Val plodded up the stairs, boots clumping as she cradled the dog. He lay unprotesting with his head on her shoulder and limbs dangling.
“Getting used to the royal treatment, are you?” Val lowered him to the floor. “Your ass isn’t getting any heavier, dude. Maybe eating more than a few bites each day would help.”
The dog wagged his tail and limped to his fluffy bed in the kitchen but ignored the smorgasbord of bowls and saucers arranged around it. Wet food, dry food, bits of chicken, boiled rice—Val had tried everything.
“C’mon, dude. A few days ago, you liked wet food. Yesterday, you liked chicken.” Val crouched beside the dog and offered him a saucer of expensive kibble. “Why don’t you like anything today?”
The dog licked up a few bits of kibble and crunched them, then laid his head on his paws and sighed.
“I don’t even know anymore. Do you want a raw steak or something?” Val asked.
The dog closed his eyes.
Val sat on the floor beside him and stroked his back. Matted fur scraped on her palm. She retrieved a brush from the nearest kitchen cabinet and drew it gently through the long red tangles on his neck. The dog sighed heavily.
“Yeah, it’s a tough life,” Val muttered. “Getting brushed and pampered and offered every kind of food under the sun. I can see how your life is very stressful.”
Val’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She’d sent the queen a picture of Lillirelda’s finished amulet, and she grinned as she fished out her phone with one hand, still gently brushing the dog with the other. The queen had a way of conveying her excitement with far more emojis than seemed dignified.
Her text to the queen still showed as unread. The new message came from Tetra.
Anger settled over Val’s shoulders like a weighted cloak. She scrolled through Tetra’s texts over the past few days as rage bubbled in the pit of her stomach.
This isn’t fair! You can’t still be mad at me! I didn’t do anything wrong!
Oh, so now I am a prisoner?
Hello???
Thanks for driving me to my shift today IN TOTAL SILENCE!
What was I supposed to do? They were going to run me over!
What is your problem?
Val, you can’t ignore me forever.
It’s been three days. Hello??
????
????????!!!!!!!!
The final message was a mix of emojis, as random as if Tetra had punched the keyboard in fury. Val ignored it, too. She chucked her phone on the kitchen table, sick of it.
“Faeries suck,” she informed the dog.
He tilted his neck so she could brush an itchy spot.
“I can’t believe I ever thought she could be rehabilitated and become a productive member of society,” Val growled, brushing harder. “She’s a shithead. She could have gotten Mateo or one of those guys killed, and then what? Then Val Stonehold would be guilty of murder, that’s what.”
The dog yawned and laid his head on his paws again.
“I don’t know either, dude. We can’t go on like this,” Val muttered. “She’s still working at the Iron Fist because, let’s be real, we’re desperate for the help. What if she blows up in there? What if she hurts somebody or burns the place down? I thought I’d given her the right orders, buddy, but I was wrong.”
The rhythmic brushing soothed her. Although the dog seemed to be asleep, Val kept talking.
“I thought I was doing a good thing for Tetra and Sinatria,” she murmured. “Maybe even for the Eternity Throne. Now, though, I don’t know. Am I hurting more than helping?”
“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.”
