CHAPTER 120

"Um, Ratu? I'm no expert at puzzles, but they aren't going to fit together like that." Mike picked up the last piece and held it out. "So what's next?"

"That's easy. The key was already broken, but the magic is intact. I bet I could get it to go back to its former shape with no problem in a day or two. Then you can unlock the gate and...and...whatever you're planning to do next."

He chuckled. "Yeah, well, that's the next part of the puzzle, right? We need to figure out what comes next, so I think I need to speak with our resident librarian. And potentially Lily, if anybody spots her." Again, he wondered if it would be a good idea to get everyone on a cellphone plan. Could a cellphone survive a shortcut through Hell? He could always get Lily an old Nokia.

"Well, if you have no further use of me, I will be off." Ratu scooped up the key pieces and stuck them in her sleeve. "Yuki, could I get your assistance setting up my crucible? Your magic will save me some time, though I suspect that this will still take me at least a few days to accomplish, so unless it's urgent, I suggest you wait until you hear from me." She walked past and Yuki followed. Tink's head had fallen forward, and he gave her a gentle shake.

"Why don't you go take a nap," he suggested. "The house can wait."

"Hmm?" Tink shook her head. "Maybe husband right. Go find place for good sleep." She yawned again, revealing all her teeth. "Husband call if need Tink?"

"Always." He watched her leave and turned his attention to Jenny. "So what have you got going on this afternoon?"

The doll shrugged.

He put his hand down near her feet. "I've got some research to do if you want to come keep me company?"

The doll walked onto his hand and he carried her back into the office. Death had already proudly displayed the map that Mike had drawn up above the desk with a single nail, which caused him to laugh.

He sat down at the desk and opened the drawer to pull out a few pens and some paper, which he handed over to Jenny. The doll picked up one of the pens and started scribbling while he continued to read through the books Sofia had gotten him. Through the ceiling, he could hear the sound of music being played, something classical by the sound of it. It seemed to help him focus on the words in front of him, and he smiled.

Now that he had a solid lead on getting to the Underworld, he needed a plan. But what? And what waited for him just beyond the gate? Kisa had seemed quite shaken up by the experience, but this also made him think of another problem.

The shadow.

Lily had mentioned that it was waiting for him in the Underworld, and now Kisa was telling tales of being asked to steal from someone. He felt like it wasn't much of a leap to assume that Emily was trying to steal something from the shadow, and he had a good idea what it could be.

A piece of her soul.

Driven mad by handing it over to the shadow, Emily had spent the last few years of her life pursuing something, and he had no idea what that thing could be. Short of asking her about it, there simply wasn't any way of knowing what had happened.

"Hey." He looked over at Jenny, who had doodled something horrific. It looked like a child's rendition of a witch being burned at the stake, and a figure similar to Jenny stood off to one side with a big grin on her face. "Do you have any ideas about this shadow person? Or what Emily was up to?"

Jenny paused in contemplation as if thinking, and then drew a quick picture on a fresh sheet of paper. The ghost likely didn't have the energy to speak to him directly, which meant he would have to wait. It took her a minute, but she had completed a silly version of what the shadow looked like, then wrote the word BAD above it.

"Yeah, I figured. Any idea where he came from?"

Jenny scribbled again, then stepped away for him to read. He felt a chill run down the back of his neck.

VAULT

"He came from inside the Vault?" It was an incredulous idea, but that room was full of dangerous objects. Perhaps Emily had gotten her hands on something that allowed him to cross over, or even attach himself to her.

Jenny underlined the word several times, then dropped her pencil.

"Damn."

He pondered the implications of this and was interrupted by the sound of someone coming in the back door. By the sound of it, it was Beth and Quetzalli, and they were walking toward the stairs.

He moved to intercept them. Beth looked disgruntled, and Quetzalli was discussing in great lengths how clouds were formed in the sky.

"Hey, both of you. Quetzalli, I need to talk to Beth in private, do you mind?"

The dragon paused mid-sentence, her hands held a couple inches apart. Miniature lightning bolts were bouncing between her fingertips, filling the air with crackling sounds.

"I'll tell you more about storms later," Quetzalli said. "It's probably for the best. Cumulonimbus cloud formation is far more complicated than cirrus cloud formation, and you probably have a lot to think about." She gave a wave and headed upstairs.

Beth watched her leave and then followed Mike back to the office. "Thank you," she said with a quiet tone. "I learned more today about weather patterns than I care to ever know."

Mike grimaced, then pointed at the spare chair by the desk. "I really do want to talk to you about something, but now I'm curious. What even started that conversation?"

Beth sighed. "Sully and I had plans to go for a walk today, but decided that the front yard was a bit small for it, so we went to the greenhouse. Well, Quetzalli was there with Dana, and she ended up joining us on our walk."

"Oh. I'm guessing it wasn't as relaxing as you were hoping?"

She shook her head. "Dana was attempting to fix her drone issue for the centaurs. Quetzalli was actually helping her for a bit, something about electromagnetic interference, but Dana ducked out saying that she needed to replace a rotor, and that's how we ended up spending our morning. Walk was still nice, but hard to get a word in."