Page 24 of A Light in the Dark
TWENTY-FOUR
Lucky machine.
While it took an hour, Meri and Lois managed to pull Joel away from the gathering of cops working to resolve the drunk driving incident and handle the wreckage. Tow trucks came, and I wondered how the owners would be notified that an idiot had trashed their property.
In Stonecreek, cars were as much of a status symbol as they were a convenience for their owners.
When Joel pulled up to drop me off, the men I’d spotted loitering the other day had returned, and they didn’t bother to hide their interest in me and my businessman companion. Rather unnerved, I hurried into my home while Joel went to park.
I expected he’d be either knocking or ringing my doorbell within the next ten minutes. That didn’t stop me from engaging the deadbolt and checking out the window to see what the strangers were up to .
They visited each of the businesses on our street before a silver SUV came and picked them up.
How odd.
Joel opted to come over as a human, and he carried a reusable bag with him. I let him in, and he held out the bag. “A gift of shifter luna moth silk for your fiber adventures. This is a mixed lot from my flutter, but it should keep you amused for at least ten minutes.”
I accepted the bag, grinned, and hung it from one of the hooks for me to deal with later. “Thank you. If I play with that right now, I’ll never get any work done, and I need to get some work done tonight or I’ll go mad. In good news, I have books, fiber, and anything else you might need to keep amused. I’ll even let you amuse yourself with my new sewing machine, but you’d have to go get your beloved fibers from Shifters Two and Three.”
After a moment of contemplation, he excused himself, fled to his home, and left me waiting for him, laughing all the while. Five minutes later, he returned hauling a pile of black and white fabric and thread. “I promise I’ll behave and be a good guest if I can play with your new sewing machine.”
Still giggling, I led him to my upstairs craft room, which was one room over from where I’d set up my computers. “I will be nearby if you need me, the machine confuses you, or you’re just that excited over the machine. I’ve played with it long enough to hem my cross-stitch projects, and she’s a beauty. You’ll have to treat her gently. She’s a virgin for clothes still.”
“I will whisper sweet nothings to her and tell her how beautiful she is while I work,” Joel promised.
Lucky machine .
“Just don’t play with the embroidery settings without me. Those settings cost me a fortune.”
He chuckled. “I’m aware. I have a nice sewing machine, but nowhere near as nice as your new one. I’ll be visiting your machine as often as you’ll let me, I’m not going to lie. I’ll be doing most of these suits with a machine, but one is going to be hand sewn from start to finish. That is going to be my extra nice suit. Honestly, an excellent sewing machine with someone who knows what they’re doing can trick people, but the suits are considered cheap because someone didn’t spend fifty hours of their life making it. Daily wear? I go cheap. For special events or business meetings with large buyers, I dig out the ones I’ve hand sewn. And as I’m spoiled, I learned the art of making my own suits by hand. I like being unique, and it doesn’t get much more unique than that.”
That was one way to put it. “How many suits are you going to be walking out with tonight?”
“That depends on when you kick me out. I’m hoping for three.”
I pointed at my drawer of buttons and other odds and ends useful for making nice things like suits. “Please feel free to rampage through my supplies if you need zippers, buttons, or anything decorative in nature. If you need linings, I have some satin fabric, but it isn’t fancy luna moth silk.”
“I’m good on all the fabrics I need, but I might take you up on the buttons, as I tend to only use one button type.”
“Variety is the spice of life. Make your buttons spicy.” I headed over to what used to be an extension of my craft room but now held all my computer junk. I needed to clear out all the drawers and move it into the craft room, but I’d deal with that another day. Once seated in my new computer chair, I booted up the work laptop, dug out my phone, and began the tedious process of researching refugees. A text to my boss won me a link to the website Stonecreek employers could use to check on the bonus status of applicants. He also sent me the business information needed to make the website work, as it was locked to eligible companies.
I determined if I opened twenty browser tabs at a time, I could copy-paste the relevant info into the boxes and bulk check refugee status, saving myself time and sanity. I wrote an email to my boss with the status of each potential employee, their refugee identification number, and their status. Half of them weren’t eligible for hiring bonuses, half of them were, and most of the refugees who had been previously hired had been let go for having completed the projects they’d been hired for.
