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“Wow—really?” I looked at him in surprise. “That’s amazing!”
He shrugged.
“Not really. Creatures have always walked among humans—it’s just that we’re careful to keep you from seeing us.” He frowned. “Some of them really take advantage, though. Most of the billionaires and CEOs of big corporations are Dragons—their greed for wealth and power can’t be contained to the Creature world.”
“Are you saying Elon Musk is a Creature?” I asked, staring up at him.
He nodded.
“And Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg…I could go on, but they’re all fucking bastards, so I won’t bother.”
“Wow,” I murmured again. “Do you ever go to the human world?” I asked him.
He frowned.
“I’ve been once or twice, but I’m allergic to the disguise magic—gives me a rash. So I mostly hang around here. I’ve got a good business going and with Hidden Hollow growing like it is, I don’t need to go out in the human world to get any more customers.”
“What do you do?” I asked. But just then Goldie reappeared with our cinnamon rolls. Once again, she had two different sized plates—a normal one for me and a huge platter sized one for Rath.
I stared at the size of the cinnamon roll she put in front of him. Mine was big enough to fill my whole plate, but his was massive—bigger than my whole head!
“Enjoy!” she remarked, producing some forks and handing them to us. Then she hurried away to meet some other customers who had just come in the door.
“Mmm, looks delicious,” Rath rumbled. He picked up his fork and began cutting a piece. “To answer your question, I do most of the tech work here in town. I troubleshoot computer problems, install Wi-Fi—that kind of thing.”
“Oh, I need Wi-Fi at my house—at my Grandma’s house, I mean,” I said. I took a bite of the cinnamon roll and nearly moaned. “Oh my God, this is so good!”
“Yeah, they make them fresh every morning,” he said. “Though I think Celia at The Lost Lamb is getting kind of overwhelmed with all the new business. More and more witches and magic users and Creatures are settling down here—the human world is getting to be too much for them.”
“It’s definitely too much,” I murmured, thinking of the upcoming election and the general mess the whole world seemed to be in. “Can I get you to install Wi-Fi in my Grandma’s house?” I added, getting back to his job. “I need it because I work remote.”
He frowned.
“I’m afraid not. Your grandma didn’t want Wi-Fi installed—she said it interfered with her communication with your Grandfather.”
“What?” I shook my head. “What do you mean? I remember my Grandma—I mean, now that I’m here, I do. But I don’t have any memories of my Grandfather at all.”
Rath looked thoughtful.
“I think he probably died before you were born. I know he died before the house was built because your Grandma told me she planted his bones in the foundation so she could keep in contact with him.”
“Wait…what?” I put down my fork. “Are you telling me my Grandma buried her dead husband under her house?”
Rath shrugged.
“It’s not uncommon among witches to bury a loved one in the foundation of a house. That way as you build the house, the spirit of the one you lost grows to inhabit it. So you never really lose contact with them.”
I thought back to the family tree I’d seen in the beginning of my Grandma’s Grimoire.
“That must be why she named the house after him,” I murmured. “She called it ‘Morris’ in her will.”
“She didn’t just name the house after him—the house is him,” Rath corrected me. “As much as possible, anyway.”
“Wait…so you’re saying I’m living inside my Grandfather?” I stopped eating my cinnamon roll again—the idea was deeply creepy. “I mean, can he see me all the time? What about when I’m taking a bath?”
“No, no—it’s not like that!” Rath hastened to assure me. “Morris is only semi-sentient—he’s a part of your Grandfather—the part that loved and cherished your Grandmother and your family. He’s not spying on you or anything—it’s more like he’s watching over you…protecting you.”
“The same way you’ve been watching over him—I mean protecting the house—since my Grandma, er, faded?” I asked.
