The Stars Were Right by Alexander K.M

Author:Alexander, K.M. [Alexander, K.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: K. M. Alexander
Published: 2013-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Sam's office was small but cozy. The desk she sat behind was dark, ancient, and gleamed with generations of careful oiling. A crucifix hung on a wall above a bookcase filled with various tomes and texts. Statuettes of saints and virgins stood on shelves all around the office in prominent places: silent witnesses to our conversation.

On lower shelves were glass domes holding bizarre antiques of a darker nature. In one I spied a mummified hand dipped in wax, candles on each finger. In another dome there was a twisted and deformed skull of a dimanian, the bone carved with all manner of occult symbols and strange writing. In a massive glass jar that sat between two dry, old tomes was what appeared to be a cephel hatchling preserved in a yellow liquid, tentacles curled tightly like huge fiddleheads. A menagerie of curios. In a lot of ways the decor reminded me of Hagen's shop, minus the price tags.

"This place feels familiar," I joked. "You two trade decorators?"

Samantha looked up at me from a set of papers she was studying on her desk and I deflated a little. "Not really. I do, however, happen to be one of Hagen's biggest clients. I'm a collector of sorts."

"These aren't Reunified statuary—not all of it at least," I said, tapping a jar holding what looked to be a petrified bok egg. "I'm no church man but I can't imagine the church is keen on keeping this sort of stuff on the grounds."

"They have all been deconsecrated as required. They're all important to my studies," she explained.

Hagen interrupted, "Sam is one of the church's leading authorities on ancient religions in Lovat. She also knows a great deal about active cults and sects operating in the territories. Most of these have to do with something in her studies or as an object lesson in one of her lectures."

I looked at the beautiful priestess that sat across from me with a deepening respect. "Why didn't you call her before?"

"Before? Before what, Wal? Before all this, you were just a guy who had walked into my shop and asked me to identify some patch. Before all this I had no idea who you were. You could have just been another one of the Children. Your face is all over the monochromes. I wanted to answer your questions and move on. Before all this, I didn't want anything to do with you."

"And now?" I asked.

"Now...now for better or worse...we're in this together. You stepped forward and saved me. If there's one thing I took away from the attack at my shop, it's that they tied me to you. I'm drawn in and it doesn't matter if I like it or not."

"Wait, attack? What attack? What are you talking about?" Samantha asked. Her eyes were wide.

"Well…" Hagen began.

Samantha folded her arms across her chest and stared at him coolly. Hagen gave a sheepish grin and then explained the story, starting with the first time I had walked into his shop and ending with us arriving at the door to Saint Marks.

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