let him tell you himself. Off we go then? We’re due to meet him right about now.”
She linked her arm in Lyric’s like she was about to perform a tap dance in Mary Poppins. “Away we go.” She turned her head to look at Lyric. “And later I have a surprise for you.”
The demon almost spluttered. Those were words that had never been aimed his direction. “You can’t say you have a surprise for me in the same sentence with the word later. No. That will not do. I’ll know now or not at all.”
“Not at all then.”
“Alright, I didn’t really mean not at all. It’s just a thing people say.” Shivaun laughed. “Come now. Tell me or I’ll do something drastic.”
Her eyes sparkled with the mischief that had rightly earned elves their reputation for fun and stirring things up. “Here’s the thing. The surprise is no static. It can change form dependin’ on my estimation of you. If I do no’ like your reaction, it could transform from somethin’ delightful to somethin’ distinctly unpleasant.”
“I can wait. Long life is nothing if not a training ground for patience.”
“So glad you see it my way.”
Seconds after Lyric knocked on the door of the attic apartment, it flew open and a very excited Doo Darby said, “Come in. I’ve been waitin’ for you. You’re not going to believe what happened.”
“What?” Lyric said.
“I saw Eric Clapton. He’s a dick just like everybody always said, but, you know. It’s still Eric Clapton! I almost didn’t recognize him. I mean, he’s…”
“Younger?” Lyric smiled.
“Yeah!”
“Did you gush?”
With a sheepish smile, Doo said, “Maybe.”
“You’re gonna have to get used to seeing icons in this neighborhood. Try to remember that they haven’t yet become rock gods. Right now they’d be happy with a one-hit-wonder.”
Lyric had taken a hard look at Clapton at one point to see if he was a candidate to be a beneficiary of the demon’s special brand of muse. Lyric had taken a pass. He’d concluded that the man was not coachable, too inflexible, and too hard to get along with. The latter was borne out with history because Clapton couldn’t keep a band together long enough for them to share a lunch and dinner on the same day.
Still, he knew why Doo was beside himself. Clapton had a volcanic talent that couldn’t be denied, personalities aside.
“Who is it we’re talkin’ ‘bout?” Shivaun asked.
“Who’s Eric Clapton?!?” Doo was visibly taken aback by the question. He looked at Lyric with incredulity. “You two don’t have much in common, do you?”
“We have you in common,” Lyric answered smoothly. “And we’re both, ah, not human.”
“Ohhhhh. Right. Well.” Doo turned the wattage of his smile back up to max. “Look at the stuff we found,” he said to Shivaun. “Maybe you don’t know who Eric Clapton is, but you can still appreciate the haul. Trust me. This is just the best stuff. In the world.”
Doo pointed to an amp that had a stain on the front mesh and scuffs on the sides. It was clearly not new. “This is a 1963 Fender Vibroverb. I couldn’t believe it was just sitting there in like, the fifth pawn shop we hit. Someplace across the Bay. I mean, in my time, I was strictly a Marshall guy. Half stack all the way. But in this time? It just doesn’t get better.” He squatted and lovingly ran his hand over the amp.
Lyric loved seeing that. If there was anything better than music, it was music made louder. Human magic had its upside.
Shivaun got the full tour of all the gear they’d dragged back. It was clear that Doo was walking on air. Two electric and one acoustic guitars. A Shure mic. He was even proud of the mess of cables. She did her best to politely pretend to be thrilled for him, but the notion of pride in cables was a complete mystery to her.
While Doo was showing Shivaun his haul, she noticed that Lyric was looking on with something more than a professional interest. He was clearly personally involved with the lad. Whether that was about Doo’s musical potential or something else, she couldn’t speculate.
At the end of the tour, she said, “Are ye hungry?”
Doo grinned. “Always.”
“Well, that beautiful demon over there,” she pointed at Lyric, whose aura flared with brightness at being called beautiful, “will buy you dinner.”
“I will,” Lyric agreed. “But perhaps we might go elsewhere. Far from the madding crowd.”
“I do no’ know what that means,” Shivaun said. “But Doo