I read between the lines: those refugees were at the highest risk of being targeted.
Aware my boss had similar feelings, I organized the results by my general opinion on which people were best for the job, and of those, I put the ones who weren’t eligible for a bonus at the top. Once I finished that, I texted my boss that I’d finished the initial status check.
At the same time, I texted the Hunters with the refugee identifications and their status in our system, information I hoped they could use.
A few moments after sending my email off, my phone rang. Grinning, I accepted the call and said, “I’m not a miracle worker. I just opened a lot of tabs at once, copy-pasted the company info into all the tabs, and then plugged in the refugee identification numbers. After submitting them all, I recorded the result and did the next batch. It went quickly.”
“You processed hundreds of records in less than two hours, Valerie.”
“It doesn’t take more than a few minutes to do a batch of twenty. I mean, I’m pleased with my level of efficiency. I’ll be observing my guest sew on my new machine. It’s been silent in my craft room, so he’s either indulging in an affair with the machine, he’s asleep at my table, likely drooling on his precious silk, or he’s rummaging through my button collection, spicing up his suits. He brought me a bag of luna moth silk as a present, and it’s hanging by my door, and the first time I have several hours without interruption, I will be learning how to spin it.”
“We’re going to have to check in with you, as I fear you may develop Yolana’s problem.”
“Oh, you’ve met Yolana?”
“Everyone in the flutter has. Those of us who need a few extra bucks sell our excess silk to her. This upsets Joel, as he doesn’t think anyone in his flutter should need extra money. If he ever suspects you’re short on cash, I will have hell to pay because you’re under my hire.”
“I’m fairly confident in saying that I’m being paid far more than my education level and experience implies I should be paid.”
“You’re underpaid for your performance, and the management is fixing that before Joel can tear me a new ass—and they know he will. Anyway, Yolana will disappear into her workshop after hours and never be seen again. Someone with the key has to go in, pull her away from her spinning, and force her to handle the basics, including shower. She’ll be clean from fingertips to elbow and a walking disaster everywhere else if left unattended.” My boss snickered. “Joel’s parents usually take care of checking in on her if Yolana’s parents don’t. But a lot of us luna moths have fixation problems when it comes to our hobby of choice. Since we don’t have the same lifespan issues as mundane luna moths, we tend to express that part of our nature through fun activities. That is a good thing, else we’d just chase each other around and try to unsuccessfully have many luna moth babies.”
Interesting. “So luna moth shifters can’t have themselves a good time when shifted?”
“Yep. That’s the price we pay for survival, the ability to eat, and our natural enjoyment of roses and other certain flowering plants.”
“That’s harsh. Clearly, it doesn’t apply when human, as Joel and your wife exist.”
“That’s correct. Once shifted, we’re inclined to stay close to our partner and find plants to stick our noses into. Once we get stoned off the plants and have no desire to do anything other than find more plants, we loiter until we get hungry enough to go look for actual food. Then we get a good nap, and all is well. Fortunately for us, we’re one of the more magical of shifter species, so we don’t have to worry about mundane predators. Our glow does a good job of repelling them.”
The glow was a survival mechanism? Interesting. “It won’t prevent me from locking in any luna moths who are dumb enough to come into my home on Friday or Saturday nights,” I warned him .
“You have indoor roses in bloom. Nobody is going to care if we’re held hostage until morning. The luna moths you capture will be too stoned to be bothered with moving, and you leave out fruit plates for us. Those of us who aren’t enjoying your roses are shaking their heads at those of us unable to resist the lure.”
“So, if I were to lock Joel in, would anybody care?”
“We’d only care if you failed to release him in the morning,” he replied with laughter in his voice. “And if you’re angling for more silk, just tell me you’re holding him hostage and require a bag of silk to release him.”
“I will require a bag of silk in the morning to release him.”
It took him several minutes to finish laughing at me. “I’ll let the flutter know you’ve taken him as a hostage, but as you’re a benevolent kidnapper, we’ll come back for him on Monday morning with a bag of silk. Just ask him to shift if you want to admire him as a luna moth. He knows he’s pretty, and he’ll absolutely let his vanity get the better of him. Just expect a mess of silk in your bathroom, because he’s a high volume producer of silk.”
“How many times can he shift in a day?”
