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“Are you okay?” Clancy asked worriedly. “Did all the talking and touching wear you out? Is it something I did?”
So much for the quiet.
Vitruvius sighed. “No, it’s not you. And no, I’m not tired. I…”
“What is it?”
Vitruvius wanted to do a lot of things with Clancy’s beautiful mouth except listen to it keep spitting out words right now. He nearly said as much, but he stopped himself. He knew he was only agitated because he’d been scared, and it wasn’t fair to be grumpy with Clancy when all he wanted to do was help.
“I saw something,” Vitruvius said at last.
“Like… another ghost?” Clancy ventured.
“No.” Vitruvius peeked out from the cover, frowning when he saw how clearly worried Clancy was. “I don’t know what it was exactly… I don’t even know if it was real, but it was… not pleasant.”
“Could you draw it?”
“Oh, I can do better than that.”
Vitruvius left his cover fortress to head over to the tub where his pages were soaking. He poked around them until he found the illustration for Rapunzel. The prince climbing up the side of the tower had a brilliant red cape, and it would be perfect for showing Clancy what he’d seen.
Drawn by the sound of splashing water, Clancy came over to stand beside the tub while Vitruvius moved the inks around on the page.
Vitruvius morphed the prince into the beast he’d seen, spreading the red to color in the broad lines of its massive shoulders and horns, and he pulled the gold from Rapunzel’s hair to color in the beast’s sharp teeth. He used the last of the red to color in its long tail, saying quietly, “That. That is what I saw.”
“Oh.” Clancy blinked. “It’s some sort of a… sexy demon?”
“Sexy?”
“What? You’re the one who gave it abs!”
“It’s not my fault it had them!” Vitruvius groaned. “I just… it was huge, it was a giant beast! It was right there in front of me, and I… I…”
“I’m sorry.” Clancy cringed. “Do you think it’s something you saw from a movie? A costume? Oh! Maybe it was from a play?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Vitruvius let go of the page and the inks moved back into their original position. Even as the picture returned to the prince climbing up to Rapunzel, the image of the demon stayed in the forefront of Vitruvius’s mind.
He had definitely seen it before…
But where?
“Maybe it has something to do with your book,” Clancy said carefully.
“Is this another crazy idea like me putting up a reward for my book in 1906 or whenever it was?”
“It wasn’t in 1906, it was… Just listen.” Clancy took a deep breath. “There are many stories out there about souls being trapped in magical objects. Talismans, wands, books, usually lots of books—”
“You think someone… did this to me?”
“How else do you think you ended up in a book?”
“I… I don’t know.” Vitruvius frowned. “I suppose I hadn’t thought about it like that. Perhaps it was an accident? Maybe I… Maybe I meant to do this and I forgot why.” He thought about the red demon, and he shuddered. “I really want…”
He was suddenly exhausted, drained, and he wrote out a quick message in the soaking pages.
I’m going to rest now.
