A giant gust of wind sprang up. It blew piles of rubble across the basement and whipped dust in my eyes. Debris and bits of ceiling stuck to the rapidly liquefying corpse.

“Now what!” said Rufus, annoyed.

Two women holding clipboards appeared. They wore bright, dressy looking robes; one in purple, the other in blue.

“Rufus Wiley?” said the one in purple. “And Jamison Bridger?”

“I’m Rufus. Who are you?” Rufus frowned, eyeing the clipboards.

“My name is Lin Esca,” the one in blue told him, “and this is Fia Lark. We’re representatives of Kitlo Calare, from the Division of Professional Licensing.”

Rufus’s tone changed immediately. “Of course. What can I do for you?”

“The Calare doesn’t see you at Kitlo gatherings much,” said Fia.

“I don’t really like groups,” he said.

Jamison quietly headed for the basement stairs.

“Excuse me, Mr. Bridger,” said Fia.

Jamison stopped dead in his tracks. “Yes?”

“We have some things to discuss with you,” she said. “We’re also here to conduct an inspection of your laboratory, Mr. Wiley, and make sure everything here is as it should be.”

“Inspection?” Rufus said, as if it was the last thing he expected her to say.

“I’m already seeing a number of things you’re in violation of. First and foremost, the cadaver on the floor,” said Lin, wrinkling her nose.

“That’s a client,” Rufus said quickly. “I’m a necromancer. And I do embalming and cremations.”

“On site?” Lin said, her gaze flicking between Rufus and the body.

“Yes,” said Rufus. “I have licenses. My workspace is up to code.”

My stomach turned. Yvette was wrong. Then again, I hadn’t seen the entire house.

“We’d love to check your records,” said Lin, searching through the papers in the clipboard. “Who is, or was, this gentleman?”

“A man with no home, family, or identification who drowned in one of the park fountains while drunk,” said Rufus. “The coroner's office asked me to find out who he was and to cremate his remains. He started decomposing before I could get much information.”

Lin and Fia looked at each other. I wished I knew what they were thinking.

“The necromancy process takes a lot out of the body,” Rufus said. “It tends to accelerate decomposition.”

“It looks like your licenses are all current,” Lin said briskly. “The remains need to be removed before twelve AM today. Or face a one thousand diret fine.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “It will be taken care of as soon as possible.”

“Very good,” said Lin, turning her attention to the clipboard.

Rufus grabbed one of the sheets near the stone slab and draped it over the corpse as Lin went through the paperwork.

“The rest of my findings are as follows: broken furniture and other items blocking doorways are a fire hazard, damaged lighting, and this slab is cracked in half and dangerous to use,” she said. “Plus you’ve got the trapdoor dungeon, which I don’t see a variance posted anywhere for. Broken glass vials and whatever was in them.”

“But—” said Rufus.

“This place is a mess. You have a much bigger problem on your hands, though,” Lin said, her steely eyes boring right through me.

Rufus glared at me. “Her? She’s only here because she couldn’t stay out of the way.”

I stood, arms crossed. “I’m here because you couldn’t wait to get your hands on a pendant that didn’t even belong to you.”

“Endangering a civilian is a hefty fine,” Lin said. “Five thousand direts.”

Rufus groaned.

“Civilian?” I said.

“Perhaps you prefer ordinary or mundane,” said Rufus. “Or unmagical imbecile.”

“Good, I hope you get fined. I just want to go home,” I said. They ignored me.

“As for you, Mr. Bridger,” said Fia, whipping out a file, “It appears you haven’t applied for a permit renewal for your baton. It’s five months overdue.”

“I’m pretty sure I sent that in,” said Jamison. “Tobin, didn’t you say you’d mail that for me?”

Tobin rolled his eyes. “I can’t be responsible for you all the time, James. And I’m busy at the moment.” He whispered something in Yvette’s ear and the two of them scampered up the basement stairs giggling.

“Our records show you are in violation. I am authorized to confiscate the baton, or you can make a payment of three hundred direts to the licensing board right now and avoid extra fees,” said Fia.

“Three hundred direts!” Jamison said. “Your rates gone up. How is anybody supposed to make a living?”

“That’s the cost of doing business if you want to keep things safe and regulated,” Fia said. “Your pest control certification is also coming due at the end of this month. One hundred and twenty-five direts to renew. Would you like to take care of that now?”

“I need to get to the bank first,” Jamison said. “Especially since this check now says VOID on it.”

“What do you expect me to do?” Rufus said to Lin. “I’ve just had it out with the League of Demon Lords. Of course this place is a mess.”

“In an unsecured laboratory with a civilian,” Lin said in my direction. “We are aware.”

“If you knew, why didn’t you come sooner?” said Rufus.

Lin had the same long-suffering expression Addison often gave me. “It is not my job to explain my daily schedule to you. However, it is your job to make sure your laboratory is safe, not engaging in reckless magic around civilians.”

