vendetta against Claire.â
âWhich is why youâve brought her here.â
âUh, yeah.â
âAnd rightly so.â He turned to look at Claire, his red eyes glinting like a catâs. âI can assure you, my dear, if Robert sets one foot in the lobby, he will very much wish he hadnât.â
âThanks,â she said.
As we neared the Queens Midtown Tunnel, and I saw Manhattan looming in front of us, I felt a surge of peace wash over me. I hadnât realized how much I missed the city. It was big, crowded, loud, and dirty. And it would always be home.
We made our way to Times Square, and I stared out the window at all the stores with their holiday decorations. The cabsand people moved like currents through the streets. I remembered my first time out of the theater. It had been so overwhelming at first. But thrilling, too. I had met my first human that day. At a thrift store. Iâd been so nervous. . . .
Back then, I could never have imagined actually living with humans, much less being friends with them. Even later, when Iâd run away from home, Iâd still mostly kept away from humans. I had missed out on so much. Sure, some humans were assholes. But most were pretty amazing, these fragile creatures pretending to be indestructible.
âFirst stop! Human sanctuary!â said Charon.
Ruthven turned in his seat to look at Henri. âI assume youâll want to drop off your things and freshen up after your long flight. That will also give Boy time to visit with his family alone.â
âSure, okay,â said Henri.
âThe room is held under your name. The theater is only one block down, on the left.â Ruthven inclined his head in the direction. âYou canât miss it. Charon should be back in the box office by then, so you wonât have to worry about any . . . misunderstandings. Heâll call Boy up to come get you.â
Henri turned to me. âDo you mind if I keep Vi with me?â
He looked like he could use the company right now, and Vi seemed to want to spend every possible moment she could with Henri, so I figured she wouldnât mind, anyway. âYeah, thatâs fine.â I patted his shoulder. âWelcome to New York.â
He climbed out of the car. Charon had already popped the trunk, so he grabbed his bag, slammed the trunk lid down, and headed toward the hotel entrance. The way he clutched Viâs phone in his free hand made me wonder if maybe it wasnât as one sided a relationship as I thought.
THE THEATER HADNâT changed a bit. A big marquee that just said THE SHOW in a swirl of colors that had once been bright but over the years had faded. The same posters still hung out front in their glass casesâsilhouettes of mysterious creatures on sun-bleached colored backgrounds. It looked retro, but actually it had all just been there a really long time.
The lobby was still decorated with fabrics and swirls of color that gave it a vague international carnival feeling. It still smelled the same, like humans, sweat, old wood, and some other thing Iâd never been able to pinpoint.
The two goblins peering with yellow eyes from the box office window were new, though.
I waved at them. âHi, ladies.â
They whispered to each other and giggled nervously, then waved back.
âMy, arenât you the local celeb crush,â said Claire.
âJealous?â I asked.
âYou better hope not,â she said. âIâm bloody terrifying when Iâm jealous.â
âIâll take that into consideration.â
âCurmthulia, dear,â said Ruthven. âWould you call down to Boyâs parents and let them know heâs arrived?â
One of the goblin sisters nodded and picked up the phone.
âLetâs see what kind of mess youâve made while I was gone,â said Charon as he climbed into the box office.
I smiled as I watched him fuss around