This was the third-worst incident involving a bleeding shirtless man Li had ever been in. Caleb was covered in tiny wounds as if he had narrowly avoided death by a thousand cuts. None were deep enough to cause any real damage, and most were already starting to close up as Caleb cast healing spells over his injuries.

Li helped him carefully pick out the glass on his back and in awkward places he couldn't reach. Caleb was surprisingly ripped for someone who probably spends all day over old books and ancient artefacts. Li hadn't noticed under all his previous layers. Thankfully, Caleb was facing away, so he couldn't see Li's red face.

It was embarrassing, really. Li hadn't gotten laid in a month and a half due to pilling work and a lack of willingness to deal with idiots at bars. That was probably why seeing Caleb's, admittedly well-muscled back, conjured up some rather inappropriate for the moment thoughts.

"I don't understand why she destroyed the window," Caleb complained, snapping Li back to reality like an ice bath. "From everything I've read of her she loved this house, and it's art."

"People destroy things in anger all the time. She probably has something she wants to say." Li wondered out loud as he wiggled a turquoise glass shard out of Caleb's skin. "Although I'm not sure why she went after you? Maybe because you know more about the manor."

"Maybe." Caleb sighed.

"What are you going to do now?"

 "I'm not sure, but the museum plans are definitely going to fall through."

Caleb hadn't understated the state of the room. It was a complete disaster and an odd one at that: Aside from the shattered glass sprayed around the room, there were footprints burned onto the floor, One set was covered in partially melted ice. The rocking chair was similarly scorched. Li snapped a few pictures for later reference on an old polaroid camera.

Caleb said as he mournfully studied the ruined room, including the gaping space where the window used to be, which was now haphazardly covered by a bedsheet. "It feels like I've lost a piece of history."

"Why is there ice on the floor?" Li asked.

"Huh. It actually worked."

"What worked?"

"The ice spell I cast to freeze her feet to the ground. I thought it didn't work."

"You used magic on a ghost?"

"I didn't know she was a ghost."

"So you froze her feet?" Li asked though he was very distracted by the way Caleb fiddled with his new necklace. It had been a while since Li saw someone wearing it. It wasn't even supposed to be in the sack.

"I thought she might be a poacher," Caleb responded, dragging his attention back to Caleb's words. "I've had to deal with them at historical sites before."

"What would poachers want here? It's not like they could steal a window." Li joked as he put away his camera for good and tried to ignore the necklace.

It was his own damn fault for not getting rid of it earlier anyway.

"You'd be surprised. People with no morals have done crazier things for money."

"True." Li, unfortunately, had firsthand experience with those people, plenty of other people claimed to see spirits, so far the rest have been proven to be hoaxes, so Li made it a point to publicly debunk any he caught. "Right, let's get back on track: After you froze her, she cast a numbing spell on you?"

"I tried to freeze her. She walked right through the ice. After that, she tried to speak to me, but I heard nothing."

"So we're dealing with a spirit powerful enough to cast spells and resist a summoning. She must've used my residual magic from the summoning circle to manifest to you," Li explained. "That's why she faded away, the magic just ran out."

"Why would she need your magic specifically to manifest? Seems inefficient."

"I see ghosts with innate magic, not spells because I'm Gifted." Gifted human's, or simply the Gifted,  were human beings with specific powers or 'Gift' and longer lifespans. "I've never met anyone else who had my powers, though I've met quite a few frauds."

"So you're like a battery for ghosts? They use you to give them the energy to manifest."

"Exactly," Li said as he surveyed the room one last time. "Speaking of energy, I'm running out."

"Wait. You're just leaving?"

"Ms Alaniz is picking me up at 7 am less than three hours from now. I'd recommend you get some sleep too."
"In another room," Li added as he backed out of the room. "The necklace will protect you, but I doubt you'd want to stay here with the breeze."

"Good night." Li waved as he left Caleb for the night because, quite frankly, a good night's sleep is more important than the remote possibility of maybe sharing a room with a shirtless stranger. 

The next morning, Li waited outside the manor, kicking snow as he waited for Ms Alaniz's little sedan to pick him up. Why would a woman that rich own a sedan? The woman was a bit of an oddball, but she was nice enough, and she was paying him handsomely.

Caleb left the house, bundled up once again, and locked the door. The blonde probably hadn't gotten much sleep, which Li could tell by the heavy bags under his eyes and the perpetual frown he was sporting.

He stayed on the porch to make some calls, frown deepening as the call went until he signed off with a heavy sigh. "Li?"

"Yeah."

"Are you busy this weekend?"

"No?"

"Good. My boss wants to meet you. Saturday, noon, at the Oak."

Li managed to catch a two-hour cat nap back in the city before he had more work to do. He left his apartment and descended the stairs until he reached the laundry room in the basement. It was dark, damp and empty. Well, mostly empty. In the corner of the room, a man in a loose blouse and breeches stood, watching clothes spin in the dryer.

