I followed Roy into Pixel’s Unlimited. It was a gaming store. They boasted the largest collection of games for all devices. Until I’d met Kat, I’d never guessed the gaming world was as extensive as it is. As I looked around, I saw a few of the games I knew she’d worked on. “Why am I even here?” I asked. “I still can’t cast.” “You want a list of what was taken. You can get an idea quickly.” He frowned. “And I think Thompson still doesn’t trust me to be on my own.” “Have you ever hit someone before?” “Yeah, but not out of anger. He attacked me then. There were witnesses.” “It doesn’t look like much was taken,” I said, looking around. “These are empty boxes,” A clerk told us, gesturing to the displays. “They bring the box to us and we get a copy from the back. It helps with shoplifting.” “Did they take a lot of games? Roy asked. “No, we’d have to check but it looks like they didn’t take any of those or the gift cards. It looks like all they took were our security cameras and all the consoles.” “Consoles?” I asked. “You mean gaming systems, right?” “Yeah, what else? “Sorry, I’m old. Consoles have referred to several things over the years.” “Do your security cameras upload to the cloud?” Roy asked. “Yeah, We keep a month’s worth of video on it.” “Can we see it?” “You’re going to need to talk to the manager. He’s the only one who can access it.” “Do you see anything unusual about the theft?” Roy asked. “You mean besides them passing up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of games.” “I thought most games were downloads,” I said. “Some people like to have physical copies. Some don’t want to be connected to the internet, others hope the games will someday become collector’s additions. “So, they left the games, but took the machines? Were there a lot of them?” The clerk shrugged. “Enough. We weren’t stocked like we were before Black Friday and the Christmas rush. And they took all the extra controllers and VR headsets." I frowned. “They took a bunch of remote-control cars and drones from Ted's, and at Sunny’s and Freddy’s they took clothing and sheets.” “What are you getting at?” Roy asked. “They have weird choices.” I didn’t want to say here. I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to cause undue alarm. Roy picked up on what I was saying and didn’t press me. I talked with him more on the way back to the station. *** On Sunday, they robbed Alnar Kale’s. Since it was the full moon, I could cast again. It seemed unnecessary but Alnar demanded I do so. He wanted every possible thing done to find the art. I didn’t cast long. There was little chance we’d see anything new, and Roy was barely hiding how much pain he was in. It was making him more irritable than normal. He had no patience for snobs like Alnar. I figured it best to get him out of there before he got himself in trouble again. “How does this fit with your theory?” Roy asked as we left. “I don’t have a theory yet, just something tickling the back of my mind. Do you want me to drive and give your arm a rest?” Roy sighed and gave me the keys. “Do you want me to heal you?” “No, you’re still recovering and you just cast. It’s hurt before. I just need to take it easy for a few days. When we’ve solved this, I’ll take a couple of days off and rest,” he promised. "I agree that some of what they stole was odd,” he admitted. “But art? That's not unusual.” It didn't surprise me that he changed the subject. He didn't like talking about his arm. “Funding?" I guessed, "Some of the stuff, they must be selling. The odd stuff, I don't know." I sighed. "Maybe they have a use for it." “Yeah, those frames they took from Blossoms would sure fancy up some of those paintings.” "Something else. But now that they took something unique, I can use that spell I used last fall to locate one of the paintings.” “You missed work because of that spell. How bad is it?” "I was in a similar condition as I was on Tuesday at Blossoms.” It was lucky I was driving because Roy probably would have hit something the way he whipped around to look at me. "Are you trying to kill yourself?" “No, I'm trying to do my job." "Your job is not to kill yourself." "My job is to help you solve crimes and catch bad guys. I do that with magic." “We can talk to Thompson but I can tell you the answer, no. No one's life is at stake this time.” I nodded. The only reason he let me cast it last time was because he needed to cover his own use of magic and he'd had no idea how hard it would be on me. *** I did talk to Thompson about the spell and he nearly threw me out of his office. Instead, he sent me home with a list of what had been stolen and some things that had been found in pawn shops throughout several states and even in other countries. I took the lists Underhill to review with Connie. Kat came a short time later. "I was wondering if…" She stopped When she saw me. "Oh. I didn't realize you'd be here. I was looking for Connie.” “I got sent home early. I pissed Thompson off.” "What did you do?" "I offered to cast a proximity spell on one of the paintings.” "I'd send you home too. That wouldn't even be legal.” “I know. I didn't believe he'd let me. If you want to join us for worship, you're welcome. Connie's been cooking for days, I think.” I gestured to the food. "Is this a full moon or the equinox?” Kat asked. "It's for Sean and you to take home back to the human world. I got an earful from Reenta about how you two eat." “Me?" Kat asked. "The gods can see you any time they choose. Reenta used a human glamor and came to check on you after healing Sean." "I watch