I decided to go Underhill for the night. In the elven realm, I could worship more freely, and Lorraine wouldn’t worry about me while she was at work. Magic was stronger there so I could conjure anything I needed, including someone to help if I fell. And there was no iron there so I would heal faster. If I was needed for a case, I needed to be mobile. I opened a passage to Underhill in a closet that I’d added a sturdy lock to so I could leave the passage open if someone needed me. Roy and Lorraine both had keys. “Well, look at you,” Connie greeted me. I was surprised to see her. She was a phantasm of the first woman I’d slept with a thousand years ago and had accidentally created back in August. Usually, phantasm’s faded if the creator left Underhill. I didn’t know why she didn’t. I named her Connie, short for construct, since I didn’t know the name of the woman she resembled. “Why are you still here?” I asked. She frowned. “You aren’t happy to see me?” “Actually, I am. At least this place isn’t empty with you here. And if I have problems, you can help.” I gestured to my cast. “What happened to your leg, and why didn’t you come back sooner?” “I broke it when we arrested that killer I told you about.” “You caught him? Good. And why didn’t you come sooner?” “For a while, I couldn’t walk. This cast,” I indicated it. “It used to be up to my waist and partway down my other leg because the brakes were so high. I’ve only been mobile for two weeks and I was unsteady on these crutches.” “Well, have a seat. Let’s get you checked out.” She led me to a kitchen chair and knelt before me. “What can you do?” “Anything that real me can do.” “Are you a healer?” “All elves can heal. Some are just better at it than others.” She put her hands on the cast. “No wonder you’re still healing. You did a lot of damage. How? Has someone been helping you heal?” “Yeah, Kat.” “Kat?” I’d forgotten that because she was my creation, she had all my knowledge up to the moment I made her. But since that time, she learned the same way we all do. “Katrine, Puck’s sister.” Connie’s head whipped up, her pink and purple swirled eyes wide. “Another elf?” I nodded. “It turns out she lives only a few miles from me. She helped us with the murders.” “She’s Unseelie and an assassin. You trust her?” “No. But we have a truce for now. To my knowledge, she’s the only other elf left. She was conscious when the other elves disappeared. She didn’t see anyone and couldn’t find anyone either. She patched me up. She could have killed me.” Connie nodded. “Let me heal you.” Healing someone meant speeding up and enhancing their own healing abilities. We can only heal things that a body might heal without help. We can mend bones, but not re-grow limbs. She stood. “That’s good for now. We’ll do more in the morning.” “I have to go back in the morning. They worry about me being alone.” Healing was tiring. I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the others. “We’ll only do a little bit. Now, you need food and then rest.” I shook my head. “Food, yes, but it’s a prayer day.” “We’ll feast and worship for short time.” She looked me over. “And maybe not just the gods.” “Not tonight.” I’d slept with her once on the fall equinox, but I’d rather not get into the habit of having sex with someone who was only a manifestation of my imagination. She nodded. “It’s probably better that we didn’t. You need to rest.” Whenever elves worship, we try to have as little as possible between us and the gods we worship, usually naked under the stars. As we prayed, I had second thoughts about not sleeping with Connie, but I refrained. I needed contact from real people, and how would the real Connie feel? We ended the worship time early, and Connie sent me to bed. At some point, she joined me. She had to sleep somewhere, and I only had one bed. I pulled her close and drifted off to sleep, wondering when I become a cuddler.