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“I’m a person.” Why did he sound so offended by my lack of wings? Shouldn’t I be the one to find the lack of them offensive? “Humans don’t have wings.”
“Pity,” it complained before crawling from my chest to sit beside me and loudly lick its paw.
“What are you?” I’d seen nothing like it before.
“Fennix’s a Foxtyre, and I’m a Catteris. My name’s Fennia,” a singsong voice said beside me. I turned to find another creature beside me, having no idea how or when it had gotten there. It also had wings, which fluttered just enough to keep it off the ground for a moment before it dropped down beside Foxtyre. “She’s so cute, Fennix! Can we keep her? Can-we-can-we-can-we-please?”
“She stinks,” he grouched before changing paws. “I doubt it’s den-broken, either. I say we eat her and cut our losses.”
Den-broken? Sitting up, I glanced back and forth between the winged creatures, smiling like an idiot. The irony of this shit wasn’t lost on me. I empathized with Fennix’s concern for his floors, having taken in enough strays to recognize the dangers. Hell, I couldn’t even argue that I didn’t stink, since I hadn’t showered since right before heading to meet Aden at the start of the trials. Once they’d showed us our rooms, I’d intended to request a shower, but I got sidetracked.
“But, Fennix! You said we could get a pet, and I love this one! She’s pretty, and her hair matches yours!” Fennix and I glanced at Fennia, offended by her comparison. “What? It’s the same silvery color!”
“His is white, and mine is silver. It isnotthe same color,” I pointed out crossly, while Fennix made a displeased sound in agreement. “I’m also not a pet. Pretty certain my inner beast wouldn’t enjoy being treated like a sweet, fluffy house cat.”
“If Fennia wants you as a pet, then a pet you shall be, creature.”
At Fennix’s sudden sharp tone, I forced myself to stand so I could glower down at the ankle biter. Both stared up at me, as if just noticing I wasn’t tiny, like them. When I felt my point was properly made, I knelt and smiled at Fennix, who stepped back.
“You’re both cute, but I’ll skip asking if you are house-broken and all that jazz.” Laughing at the haughty look on Fennix’s face, if a Foxtyre could actually look haughty. I may have been projecting. “I don’t suppose either of you know the way to the Muffin Man?”
“Muffin Man?” Fennia asked.
“The Muffin Man?” Fennix parroted back, tilting his small head. The slight jostle sent his large, fluffy ears cattywampus, which caused my lips to twitch. “I’ve never heard of someone named something so preposterous.”
“The Muffin Man!” I held the snicker in—barely. “It is indeed a preposterous name, but one must never tell the Muffin Man such a thing,” I said in a saccharine tone, rising once again. “It was lovely meeting both of you, but I’m a Walkabout and my time is short. I’m certain Esmeralda probably lost her shit and is raising hell or sitting in a dungeon in chains from doing so.”
I started past them, but then I paused because, at some point during our banter, something had changed. In the darkness, it looked as if someone had hung thousands of strands of fairy lights from leafless tree branches. The rock-covered path was lit up by the same silver orbs I’d seen all over the floor of the room I’d landed in. Only, instead of rolling around slowly, they acted like leaves caught in the breeze.
“Did she not see how cute we are?” Fennia asked in a wounded tone from her spot behind me.
A soft puff of air, which I assumed belonged to Fennix, followed. “She was a heathen, darling. Pay her no mind. We can find another pet. I promise.”
“I want her! She’s so pretty, Fenny. Please?” she begged, which caused my shoulders to shake.
The way they argued made me wonder if Knox and I would ever reach that point in a relationship. Hell, if we even had one by the time I left here. Would he wait for me? Or would he change his mind as he’d done before? There were entirely too many questions where he was concerned. I could lie to myself all I wanted, but Knox and I wouldn’t work with everything between us. Not without us working on it without the world intervening. Despite my sole desire for him, the weight of his experiences made it unlikely for him to forget. I refused to live with his ghosts, which were many. Even without Lilianna, he’d lost so many people because of those who had the same blood as I did running through my veins. I was also the enemy on more than one front. Now, the secondary line that flowed through my veins was unmistakable. Prometheus and Hecate, both enemies to Karnavious.
“Creature!”
Fennix’s cry of alarm forced me from my internal musing, and when I spun to see what was happening, I saw the snake-like creature trying to wring the life out of Fennia. I rushed back to them and instantly began digging my taloned nails into the snake until it released her and slithered off.
“Oh my God! I touched a snake!” I cried as the slimy skin remained on my nails. “Gross!” I made a beeline to the grassy knoll beside us and began wiping my hands off on it.
“See, she is perfect for us! That meanie Slithering Snock won’t hurt us with her as our pet.”
“Listen,” I said as I turned toward the duo, “I have enough on my plate right now. It’s heaping with other people who I am helping. I can’t be your pet, Fennia. Fennix is right. I’d be a horrible pet. I’m moody and have one hell of an alternate personality who enjoys short walks after bathing in blood. She’s also known to, on rare occasions, eat a penis as she skips along here or there.”
“She’s a little strange, darling.”
“I love her.” Fennia purred thunderously while rubbing against my foot. “She’s perfect!”
“Great,” both I and Fennix muttered.
I determinedly stepped back onto the glowing pathway and began again. The longer we walked, the quieter they got, and not once did they offer an opinion on which way we should go when the pathway forked. Despite that, figuring out the right direction to go was easy. I felt it as surely as I felt my nose on my face.
I allowed my soul to lead me down each pathway that brightened as we got farther down each one. It wasn’t until the fifth or sixth split in the trail that we began walking over multi-colored flowers. At the end of the flower-covered path, we passed through what appeared to be a doorway. On the other side, I glanced back in time to see the portal vanish, leaving us in a field carpeted in crimson flowers. The meadow ended with an atrium ablaze with light from within.
“How do we get back home?” Fennix asked with tangible fear in his tone.
