Page 121 of Serpent and Shadow

I nodded, wiping my face with the side of my hand.

“I don’t know,” I said, a little thickly. I let out a frustrated sound, staring down at my clasped hands. “I sent it away… to hide. Over a month ago now.” I glanced up, seeing their confused looks. “It never came back.”

There was a silence after I said it.

For a few seconds, no one seemed to know how to break it.

They stayed for a long time.

I made a few more rounds of tea and chocolate, but we were talking so much after that first awkward attempt, I don’t think much got drunk in the last few hours they were there.

Wraith didn’t leave Miranda’s lap for something like two hours.

When she finally did, she walked directly to Draken and proceeded to meow at him like she’d done to Miranda when they first arrived. Draken spoke to her also, too quietly for me to hear what he said, and stroked her head and massaged her back with his fingers until Wraith seemed satisfied.

After turning around at least four times, she curled up in a tight ball on his lap. She spent the rest of their visit fluffed up to twice her usual size, her nose stuck by her tail as Draken rubbed and petted her gently.

When they finally got up to leave, I almost asked them to stay.

I knew it was ludicrous.

It was well after midnight, and I was exhausted.

Even so, it was difficult to let them go. Some part of me worried I was still asleep and dreaming, that I’d wake up to realize everything was the same as it had been the day before. But then Miranda gave me a tight hug by the door, and whispered in my ear.

“I missed you so much,” she said, tears trembling her voice. “So so much, Leda. I can’t bear it any longer. Come over tomorrow. Promise?”

I nodded without thinking, without even considering the logistics of me going to Valarian. “Absolutely,” I said firmly. “I’ll be there right after breakfast.”

Miranda slumped in my arms and nodded, her magical aura exuding relief.

When she pulled away, she kissed me on the cheek and beamed, her eyes still wet.

“Just so you know,” she said, grinning at me in a way she hadn’t once, the entire year. “I’ll hunt you down with a crossbow if you’re more than an hour late.”

I laughed and hugged her again before letting them both go.

Even so, I felt sad when the door closed behind them.

I also felt emotionally wrung out, and nearly dead on my feet.

I walked back over to the couch, mostly to check on Wraith, only to find her standing in front of the walk-in closet, her tail flicking back and forth, her ears pricked forward.

“What is it, Wray?” I asked.

She let out another of those mournful meows, like she’d done to Miranda and Draken.

“They’ll be back,” I assured her. “I think it’s going to be alright.”

She meowed again, even more mournfully.

Frowning, I was about to walk up to her, and pluck her off the floor, but before I got there, she darted into the darkness of the closet.

“Wraith,” I began with a sigh.

I was walking towards the closet when someone emerged from the dark opening.

I froze, my jaw loosening as I stared.