Klef wakes up before I do the next morning, and is taking a shower when I finally come to. I knock on the door and the water turns off. Klef pokes his dripping head out in front of the door. “Yes?”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZby9VDHzf0
“I’ve got to pee,” I deadpan.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncvEF6JRn5
“Nah, I don’t think you would yet…you went before bed, didn’t you?”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBr4KqE3dPt
“Nope,” I say, shaking my head. “Dry off in the bedroom, bird brain.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhMx2DrMI4
Klef closes the door and I’m about to yell at him when the door opens and he walks out in just a towel. I walk into the bathroom, closing the door harder than necessary. I do my business as fast as I can and open the door to the bedroom when I’m decent. Klef walks in, ruffling his hair and feathers. “There a comb in here?” he asks.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XjF6sNae1
I toss the brush by the sink toward Klef. “Use a brush, comb might be hard to find when everyone around here is covered in fur.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3M1qHvp5Tf
Klef whines. “But brushes are for long hair!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cXLzVzkdL
“I use a brush, and my hair is almost as short as yours.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihwo1GaPJu
“But I don’t wanna!” Klef protests.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6i8LZGr0Vw
“Use it or have a nest of birds in your hair.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKF6kjclaM
Klef frowns and chews the bottom of his lip. Then he hands the brush back. “‘Kay, I’ll risk it.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmN32FVm7o
“You are ridiculous,” I scoff, running the brush through my own hair.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyTlHe3Wax
“And you love me for it!” he cheered.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2IjuMgZvA
I look just beyond Klef, to find Dad in the doorway, jaw dropped and looking murderous. “Klef…” I try to warn.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8uoRWEypGv
“No no, don’t even try to deny it! You know as well as I do that you are smitten!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXDK2ZchpK
“Klef, it’d be best if you shut up, now.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxaFYmRbJH
“Oh yeah? Why?”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9m8aijJVTT
“Probably because you didn’t lock the door,” Dad growls.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nYYpmxNsa
Klef jumps up and runs behind me. I roll my eyes. “Really? Treble, you’re 21.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIeKe2vOY85
“Sh-shut up!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BTlaM7Eip
Dad frowns. “A good boyfriend would stand up for his girl, you know.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhykCsoAVT
“A good father lets his grown daughter stand up for herself,” I threaten.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGG0bRlkbBu
Dad smiles. “Always nice to see you, Iri.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwIYJJoD5y
“Why are you here, Dad?” I ask.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfAIsZEqTj
“I need to get you somewhere safe. Out of the way of a siege or an uprising.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPedcL57yFv
“Oh, come on, what are the odds of me getting hurt out here?” I scoff.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJqv4p4TiN
Klef tenses behind me and wraps me in his wings. “Get down!” he yells.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPOhhooPD6
All 3 of us hit the floor as a flash of light and a loud BANG appear from the main room. Everything in the room is shrouded in dust and smoke. But when it starts to clear, Klef stands up. “Thought I recognized the shape! That was a grenade!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGs1OWHB9Gk
“What’s a grenade?” I rasp, even though I dread the answer.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTewzaTTlQs
“It’s a bomb. A small, strong bomb.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejUMoAtcH7
I swallow and cough. “What was it doing in our bedroom?!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHNFtJECrJ
“I saw someone throw it in! Crap, I thought you were gonna die!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlp6fOcA5rs
Dad growls, fur standing on end as he stands up. “And how do you know what that thing was?”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wn8qFQAEV
“I-I stole one once,” Klef says, scratching the back of his neck. “You both know my job. It took my buyer until I got the grenades he wanted to tell me how dangerous it was to have them loose!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRbJNPqIUJ
“How dangerous?” Dad asks.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vc7GVywCP
“You pull a pin, and then throw it or roll it. When the timer runs out, or if it’s jostled too hard, that happens,” he nods at the flames licking the remains in the bed. “Unfortunately, with more technology being spread, weapons are being made more too.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDh1W9uOssF
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I say, standing up. “That had to have come from the doorway. One of the Crusaders is trying to kill us.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuxjr9fsRs
~/~997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrgjVeMAUd
