Olivia had lived a perfectly normal childhood. Her parents had paid for her to go to college. She did well, garnered some scholarships, studied magic, and directly out of school she had walked into an excellent job as a reference librarian at the Ex Libris Library in Louisville. There was nothing wrong with any of that, just as there was nothing wrong with her looks, except she had the nagging suspicion that she lived a boring life, and that she herself was a boring person.
Olivia didn’t know all the details, but somehow Grace’s troubled finances had smoothed out too. As Oracle, Grace had received a large cash contribution from a petitioner, and she received a regular monthly stipend from the new consulting agency that the Wyr gryphon Rune Ainissesthai and his Vampyre mate Carling Severan had established. All Olivia really knew was that Grace and the agency had worked out some kind of sliding scale fee system, so that she could still act as Oracle for those who did not have the ability to pay while the agency collected fees from those who could.
All of that translated into a sprawling ranch house on the beach, with a fenced in yard so the children could play in safety. And there was love in this house, so much love, Olivia felt privileged to witness it. Grace and Khalil’s relationship was so strong she could only imagine what it must be like to have such a relationship in her own life. They doted on the children, who thrived under such care. Their house seemed constantly full of Djinn, who either visited, brought gifts or bargained for healing that only Grace could give them.
Even Khalil’s daughter Phaedra, while spiky and unpredictable, seemed to relax and enjoy the atmosphere and the children when she came to visit. Olivia wasn’t sure what she thought about Phaedra, but at least the Djinn treated Max and Chloe with gentleness.
While Khalil bounced Max on his knee and Grace helped herself to breakfast, Olivia ate the last of her muffin. Phaedra stood nearby, her head cocked and diamond eyes piercing as she watched them.
Grace had told Olivia about the first time she had met Phaedra. Her eyes had been as black as twin oubliettes. The Djinn had been tortured and confined by her mother for so long, it had twisted her spirit. Now, thanks to the help that Grace had given her, her spirit was healed and straight again. But that didn’t make her any easier to get along with.
Grace said to Phaedra, “You can sit down, you know. Eat something. Drink some coffee. Pretend to enjoy it, join in small talk.”
Phaedra gave Grace a baffled, bored look. She said, “I have no interest in talking about little things.”
“Oh, I don’t know why I bother,” Grace said. She turned to Olivia. “It’s been so much fun to have you visit. I wish you could stay for longer than a week.”
“I haven’t enjoyed myself so much in years,” Olivia told her. “Thank you for having me. I’m so glad you invited me for a visit before this new job starts.”
“I’m just glad you could take the time,” Grace said. “I’m going to miss you when you leave.” She leaned forward. “Are you still excited? What am I saying, of course you’re still excited.”
“I can’t wait.” Olivia hesitated for a moment, then confessed, “I’m also really nervous.”
Phaedra glided to the breakfast table, pulled out a chair and sat. Every move she made looked lethal and inhuman. “Why are you nervous?”
Olivia studied Phaedra, wondering what had sparked the Djinn’s attention. Perhaps Phaedra was interested because she and Olivia were going on the same expedition.
Olivia explained. “I get to help pack and move one of the world’s most legendary magical libraries, owned by one of the world’s most legendary witches. This is a once in a lifetime experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if every symbologist in the world had applied to go on this expedition, but only three were picked and I was one of them. That’s exciting. It’s also a bit nerve-wracking.”
“Plus you get to hang out for a couple of weeks on a mysterious Other island,” said Grace, grinning. “Well, at least it will be a couple of weeks according to island time. Who knows how long you’ll be gone according to the rest of Earth. I wish cameras worked and you could take pictures.”
Time and space had buckled when the world formed, creating pockets of Other lands where magic was stronger, the sun shone with a different light and time ran differently than it did on Earth. Often technology did not work, or it was downright dangerous. Sometimes the time slippage between an Other land and Earth was minor, and sometimes it was significant.
Olivia said, “When Carling hired me, she promised that the slippage wouldn’t be any longer than a couple of months, if that.”
Between Carling’s assurance that the time slippage would be relatively minor and Olivia’s promise to write at least two journal articles on the experience, she had been able to persuade the Dean of the library to approve a year’s sabbatical so that she could make the trip and concentrate on writing about the experience afterward. Once she’d been hired and her trip had been approved, she’d been unable to sleep a full night since.
Khalil said, “Now, that is what I call a time out.”
“Eeee,” remarked Max. The baby sounded as if he agreed.