” Viv said. “Loaf Portions, he’s a kitchen witch. He can do some brief protection spells and has a whole thing for protecting from mind-affecting magic specifically. Let me see your arm.”

Star showed her. She hissed. “Oh, that looks nasty,” she said.

“So you can’t do anything about it?”

“No, but I bet the baker has a bunch of stuff on hand. Small healing is probably a common need.” 

The door jingled, and the receptionist asked Dom the same question as he entered. He kind of waved and stammered a no thanks as he looked them over; right, even if he was down here a bunch now, he still didn’t interact with demons often. “Hey,” Dom said, taking Star’s hand, and looking at the bite mark. He seemed a bit queasy. “I’m …worried.”

“Yeah, me too,” Star said. He got up jerkily. “Show the way, Viv. The witch has a shop nearby,” he added to Dom, taking Dom’s hand with the injured arm.

It truly wasn’t a long trip, and they entered Loaf Portions to the smell of fresh-baked bread and cookies. The proprietor looked up; he was a Black man in his late twenties with braided hair over an undercut, the long parts pulled up into a high bun. “Hey, you must be Vivian and her friends?”

“That’s me,” Viv said. “Antoine Durand?”

“In the flesh,” he said. He called back over his shoulder, “Babe, are the Mind Macarons ready?”

“Yup, here!” A tray was passed forward from the back, a mid-20s white man with brown hair leaning over the kitchen counter to hand it off. 

Star couldn’t help but snort incredulously. “Mind Macarons?”

“I mean, it’s a catchy name that makes it easy to see what they do,” Antoine said cheerily. “Eat this, nobody will be able to read your mind or alter the contents for the next twelve hours. It’ll be $60 for the lot of 6, though. $120 for 12. I’ll toss in a slice of protection pie. It won’t actually stop any magic, but it’ll help make people a bit less likely to attack you if they aren’t specifically planning to. It’s a deterrent, not a shield, but can’t hurt, right?”

Dom winced, but dug out his wallet. “For sure. I appreciate it. And I’ll get all twelve. Ten dollars a pop isn’t so bad for magic, right? Thanks for the rush order.”

“No worries. Don’t like to hear about some witch in our community using that kind of magic anyway,” Antoine said. “Anything else while you’re here?”

Star showed his arm. “I got bit by a nixie. Shouldn’t be too bad, but do you have anything to prevent infection?”

“I got Feelgood Flatbreads,” Antoine said. “It’s not a full healing or anything, that’s not my specialty, but it’ll boost your healing and should act as a natural antibiotic. You might want to see a doctor, though.”

“Everyone keeps saying that,” Star said. “I’m fine, I’m a fairy.”

“You’ll be fine with just a bit of magic intention, then,” Antoine said. He bagged the bread. “Twenty for the loaf, and eat a slice every few hours until it’s healed enough you wouldn’t be applying topical creams normally.”

Dom butted in. “I’ll get that too,” he said, “add it in.”

Star was about to protest, but let it go. There was nothing worse than being ungenerous with a gift. “I appreciate it,” he said as Dom paid. Viv moved in to talk more to Antoine, trying to figure out if there was anything else they might need, and Star drew Dom to the side. “Dom… listen, I’m really, really worried.”

Taking a bite of a Mind Macaron—it was pink and Star’s nose told him it was rose, not strawberry—Dom made a bit of an unhappy face.  “I know. I am too. This is my track too, and my livelihood, and … I mean, it was already really personal to me before this. They dicked around in my mind. I want to help, Star. I want to help investigate this and see if I can help figure things out. But… I’ll go into hiding if you think it’s best.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to, though, I want to keep living my life. But I wasn’t at the track to see it attacked, and you were. So… whatever you think is best, I’ll go along with it.”

Star swallowed. Now he didn’t know which to do: rely on these macarons to take care of things and work together with Dom, or tuck him away safely with Dandelion’s friend… 

“I just want to keep you safe,” Star said, taking Dom’s hand between both of his own. 

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Star closed his eyes, trying to breathe through the stinging pain and the weight of exhaustion after that sudden life-or-death race. Distantly, he could hear Georgio calling for medical aid, something like Hey! We got blood over here, yeah?? Don’t know if fairies can get infected, don’t want to find out!

It wasn’t worth answering it. He hissed as one of the overtaxed EMTs, the group of whom must have arrived while he was underwater, came down next to him and lifted his arm, checking the injury.

“I’m fine,” he said, to whatever he was asked. 

“What bit you?”

Star was reluctant to say another nixie, not and maybe get blamed for some of this somehow. He hedged his answers. “I’m not positive. They were humanoid. Sharp teeth.” He could make his teeth sharp too, on whim, a partial transformation into his other form overlaid on this one. “I don’t think it was venomous. I’m not going into the hospital, so don’t ask, I’m otherwise uninjured.”

The EMT said, “It wouldn’t hurt to go in and get checked out, get a tetanus shot,” but it wasn’t like they could force Star to go. 

“I’ve had one in the last five years,” he lied. “I’ll get antibiotics later.” More like he’d get magical healing as a just-in-case, but the details were his to deal with.

