Magic was awesome, but wrapping my head around the fact that the feather wanted to help me just didn’t click as easily as I’d want it to. It seemed wrong to think of inanimate objects as wanting things, though I knew better. Betty was a shop, and she clearly had a will of her own.

“I don’t even know what it can be used for,” I mumbled, staring as she connected it to the chain on the necklace.

Lady Twilight held it out to me. The charm sat right next to the leaf, and it looked amazing.

It hummed lightly as I snapped it back around my neck before tucking it under my shirt.

“Archangel feathers are powerful sources of magic. Usually, they’re used for healing, or protection and defense. It can even be used to jump-start a witch's own powers, or permanently increase them. In most cases, other angels use them to move up the social ladder, so to speak.”

That sounded way more important than giving someone a pair of boots.

“Oh, interesting…”

“Alright, time for Indigo to work on her magic. We can even try making magical objects smaller, to see what you learned,” said Lady Twilight. She turned toward the seating area on the right with Indigo still on her shoulder.

I leaned closer to the Cat. “I feel like you gave Carter the raw end of the deal there… but I appreciate the gesture.”

The Cat snorted. “Those boots saved the life of the woman he loves. It was more than a fair trade.” He head-butted my elbow. “I’m glad you’ll keep it close.”

I patted the feather and the leaf under my shirt. So many people were worried about my safety. I wasn’t sure if it was that they knew something I didn’t, or if everyone in the magical worlds was paranoid. It helped me understand better why if you weren’t magical, that world was hidden from you. Which meant my family wouldn’t get to meet Indigo, it just wasn’t safe for them.

Then again, look at what’d happened to Indigo. Her mother was kidnapped and the little dragon was born away from anyone else like her. It’d worked out, and in turn others had been helped, but still. They’d wanted to feed her that demonic book.

I pushed those thoughts away. Though, it reminded me to ask Lady Twilight about something she had mentioned last time she was here. There had been others like Indigo.

“So, Cat, what do you think about board games?” I asked slyly. In the most recent deliveries, I had ordered a game I’d played with my brothers when I was really young, called Snakes and Ladders. A used copy now sat in my room, and I knew Indigo would like it, but I wasn’t sure about the Cat.

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“Board games?” The Cat tilted his head, looking up at me.

“You play them for fun,” I explained. “They are games, like cards, but with more pieces. Some are based on chance, others on skill.”

“I’ve played cards, a long time ago, but no board games.”

“Let me get the game and the instructions. This one is more based on chance, so it should be a good introduction.”

It didn’t take long for me to grab the game and hand over the booklet.

“So, no one dies during this?” asked the Cat. “What do we wager?”

“Most people don’t wager anything, it’s a fun way to pass the time. Sometimes people really like bragging rights.”

The Cat nodded, as if he understood that part at least. Maybe I’d get him to play a round with Indigo and I after her lessons.

“Let me read those instructions again.” He stared at the page of instructions. They were super simple. You rolled the dice and moved your meeple that many spaces. Whatever was on the space, you did. If it had a ladder, you climbed it. If it had a snake, you slid down it. The first person to 100 won.

“This is all about rolling a die,” he muttered. “If you are good at rolling a die, this game is simple.”

“I mean, you can’t get good at rolling a die, it’s based on luck,” I added.

The Cat smiled at me. No idea how he did it, but he smiled. It reminded me of a shark.

“We should totally play the game, I bet it will even be fun.”

Yep, the Cat knew something I didn’t, and now I wasn’t sure introducing him to things from my world was the right idea. Maybe something like a roleplaying game would be better.

***

The dragon noticed the bracelet and said nothing. I wanted to speak with her about it, but there wasn’t a chance. For someone like the dragon, the magic would be easier to trace. Sable mentioning it came from her family would interest the dragon, since they hadn’t dug into her background at all as far as I knew. The non-magical, after all, should be left alone. Yet, by that one little gift it was clear her sibling knew about magic. He’d gotten her a protective bracelet, after all.

I found the color of the gems to be interesting. Green, purple, and black are three colors that represented many things, but at the moment tied most interestingly to Sable, Indigo, and I. Yet, the brother didn’t know of Indigo or me. That meant whomever he’d gotten it from had known much more about her than should be possible.

The shop blocked most magic, though the dragon had broken it by finding it when it didn’t want to be found. Lady Twilight's connection to Indigo was stronger than most, and hopefully that was how she’d found the location.

Otherwise… I couldn’t let my thoughts go in that direction. It led to hope, and hope was dangerous.

Sable didn’t seem to understand how magic could be used to direct dice, and it was time she learned a few things about using magic. She had a growing spark of it after all. Probably enough that she was uncommonly good at games that depended on such things as chance. After all, when you were magically inclined and untrained, objects tended to do what you wanted more often than not. Maybe I could teach her a few things. They would keep her safer, once the contract was up.