what I eat," Kat insisted. "You do better than Sean. But it's human food. The nutritional value is different. And eating so much iron is taking a toll. I've got enough food for each of you until the equinox. I'll work on having enough to supplement what you have for at least one meal each day after that." Stunned, Kat sat at the table. "Wow." "The Gods want you two to survive. You're the only ones of your kind." "I hope they don't expect us to rebuild the population," Kat said. She picked up one of the pages I'd been studying. "Yeah, I can't even have kids," I added. "My track record's no better than his," Kat said. "And I'm older than he is, I think." I looked up from my paper. "You are?" "I think so. I was over one hundred when the red caps captured you. You were pretty young then, weren't you?" I nodded and went back to my reading. "I was in my twenties or thirties.” "So, I'm older. What is all this?" "The list of what the thieves have taken." "Candy?" “One's a mage and is using magic to get into the shops. But there are other odd things too. And look at these, places where things have been pawned or fenced.” Kat skimmed the list. "They're all over. Some are in Europe.” “I know. This town is near where I was born.” I pointed to the list. Kat frowned over the list for a moment. She conjured a map of the human world. I was impressed with its accuracy. She looked it over a few minutes then she created a passage and went through. She was back quickly with two rolled parchments. She spread one next to the conjured map. It was also a map of the human world from back when our people were still around. “My dad made this to help us find Puck when he would get lost in the human world. It indicates where natural gates are." I looked over her shoulder at it. “I could have used this. I had to go get him half the time.” "If they return, I'll make sure you get a copy." “I'm surprised it's in this good of condition after all this time." Kat frowned. "It was preserved, but this is better than I remember it being.” "Tiphine was here the other day. Maybe he did something." Kat glanced up at me. "Tiphine is taking care of our houses?” "And Dhiarus was tending my dad's vineyard.” "Why? Why would they bother with only two people? We don't even worship them." “All the gods care about all elves," Connie reminded her. “This city and this city have natural passages." She pointed to the list of places where the stolen items were found. Kat nodded. "Several are. She started marking the gate passages on the conjured map. Then she unrolled the other map. "This is where the passages lead Underhill. He numbered them.” I looked. There were passages in both courts. “Some of these passages are in the outer lands," I pointed out. "Yeah, we always prayed Puck wouldn't use one of those." The outer lands were outside either court. The magic there was unstable. Casting was difficult and unreliable. It was easier there to conjure creatures than in either court and there were monsters there worse than what most people could imagine. Few dared venture there and fewer returned. "What's this?" I pointed to a unique mark on the map. "That's where Dad met your aunt.” "I wouldn't have guessed he was that sentimental." “He wasn't. It's a dangerous spot to avoid. He never elaborated but it had something to do with how they got lost out there.” “Aunt Caeda never talked about it either. But it looks like if the thieves are using the passages, they may have ended up in the outer lands. “That might explain the weapons," Connie reasoned. "Weapons?" Kat asked. "They stole a bunch of weapons from a sporting goods store. And a bunch of RC cars and drones and cameras. They might be using them to see what's on the other side of passages to see if they're safe." "So what about all this other stuff?" Kat asked. Connie started setting the table and putting out food. Kat moved her maps. “Some of the stuff is for money. The rest, I don't know, maybe magic, but the bedsheets and blouses?” "Are they silk? That blocks human magic.” “And copper destroys it. They took a bunch of Copper from Blossoms." I add. "They're going to be in trouble if they think silk and copper will protect them from the outer lands." "Did they take any iron?" Connie asked. I looked over the list. "Oh, my Gods," Kat cried out. My head whipped up. “I haven't had food without iron in so long. This is so good," she explained. I chuckled. I knew how she felt. “Connie's a great cook," I looked at the list. There were some steel items. And they stole a bunch of computers and gaming systems.” "If they have any electronics experience, they might be able to hook the RC cars to the consoles for better control,” Kat reasoned. "What if they weren't looking to protect themselves from Underhill?" Connie asked. "What if they were making a charm to open new passages?" “Can they do that?" Kat asked. “Mages can," I said. "I've seen them open passages." “I mean make the charm." “With the right materials, they can." I scanned the lists. "And they have almost everything." I frowned, considering the time. "They'll likely hit the place tonight but I have extra prayers I need to say tonight. I can't skip.” "Start now," Connie suggested "The gods will understand.” I finished my food quickly and hurried out to the glade. Connie and Kat joined me too. I said the required prayers and prayers of thanks to Tiphine and Reenta and quickly dressed again. I opened a passage among the trees.” "Do you want help?" Kat offered. "Meet us at Soul Stone's when you finish here." I hurried back to the human world.