***
Drew knocked on the ornately carved door and it swung open immediately.
"Good evening, Mr. Maddox," said the butler.
"Hi, Branson. I just wanted to stop by and offer my condolences on Mary's passing."
Branson nodded. "The family is gathered in the kitchen, if you'd like to come inside."
"I don't want to intrude. I didn't know her that well but ..." his voice trailed away as Irfin appeared in the hallway. He looked like the picture Mary had given Drew, a gray-haired, eighty-year-old man.
"That's okay, Branson, I'll talk with Drew," said the little man.
Branson nodded and then Irfin walked across the Italian marble floor, indicating they should go into a room to the right. Drew had first met with Mary in this very room. Irfin closed the door and Drew took a seat on the same blue brocade chair while Irfin sat at the desk.
"I'm sure you're surprised to see me like this," Irfin said.
"Not really. Remember, I had the pictures Mary gave me."
"This is the face I present in the human world. As you first saw me in the magical dimension, that is my immortal face."
"So you put on a facade for each world?"
Irfin frowned, then said slowly. "Yes, I guess that is how it is."
"And are you really a sorcerer?"
"In one of my lives yes. In this life, I'm a retired inventor."
"I stopped in to say I'm sorry on Mary's passing," Drew said. "I won't stay but a minute. I wanted to return the check your wife gave me as a down payment."
Irfin looked surprised. "She told me about your meetings." Irfin shrugged, playing with a glass paperweight. "It's yours. You certainly earned it."
"Not really. I didn't finish the job. And we both know the rest of the story."
Irfin looked very subdued. "I kept thinking about what you said. All Mary wanted was to have me here with her. I've given it up, you know," Irfin added quietly. "Mary was my eighteenth wife. I've outlived every one of them. My children, my grandchildren. I'm not going back."
"So you've walked away from all of it?"
"Yes. And you were right, Drew. Lukais promised an immortal life for Mary if I could secure the crystal. It wasn't what Mary wanted and certainly not at the expense of others. She just wanted me to be with her and the kids for however long we had. And now that she's gone, I'm going to do the human thing and be mortal like everyone else. I'm sorry for the harm I caused you and Pandimora. Aisywel is moving toward complete chaos. I don't know how it will ever recover. Lukais will fight the netherworld invasion possibly at great loss of life. I fear it will lead to a bitter end for our world."
"Well," Drew said, "we had a confrontation with him and Pandimora may have killed him. She plunged my Celtic sword into him and he appeared to split apart."
"I wish I could believe it would be so simple, but he is incredibly powerful and not easily disposed of. I guess Pandimora was right. I shouldn't have doubted her." He looked at Drew. "And what about you, Drew? I am glad you decided to set aside your fears."
"I don't know what you mean."
Irfin smiled. "Living life each day without fear of the past repeating itself. If what the elder said was true, and I'm not saying it is that Pandimora inherited her mother's condition, are you willing to take that leap of faith and love her anyway?"
"I love her and quite honestly I think the elder was wrong. Either way, we're taking it a day at a time, figuring out how it can all work." Drew sighed, standing. "Pandimora promised not to return to Aisywel until we know for sure if he's gone."
Irfin accompanied him to the door. "We managed to wind back time, you know, before Mary died. We had an additional two days."
Drew stared at Irfin who suddenly seemed very old.
"Wait." Irfin opened a drawer in an ornately carved table beside the door. He pulled out something wrapped in a black jeweler's cloth. Even before Drew took it, he could feel the shift of the air around them.
Accepting the wrapped cloth, Drew felt the two crystals inside.
Irfin nodded. "The crystals. I hope in time she will return them to their proper place. There will be a long struggle, I'm afraid." Irfin turned and walked away.
Placing the envelope with the check on the small table beside the door, Drew let himself out. He put the crystals into his jacket pocket, feeling their vibrations radiating through the cloth.
Drew pulled his jacket collar up around his neck as the snow and wind swirled around him. He looked up at the sky. The weather forecast had been for sunshine, but the sky looked black and threatening. He wondered about Aisywel and the chaos both Irfin and Pandimora predicted. He supposed the weather would get much, much worse in the coming days and perhaps weeks ahead.
When he opened the door to his truck, Drew was surprised to see a large manila envelope on the seat. Curious, he picked it up.
There was no stamp but the return address of an accounting firm immediately caught his eye. Deborah's debt. How had it gotten into his truck? Had they finally decided to sue him for the money? He carefully slit open the envelope. Inside was an executed one-page release. The balance had been paid in full.
Drew looked up at Irfin's house. Had it been Mary -- or had it been Irfin? He refolded the sheet and carefully placed it in his back pocket.
Find Me: Faeries Lost Page 30