Bunches of Crusaders, attracted by the noise, swarm the bedroom and bathroom after the flames are put out and the rooms are impossible to navigate. I try to find Klef in the chaos after I’ve been furiously questioned, but in all the people it’s impossible to find his wild dark hair. Ama and Dad whisk me out of the room as soon as I’m close to the door and to my relief Klef is waiting outside. I wasn’t comfortable around him at first, but now I find it hard to be away from him. Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome, maybe it’s just the fact that someone is trying to kill me. But I’m not going to fight it as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. “Hey, pointy ears,” Klef teases. “Meet anyone in there half as great as me? Anyone I need to beat up?”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHP3AIvQ9d
“Not today, bird brain,” I scoff. “If anyone should be beating up anyone, I should be smacking you around for making that grenade thing public!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQDzKcatbj
“I didn’t know it was dangerous, all right?!”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqCJRhnf3Zr
“Oh, a likely story,” I say sarcastically. “I told you your thieving ways would catch up with you.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59Y9ITZjHz
“Lighten up Ride!” Klef retorts. “You and I both know you thieve as much as I do nowadays.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsv1IJeujoP
“You have no proof!” I protest.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVInLJDEha
“A testament to how good you are,” he points out.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfkQszb9Df
I pause. “I am good,” I reason. “Maybe not at thieving, but I am good.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Qu9oAmTPc
“Oracle,” Ama murmurs. “We need to move you.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBkUcteVLu
“Don’t,” I snap. “We need to know who wants to kill me before I can leave. They could just endanger me somewhere else if they tagged along.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKc5BmK9Kl
“Much as I hate to admit it, Iri has a point,” Dad grumbles. “If we move her, she could be in even more danger.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SwxBaFpo0
Ama bites her lip. “…Fine. But she’ll need a human I know for protection in addition to myself.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUkpuXCs4U
She walks off and I don’t hesitate to follow. “So…can I ask you a personal question?” I request.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK243SeUGq1
“I won’t guarantee an answer, but sure,” Ama says, smiling.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9QBu7knGI
“You seem so sweet. How are you a necromancer?”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Dhwks8YXn
Ama’s smile drops. “You wouldn’t like me angry, let’s put it that way,” she mumbles.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLThcwTcEma
Someone laughs walking towards us down the hallway. “You lose it again, Ama?” they chuckle. “Bobbi, they/them. Pleasure to meet you.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4a5ZTKLIyT
“Likewise,” I stammer.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60pgranjy3
Bobbi runs a hand through their bright blue hair and fixes me with hazel eyes. “So you’re the Oracle, huh?”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGMf9kUbZL
I cringe. “Uh…yeah.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3c7bdWWCo
“See anything about me?” they tease.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIWmeVJoNX
“Bobbi!” Ama reprimands.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlF8cw4sZm
I laugh, but it’s too high and sounds more like a choke. “Haven’t seen you that I know of,” I supply. “Sight is sort of finicky. Can’t really control it like everyone thinks.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1nk5mqADX
Bobbi nods. “Wasn’t expecting much,” they chuckle. “I’m not a celebrity like you.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSDHt9tR0p
“Please don’t call me a celebrity,” I ask. “I don’t know you all that well, and it sort of…makes me really uncomfortable.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIlBQylVOB
“Oh!” Bobbi exclaims. “Sorry. Want to go somewhere quiet? Away from everyone like me who doesn’t know how to make sure you’re comfortable?”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnl43aJbwsr
“Is there such a place?” I laugh.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGd1cCyj9Fo
Bobbi crooks a finger. “Follow me.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BJUnQz7t0
I run to keep up with their quick pace. Ama follows behind, slower. “Bobbi is who I was going to look for. They’re my partner in crime, I suppose, the way you and Klef are to everyone around here. I couldn’t think of someone I’d rather have my back in a fight more.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiRXmUZr5G
“Oh you,” Bobbi laughs, looking back at Ama. “Speaking of, where’s your partner in crime?” they ask me.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJvl52xI0x
“Oh, Klef!” I exclaim. “I left him at the bedroom we used last night! I’m not sure if I could find my way back, though,” I say, looking back down the hall we were walking through, upset.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ylN7hvptQ
“He’ll find us,” Bobbi assures. “He’s that kind of guy.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jlQ5j8nH4
“He’s really not the best tracker, especially in a concrete jungle.”997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYGxB5qUwD
“True, but he also won’t stop until he finds you. It’s his way of caring,” Bobbi rebuts.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoHdgwtTSC
I smile at that. “He’s a big softie,” I sigh, shaking my head.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWOrrMvsnB
“Oh, we’re here,” Bobbi says, gesturing to a nondescript door.997Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZ7IWtVVXg
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