“What about my ex-wife and my cousin breaking into my house?” said Rufus. “They’re entirely the reason I’m in this predicament.”

“Which brings me to another point,” said Lin. “You will receive a copy of a Change Locks Advisory, which requires your signature.”

Rufus grabbed a pen out of thin air. “Fine. I don’t suppose I can register a complaint with the Calare for the wine and the fireplace tongs?”

Lin and Fia looked at each other.

Fia spoke. “They have been sentenced by the League of Demon Lords already, so you’d be wasting your time. The rest is for your insurer to handle. You do have a policy, don’t you?”

“Yes,” he sighed.

“Mr. Wiley, you have one month to bring this laboratory to a passable condition. Beyond that, the Division will have no choice but to fine you one thousand direts, and then seventy-five direts per week after that if it doesn’t improve upon further weekly inspection,” said Lin.

Rufus gasped.

“You will be provided with a copy of an itemized list of our findings down here, which we will go over in detail. In the meantime, you,” she pointed to me, “need to go upstairs and go to bed.”

I almost fainted. Just Go To Bed really was adults’ answer to everything. “Can’t one of you send me home? I don’t live here.”

Fia and Lin looked at each other again. I wondered what it must be like working with them. They probably had a lot of inside jokes.

“That’s not our reason for this visit,” Fia said. “And it’s a different agency.”

“Coralie. Please go upstairs, get cleaned up, and go to bed. We will chat in the morning,” Rufus said in the most fed-up voice I’d heard all night. He managed to sound threatening without yelling. I wanted dearly to say so but didn’t dare.

“Okay,” I sulked. Not only was I not getting back to Addison tonight, but I was doomed to stay in the creepy bedroom, I had a pounding headache, my mouth still tasted disgusting, and I had no toothbrush.

As I made my way upstairs, I heard Jamison saying he lost his wallet somewhere in the basement during all the confusion, and that he swore his certification expired a year from now, not right now, and that he must have missed their reminder letters, and please PLEASE don’t confiscate my baton, we’ve been together since Cailreth Army.

I trudged to the creepy bedroom, exhausted and worried sick about Addison. Tobin and Yvette were already in there getting cozy on the demon print loveseat. They stopped mid-grope.

“Don’t mind me, I’m taking a shower and going to bed.” I wished I had some aspirin but with my empty stomach, it was probably just as well.

“You aren’t leaving tonight?” Yvette asked.

I took off the glove and put it on the dresser. “Apparently not.”

“Did Jamison leave?” she asked.

“Not yet.” I caught myself looking surprised in the mirror as clean new floral print pajamas appeared in front of me on the dresser. I noticed a glass pitcher of ice water and some cups on a table near the bed, along with soda crackers on a plate.

“He’s delinquent on some licensure stuff. They won’t let him keep his baton without renewing the permits, so he’ll be here a while. Anyway, I need to break the news I won’t be leaving with him,” said Tobin, nuzzling behind Yvette’s ear.

“How’s your tail and paws?” I asked Yvette.

“Better than they were before,” she said. “Now that I have a distraction.”

“Rowr,” said Tobin.

“That’s good,” I said to her. We said we’d catch up later.

They left. I headed into the bathroom. On the vanity was a basket of brand new toiletries including a bar of soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a packet of fizzy tablets for nausea.

That night I slept fitfully, with dreams about not being able to get out of a maze.

I lay half asleep, taking in the aromas of coffee and bacon, with sunlight streaming in through the window that looked out onto the wrought iron fence. My headache was gone, replaced with hunger pangs.

Knocking on the door forced me to wake up all the way. “Coralie, if you’re awake...breakfast is ready downstairs.”

Rufus. I wondered what time he went to bed, or if he even had.

“Thanks, I’ll be right down,” I said. The bedside clock read 9:15.

“Whenever you’re up to it,” he said.

The other glove had returned. I started thinking about Addison and our conversation about the hospital food.

My thoughts strayed to the mess I’d made in Rufus’s bedroom, and whether his laboratory still looked disastrous. Yvette and I were probably magically barred from there now.

What would Addison say?

I waited for the sadness to pass before I went downstairs.

As I made my way to the kitchen, I realized that Rufus’s house was filled with large windows and hung with mirrors which brightened the rooms and made them almost cheerful in the morning light. The place seemed to have lost its oppressive atmosphere.

A buffet was spread out on the kitchen table: bacon, eggs, roasted potatoes, baked beans, toast, butter, honey, and two kinds of jam, along with tea and coffee. Yvette and Tobin were already helping themselves.

“Those look comfy,” Yvette said about the pj's.

“Thanks, they are,” I said.

Rufus was showered and changed but not well rested. He stooped glassy-eyed over the oven, pushing ham steaks around a buttered skillet with tongs.

