Page 97 of Serpent and Shadow

“That’s honestly your first question of me this morning?” He reached up to rub his eyes, and I glanced over at him, and his beard-dusted face. “Not, good morning, how did you sleep? Not, how delightful you look, given the ungodsly hour I’ve decided to awaken you, my sweet, handsome, dearest of dear chums?”

I snorted, but I was still thinking.

“What would his father have done to him?” I blurted. “After he forced me out?”

Alaric grimaced, his face still covered with a hand.

“Lucifer’s left ballsack, Leda. Must we start the day with such grim imaginings? What do you suppose he would have done?”

I bit my lip, but my mind went back to my dreams.

Alaric let out a heavy sigh, and dropped his hands to his sides.

“I refuse to be interrogated without being properly caffeinated first,” he declared, his eyes still closed. “What if you made the coffee while I shower? You’re so much better at it. Make us both one of your scrumptious coffee drinks, and then we’ll go play with that nasty snake of yours. Maybe out by the river this time, since the weather’s significantly more pleasant.” He motioned towards the couch and fireplace without opening his eyes. “But before that, you really need to deal with whatever that thing by the fireplace wants…”

Thing?

I flinched and stood up, staring in the direction of the fire.

The flames had risen higher since I first looked over, but the grate had been enchanted to do that as soon as the room’s occupants were awake.

It refilled with wood in much the same way.

When I still didn’t see anything, I walked closer to the couch, scanning the area where I’d seen Alaric point as I approached the fireplace.

What the hell was Alaric on about?

There was no one there.

Then, abruptly, it sat up.

I flinched the instant it moved. Looking like a mirage with the fire rippling visibly on the other side of its transparent form, Forsooth’s primal bear was seated on the rug, its fluffy ears in the air. When it saw me looking at it, it raised its rear end from the rug and hopped from one foot to the other, rubbing its front paws together.

It looked anxious, like it had been waiting for me.

I glanced out the window to gauge the position of the sun, which was only a few inches above the horizon through the far left window on the other side of Bones’s bed. It shone a bright yellow in the shockingly blue sky, only occasionally dimmed by scuttling white clouds on their way across the sky.

The brightness had made me think it was later than it was, but now I guessed it must only be around eight o’clock. Nine at most.

No wonder I was so exhausted. We hadn’t even gone to bed until four.

I looked back at the bear.

It was pacing now, looking even more out of sorts. It raised its paw in greeting and I waved back, a little unnerved when it continued its pacing and wide-eyed staring.

I turned to Alaric.

“You make the coffee,” I said, my voice businesslike.

I slid onto a cushion in front of the bear and crossed one leg over the other. I remembered only then that I was wearing nothing but a pair of Bones’s boxer briefs and a long shirt of his that buttoned up the front. I called over my shoulder at Alaric.

“…Alaric? Coffee. Please. You make it just as well as I do. You’re just lazier.”

Alaric, despite his wild morning hair and bloodshot eyes, gave me a shocked look, like he found my words deeply insulting.

“Of course I will make it,” he began haughtily, before he blinked and squinted towards the fireplace. “Is that Forsooth’s primal?”

I started to answer him, but another voice cut me off.