Page 14 of Collected By the Crow

“She’s guaranteed to be a better opponent than you lot. I’m sure she doesn’t cheat, and I bet she learns the rules the first go round.”

Qadaire smirked when the crow promptly flew away. Sore losers. He’d been the reigning champion of the entire game closet for far too long. If anyone could give him a taste of his own medicine, it was Cassandra.

Soft footfalls alerted him that she was awake, then the shower turned on. He tucked a box under his arm and paced to the lab. A few minutes later, she was about to descend the stairs, her heart hammering loud enough to give him pause.

When he walked in, he saw that her worries had naught to do with him. She glared down at the petris as though they’d insulted her. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth, little flecks of skin peeling from the abuse. He longed to smooth her chin, to release the poor pink lip. He plunged his lower hands into the pockets of his trousers and squeezed his uppers tightly around the cardboard box to keep from acting out his fantasies.

Cassandra didn’t spare him a single glance. He slipped through the arched doorway to the sitting room he typically played games in and set down the box, then met her at the samples. Her face contorted, her mouth pursed in a line so tight that her lips disappeared. Her hands flew to her jeans and swatted her thighs one after the other.

The darkness within Qadaire stirred. Her behavior was no less captivating than it’d been from miles away. The way her thighs jiggled with each slap, her skin-tight jeans barring all, made his teeth ache. He wanted to sink his fangs into the meat there, to be smothered by those luxurious thighs. Then she started humming. His attention snapped to her mouth, which was now pursed to the side so tightly he was surprised any sound could leak out.

He cleared his throat, willing the venom filling in his fangs to ebb. “As you can see, they require more attention. We’ll drip on this half and use the other to test further and check our results.”

Her concerned tics ceased and she gave him a coy smile. “Yeah, I know what I’m doing.” Her sideways smirk fueled his rising temperature, but the playfulness quickly left her. “It’s just, every morning I wake up, Zero sleeps in a little longer. It’s awful, not knowing how long he has. Every dog has been different. Could be days, could be . . .”

Qadaire wasn’t accustomed to dealing with others’ feelings. He hardly had enough emotions within him to need regulating. He placed a stiff palm on the roll of padding under her shoulder blade and nodded awkwardly. She tilted her chin toward him and giggled.

He withdrew his hand like she was a hemlock bush. “What?”

“You just—you look so uncomfortable.” She made a mockingly similar face to his and crossed her arms the way both sets of his now were.

Qadaire frowned, confused. Was this a game? “None of this is comfortable.”

“Yeah, I get that.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Maybe I’m just hungry. I don’t suppose you have human food?”

He rapped his knuckles on the table and tried to filter the sinister joke that immediately came to mind. