Page 31 of Bound By the Sleeper’s Harp

She fell silent, listening to the voice on the other end of the line. She hummed. With his goblin hearing, he could make out Vivi’s words, but he wasn’t going to tell Eleanor that. He tuned them out, trying not to eavesdrop.

A few words of “Yes” and “Right” from Eleanor. A few nods. Then, “I’ll be careful, I promise. Love you, girl.”

Vivi said she loved her back.

The call ended.

His lips pulled up at the corner. “Told your roommate about me, hmm?”

She tutted. “Just that you ruined my favorite shirt.”

“Me? I seem to recall someone wasn’t paying attention⁠—?”

“If you hadn’t been there, stalking me. I bet you orchestrated that entire thing, didn’t you?” she accused. He kept his lips pressed together because, yes, in fact, he had. He’d purposefully placed himself in her path. Hadn’t moved out of the way when she barreled right into him. Had used his magic to ensure the coffee wasn’t scalding so it wouldn’t burn her skin when she bumped the mug.

“I knew it,” she hissed. “You owe me a new shirt.”

“Fine.”

She hesitated, perhaps not expecting him to agree so readily. “Thanks.”

Silence fell for several moments until he said, “So, Vivi is your roommate?”

“Vivian, yeah. She’s gone. Flew back home yesterday, thank God. I can’t imagine…”

He glanced at her. “No point in stressing over what might have been, sugar. Let it go.”

“Right.” She folded her hands in her lap, fidgeting with her fingers. “So, what now?”

“Now? I’m going to get you home and settled. Can’t stay for long. I got some stuff to take care of. You’ll be safe at the house.”

“Okay.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “That cat is house trained, correct?”

She made a sound of disgust. “Yes, Bastian. What do you think? That he was shitting and peeing all over Peter’s apartment? Coughing up fur-balls all over the couches?” He winced at the thought—his designer furniture ruined. “I’ve house-sat for Teddy plenty. He’s an absolute sweetheart. Trust me, by tomorrow, you’ll be cuddling him.”

“No, I fucking won’t.”

“Not a cat person, huh?”

“Not an anything person,” he snapped.

He didn’t bother admitting that he volunteered several times a year at Walton City Animal Shelter. Not to mention the shelter’s annual holiday party. He dropped a cool five grand, sometimes more, in financial donations to that place on a yearly basis.

“Well that’s unfortunate for you,” she tsked. “You’re completely missing out on the unconditional love animals have to offer.”

“Guess so.”

They fell silent for the remainder of the ride. He retreated into his thoughts, going back through all the information they’d gathered, tying it together. He needed to visit the coroner’s office again, have another look at Professor Miller’s body now that he’d seen Peter’s. There were too many similarities. He also needed to have a nice, long talk with Eleanor about the Luke-issue. He had a bad feeling everything was connected. And yet, that almost felt too coincidental. He’d been involved in plenty of investigations where the most obvious suspect turned out to be innocent.

His house loomed before them. Yesterday, Eleanor had seemed both surprised and impressed by it. That both pleased him and royally pissed him off. She probably thought he’d hired a decorator, but in truth he had enjoyed doing it all himself.

He didn’t park in the garage, putting them right at the porch. “I’ll get the cat,” he said, shutting off the ignition and climbing out of the truck. He keyed in the code, gave it his fingerprint, and opened the door. She followed him inside where he deposited the cat carrier. “I’m serious, sugar. Make sure that thing behaves.”

“He’s not a thing,” she whined, bending to release Teddy, who crawled straight into her arms. “I know you miss him,” she cooed. He stared at her, studying the gentle way she coddled the animal. Warmth spread through his chest. Her lips pulled into a cute little pucker and a crease appeared between her brows as she said, “I know, baby. I know. It’s going to be okay. I’m going to take care of you now. We’re going to stay here for a bit, okay? In this nice man’s house.” She threw him a glare to emphasize her point, before turning back to Teddy. “You’ll see. It will be just fine. You can even sleep in my bed tonight.”

His lips parted at those words. Sleep in my bed. He inhaled, nice and slow, then let it go. “Make yourself at home,” he said, mostly to distract himself. “Let me know if you need anything. There’s food in the kitchen, if you’re hungry. Feel free to use the TV, or whatever.”