Page 101 of Search for the Lost

Crispin braced for fireworks. Even Minkis hid his head under his little paws.

Instead, his mother laughed. A chuckle at first, that soon expanded into a full-blown guffaw.

Crispin stared at her as if she’d gone mad. He had never heard that sound out of his mother before. My whole family is losing it.

“Old? Old?” She doubled over in laughter. “Look at you, Oberon. Like something the Dukes dragged in.”

Minkis popped his head up, and Oberon’s eyes went wide. “Are they here?” There was a hint of fear in his voice.

“No. My son slayed them all.” She sounded inordinately proud of that.

Leo chose that moment to perk up. “I helped! So did Aspin and Minkis and Dorothy and the WOLFs… and even Dietrich. Sort of.” He looked at his… father? Older brother? Things got a little murky there. “Would you like a sandwich?”

Oberon patted him on the knee, just like a father would have. “I’d love one, but time grows short. With the Dukes… expired, I’m surprised this place still exists. It draws on their essential magicks, and it should have popped out of existence when they did.”

Cerillia met Crispin’s gaze. “One Duke still lives.”

Crispin’s eyes went wide. “Aspin.”

It was Oberon’s turn to stare. “Your other son’s a Red Duke?”

“Oh don’t look so shocked.” His mother licked her lips. “You remember all the nights we spent with them.”

A grin spread across the old king’s face. “Fondly.” He picked up one of the remaining sandwiches and took a quick bite. “For strength. Come on, Leo. We can do this together. Have you ever managed an undoing before?”

“Wait a minute. Why are you being so helpful?” Crispin didn’t trust the older king. “You were a real jerk to us at the cottage.”

Oberon ducked his head. “They told me I had to or they would hurt Cerie here.” He blushed. “Did you get my secret message?”

Leo laughed. “We’re here, aren’t we?”

Oberon nodded, stroking his white beard. “I suppose you are. So have you done an undoing before?”

Leo frowned. “Not intentionally. Once, when they had me locked up at the Office of the Lost⁠—”

“Dreadful place. Sorry, Crispin. No offense.”

Crispin swallowed. “None taken.”

“And once when I was a kid, I think.” The look of pain that passed over Leo’s face was unmistakable.

As if in response, the house rumbled and something crashed inside the kitchen. Crispin hoped it wasn’t expensive. “Mink, to me.”

“Coming, Acorn Man.” Minkis dropped his half-eaten sandwich and ran up Crispin’s leg and torso to his shoulder.

“Yes. Time is definitely running short. If Aspin is the only Duke left… this can’t be good for him either. Come closer.” Oberon gathered all of them into an embrace in the center of the tattered living room, shooting one last regretful glance at the tray of sandwiches. Crispin understood. They were uncommonly good.

“Ready?” Oberon asked.

Crispin cringed. How do you get ready for your own undoing? “Will it hurt?”

“Like being burned alive.” Oberon took Leo’s hand. He began to glow, and so did Leo.

Pain touched every part of Crispin’s being, from the bottom of his heels to the top of his perky blond hair, flooding into his skin as he dissolved, skin and muscle and bone peeling away. He screamed, as did Minkis.

The living room around them shimmered, then melted like lava, and Crispin’s own body followed.

And then there was nothing.