Free Gnomes of Suburbia by Viola Grace Page A

painting had been watching her for some time. It was only after the move to Oak Point Way that it was able to make its move. It was out of the painting and very hungry. Laura smelled so good.
    It followed her down the hall and when she wasn't looking, it lapped at the back of her thigh, looking for a taste to match the fabulous smell. She did and a light nip was next. If only she hadn't screamed, smashed it in the head and locked it in a cupboard. It could have had its first good meal in ages.
    "Abby. Abby, close the mirror.” The voice seemed so far away and she was trapped in the cupboard.
    A sharp jolt to her hand and the viewer snapped shut. Abby blinked in astonishment at what she had seen, felt and heard. “Holy crap.” He leaned over her and took the viewer from her hand. Contact was minimal, but she still managed to keep her power to herself.
    "I am surprised that it took you that powerfully."
    He still kept his hands free of her as she wobbled to her feet and that act of separation made her grit her teeth. “I had to jump start the mechanism, it may be a little stronger now until you work the charge off it.” She settled back in on the sofa and took another slug of the lemonade. “Who knew that a seal could be that angry?"
    He was putting the viewer back and turned to her in shock. “A seal?"
    "Yeah. It was a seal's soul trapped in that painting. A small magus sealed it in there after he found the seal almost dead on the beach. He then had a clown painted on the treated sealskin. He wanted people to be as scared of clowns as he was.” She relaxed back and let the images she had seen wash over her. It was a small child's frustration and humiliation that drove him to create that painting. That he had control of enough magic to do it was just another tool for his plan.
    "Seriously? A child did that?"
    "Yeah, in the late sixties or so."
    "Do you know who it was?"
    "No. But with the upped charge, you should be able to investigate. And the reason he attacked Laura was that she smelled a bit like a piece of herring. What seal could resist?” She kept her eyes closed as she heard him pick up the viewer and move to the painting again.
    A few short moments later he closed the tool with a snap. “Sonofabitch. It was so simple and yet I couldn't see it."
    "I am betting that it happens a lot with older mechanisms that rely on magic. But back to the reason I am on your couch. I need to know about what I am.” She didn't have any room to put her feet up on his coffee table so she kicked off her shoes and curled her feet up on the couch.
    "You are a Nexus."
    "Yeah, but why did the council put all of you here?” This question had been bugging her. “And who the heck is on the council anyway?"
    "The council is a group of elected officials from the differing magical races that have survived to modern day.” He answered the second question first and crossed his own legs in the lotus position on the other couch.
    Oh, he is limber. This has possibilities.
    "The last few times a Nexus has been found, it has been drained dry by whoever found it and has died shortly after. We didn't want that to happen to you."
    "We? Who is we?"
    "Your new neighbours here on Oak Point Way. Each of us volunteered to be here as a type of an honour guard. If you can learn to control your dispensation of magic, you will live a long and healthy life."
    "And if I don't?"
    "You will sputter and burn out like a candle and there will be nothing we can do to help you. You carry the seeds of your own survival or destruction within you."
    Abby took a deep sip of her lemonade. “Wow, that is a heavy conversation killer. Okay. The next question is, why is the energy signature on my gnomes changing color?"
    "Really? So quickly?"
    "Uh, yeah. So. what is doing it?"
    "As living things take on your energy, they convert it for their own use. The more they live, the faster they change. The tree for example will metabolize the energy that you gave it and your magic