Page 106 of A Light in the Dark
“Helping you isn’t a cause of suffering, Valerie.”
I rolled my eyes before monitoring Joel and his blatant enjoyment of the roses. “And anyway, Joel is enjoying the roses. He’s had a rough time lately, and he definitely needed some time to stop and enjoy the roses. But if he gets uppity, he’s going back into luna moth prison.”
“You didn’t bring that cage back with you, did you?”
“I absolutely have the cage in my possession, and the luna moth is going into it if he starts putting up a fuss. If he’s good, I’ll get him a rose plant on the way out. They sell baby roses here, and I’m sure my garden could use another one or two for his enjoyment.”
“His favorite variety are Highland Pink Hearts, and they should sell them there.”
Interesting. “Joel, if you go into the cage when it’s time for us to shop in the garden store, for you will absolutely lose all control around all those young plants, I will buy two Highland Pink Hearts for my garden.”
Joel fluttered his way to my shoulder, and to my amusement, he settled in for a nap.
“And how did he take that offer?”
“My shoulder has a luna moth on it, and he’s about to enjoy another nap. He ate three meals and a huge dessert, and he polished off his plates. I hope he doesn’t decide to vomit silk all over me, because I don’t have a basket to collect it right now.”
“He probably won’t produce much silk that way while recovering. His volume is usually when he’s shifting to his moth form. How much did he produce when he transformed?”
“Two hundred and twenty pounds.”
“That’s a good weight all things considered.”
“And I sent it over to Yolana so I can have thread for my stitching adventures,” I confessed.
My boss laughed. “At least he won’t have to worry about meeting his quota for her. Do you know what time you’ll be in? I want to make sure the reporters know to clear out so you can have a chance to get settled at home. Right now, they’re having a field day talking to your neighbors. It’s chaos.”
“Is Elenora telling them about how Joel should be servicing my every need? Because that’s what’s going to happen if there are reporters on our street.”
Joel didn’t stir, so I assumed he’d dropped back to sleep after indulging in a hit of roses. Coraline giggled, and she used her phone to photograph the sleeping moth before amusing herself with the flowers.
“Elenora has outed herself as the reason you survived the attack and poisoning, and she has even gone so far as to spread the recipe and show them the baking dishes she gotfor you as a celebratory present for dealing with her training with such grace. And then every single poisoner in Stonecreek came out to have similar talks with the reporters because of the fears of another Red Death—the planned purge of all outsiders. That revived the utter city-wide loathing of the former mayor.”
I admired Elenora’s ruthlessness. “I hope they said nice things about my new baking dishes.”
“Your baking dishes are being praised; someone identified them as Earth antiques.”
“If anyone steals my baking dishes, I will become a legend in the viciousness of my revenge, Humphrey.”
He laughed at me. “I’m sure your baking dishes will be safe, but I’m going to get your permission to install an alarm system and start making those arrangements.”
I sighed at the thought of having an alarm system but understood the wisdom in it. “I’ll pay you back for the work if you need to put down a deposit, but yes. Get the best you can get in it, just keep my monthly payments to something reasonable.”
“A hundred a month will get you some decent security.”
I could work with that. “I can afford more than that if you think it’ll be a wise idea.”
“Two hundred would make me comfortable.”
“Then go two hundred a month on it. I’m sure I can handle the expense with my raise. Hey, since Joel isn’t conscious to protest, how does one get in on the silk selling with Yolana?”
“You talk to her, sign her contract, figure out how much silk you produce, and give her a share of your production.She won’t contract with you for at least two years; that’s how long it takes for our production to start stabilizing, and she doesn’t want any shifters stressing if they stop producing as much. She’ll buy by the pound for the first two years with contracts for each sale. She prefers batches of five hundred pounds to make it worth the fuss. We usually rent a box trailer and haul all our silk over at one time to make our lives easier. We pack the boxes with our name and mass unload. Otherwise, the shipping fees would get insane—or we’d have to make runs to her shop every few weeks. Anyway, we can discuss it once you’re back. I just want to make sure the reporters clear out before you get home so you can settle in once you’re home. The government will remain shut down until next Monday, as you’ll need a chance to go over all the documentation. This is fine because everyone is still up in arms over the former mayor’s behavior. You’ll have to evaluate the refugee situation, hire aides, and so on, but you’ll be fine.”
It made me wonder just how little the previous mayor had been doing if Stonecreek could just shut down the government for several weeks without issue. “I guess we can’t just catapult that bastard into space, can we? Without the benefit of a suit.”
“We can’t just catapult that bastard into space,” my boss confirmed. “But honestly? I have my doubts about how long he’s going to last in prison. They get the news, and he wasn’t just targeting adults. His purge included children, and the Hunters of Moonriver have proof.”
“He killed kids?” I asked, unable to force my voice above a whisper.
