“A question that only eternity will answer,” someone purred.

Val dropped the brush and lowered her head into her hands. “Cleo, this is not the time.”

The Sphynx’s deep purr rumbled through the kitchen. “The present is the only time we have.”

Val raised her head. Cleo perched on a chair by the kitchen table, kneading the upholstery with her weird, naked paws. She blinked her enormous amber eyes.

The dog lifted his head, ears pricked. He lay still.

“What do you want?” Val demanded. “You’re the opposite of what I need right now.”

“Do you reject my millennia of wisdom?” Cleo asked.

The dog let out a low whine. His tail was high and stiff, and it stirred gently from side to side.

“No. If you’d say something wise, that would be both great and surprising,” Val snapped. “You could start by answering a simple question. Should I send Tetra back to Avalon or keep trying with her?”

Cleo wrapped her tail around her paws, still kneading. “The answer lies in the heart of the red bear.”

“What in Merlin’s name are you talking about?” Val thundered.

The dog’s whine became a growl so deep it was barely audible.

“Magic lost can be found again,” Cleo began. “What is buried deep will be⁠—”

Her words ended in a high-pitched yowl of horror as the dog catapulted from the bed and rocketed across the room. The Sphynx scrambled onto the kitchen table, clawing the runner askew. Condiment bottles flew in all directions.

“Hey!” Val yelled.

The dog leaped onto the chair, barking hysterically, hackles erect. Cleo bolted across the table and stopped at the far end, back arched, hissing. Her tail lashed her wrinkled flanks.

The dog roared and lunged.

“Careful!” Val yelped.

Cast and paws scrabbled on the table’s surface. The dog bounded across it, baying, and snapped at Cleo. She jumped onto the kitchen counter.

“My toaster!” Val wailed.

Cleo knocked it flying. The dog tried to jump onto the counter and collided with Val’s spice rack. Rack and bottles flew as the dog thudded to the floor, his cast slipping as he tried to balance.

“Dude, stop!” Val lunged for the dog. “You’re going to hurt⁠—”

He sprang to his feet, and his fur slid through Val’s grasp. Cleo jumped on top of the fridge. The dog reared and placed his front paws on the reflective door, raking long scratches in the metal. Cleo yowled and slapped the air with her claws extended. The dog leaped, and his jaws clacked shut inches from Cleo’s ugly paws. The Sphynx raised her head and eyed the motionless ceiling fan.

“Don’t even think about it!” Val thundered.

Cleo leaped. The dog sprang at the same instant, long body squirming with effort, and his teeth missed her tail by a hair’s breadth. Cleo landed heavily on the ceiling fan’s nearest blade and clung to it as it turned slowly with her momentum. She scrambled to the fan’s center and slammed her claws into it, hissing as the hysterical dog bounded around on the floor, his barks deafening.

Val paused, breathless, to stare at the dog as he reared on his hind legs and snapped at the fan. Muscles rippled under his thick chestnut coat, and vibrant life flooded every line of his body.

“Yeah, dude!” she cheered, grinning. “Look at you go!”

Her cheerful tone silenced the dog. He dropped to all fours, tail wagging, and looked up at her with a panting grin.

“C’mon, leave her alone.” Val laid a hand on his neck. “There’s a good boy.”

The dog’s tail wagged harder.

Val tugged his scruff lightly. “Back to bed, boy. Go on, lie down.”

The dog trotted across the kitchen, barely limping on his cast, and buried his nose in a bowl of the pricey kibble. He started to eat with his tail wagging. The happy crunch filled the room, and Val closed her eyes, relishing the sound.

“Hello?” Cleo yowled. “Get me down!”

Val looked up. The Sphynx still clung to the slowly rotating fan.

“You do magic portals,” she reminded Cleo. “Can’t you get yourself down?”

“Get me down!” Cleo demanded.

“Fine.” Val climbed onto the table since it was already ruined and grabbed the Sphynx by the scruff of her neck. The cat wrapped her paws around the fan’s nearest blade and hung on.

“Let go!” Val ordered. “Do you want to get down or not?”

Cleo yowled.

Patience spent, Val dragged the cat off the fan by the scruff, and Cleo lashed out with her hind paw, raking a long scratch in Val’s forearm.

“Ow!” Val let go. “What was that for?”

Cleo landed elegantly on the kitchen table. She sat down and licked her paws, tail twitching.

“Cats, man,” Val grumbled, climbing down. “You don’t make sense. Thanks for pissing off my dog, though. Seems like that was all he needed.”

The dog licked the kibble bowl clean and started on the chicken.

“He always was a fool.” Cleo sniffed and turned her paw over to gently nibble between her toes.

“Gross,” Val muttered. “Did you come here to annoy me, or did you have something to say? You were going on about lost magic.” She touched her amulet. “Can you tell me more about my amulet or the Iron Dwarven arts that vanished in the Second Pendragon War?”

“Of course I can,” Cleo purred.

Val waited expectantly. The cat licked her paw and used it to wash behind her ears.

“Well?” Val prompted.

“Oh, I’m not going to.” Cleo’s laugh held a meow. “Not right now, anyway.”