Agatte's breath sped up and her voice hitched. “Absolutely not. That sounds like a trap, Seri, and what a brilliant one too. A festival! Of course, they'd try to lure you in with something like that. But you're smarter than to fall for their tricks, right?”
Seri hunched in on himself, embarrassment burning his cheeks like the summer sun. “Yeah, it sounded suspicious, that's why I asked you first.”
She put the bag down and hugged him tightly. “Of course, you did. You're a good boy, Seri, and you know that your aunt will always look out for you. While the rest of the world might hate you for those gargoyle wings, Auntie Agatte sees right past your flaws at the adorable boy that you are.”
Though his embarrassment was only amplified by her baby-talk, he let himself sink into her embrace. He loved her hugs but she always ended them sooner than he was ready.
After taking a deep sigh, she laid her hands on his shoulders, asking gently, “How did you learn about this fake festival anyway?”
Seri bit his lip and hesitantly pulled the flyer from his overalls. “Wind blew it in.”
She snatched it from him, crumpled it without even looking at it, and dropped it inside her tote. He considered asking to get it back. He wanted to look at it some more and fantasize about what the festival would look like if it was real, but she'd misunderstand, so he swallowed the question.
The hallway glow accentuated her furrowed brows as she looked down at him. She was a short woman, but still taller than him. “Oh, Seri. What would you have done without me?”
“Yeah, I'm sorry. I just... I should've thrown it out as soon as I found it. I'm sorry. Thank you for confirming my suspicions.”
Agatte sighed heavily and smoothed out his hair. “I'll keep you safe, kiddo. She looked down the hallway towards the front door. “But I missed my bus and now I have to walk home in the middle of the night. I could be robbed in a dark alley somewhere and what would happen to you then?”
“You could stay for the night,” he said, feeling as if a candle came ablaze deep inside him. “You can take my bed. I'll sleep on the floor.” She shook her head, and the candle's flame flickered. “It's been months since you stayed more than an hour.”
“Seri, you have a bad habit of exaggerating. I stayed a whole day just last week.”
He frowned, unsure which day she was speaking of. A fun day with his aunt should have stood out among the monotony of his isolation, but he couldn't trust his memory. It failed him too many times.
“I'll make you a deal,” she said, slinging the tote over her shoulder. “Fix the generator in the basement, and we'll celebrate with a sleepover. We'll have our own little festival, completely safe.”
Seri gasped and nodded repeatedly. “It's a deal!”
Agatte chuckled and turned to leave. “Good Night, Seri.”
“Good night, auntie. I love you.”
“Ditto, kiddo.”
When the front door slammed after her, Seri waited for the sound of her turning the key in the lock, then he double-checked the curtains, all the while, his teeth were going dry from the grinning.
“I have got to tell Felix!” he said out loud.
After blowing out the hallway candle, he ran upstairs to his room and found the snail tank in the corner.
“Our own festival, Felix. She made a deal!” He couldn't see where his snail was, so he plopped on the floor next to the tank, spreading his wings for comfort. “It's been forever since she'd stayed overnight, Felix. Do you even remember? Just imagine—we could play card games and tell each other stories. She sure talks more than you. She could tell me what the city is like and describe people she knows and what her usual day is like. And I'll tell her about all the adventures you've been getting up to. This is going to be so awesome! I can't wait. I need to make a list of activities, but I have to get a move on with my end of the deal. You know, Felix, the faster I fix that generator, the faster I'll have my very own festival, and it will be even better than the one in the flyer."
His smile faltered. The generator. She wanted him to fix the generator—as if he knew how.
“I'll bring you your lettuce,” he said to Felix.
Seri ate the already-cold baked potatoes in a starkly dark kitchen and thought over the task ahead. He had tried to fix that hunk of metal many times but couldn't figure it out. He was a runecaster, not a mechanic, but he would try again. He had to try. He made a deal and deals were only honorable if both parties upheld their end. Where was that Fix It Yourself! book that Agatte had gotten him when the roof was leaking?
He left his plate in the sink to wash in the daylight and got ready for bed. After dropping off the lettuce, he lingered by Felix's tank, remembering the flyer he had found.
“I can't believe I almost fell for the trap. I'm so lucky Agatte saw through it. She's so right. If cambions wanted to gather, they'd pick a secret space, not somewhere as open as Glassy Plains. That flyer just looked so real, you know? I wish that festival had been real, Felix, so I could meet other cambions safely.” He sighed and tapped the glass. “At least, I still have you. Good Night, Felix.”
The snail didn't respond, as usual, sleeping soundly in their shell. Seri plopped onto his squeaky mattress and was arranging a blanket over himself when he heard the slam of the entry door. She came back!
Grinning ear to ear, Seri ran out of his room, yelling, “Did you change your mind, auntie?”
He jumped from the top of the stairs and glided down, wings half-stretched, ready to give her a big embrace upon landing. It was dark in the room, but by the time he made it to his visitor, he saw clearly that it wasn't Aunt Agatte.
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