AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pen stares at me. “The office space.”
“What office space?” Exhaustion, built over the last several weeks of splitting my time between the Bone Guard and my studies with Syl’vyn, makes my next words come out harsher than I intend. “Why wasn’t I consulted?”
“We discussed it with you,” Marc says, unfazed by my short tone. “But you’ve been preoccupied, and I don’t think you were really listening.”
Pen shoots me a sympathetic glance. “We’re not trying to undermine what you’ve done here. This office goes beyond the Bone Guard, but it can also help now.”
My flash of temper fades, settling into resignation. “How?”
“It’s easier to just show you.” Pen glances from the body to the demons hovering nearby. “But we can’t just leave Lethoba here. Something will come by and eat him.”
“He will not be left unguarded.” Mayn puts her fingers to her lips and a sharp whistle pierces the air.
Johannsson jogs over from across the street. “I’m not a dog.”
“Stay.” Mayn points at the body. “Guard.”
Johannsson peers at the trees that hold more of the frog demons and shudders. “Fine, but if any of them come near me, I’m stunning them without discretion.”
“Do what you need to do to keep the crime scene secured.” I pat him on the shoulder. “We’ll be back soon.”
Marc and Pen take the lead, directing us farther down the road, past the Harbor.
They stop in front of a brick structure. Somehow, it withstood the changing landscape of the demon city and looks out of place sandwiched between a fanciful castle and a dirt hill.
Marc gestures toward it. “So, this is it.”
Feeling blindsided, I tip my head back to study the nondescript, two-story business building.
It’s twice as big as the Bone Guard’s headquarters, though nowhere near the size of the warehouse Trent rents from us. “What, exactly, is it.”
Pen shoves her hands into her pockets. “It’s a multi-use office space that we purchased.”
I honestly can’t recall them bringing up the topic of launching a new business after the magic shop closed. “When did we decide this?”
I thought Pen enjoyed being part of the Bone Guard, but was I wrong? Does she regret signing on to work with me?
“Well, it was an evolving thing.” Marc pushes open the front door. “At first, I just needed a place to organize the reconstruction and any future projects I want to take on. You remember me talking about that?”
I nod slowly.
Marc mentioned a few times how frustrating it was to keep all the jobs for the Yard organized. But I don’t recall him finding a solution. Just that he stopped complaining one day without my noticing.
I’d been too busy dealing with bringing together the Bone Guard and developing a whole new police system for a lawless micro-city.
Now, I feel guilty for being so involved in my own thing that I failed to check in with him.
Marc opens the door for us to enter, and we step into a large room with bay windows that bring in natural light from the street. The space resembles an amalgamation of construction office and architect studio.
A circular table sits off to the right, with a corkboard mounted on the wall that displays several projects in progress and the stage each project is in. The smaller side of the room to the left holds a desk and filing cabinet. Bookshelves filled with reference books and equipment bracket a hallway at the back.
Marc helped design the rehabilitation for the Bone Yard and the new plans for the cabin remodel, but seeing his office here puts those contributions into perspective. “This is all yours, Marc?”
The big man rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, well, only this half of the downstairs level. It’s nice to have a place to spread out in.”
I look around the room in amazement. “I didn’t know.”
“It’s not something I’ve spent much time doing in this lifetime. With our business shut down, and everything that’s happened with the Yard…” He shrugs. “It’s a good time to get back into creating things instead of blowing them up.”
