Page 46 of Collected By the Crow

Cass slammed the book shut. “I have an idea.”

“I love your ideas.”

“You write a book!” she exclaimed, ignoring his sagging jaw. “We reach out to this author for help. It will probably have to be labeled as fiction or some kind of speculative biography, if that exists. But if she”—Cass waved the book wildly—“wrote this, that proves it!”

Qadaire eyed her apprehensively. He took the book and flipped through it with his top hands while his bottom ones tapped on his crossed arms.

After a long moment of silence, he handed the book back to her.

“You have to admit it’s a great idea,” she prodded.

“I don’t know how to write a compelling story.”

“What do you mean? You’re good at everything you try!”

“You flatter me. I can’t help feeling like we’ll be relying on this author for most of the work.” All of his arms crossed now, he pressed his mouth tightly closed. “Though I suppose there’s no harm in reaching out.”

“Yes! Dude, this could be our key to getting you out of hiding!” She laid a comforting hand on his forearm. “I’m not trying to push.”

He scooped her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

“When I told you I would do anything for you, I meant it, little dewdrop.”

Cass whipped out her laptop and sat cross-legged on the bed. She tracked down D.G. Crimson’s contact info and sent a lightly detailed email. As she pressed send, her phone buzzed three times in a row. Two were from Mark, asking to meet up. The third was Ali checking on her.

Cass raised a finger to her mouth and barely stopped herself from chewing the nail.

“What is it?”

“My brother wants to meet up.”

Qadaire hummed. “And?”

“Well, it’ll be the first time we see each other in, like, forever. But I’m obviously gonna do it. It’s not that,” she glanced at him sheepishly. “Ali texted me. I kind of told them about you.”

Cass winced as Qadaire’s stoic mask fell into place, which she’d come to know meant he was deciphering his feelings before speaking. Sheesh, there was a lot she could learn from him.

“Are you mad?”

“No, dewdrop,” he answered mechanically. A few more seconds, and he gave a tentative smile. “It’s a surreal feeling to be known.”

“You’ve spent a long time in the shadows.”

“Mmm.” He nuzzled her, tickling her with his obsidian feathers. “I suppose they’d have learned at some point.”

Qadaire’s nuzzles became more forceful. His feather-coated head nudged her hard enough to send her sprawled sideways on the bed.

“Wait, wait! My laptop!” Cass laughed, playfully shoving him aside to shut the screen. There was a little notification symbol on her mail app. She ignored the feathers tickling her side and opened it to scan the email from D.G. Crimson. “Q, look. You were right!”

“Typical.” He didn’t break stride, kissing up her spine in a way that would tickle if she weren’t intent on the email. “What about?”

“I think we have a lot in common. So I’m assuming the book you’re pitching is more than just a fairy tale! I would love to help get your story out there!” Cass grinned. She reined in her excitement when she noticed how stiff Qadaire’s arms were around her. She smoothed a comforting hand over his feathered leg. “There’s more. I looked you up online. I saw the good you did for those poor puppies. Question for you. Do you work primarily on dogs, or all animals? Here in Great Flame, there’s an aquatic creature domesticated by the näckens that were brought over by some refugees. They don’t seem to like it here.”

Qadaire’s posture shifted halfway through the second paragraph. They exchanged a curious glance. Cassandra’s hands flew over the keyboard, requesting more details and stating she would need to examine samples from the creatures.

“Wow!”

“Yes, yes. Very interesting,” Qadaire mumbled. “Now get down here.”

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