“He usually limits to no more than four times a week; otherwise, he gets stupidly tired. He’s shifted more than he should have this week, because he can’t resist your roses and wants to posture while the rest of us get our sniffs in. Just tell him to make himself a pair of pajamas with his silk or go home for a bag and come back so he can sleep properly. I’m assuming you have a guest bedroom.”
Technically, I did, but I had a better place to lure the man if I could work up the courage. “I do. I’ll let you go. Email me if you need more information or you want me to review resumes.”
“Will do. Have a good night.”
After he hung up, I pocketed my cell phone and went to check on my guest in the room next door. Joel hummed while he worked, sewing buttons onto his new suit jacket by hand. He’d already done the buttonholes, and as far as I could tell, he was down to buttons and detailing. I waited until he snipped his thread to say, “You weren’t kidding about it only taking a few hours to make a suit.”
Joel grinned and lifted his head from his work. “Do I want to know how much this machine cost? It’s fabulous.”
“Several thousand more than I was expecting to spend, but they had one out doing an embroidery demonstration at the store, and I decided I was taking her home with me. No shattering?”
“No shattering. This suit is exclusively luna moth shifter silk, so the risk of shattering is quite low albeit still present. I’m at the safe point, though. If it was going to shatter, it would have by now. I’ve only shattered one suit out of like fifty I’ve made. And I cried . That was my momma’s silk, Valerie.”
“I think it’s sweet that you wear silk your parents produce. But you’re going to have to either go home and get your pajamas or make your own using my machine, but you’ve been sold out by your flutter. They will return for you on Monday morning, where I will be paid in a bag of silk for your safe return.”
He laughed, grabbed another button, and went to work affixing it to his new suit. “I see it’s your turn to indulge in a kidnapping. Very well. I’ll grab my things, including my camera, and you can dictate everything we do this weekend. That seems fair after tonight. Also, I’m hugely relieved you have springs loaded into your feet. I checked for wings, Valerie. You flew over that car like it was child’s play.”
“Well, when you did fairly well at vaulting until eighteen, it is child’s play. I should take some lessons again. Clearly, there are practical applications of gymnastics I had not anticipated before tonight. Tomorrow, we have to wait for my furniture to be delivered, but after that, if you need some more of your parents’ love, we can go visit them. Maybe Yolana will have more of their silk you can buy.”
“I could start doing some of that stitching stuff you do. That would give me an excuse to get their thread. How is the stitching cloth?”
“It’s tiny but fierce, but the weave is good for cross-stitching, and it doesn’t seem prone to shattering, so I’m pretty happy. The thread is a delight to work with. I can teach you if you don’t know how.”
“I’ve done some limited embroidery for suit embellishments, but I haven’t actually done cross-stitch before.”
“You’re going to want a project holder. I highly recommend Shifter Five’s. I don’t think Yolana has made any project holders from your parents.”
“They haven’t; their production hasn’t been high enough.” He pouted at me. “I suppose I could support Shifter Five through the purchase of a project holder. We can at least match in terms of materials used.”
“I won’t remind your parents that Shifter Five’s silk is the best silk,” I promised, grinning at him. “Finish up your suit and then head home for everything you need for a rough weekend of being kidnapped and held hostage. But in good news, I have plenty in my freezer, so you won’t starve. I’m even good at cooking. And if you happen to decide to become a luna moth and get high on my roses, I’ll feed you. It’s only polite to provide guests with a snack.”
“The entire flutter is going to visit,” he warned.
“Sure, on Monday, and they’ll be bringing me a bribe to return you. I have it on excellent authority you have been abandoned to your fate.”
“I’ll make sure to thank them for their consideration later, but to properly play the role as your hostage, I must protest and struggle for your enjoyment.”
I liked the idea of him protesting and struggling for my enjoyment a little too much. “Finish making your suit, hostage. Take your time. Then you can run on home and fetch all the things you need to be a happy and healthy hostage for the weekend. But be aware, once you step foot into my home next, you will be at my mercy.”
“Oh, no! I am being kidnapped. Whatever will I do?”
“Suffer horribly.”
He laughed. “For some reason, I think I’ll be safe from suffering, but I will make a good effort to complain over the wicked ways of my captor.”
“That’s a good start.”