Hodin stiffened. “Perhaps you should contact your elf before he shows up.”
“Perhaps I should,” I said, embarrassed that I’d forgotten. “Excuse me.”
I dropped the silk scarf and stepped away. Calling would be easier, but I didn’t want Hodin listening in, so I simply texted Trent that I was okay and at the church learning how to shift my aura and that if I could wake up Bis, I’d jump myself back to him before dinner and we could take Ellasbeth’s car to her and pick up the girls together.
But when I pocketed my phone and turned to find Hodin waiting, a stab of fear brought me up short. The mystics hadn’t shown any interest in me since Newt had become the Goddess, but I hadn’t done much ley line magic, and certainly nothing as flagrant as this promised to be. “Does this require the Goddess’s attention?” I asked. My voice quavered, and I hated that he heard it.
“No,” he said shortly. “I need to speak to your gargoyle,” he added, eyes on the exposed rafters.
“Before sunset?” I flopped into the chair across from him. “Good luck with that.”
Hodin frowned at the raised dust glinting in the dusky light. “Call him.” He leaned across the table in challenge. “You do know how to call him?”
I sat up, embarrassed. “He’s only fifty years old. He’s not going to stay awake.” Hodin sighed, and then I felt myself warm as I realized he was looking at my no-doze amulet peeking from behind my shirt. “Oh. Yeah. Hang on.”
“Hang on?” Hodin muttered. “Does something happen when you summon your goyle?”
But I’d already settled myself, and tapping the nearest line, I mentally shouted, Bis!
Hairy church bells. Bis was suddenly awake, his alarm obvious. Rachel? Where are you?
I felt bad at his panic, but at least it was keeping him awake. I might have found a way to shift my aura so you can teach me the lines. Want to try it?
Bis’s fear vanished, replaced by a suddenly sleepy elation. It’s hardly afternoon, he thought, his thoughts slurring somehow. You’re, like, what? Downstairs. Sure . . .
My blurred focus tightened on Hodin. “Here he comes,” I said, but my proud smile faded at the sudden crashing from the vestibule stairway and Bis flew in, almost hitting the wall before landing on my shoulder to make my hair fly. “Hi, Hodin,” he slurred, eyes drooping as his tail wrapped around my back and arm. And then he was asleep, his snoring like a resonating bell as I blinked fast and tried to hide my heartache. Despite his catlike size, he was as light as a bird on my shoulder, but what hurt was that I couldn’t feel the lines through him. Not like before.
Eyes narrowing, Hodin frowned at us. Embarrassed, I awkwardly wrangled the no-doze amulet from my neck and dropped it around Bis’s. Still there was no change, and I tweaked the kid’s foot with a shouted “Bis!” Finally he snorted awake, his red eyes blinking owlishly and the white tufts of his ears standing out strong against his blush.
“Um, sorry,” he said to Hodin, his feet pinching me in his nervousness. “Why don’t you have a line matching your aura? I thought all the demons remade their lines.”
“I did not,” Hodin said sourly.
“But you had one once,” Bis insisted, head cocked as he “listened” to the demon’s aura. “Europe?”
“Enough.” Hodin’s annoyance showed in the slant of his eyes. “If you tell anyone about me, I will pull Rachel’s heart from her and feed it to the nearest dog. Understand?”
“Sure,” Bis said around a yawn. “I’m Bis. World breaker.” He held out a fist, and when Hodin ignored it, he let it drop. “Bell clapper,” he muttered, and Hodin’s frown deepened.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I reached to touch Bis’s feet. “He’s got lost-boy issues.”
Hodin unlaced his arms and leaned over the table. “So we are all in agreement,” he said shortly. “I shift Rachel’s soul to her original auratic expression to hide her from the baku, and you both keep your mouths shut about me.”
“Baku?” Bis interrupted.
“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered. “If Hodin here can shift my soul expression, I can shift Al’s, and he will be safe.”
“Not to mention I could teach you the songs the lines sing so you can jump them by yourself,” Bis said, and his grip on my shoulder tightened in excitement.