With a Hmm, the EMT finished examining the wound. “Little debridement needed, I’ll just—” Those were tweezers. Star closed his eyes. “Bite’s not too deep. I’ll do a surface cleaning, but you want bleeding to stop before they’re irrigated, so I really do suggest going to a professional as soon as possible after this. You’re not the cleanest you’ve ever been.” That was an understatement. The water on the track had been filthy.

“I — ow,” Star complained, as saline water was washed over his wound. He focused, pulling his own magical water over his body and letting it splash down. “I’m clean. There.”

“Ah,” the EMT said, pained and human. “Well, okay, but really consider it, and definitely go if you see signs of infection. Puffiness, redness, warmth, pus, red streaks. I know nobody can tell a fairy what to do, though.” Someone called, and they nodded to Star. “Thanks for your work out there.”

Star hated being thanked, but humans meant well with it every time. He swallowed around the instinctive complaint. “Sure.”

The medic moved away and Georgio moved in. He smelled terrible, wet and sweaty bull, but he refrained from shaking himself. “Yo, what the fuck happened in there?”

What had happened? Why would someone want to drown folks? Or… was it even meant to be this many people pulled in? What if it was just the one, and the others were just coincidental, or even meant to cover up this particular attempted murder? The other nixie had only grabbed one person specifically, after all.

Star wondered if Garrett was the scheduler who had been used by the Suspicious Pair to double-book the lane so they could corner Dom. There was no way to know until he talked to Heronika, of course. Even so, why kill him so publicly—or would it just read as a freak accident if someone wasn’t already suspicious? There was enough damage that it certainly wouldn’t look targeted if someone ended up dying.

And what else would this flooding do? Washing the track out didn’t have any magical effect he could immediately think of, but the water would be standing for some time until they could find a way to pump it. That would provide a potential base for an aquatic creature. It would also take the track out of commission for a while. Would there be a reason to do that? 

He supposed that, if nothing else, it would make it hard to search the area for evidence. Even if it was only the track, not the clubhouse or anywhere else, the area was going to be swarming with cops, maintenance workers, and reporters—

“Shit,” Star muttered. The reporters would definitely be on their way soon, and if he didn’t want to lose a lot of today, he had to get himself gone. “Georgio…”

“Yeaaaaaaaaaaah?”

Slowly, Star looked up at Georgio. Those bullish eyes were concerned, heavy brows drawn down. He’d never liked Georgio, but… well, maybe it was time for that to change. The bull had really pulled his weight around here, and was clearly standing by him now. “Can you help me?”

He gave a brief rundown of the situation to Georgio, hoping it wasn’t too stammered or confused. “I don’t know what they want with me, or with my boss, or with Dom, but they’ve already shown they’re willing to kill,” Star finished, low-voiced and shaky. “I need to investigate, but there’s already people all over the place here, and I was… I guess… a bit of a rescuing hero here so people are gonna try to corner me to talk about it, I bet you anything. I don’t know if I can afford that much time. I should probably try to sneak out. But… there’s work that still needs doing here.”

Georgio let out a rough huff of breath. “This situation’s nuttier than a peanut butter factory,” he grumbled. “Listen, I’m willing, but I’m Vayne’s guy, you know? I need to work with Vayne and with the track out we’re gonna have to figure out what we’re gonna do together. I won’t always be able to jump to help you, but… yeah. I can ask ’round here right now. Check in with Heronika about that guy,” he nodded to where the unconscious Garrett was being bundled onto a stretcher, “see if I can find out anything about the dude in black and what they was doing here today.”

Relieved, Star patted his side. He took his phone out, shaking it and magically drawing every particle of water out from its insides. “Call me if you find anything.”

“I don’t got a phone, dude. I can’t hold shit, yeah?” Georgio said, stamping a hoof. “You call Vayne, or I’ll have him call Dom. Your man Dom has his number and vice-a verse-a. Vayne can hold a phone up for me.”

That would probably work. Star got up, pulling glamour around himself so he would be unnoticeable to anyone who wasn’t immune to fairy glamour; unfortunately, there were many ways to get around it. Putting a certain ointment on their eyelids, looking through an elf-shot stone, turning their clothes inside out and wearing them, even just having greater magics or glamours than himself. Those and other such folk remedies had, Star regretted, a remarkably high rate of success. Still, Georgio swore abruptly, as Star looked like he’d vanished into dew.

Invisible to at least some eyes, Star quickly composed a group message to his friends and relayed what had just happened, then picked his way around groups of gawkers, people in shock, workers, EMTs, police, arriving news agents, beginning to work his way through the clubhouse. His arm throbbed dully.

He got several messages back quickly, all of which felt like potential next steps for him: 

Dom was worried about him and wouldn’t mind company to make sure he was okay and to talk things over. 

Dandelion was with the aforementioned mysterious friend who might be willing to hide Dom, and invited Star over to come meet him and recover there. He sounded very concerned.

And Viv was over at the Twilight Council and had been told about a guy with protection magic, so he could go there to get some of that together for Dom, and maybe some healing for himself.

Which one was the best next step, he wondered.

It also occurred to him that, as much as he trusted Georgio to figure it out, he could try to do a last little bit of poking around the clubhouse while glamoured, though again, there were plenty of ways for him to still be noticed, he couldn’t talk to anyone like this, and it was likely to get too crowded within minutes. It was risky and he wasn’t sure of the reward.

Star hesitated, gazing at his phone, trying to decide who to text back and what to say.

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