Stolen Magic. Esri Rose

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СКАЧАТЬ to need those things eventually. You can’t glamour the IRS—not all of them at once, anyway.” My voice was getting shrill, but I couldn’t seem to help it. “How do you think we’re going to buy property without Social Security numbers and stuff?”

      Kutara toyed with her staple remover, snapping it like a pair of little jaws. “Those are all problems I have to solve, and to do that, I need you to help me. I didn’t think this was a huge request, Adlia, but you seem determined to—” She broke off as the office door opened.

      Galan came in, his expression serious. All elves are more beautiful than humans, but with his violet eyes and long, silver-blond hair, Galan was a looker even for elves.

      “We were just…” I trailed off as a female elf followed him in. She had frightened eyes and a pinched look on her face.

      Galan put a gentle hand on her back and steered her to an office chair. “This is Fia. I found her wandering by the creek. Fia, this is Kutara and Adlia.”

      Fia perched on the chair and looked over her shoulder at Galan. He patted her shoulder reassuringly, and I felt a flutter in my stomach. There had been a time when I would have given anything for Galan to touch me like that. He was the kindest, funniest, most affectionate elf I knew, and so amazingly in love with Erin that any jealousy on my part felt small and mean.

      Kutara smiled pleasantly at Fia, then turned to Galan. “Wandering?” she asked.

      “She’s having some memory problems.” Galan made it sound so innocuous, it had to be bad.

      Kutara came around the desk and sat on the edge next to Fia. “What are you having trouble remembering?”

      Fia brushed her chestnut hair from her face in a nervous gesture. “Everything but my name. I can’t remember anything but my name, and when—” She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

      “Galan,” he prompted.

      “When Galan asked me, I almost couldn’t remember that.” She clasped her hands in her lap. “I can’t remember how I got here, or where I live. I can’t remember anything.”

      Kutara nodded at her. “You’re safe here. We’ll take care of you and find out what’s happened.”

      Galan headed toward his desk. “Should I call Erin, do you think?” Since bonding with Galan, Erin had developed certain healing abilities.

      “Not at the moment.” Kutara stood. “Can I examine you, Fia?”

      She nodded.

      Kutara pulled Fia’s long chestnut hair aside, section by section, presumably looking for an injury. “Do you hurt anywhere?”

      “No. I’m hungry, though.”

      “We’ll help you get some energy. Don’t eat human food. It will change you from elf to mortal.”

      Fia frowned slightly, as though this basic information were only vaguely familiar. “Okay.”

      Galan looked up from his computer. “I showed her how to take energy from the creek, but I’m not sure she was able to concentrate enough to do it well.”

      Functioning normally on water energy was like trying to run a marathon on an all-lettuce diet. Creek energy would keep Fia alive, but it wasn’t a good substitute for energy from Ma’Nah, and an elf could get that energy only by merging with his own land—land to which he was bonded.

      Kutara finished examining Fia’s head. “I can’t find any injury. Galan, put the word out on our Yahoo Group, asking if anyone has heard of a missing female.”

      Galan typed something in. “I’ll also ask if anyone knows about memory loss.”

      “Good. There must be missing-persons sites for humans, but I doubt they would do much good.”

      Especially since humans were unlikely to have information on people over a hundred years old.

      “Adlia,” Kutara said.

      I froze in my chair. “What?”

      “Now would be a good time for you to research investment-management software.”

      “Don’t you want me to help find out about Fia?”

      “Galan has that under control.”

      I opened the lid of my laptop with a sigh. “I was just going to start that.”

      Chapter Two

      Researching investment management turned out to be a lot like editing a book on nuclear physics. First step: look up all the unfamiliar words. I didn’t care about investments. I didn’t want to learn about investments. But I read lots of online articles on the basics of investments so I could make an informed decision on a program about them.

      Concentrating wasn’t made any easier by Fia wandering around with nothing to do and not much mind to do it with.

      Galan periodically asked her questions. “Do you remember any landmarks on your land?”

      Considering that elves cared for their land and spent long periods of time merged with it, that should have been an easy question. Fia’s answer was a blank stare and a long silence before she said, “I think there were some trees.”

      “Does the name Golden sound familiar to you?” Galan asked.

      “It’s a…It’s a color, isn’t it? Or a type of wood?”

      “Metal. It’s also a town west of here. Does it sound familiar at all? No?”

      As her energy got low, Fia developed wrinkles and her hair became lank. I’d never seen an elf so energy deprived, and it was seriously creepy.

      When Fia really started to droop, Galan would take her outside and show her how to absorb the energy released by the flowing water of Boulder Creek.

      Sometime before three in the morning, I sat back in my chair with a huge sigh. “It looks like we should get Quicken Premier.”

      Kutara opened a binder and flipped through the pages. “I’ve heard of that program.”

      “Yes. Quicken is so famous that even elves have heard of it, but it still took me four hours to figure out that’s what we want.”

      “An informed decision is best. Go ahead and download it.”

      “I thought I’d add it to the copy-paper order, to get the free shipping.” Not to mention that the hard copy would come with paper manuals, which could be taken outside for “studying.”

      Kutara nodded without looking up. “Fine.” She moved a stack of folders from one side of her desk to the other.

      I placed the order. “Galan, this will show up at Erin’s house tomorrow sometime.” We didn’t have an official mailing address—another problem that would be solved by having our own place.

      Kutara stopped rearranging the papers on her desk and СКАЧАТЬ