Temporary Monsters (18 page)

She shook her head. “And I never want to eat another corn dog as long as I live.”

Two elevator doors opened. By some sort of silent agreement, their leader took one while the rest of the team walked into the other.

“Karnowski needs sleep!” the ghost finder announced.

“And I need clothes,” Withers added.

“I think we all could use some rest,” Lenore agreed. “We still have a lot to talk about. Let's reconvene in the main office at nine tomorrow and compare notes.”

The elevator deposited them in the lobby on the main floor. The others waved good-bye and went their separate ways.

That was it? Lenny had hoped they could talk a bit about things now. He wouldn't have minded talking to Lenore about just about anything.

Still, just standing here, he could feel a wave of exhaustion roll over him. He could probably talk, and think, far better after a little sleep. He left the building and headed for the subway.

He was so tired his feet tended to wander a bit. He did his best to stay focused on the entry that led to the trains, swerving away from an alleyway lost in shadows. Did he glimpse a man in a raincoat there? Somewhere in the crowd, a cell phone came to life:

“You're my baby! You're my baby!”

The song sounded somehow familiar. He closed his eyes for a second in the bright sunlight. The inside of his eyelids looked bright blue.

Blue? He was forgetting something blue.

Lenny decided he didn't know what he was forgetting. He barely knew what he was thinking. He redoubled his efforts to make it down to the subway and then home.

Terrifitemps certainly was a fascinating place. He hoped, after a little rest, he could remember just how fascinating these past twenty-four hours had been. And he just couldn't stop thinking about Lenore.

One thing was for certain. He finally felt like his life was going somewhere. He would go home, relax, and do something relaxing, like work on his stamp collection.

Wait a minute. He knew with a sudden certainty that something in his stamp collection was very important. Lenny realized he was holding his breath, as if he was waiting for something terrible to happen. Something terrible? From his stamps?

Lenny took a deep breath. He was going to relax and forget about everything, at least for tonight. He'd take some time tomorrow to figure out where his life was going, with or without Terrifitemps.

Lenny walked swiftly down into the subway station, ignoring the shadows that followed him down the stairs.

Look for the second Temporary Magic novel

TEMPORARY HAUNTINGS

Coming May 2014 from InterMix

Craig Shaw Gardner
is the author of eighteen fantasy novels with titles like
A Malady of Magicks
and
Revenge of the Fluffy Bunnies
, more than forty short stories (and two short story collections), and over a dozen novelizations and tie-in novels to such properties as
Batman
,
Buffy
,
Back to the Future
, and the
Battlestar Galactica
reboot, which suggest he can only work on projects beginning with the letter B. A native of Rochester, New York, he now lives in the greater Boston area with his wife and the two cats who run the household.