Oblivion by M.M. Crumley

Author:M.M. Crumley [Crumley, M.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lone Ghost Publishing
Published: 2022-11-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

By the time Nippy returned for him, Doc was ready to go. He'd performed the disappearing card trick for every single child there, including Tucker, who had asked to see it seven times. And when he'd asked Babs if there was any whiskey, her eyes had told him in no uncertain terms that there was no whiskey and if he brought it up again, she would kill him.

"I have to go," Doc said apologetically when he saw Nippy waving from outside one of the windows.

"Can I go with you?" Babs asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid these children require adult supervision," Doc laughed.

"Boudica's an adult."

"I wouldn't let her in here if I were you," Doc said with a grin. "She suggested I kill Gil for putting his finger in the icing."

Babs paled and said, "The learning curve for this job is a little steep."

"You're doing great. Tell the children I'll come see them soon."

"Thank you for coming," she said. "They were worried you wouldn't make it."

Doc shrugged and said, "There will be plenty of times when I don't. That's why you're here."

"I think I'm beginning to understand that."

He winked at her, then slid open the patio door and stepped outside.

"Ready, sir?" Nippy asked excitedly.

"I am."

He didn't get a chance to say anything more because Nippy grabbed his hand, and before Doc could even blink, they were inside the warehouse once more.

Magic was swirling through the air, and imps were still popping in and out, but Doc could see that Abigail and Rachelle had made a lot of progress while he was gone. The stack of half-empty canvases was quite large now, but they still had a long way to go.

He watched as another set of portraits surged from their canvases and fell to the floor. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would feel like to be whole again after being trapped like they had been.

He didn't really need to be here, but it felt wrong to just leave them. Even if they didn't need him, he'd stay until it was done.

He did some math, made a rough estimate, and muttered, "I'm going to need a lot more whiskey."

"I'll get it, sir!"

One pop, two pops, and Nippy was handing him a bottle of whiskey.

"Thank you," Doc chuckled. "I much appreciate it."

"Just yell if you need me, sir," Nippy said. Then he was gone once more.

Doc sat against the far wall, took a long swig of whiskey, leaned back his head, and closed his eyes.

Someone cleared their throat, and Doc opened his eyes, silently chiding himself for letting someone sneak up on him again. He raised an eyebrow and looked up further and further, until he was staring into the glaring eye of a cyclops. He stood unhurriedly, just so he didn't have to look up so far, and waited for the cyclops to speak.

"I'm sorry," the cyclops said in the rusty voice of someone who hasn't spoken in a long time.

"For what?" Doc asked, failing to cover his shock.

"I didn't want to attack you.

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