Page 128 of Pixie Problems

"What does thatmean, Jack?" I insisted.

"Shadow!" the bird said, hopping off the bed and onto the floor. There, he pecked at the ground, right where my body blocked the light. "Shadow, shadow, shadow."

"But it doesn't listen to me," I countered, because he was clearly talking aboutmyshadow.

"Shadow," Jack grumbled, pecking the thing's forehead.

The darkness on the floor swatted at the bird's form. This time, it was two-dimensional, yet I knew that could change. It also gave me an idea of what Jack was talking about.

"Are you saying my special shadow can help me with magic?"

So Jack hopped right on the thing's face. "Shadow, shadow, shadow, shadow!"

"They talk?" Bracken asked.

"Pretty sure they don't," I assured him. "My shadow kinda does its own thing. I mean, it usually helps, but it's clearly fae."

But while I was speaking, my shadow reached to its own chest and held its hand there for a moment. By the time I was done talking, a small wisp of dark smoke was curling up. It was like the trail of smoke from a cigarette in an ashtray, swirling more the higher it got, and then dissipating to leave nothing.

"Shadow!" Jack insisted.

"Wait," Bracken begged. "Jack, are you saying her shadow is like an outlet? Rain can't hold too much because her shadow will release the excess?"

Jack twisted his head and ruffled his feathers, but settled on nodding after all that. "Jack."

"Gonna take that as a yes," I told my zez.

"Same," he agreed, but he didn't take his eyes off Jack. "So if Aspen needs to dump more power, will it hurt Rain?"

That got a definitive shake of his head. "Jack!"

"Is this how we should keep Aspen stable so she can regain her control?" Zez asked next.

Jack nodded this time. "Morrigan. Shadow!"

"Yeah, to me that sounds like a yes," Bracken said. "Rain? Are you ok with that? Aspen can use her plants if you aren't around, but since you have a phone, I can only assume there won't be a long wait."

"So she can stay here again?" I sat up, excited at the thought. "Yes! Of course I'll help her. I mean, I would've this whole time!"

"And we didn't know you could without complications," he explained. "But Jack seems to think you've got this." So he turned back to look at the door leading into the bathroom. "Aspen?"

"Yeah?" she replied from her room, yet the thundering of feet assured me she was coming closer. A moment later, she peeked her head through the door. "Is she ok?"

"I'm fine!" I promised.

"She's fine," Bracken agreed. "Jack also says she can take anything you have to give."

"Shadow!" Jack agreed, nodding again.

Aspen hurried over to kneel on the ground beside him. "You have a new wor-" She paused, seeing the tendril of darkness still wafting up from the floor. "Rain?"

"My shadow," I explained. "Jack acts like it's a release valve."

"Shadow," Jack agreed.

"So." Bracken reached over to rub Aspen's shoulder. "Sounds to me like we've got this handled. Well, except for one little thing. Aspen, you can't keep all of these in here."

"I like them!" I shot back.