“No. I need to tend to the ferrets and I want to—” I paused. I’d been about to say that I wanted to talk to my father about the creature. He was heavily steeped in lore and good about figuring out what different entities were. Sighing, I added, “I’m going to talk to Llew. He might know someone who understands astral entities. That wasn’t a spirit last night, or I would have seen it.”
“Raj still doesn’t remember what he did,” Kipa said.
“That’s another thing. I need to find out more about gargoyles. I know a few things, but this eludes me. That’s twice now he’s saved my ass, the first from Jim Morrison’s whack-assed spirit, and then, whatever this is. And both times, he’s almost immediately forgotten what he did. I don’t know if that’s a common gargoyle trait or if it’s unique to Raj, but I need to find out because if that power ever gets out of hand, I need to know how to deal with it.”
“Go sit down, breakfast will be right up.” Kipa motioned me out of the kitchen and, after giving him a kiss, I returned to the living room and sat down.
Raj was watching TV. It was some game show with a lot of lights and confetti and I suddenly realized that it was in Japanese.
“Why is Raj watching that show?” I asked.
“Raj likes the show because Raj thinks it’s funny,” he said. “The game show host makes hee-lar-eous jokes.”
I stiffened. “Wait a minute…can Raj understand what the host is saying?”
Raj nodded, gaze glued to the TV. “Raj can understand. The words sound funny compared to Raven’s words, but Raj knows what they mean.”
Flabbergasted, I sat back. My gargoyle understood Japanese and had never mentioned it. I guessed he thought it was normal.
“Raven doesn’t understand the host?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder at me.
“Raven doesn’t understand the host,” I said softly. Then, crossing to where he was sitting, I picked up the remote. “Raj, can we change the channel for a moment? Raven wants to ask Raj a question.”
“Okay,” Raj said, looking glum.
I quickly changed over to Univision. A soap opera was on and I could pick out pieces here and there. “Can Raj understand what the actors are saying?”
Raj listened for a moment, then bobbed his head. “Raj can understand. He’s angry at her for sleeping with the hot man downstairs.”
I began to flip through channels, finding a Korean station. “What about now? Can Raj understand the man speaking now?”
Once again, Raj listened for a moment. “The man’s talking about money. He wants a lot of it.”
I turned back to the game show and handed Raj back the remote. “Raven thanks Raj. Raj can watch his show now.” I gave him a quick hug and headed back to the table, where Kipa was arranging my plate, along with a mega-vat of espresso, chocolate, and milk.
“I’ve already eaten, and so has Raj. Take your time,” he said, sitting down on the opposite side of the table.
The bacon and eggs were hot, the toast smelled all yeasty-buttery good, and the fruit salad looked bright and colorful. My stomach rumbled and I realized how hungry I was, so I dug in. After a few bites, I sat back, setting down my fork on the edge of my plate.
“So, Raj can understand Japanese, Korean, and Spanish,” I said.
“Oh? I knew he could understand Finnish, although his inflection leaves something to be desired,” Kipa said. “But considering he’s a gargoyle and Finnish is one hell of a language to learn—”
“Finnish? You knew he can understand Finnish and didn’t tell me?” I stared at him.
Kipa looked surprised. “I thought you knew!”
“Of course I didn’t know…” I paused, catching myself. “I’m kind of astounded. It appears Raj was born multi-lingual. There’s so much about him that I need to learn. What else can that twerp do?” Shaking my head, I picked up my fork and began to eat again.
“I might be able to help you,” Kipa said. “If you don’t mind a trip to Annwn, we can visit one of my buddies there who has made a career out of studying Crypto species. When do you next work at Llew’s?”
“I’m working Wednesday and Saturday this week, but not today or tomorrow, so I’d love to go.” I had been to Annwn a number of times, but mostly to my therapist’s office, which was at Cernunnos’s palace, Herne’s father and Ember’s soon-to-be father-in-law. I didn’t envy her. Cernunnos was gorgeous, he could be incredibly polite, but he was overwhelming.
Kipa pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Quest to see if she’s home.”
Quest Realto lived on the Eastside, like I did, and she was one of the portal keepers. She guarded a portal that led to Annwn for Cernunnos. A coyote shifter, she and I had become friendly over the months I had been traveling to the Celtic Otherworld for my therapy sessions.
I finished eating while he chatted with her on the phone.
“You’ll be there until one? All right, is it okay if we come over in about an hour?”
I glanced at the clock. It was going on eleven.
“Thanks,” Kipa said. “We’ll see you then.” He hung up. “I should have asked you first. Will noon be good for you?”
“It’s fine. I’m dressed and I don’t have many errands to run today.” My phone rang and I glanced at it. Vixen. I answered. “Hey Vixen, how are you?”
“I’m fine, dear heart. I wanted to check on you and to ask what you thought about Lenny. You didn’t call me back last night. I’m hurt,” they said in a melodramatic voice.
“Oh, I imagine you’re so butthurt.” I laughed. “I’m all right, actually. Last night I had a bit of a meltdown, but today I’m okay. As far as Lenny, he’s got an attachment plugged into him. I don’t know whether it’s a spirit or a Walk-In, but I’ll try to figure it out. Meanwhile, I was attacked in the middle of the night by some astral nasty that managed to slip through my wards. Raj saved me, and later today I’m headed over to Annwn with Kipa.”
Vixen paused, then—their voice suddenly serious—asked, “You were attacked, girl? Are you all right?”
“I’m okay, though without Raj, I’d be dead now.” I was about to tell them that Raj had told me what it looked like, then stopped. Vixen didn’t know that Raj talked, and we wanted to keep it that way until Raj was ready. Raj had a right to his privacy.
“Do you know what it was?” Vixen asked.
“No, but I’m hoping to find out from Kipa’s friend—apparently they’re knowledgeable about all sorts of Cryptos and I know this creature wasn’t a spirit. I think it was an astral entity, but maybe it had the power of invisibility.” For some reason, I felt skittish about telling Vixen anything more about the incident, so I promised to call them later and got off the phone.
“I’m not sure why, but I didn’t want to talk to Vixen,” I said.
“Did you two have a scuffle?”
I snorted. “Dude, if Vixen and I got into it, that would be the end of me. Taipan snake shifter and a Charmer as well? Nope, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I feel very uneasy about their friend—Lenny. The one who’s got the…thing…attached to him. When I met him yesterday, I felt like he was watching me. Not Lenny, but whatever it is has hold of him.”