Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
I nodded gratefully.
“Okay. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
Goldie came back with two glasses of ice water, which she plunked in front of us. I took a sip of mine while Rath ordered.
“Two cinnamon rolls,” he told her.
“You want human sized or Creature sized?” she asked him.
“Hmm…” He looked at me. “How hungry are you?”
I waved a hand in the air indicating so-so and he nodded.
“One human sized roll and one Creature sized,” he told the waitress.
“Coming right up.”
She left and once more I found myself able to talk.
“What did she mean by ‘Creature sized?’” I asked him as I fixed my coffee—lots of sugar and lots of cream.
“Oh, don’t you know about Creatures?” He looked surprised.
I shook my head.
“No, I’ve been living in the ‘human world’—remember?”
“Right. Okay, well a Creature is someone like me—a sentient, non-human, magical being,” he explained. “And believe it or not, I’m probably not the first Creature you’ve ever met.”
“I think I’d remember it if I met someone like you,” I said dryly.
“Not if they were in disguise,” he pointed out. “There are plenty of Creatures in the human world. Lots of accountants are gnomes—they’re good with numbers and finance. And plenty of movie stars and celebrities are fairies—they don’t have to use much of a disguise, actually—except to hide their wings. They’re all so pretty that being in the spotlight comes naturally to them.”
“Wow—really?” I looked at him in surprise. “That’s amazing!”
He shrugged.
“Not really. Creatures have always walked among humans—it’s just that we’re careful to keep you from seeing us.” He frowned. “Some of them really take advantage, though. Most of the billionaires and CEOs of big corporations are Dragons—their greed for wealth and power can’t be contained to the Creature world.”
“Are you saying Elon Musk is a Creature?” I asked, staring up at him.
He nodded.
“And Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg…I could go on, but they’re all fucking bastards, so I won’t bother.”
“Wow,” I murmured again. “Do you ever go to the human world?” I asked him.
He frowned.
“I’ve been once or twice, but I’m allergic to the disguise magic—gives me a rash. So I mostly hang around here. I’ve got a good business going and with Hidden Hollow growing like it is, I don’t need to go out in the human world to get any more customers.”
“What do you do?” I asked. But just then Goldie reappeared with our cinnamon rolls. Once again, she had two different sized plates—a normal one for me and a huge platter sized one for Rath.
I stared at the size of the cinnamon roll she put in front of him. Mine was big enough to fill my whole plate, but his was massive—bigger than my whole head!
“Enjoy!” she remarked, producing some forks and handing them to us. Then she hurried away to meet some other customers who had just come in the door.
“Mmm, looks delicious,” Rath rumbled. He picked up his fork and began cutting a piece. “To answer your question, I do most of the tech work here in town. I troubleshoot computer problems, install Wi-Fi—that kind of thing.”
“Oh, I need Wi-Fi at my house—at my Grandma’s house, I mean,” I said. I took a bite of the cinnamon roll and nearly moaned. “Oh my God, this is so good!”
“Yeah, they make them fresh every morning,” he said. “Though I think Celia at The Lost Lamb is getting kind of overwhelmed with all the new business. More and more witches and magic users and Creatures are settling down here—the human world is getting to be too much for them.”
“It’s definitely too much,” I murmured, thinking of the upcoming election and the general mess the whole world seemed to be in. “Can I get you to install Wi-Fi in my Grandma’s house?” I added, getting back to his job. “I need it because I work remote.”
He frowned.
“I’m afraid not. Your grandma didn’t want Wi-Fi installed—she said it interfered with her communication with your Grandfather.”
“What?” I shook my head. “What do you mean? I remember my Grandma—I mean, now that I’m here, I do. But I don’t have any memories of my Grandfather at all.”
Rath looked thoughtful.
“I think he probably died before you were born. I know he died before the house was built because your Grandma told me she planted his bones in the foundation so she could keep in contact with him.”
“Wait…what?” I put down my fork. “Are you telling me my Grandma buried her dead husband under her house?”
Rath shrugged.
“It’s not uncommon among witches to bury a loved one in the foundation of a house. That way as you build the house, the spirit of the one you lost grows to inhabit it. So you never really lose contact with them.”
I thought back to the family tree I’d seen in the beginning of my Grandma’s Grimoire.
“That must be why she named the house after him,” I murmured. “She called it ‘Morris’ in her will.”