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‘Make you own judgement call.’
I went through the hall to the dining room. The conversation petered out as I walked in.
‘What’s with the bird?’ Rupert asked with a grin.
‘New pet,’ I lied, setting the cage down on the wooden bureau that nestled against the wall. ‘Behave,’ I reiterated to the bird.
‘Not pet,’ it snarked at me.
I sighed. ‘I know. I’m tired. Sorry. What sort of things do you eat?’
‘Meat.’
I blinked. Sure: of course the dove-like bird would be carnivorous. ‘I’ll get you some,’ I promised then moved around the table to greet everyone in turn.
‘Hey, Jules,’ I greeted my brother Julian. ‘Grant,’ I air-kissed my brother’s husband. ‘You both doing okay?’
‘Can’t complain,’ Grant replied.
‘But he will,’ Julian rolled his eyes. Grant smacked him lightly on the top of his arm, which made me snicker.
I gave Rupert a quick kiss and eyed his date. She had big round blue eyes, huge boobs, a tiny waist, and a dress that hid nothing – she was way overdressed for dinner at home. To my eyes, the glittering necklace around her neck looked real, not costume jewellery. She also had a garishly large diamond ring on one hand and matching earrings. Her nails were ridiculously long and covered in glittery nail polish. She had clearly never done a day’s manual labour in her life.
‘Ava, this is my sister Stacy,’ Rupert said.
‘The inspector!’ Ava breathed, eyes wide, like I was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen.
‘That’s the one.’ I gave her a smile.
I sat at the end of the table opposite my mum. Each place setting had a small glass of red wine and a glass of water next to it for hydration. Next to my glass of wine was a can of Dr Pepper. Mum knows me well.
‘To family,’ Rupert said a shade pompously as he raised a glass.
‘To family,’ we all repeated. Grant and Julian exchanged mushy glances. Grant took hold of Julian’s hand under the table and gave him a loving smile.
I opened the can of Dr P and took a good slurp – the sugar would help with my tiredness. As I put the can down and speared the meat on my plate, I tried not to remember the times Sam had been by my side at this table and Rupert was relegated to the single seat at head. Now he had a girlfriend and I – I had a foul-mouthed bird. Wonderful.
Chapter Five
As the pudding bowls were being cleared away, Ava asked me, ‘So what made you get a caladrius?’
Huh? ‘A what?’
‘The bird,’ she pointed to the cage. ‘It’s a caladrius. My dad has one.’
Rupert sighed, ‘Of course he does,’ he muttered. ‘Your dad has everything.’ Ava patted his hand sympathetically but didn’t deny it.
I leaned in. ‘What can you tell me about them?’
‘Well, they’re very clever and they’re supposed to be able to heal you from near death. The only problem is they’re fickle – they have to bond with you before they’ll save you. I don’t think my dad has bonded with him. It’s not very nice, not like your one.’
The bird preened. ‘Thank you.’
‘Do you know anything else about them?’ I asked. ‘Are they dangerous?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. They’re super rare and very expensive. Dad doesn’t let his out of its cage.’ That didn’t seem very fair, but not much in the Other realm is. ‘I don’t know if he doesn’t let it out because it’s dangerous or because he doesn’t want to risk losing it.’
Mum cleared her throat. ‘Ava, would you like to help me with the dishes?’
