Phoenix found himself crouched on all fours on the table, which wobbled and fell over before he had time to balance himself on it. His wings shot out to full length and he caught himself before he hit the floor, landing neatly on two feet—instead of four.
Raya jumped out of the chair and out of the way. “Phoenix? What the hell is going on? What did you do with the cat?”
“I was the cat!”
Raya covered her mouth as she gasped. “You pretended to be a cat?”
“No, I didn’t pretend to be a cat! Your lovely friend Nathan decided to put me on ice until he could trap me for good.”
Raya sank into the chair. “Nathan?”
“Yes, Nathan—the one who called me your pet demon, remember? Turns out he’s not actually opposed to the idea. He just wants one for himself.” Phoenix smoothed his hands over his body, making sure nothing was amiss.
She crossed her arms. “So you found a way to sneak into my hotel room?”
“I wasn’t trying to—bloody hell, woman! I was trapped! As a cat! What did you expect me to do?”
“Not sneak into my hotel room, for a start!”
“Nathan caught me in his dreams and turned me into a stupid, helpless, ridiculous cat! I couldn’t get to Cosmo’s, so I came here.”
Surely that would mollify her.
“Wait a minute.” Raya held her hand up. “I pet that cat. I snuggled that cat. And all that time—” Her mouth dropped open. She looked down at herself as if just realizing she was wearing pajamas. “Oh, my God.” She stood abruptly, crossed the space to the bathroom, went inside, and shut the door.
It had not mollified her at all. Phoenix righted the fallen table, then tread carefully to the bathroom and tapped softly on the door. “Raya?”
No answer.
“Raya, I’m sorry.”
The door flung open.
“You’re sorry?” She stared at him skeptically, still haughty even in her pajama set. She ticked off his offenses on her fingers. “You snuck into my room, watched me change clothes—”
“Hey! I did not! I covered my eyes. You noticed—you even said it was cute! Remember?”
Raya continued like he hadn’t spoken. “I tucked you in and patted you like some kind of blithering idiot, and then, to top it all off, you snuck into my dreams! My dreams, Phoenix!”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do.” He backed away to give her space. “You never told me you had nightmares.”
She turned away and leaned on the sink. “You never asked.”
“Was that—real? Did someone burn your things? Were those your witchcraft books?”
Raya sighed and hung her head. “My family. It was a long time ago.”
“Your family?” Phoenix dredged his memory for the sparse details she’d shared about her family. “I thought you said your family wasn’t particularly religious.”
“I lied, okay? I didn’t want anybody asking me about it. It’s not exactly my favorite subject.”
“How am I supposed to understand you if you never tell me anything?” He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration before changing tack. “I’m sorry that happened to you. Would you like me to visit their dreams and throw them off a cliff repeatedly?”
That made her laugh. It was a rueful laugh, but a laugh all the same.
“You’ve gotten into enough trouble sneaking into people’s dreams, I think.” She emerged from the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed. “So Nathan trapped you in a dream?”
“Apparently, in addition to being an awful prat, he’s very good at lucid dreaming. He caught me and transformed me in the dream, and it stuck.”
