“You can barely manage yourself, Kit, much less me. And besides, I’m older than you.”
“I know,” I say carefully. “But just for a little bit, let me take care of you.”
He lays his tufts flat. “No vet.”
“Fine.” I cross my arms, stubborn. “Unless you get sick.”
“And I will come and go as I please.”
“Yes, okay, but you have to tell me first.” When it looks like he’s going to argue, I add, “Not so I can keep track of you. Just so I don’t worry.”
He stares at me, acting like I said I was going to clip his wings.
Trying to make my voice gentle, I insist, “Rowan, that’s how families work.”
“We’re not family.”
“We’re living in the same house, sharing tea. Wearefamily, at least for now. If you want to leave my family when you’reyouagain…okay. But for now, we need to be a team.”
He lifts his wings, thinking about it. Finally, he says, “As long as you don’t expect me to be all cozy with Ash.”
“No, but you have to be nice to Chester.”
“I’m always nice to your annoying dog.”
The way Chester watches him warily says otherwise.
“Sure,” I say.
“Are we done with this family meeting? Or do you have more ground rules to establish?”
“I can’t think of anything right now.”
“Good, because there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
He doesn’t sound as agitated as before, so I sit at the kitchen table, folding my hands in front of me. “Go ahead.”
“I’d like to visit my old professor.”
I sit up a little straighter. “The one who was teaching pixies how to harness their magic?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not a bad idea. Instead of doing all the research from scratch, we can consult him. He knows far more about it than we ever will.”
But just as soon as I feel a spark of hope and excitement, it dwindles. I have a question, but how do I ask it delicately?
“What’s the matter?” Rowan demands, peering at me. “One minute you’re suffocating me with sunshine, and the next you’re a rain cloud.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, okay? But do you think he’s still alive?”
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Rowan demands.
“You’ve been an owl since you were twenty-three. That was a long time ago.”
“Notthatlong.”
“All right…” Arguing isn’t going to help the friendship I’m trying to cultivate. “When should we go?”
