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"Yes." The word comes out as barely a whisper. "I wanted to carry on still. It fascinates me. And I really do want to help you."
"I don't think this is the way to do that," I respond, a little of the venom dropping from my voice. I believe him. Mostly because it'd have been easier for him to lie and say no.
A little mewl comes from where the flames were, distracting me from our conversation. Oh right. I probably made a kitten. I creep over towards it, and peer around the fallen stool to find the cutest black and white kitten ever. Oops. I probably shouldn't say anything like that out loud in front of Felix. No wonder Daphne's his favourite. I'm a terrible kitten-mother.
"Hello," I say. "Aren't you the cutest."
She meows at me and lifts her front paws. At least, I think it's a her. I'm still not good at telling them apart. I scoop her up and hold her against my chest, though she doesn't seem to like the silk I'm wearing, and pushes away with her front paws.
"What are you going to call her?" Thomas asks.
Oh, if he thinks she's a girl, then she probably is.
"Asia," I respond, trying not to let too much emotion seep into my voice. I'm not best pleased with him, and he knows it.
"Why?"
"She looks like a panda." I point to the one eye circled with black fur, and the other one completely white.
"That's an odd name for a kitten."
I shrug. "When you have eight, you have to find easy ways to remember their names." Especially when it looks like I'll be conjuring them for a while yet.
"I suppose that's true."
Daphne groans, pulling my attention away from a conversation about kittens, and guilt consumes me. How could I think about something so trivial when my best friend is in pain?
I turn my attention back to the woman on the floor.
"Mona?" she croaks. "Did it work?"
"I stopped it," I admit, crouching down beside her. "You were in pain."
"You should have carried on," she insists.
"Not at the risk of your health. That was never going to happen."
A tear falls down her face. "It would have been fine."
"We don't know that. We never should have risked it." Guilt wells up within me, but if she's going to be okay, then we won't have done anything wrong.
At least, that's the theory.
"Why don't you take her back to her room?" Ryan asks. "I can stay here and help Thomas clean up."
I nod. "We need to make sure the books aren't here. If Feathertop comes back..." I don't need to finish the rest of that. They know, Daphne filled them in when she was telling them about tonight.
"I'll hide them in my room," Caspian says. "We can take Daphne back and then I'll go do i
t?"
"Alright." I'm not sure if that's the best thing, but I feel as if me taking the books again is too risky. If someone decides to investigate the kittens, then they might also find the books, and that may lead to questions I'm not ready to answer.
Caspian leans down and takes Daphne in his arms. It's hard not to notice he's doing it as easily as I'm holding Asia.
A hand lands on my back, and I turn to face Ryan. "Be safe," he whispers.
"We will."
