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“Please don’t leave,” Warlock said again, huddling in Nanny Ashtoreth’s lap.
Nanny sighed and rubbed his back. “Language, dear. What have I told you about how to ask for something?”
“As Prince of This World I hereby command you to stay and there will be Hell to pay if you do not obey,” Warlock corrected himself, rattling off the rhyme with practiced speed.
“Much better. There’s my hellspawn.” Nanny smiled at him with evident pride… but then the corners of her lips creased, and she looked sad. “I wish I could, Warlock. But you’re getting too big for a nanny. You’re six years old. It’s time you got proper tutors.”
“I don’t want tutors!” Warlock protested. “I want you! Brother Francis, and you! No tutors!” His voice rose to a howl on the last words, and he kicked at the floor.
The fact that Nanny didn’t even take time to praise his bad behavior told Warlock that the situation really was dire. Her voice sounded oddly choked when she spoke again. “You’ll be okay after I’m gone.”
“I won’t!”
“You will.” Nanny stroked his cheek. “I promise. Now, remember to be a bad child and listen to your tutors once you start lessons.”
~ ~ ~
“Warlock,” said his mother, “this is Mr. Harrison. He’ll be teaching you about, er—”
“The Darkness Intrinsicate in the Human Spirit,” Mr. Harrison supplied. “And all the other aspects of a child’s core education, of course.”
“...Yes,” said his mother, after a moment of apparent bewilderment. “Exactly. Your other tutor, Mr. Cortese, will be arriving soon. He— Warlock, are you listening?”
Warlock wasn’t listening. He was looking. Staring, more like.
The clothes were wrong, the hair was wrong, the shape of the thick sunglasses was completely wrong. Even the way he talked was wrong. Yet, something about this tutor’s face, the way he stood, the way he looked, the way he was looking at Warlock right now and…
Mr. Harrison moved his head and shoulders, a sort of full-body wave that somehow gave the impression of a blended wink and eye roll. And Warlock knew.
“Say hello, Warlock,” said his mother, sounding more than a little frazzled. “You’ll have your first lesson today. Okay?”
“Okay,” said Warlock meekly, and he said hello and shook a hand that his own knew exactly how to fit into.
Nanny had been right, after all. He was going to be okay.