Tobin mentioned that Jamison had gotten his licenses current and decided to take a break from work. “His wife is a saint. She constantly writes him notes which he puts in his pocket and forgets about. He’s a genius at magic though.”

“Even though he turned me into an opossum,” said Yvette. “That was unexpected.”

“But it led us together, my sweet,” Tobin said, and kissed the top of her head. “Anyways, he said he was very happy for us.”

Rufus rolled his eyes and drained his coffee cup. He looked like he needed a lot more.

“So with James going home we decided to stick around here,” Tobin said. “The meals are too good to pass up.”

“Plus we want to keep you company,” Yvette said to Rufus between bites. “You know, after everything.”

“Lucky me,” Rufus said tiredly.

“I’m sorry for the mess I made in your room. I can clean it up,” I said to him.

He poured himself more coffee. “It’s already been taken care of.”

That was a relief. “And I’m also sorry for letting all the undead creatures out.”

“It was for the best.”

“What about your laboratory?” I asked.

“I have a company coming. It’s far less complicated than you think,” he said. “Please eat something.”

“Everything looks delicious,” I said.

Rufus nodded with his mouth full. I chewed some toast and dreaded asking him when I would possibly be getting home.

We ate in silence. Yvette and Tobin slipped away paw in paw, no doubt somewhere private.

Rufus yawned. He finished his coffee and announced he was going back to bed. “The basement has been made inaccessible to all of you. Coralie, please find something quiet to do.”

I finished eating alone, my tiny hopes dashed. It was obvious nobody saw the same urgency for me to return home as I did. Maybe the Dorien Consulate could help me arrange a way. I took care of the dishes, put the food in the refrigerator, and went back upstairs to get the gloves.

My outfit from the day before was laundered and folded on the dresser. If only we had that service at Addison’s. Actually we do, but it’s me and there’s no magic involved.

I hashed out my plan to leave as I waited for Rufus to fall asleep. He would probably sleep for hours after yesterday’s events. In the meantime, I got ready for the day, left the pajamas in the hamper, put Runaway Rabbits back in the closet, and made the bed while I listened for Rufus’s snores.

How would I even find the Consulate? Using the Chimbrelis was out of the question. Maybe there was a directory around here somewhere, or a map. The sitting room seemed like a good place to start looking. I recalled seeing some magazines and mail on a side table that had a bunch of drawers.

As soon as I heard Rufus’s snores, I crept downstairs. The sitting room had nothing useful. No maps, atlases, or anything. The mail was a men’s apparel catalog and something from the water utility company. There were other built-in drawers, painted shut. I gave up trying to pry them open, not wanting to crack the wood.

Where was Yvette? She’d know where to look, or even where the Consulate was, if I was lucky.

My appetite came back with a vengeance so I went back to the kitchen for a plate of ham and potatoes and a cup of tea. I quietly searched the drawers as I ate, hoping one of them would be a junk drawer. There was but it contained books of matches, scissors, postage stamps, pens and pencils, and some copre coins.

Discouraged, I slid into a chair. Across from me was a napkin holder. Stuffed inside it were a brochure and tickets for the city’s botanical gardens and a map of Kitlo. I wanted to yell for joy.

The map took up the kitchen table as I unfolded it. There was the Dorien Consulate, marked with a tiny symbol denoting a government building. According to the legend, it was a few miles away on foot. I had no money for cab fare.

I went through six napkins copying down directions to the Consulate because the pen kept tearing holes in them and I couldn’t find any normal paper to use. It wasn’t perfect but it would have to do. Besides being reluctant to take it from the house, the map was too unwieldy. It took me ten minutes to refold it the right way.

In my head I rehearsed the story I planned to tell the officials while I finished tidying the kitchen: I’m here visiting an elderly relative but my traveling papers were stolen. Hopefully they wouldn’t ask to speak to any of my nonexistent family members.

A hush fell over the house as I slipped on the gloves. What would be worse, getting lost or getting all the way there and they were closed?

Although anxiety made me to leave as soon as possible, I wanted to say goodbye to Yvette and Tobin. They were nowhere to be found.

I crept to the front door. It was massive, stained dark, and carved with dragons, boars, stags, and other beasts. My hand had barely touched the doorknob when I was scared witless by Rufus across the foyer on the stair landing. I froze.

“Thanks for picking up after yourself,” he said.

“I thought you were asleep.” My voice felt too loud. “Thank you for all the stuff you did. Feeding us and everything.”

Rufus nodded. “Where are you going anyway, out for some air?”

I couldn’t tell him about my plan to go to the Consulate. He’d think I was an even bigger idiot than he already did. He would positively cackle.

A familiar, cold pain stabbed at my finger. The marble rolled out of my glove and bounced onto the floor. Before it could zip away, I reached down and grabbed it. The room lurched.

Something pulled me forward. Below me, the room dissolved into a whooshing blur.