Li ignored him because he simply didn't have the energy to deal with every spirit he encountered on a day to day basis. Besides, he was only in the room for a brief minute before opening the door labelled 'Storage - employees only'. The metal doorknob glowed a faint blue under his palm.

The 'storage room' was empty and barely big enough for two people. In the centre of the room was a sealed hatch which Li crouched down and opened, palms glowing softly again. The hatch spun with little resistance, revealing a ladder that went down into an underground tunnel.

Li quickly scaled the ladder and made his way through the tunnel, palm against the rough rock walls of the winding tunnels. He didn't pause at crossroads, because the path was burned in his memory. The many interconnected tunnels under New York, which stretched and turned and weaved under every inch of the city, was like a second home to Li and as familiar as the grooves in his palms. The tunnels simply referred to as the Underground or the Catacombs, have openings all over the city in apartment buildings, public buildings or in the backrooms of business owners trusted with the privilege.

The numerous tunnels lead to chambers of all sizes, which served as gathering places for the city's Magic-Folk. Right now, Li was on his way to the largest of them, The cavern, a twenty-four-hour market selling everything from enchanted amulets, (allegedly) ethically sourced phoenix feathers, and rare flowers.

The way there was dimly lit by gems embedded in the high ceiling, which glow a faint blue when they react with his magic. Thankfully, he lives close to the market, so it was a short walk. The cave mouth widens, and Li hears the telltale cacophony of sounds and smells that mark he was getting closer.

The cave mouth opened, and Li stepped into the market place. The ringing of bells, the sweet scent of baked goods and the avalanche of voices were very familiar and rather comforting after the lonely journey to get here. The massive cave was packed end to end with stalls and shops carved into the marble deposits in its walls, all illuminated by the same cave crystals which danced brilliant colours from everyone's magical energy. It was a completely hectic mess, but it was Li's complete hectic mess.

Even as he thought that, and took his first step into the chaos, he had to duck the wide arch of a turning Fairy's deceptively beautiful wings. The Fairy, who seemingly didn't notice they'd almost lobbed of Li's nose, kept walking. Li turned in the opposite direction. He had a bit of time before he had to open up shop, why not visit a friend?

In one of the storefronts carved into the cavern walls, there was an alchemy store, which reeked of something new every day. Today it gave off a horrid combination of garlic, sulfur and burnt sugar. Li stepped through the beaded curtain and into the odd shop, whose walls were lined with potions behind glass safety cases and shelves full of either ingredients or old leather-bound potion recipe books. Li greeted the store-keep with a wave and a smile, but the little man didn't notice. He was to busy, pretending not to be staring dreamily at the Elven florist opposite him.

Li rolled his eyes but smiled. Oli, the store keep's, crush on the redheaded florist was obvious to anyone with eyes, and from what Li had seen the feeling seemed to be mutual, but for whatever reason neither had acted on their feelings. 

"Oli?" Li called louder, this time successfully grabbing the Fae alchemists attention. "Do you have a moment?"

The Fairy whipped his head around, seemingly embarrassed to be caught ogling the florist so blatantly, till he saw who it was. Oli's shoulders relaxed, and he offered Li a relieved smile. Li knew all about Oli's crush, they were roommates after all.

"Hi, Li. Fancy seeing you here. What's up?"

"Nothing new. Screaming sad women in old mansions mostly."

"Right, normal stuff," Oli deadpanned. "Unfortunately, I have no protection potions against banshees, but I do have the shield potion your client wanted. Let me swing 'round back and get it." Oli disappeared into the back room, and Li waited, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. The beaded curtain clicked, and an imposingly tall figure stepped through, delicately carrying a potted bud.

"Hey, Alex." Li greeted as he opened his wallet and counted his coins. "What'ya got there?"

"A vampire lily, incredibly rare, very expensive and utterly useless for anything but looking pretty." The florist explained. "I want to see if Oli can do anything useful with it. He's smart like that, seeing the value in "useless" things. Is he in the back?" Alex ended the sentence with a smile so fond Li almost hurled from the sweetness.

"Yeah. He'll be out in a moment."

And he was, swinging open the back door as he speed-walked back with an armful of vials, speaking as he walked. "Sorry, that took so long, its a bit of a mess back there, but I-" Oli paused, finally noticing the giant in their midst. "Alex! Hi... I didn't... I had no idea you'd be here! That's great... I mean that's cool. Yes cool... I...." The words seemed to tumble out of Oli's mouth as the fairy blushed a deeper blue. He looked to Li, who simply shrugged.

Thankfully, Alex didn't seem to notice Oli's awkwardness, or he chose to ignore it and held up the plant. "I brought you a flower."

Oli blushed but welcomed the change in topic as he set the potions down on the counter and packed them in a wicker basket. Li wordlessly slips Oli a few coins and left with his potions and made his way to his own store.