“Yes way.” Bis settled his wings against himself. The sound was soothing, and my shoulders eased. I think Jenks had found a friend. It was so sweet I could just barf. Except that he really needed one.

“Bis, it’s good to meet you,” I said as I extended my hand, then hesitated. He was only a foot tall, about half the size of most gargoyles I’d seen from the distant vantage of the road. His hand was too small to comfortably shake even if I wanted to chance those raptorlike claws, but I was willing to bet he was too heavy to land on my wrist in a proper pixylike greeting.

With a surprisingly small whoosh of sound, Bis was in a hopping flight. Jenks jerked back into the air in surprise, and I froze when the gargoyle landed on my wrist. He had gone black again, and his huge ears were bent submissively, like a puppy’s. And when his smooth skin touched me, I suddenly felt every single ley line in the entire city.

Shocked, I did nothing as my gaze went vacant. I could sense them, softly glowing in my awareness, like potential unmasked. I could see which were healthy and which weren’t. And they sang, like the deep thrum of the earth.

“Holy shit!” I gasped, then covered my mouth, embarrassed. “Ceri,” I stammered, turning to her. “The lines…”

She was smiling. Damn it, she had known.

The gold flecks in Bis’s eyes were whirling slowly, mesmerizing me. “May I stay, mistress witch?” he said. “If Jenks allows me to pay rent?”

He was lighter than I ever would have expected, almost not there. “You can tap a ley line,” I said, still in a pleasant shock. My God, the lines were humming with different vibrations, like different bells have different sounds. The university’s was heady and deep, and the one out back was a clear ting. From Eden Park was a discordant twang that had to be that ley line some idiot had built a reflecting pond over, turning it weak and almost dead.

Bis shook his head. “No, but I can feel them. They flow through the world like blood and leak from the surface like an unhealed wound.”

I took a breath, only now realizing I had been holding mine. “Jenks, he’s got my vote to stay. We can work rent out later, but maybe he can do night sentry duty so you can spend more time with Matalina.”

Jenks was standing on the dresser, his reflection making two pixies frowning suspiciously at me. “Yeah,” he said absently, his thoughts on something else. “That’d be great.”

Ceri came forward and made a short, courtly curtsy. “I’m glad you got kicked off your parapet,” she said, smiling. “My name is Ceri. I live across the street. And if you spit on me or my friends, I will turn your wings to feathers.”