Thanks in large part to being hugged against Dickswizzle’s body, the things had a smell to them, not unlike garbage. But I still pulled my feet out of my boots and donned the second pair of socks.
“Back in the whistle you go,” Rose said.
I dropped the gloves to get the little whistle out in time for the dark-furred goblin to climb back into it.
“How did you lose your boots and jacket? You didn’t leave them behind, did you?”
“No,” I said. I looked at the tatter of glamour that still remained. “I think my glamour soaked into them and I lost them when I changed shape… I tore them up when I shed the glamour.”
“Inconvenient.”
“I didn’t even think about it,” I said, “Which, I suppose, was the problem.”
I bundled myself up as best as I could. It helped, but bundling up when you were already cold didn’t do so much.
“Speaking of problems, I’m starting to see how you can fall into a trap, dealing with goblins,” Rose said. “They’re so naturally unpleasant they make you unpleasant by association. You can’t deal with them without sounding like a vicious lunatic. No, Dickswizzle, you can’t wipe your ass with those pages. No, Dickswizzle, no vomiting or depositing any bodily fluids. Stop that, Dickswizzle, don’t shove that hourglass up your rear end. Fuck it, Dickswizzle, no fire. Listen to me, you little motherfucker, you can’t shove that wand up any orifices, understand? It was all I could do to keep from screaming, and that was in the span of five or six minutes.”
Up… orifices? His nose? There weren’t many that you could shove something up.
I didn’t ask. I didn’t want Rose to tell me it wasn’t the nose.
I was too focused on that to think before I asked, “Why was he shoving things up places? He was supposed to destroy the books and implements.”
“He did. He’d get something lodged in, then break it in half. I’m really not keen to replay the scene in my head.”
I let the image appear in my mind’s eye, despite myself. Damn it.
“You got away without being seen?”
“Yeah. She might have heard me, but she came downstairs, and Dickswizzle scampered off. I left.”
I nodded.
“I still don’t feel so happy about it.”
“I know,” I said. “But she did take part in trying to ruin us and kill me.”
“Leanne didn’t do anything, and you betrayed her and invaded her home, where she’s supposed to be safe.”
“I know,” I said, again. “But if I can get roped into this because I’m of Thorburn blood, maybe Leanne falls into the same purview. I don’t know. As far as I know, we don’t have a way of measuring that karma in concrete terms. It’s something to read up on.”
“Noted,” Rose said.
“Did Dickswizzle wind up listening to me, or did you-”
“I told him to do what you’d said, except for the part about going back to the whistle. I had him go back to the house, gave him one-time permission to enter, and got him to collect some things for you.”
I nodded. “We need to get you a servant. Something better than a goblin. A homonculus, a bound Other, or something, so you can do more in this world.”
“So I can back you up?” Rose asked.
“That’d be nice,” I said. “But I was thinking more like, well, it’s the only damn thing I can think of that would convey how goddamn thankful I am right this second. For these clothes, for the sentiment, all that. And I don’t like leaving debts unpaid, even before all the rest of this got started.”
“I’m not going to object. You okay? You’re shaking.”
“A bit cold,” I said. “Gloves and socks help.”
“It’s just the cold? Or are you doing that half-truth to dodge telling the whole-truth?”
I started heading towards Hillsglade House.
“I’m worn out,” I admitted. “As bad as I was after spending my blood. Maybe worse.”
“Erosion of self via. glamour,” Rose said. “Imagine pouring water over a rock. It seems into the cracks, the rough bits, and the pores, covering it. It changes states, from water to mist to ice and back to water again. It expands or contracts, shifts and generates friction…”
“And I changed states a few times,” I said.
“Tear away the ice while it’s set deep into the rock, you might take away some rock with it, or see some bits splinter off. And when that rock isn’t very sturdy to begin with…”
“I’d rather say the rock’s integrity has been weakened by recent abuse,” I said.
“We can say that,” Rose agreed.
“Good explanation, by the way,” I said. I picked my way carefully past an icy patch of sidewalk.
“I cheated. Borrowed that explanation from the book on glamour.”
“Ah. Fuck,” I said, “Briar Girl didn’t say anything about this.”
“She might not have known, or she might have been speaking about a more general case.”
“I’m so fucking tired of deception and lies,” I said. “And I am aware of how hypocritical that sounds.”
“Did it work?” Rose asked. “Getting into Laird’s house?”
“I think so. They said the ritual was interrupted. They’re having another gathering in a week… which leaves me the task of figuring out how to fuck with that plan.”
“Leaves us. I’m on your side here, Blake.”
“Right. Yeah. We’ve got to figure this one out. I have a sense of what they were trying to do. Targeting the property the house is on, but not the house itself. Something time based, a vortex of some kind. Powerful, requiring nine or so practitioners to shape. Drawing, I think, from some sort of store of energy that Laird’s zeitgeist familiar was managing.”
“I glanced through a reference book on Chronomancy. It’s pretty standard practice to bank time,” Rose said. “Give up an hour of your day, hold on to it, make use of that time elsewhere.”
“That sounds insanely powerful,” I said.
“The rate of return is pretty abysmal. Give up an hour, gain a minute. But I guess you can get better results if you have more hands on deck, a whole circle handling the working.”
“And a lot of power stored up?” I asked. “I wonder if any of that power was spent… I mean, the circle was glowing and stuff was moving. I could feel power. Did that drain Laird’s reserves? If we stop the ritual again, or a third time, will he or will they run out of stored power?”
“That’d be nice,” Rose said. “But he’s going to be on guard. He’ll be wary.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Meaning we need to get more tricks.”
“Trick number one is figuring out when and how to recuperate, Blake. You keep on tapping this well of personal power when it’s nearly dry.”
I nodded.
“You’re actually listening to me?”
“It’s sage advice. I need a goddamn power source. Not just a bit of hair.”
“You need a demesnes. Or a tool that can make any use of power more efficient,” Rose said. “Or a familiar.”
“It all comes back to that,” I said.