Page 56 of The Music Demon

Did he mean don’t worry or run?

“Nonsense,” Micheal said. “You’ve come all this way. You might as well stay for cake.

“So tell us. What were you talking about just before you…” Micheal looked up for a second like he was trying to sort out what had happened, “chased my friend here.”

“I was asking if I have talents that are unexplored.” A low murmur rippled through the crowd and amped up Rosie’s anxiety. “Are you, ah, keeping me here? Micheal?”

Micheal looked too amused for Rosie’s comfort. “Certainly not. You need to understand that we,” he swiveled his body to indicate the small crowd, “don’t get treated to surprises often. Such an experience is to be cherished. No one who is part human has ever been to this realm before. Not in the entirety of creation. So you can see why we’d like to extend your visit.”

Micheal seemed too amused for comfort.

She looked around at the faces standing over her and said, “Extend my visit voluntarily, you mean.”

“Of course.” He inclined his head with a bow perfectly befitting of Eurotrash. “You’re not a prisoner.”

“Well, let’s start with this. Everybody sits. Or everybody stands.”

Again, a murmur ran through the ‘room’ as angels, and others, exchanged comments, heard but not understood.

“Yes!” Micheal said brightly. “We’re making our guest uncomfortable.” Without taking his eyes away from Rosie, he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. “Everybody sit.”

Micheal pulled up a chair directly across the small round table from Rosie. She supposed it would be called a table even though it had no legs. It was an opaque disc that floated at table height, supported by nothing visible, but she thought that was inconsequential given that the entire venue had no floor.

“Our turn to apologize, Ms. Storm,” Micheal said. “It’s been a very long time since most of us have interacted with anyone other than ourselves. We’ve clearly forgotten the art of hosting.”

“No apology necessary,” Rosie said, feeling like the lone exhibit at a popular museum.

Micheal waved to Kellareal to take one of the empty chairs at their ‘table’. As Kellareal sat, Micheal said, “Nice watch.”

Kellareal blushed. He’d forgotten about the watch and wouldn’t have shown up amongst his peers with evidence of his materialistic antics on display. “Thank you,” he muttered.

“So. Continue with your talk as if the rest of us weren’t here.” He gave Kellareal a look that promised follow-up at another time.

Rosie took note and filed it away so she would remember to ask Lally if Micheal was his boss.

“Here’s the thing,” Rosie said. “My conversation with Kellareal is between us. It’s not something I’m comfortable sharing with…” She looked around, “strangers.”

Michael followed her gaze around the room, looking like he was seeing his cohorts for the first time. He laughed. And, when he did, everybody laughed with him. Everybody but Kellareal. When he stopped, they stopped.

Rosie had already decided she wanted to put an end to this incident. That bit of creepiness was unsettling enough to cause her to dial the timetable forward. The time to exit was now.

She stood up. “Okay, then. It was very nice to meet you. Sorry again. Gotta go.”

She looked around, unsure what to do then locked eyes with Kellareal. The inner conflict running across his face might as well have been a Chyron. It was just as clear the instant he made up his mind. He stood, grasped Rosie’s wrist in his powerful hand and shot through a sky-blue veil into the murky unknown from which they’d emerged.

Rosie was glad to be deposited safe and sound back in her office at the Abbey, but looking at Kellareal’s face, she regretted acting like a compulsive hothead.

“Are you going to be in trouble?”

“Probably,” was all he said.

“I’m sorry.” And she was. “I didn’t know you had to answer to somebody.”

“Everybody answers to somebody.”

“Is that true?”

“Far as I know. Yeah.”