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“Aww, Katina,” I coo. “You love me.”
“Pfft. You overestimate your importance to me, little human.” She smiles, letting me know she’s only kidding.
Something pecks at the window, drawing our attention outside. Katina flits toward the sound, opening the window. A black mass swoops in, landing on the chair.
“Mosely, you beast,” Katina scolds. “Shoo. Get out.” Her hands wave comically as she attempts and fails to remove Julian’s bird.
I chuckle as the creature looks at Katina with disinterest.
I have no intention of leaving.
“He has no intention of leaving,” I repeat.
My blood runs cold.
“What?” Katina asks, eyes narrowed. “Why are you paler than usual?”
“I, um... that thing spoke to me.”
Mosely caws from the top of the chair, in disapproval of the way I spoke about him. How I know this is beyond me.
“Impossible. I’m standing right here, and the fowl most certainly did not speak,” Katina says, pursing her lips and looking at me like I’m losing my mind.
“In here,” I say, pointing at my head. “I heard it.”
A knock at the door interrupts that train of thought. Katina and I don’t move, with the exception of our heads turning toward the door.
“It’s Addy,” I whisper. “I’ve been waiting on her.”
Katina licks her bottom lip, eyes tilting skyward. “Don’t say anything about this turn of events,” she instructs. “Not until we’ve spoken to Julian.”
I bob my head in understanding, not wanting to say a word about it until I know for certain I’m not in fact losing my damn mind.
“Come in,” Katina says for me, knowing I’m currently shook.
Addy strolls in looking far better than earlier. She looks between Katina and me.
“Everything all right? You look pale, Marina.”
I frown. “I need new friends.”
Addy laughs, moving into the room. When her eyes land on Mosely, she squeaks. “What’s he doing in here?”
“Flew in through the window,” Katina offers. “He won’t leave.” She turns to me. “Perhaps you two should scoot along to the parlor or perhaps the library, while I try to extricate him,” she says, motioning toward the bird.
I can’t tell Katina what Addy and I are up to. She’d likely prohibit us from going to the cellar. But she’s given me a good out.
“Yes, I think we will head out,” I say, widening my eyes at Addy to signal for her to not say what we’re doing. She seems to get the hint.
“I’d love to visit the library.”
“Perfect. Then run along,” Katina says, shooing us toward the door. “I’ll have this... situation handled before you get back.”
“Thank you, Katina.”
I rush from the room, trying to keep up with Adèle’s purposeful strides. “Adèle, wait up,” I call, but she doesn’t slow.
“I need to get to my father,” she calls over her shoulder. “I’ve bottled up enough anger to get me through this. If I lose that edge, I’m sure to break down like an infant,” she says, disgusted. “I won’t allow him to see me that way. He doesn’t deserve it.”
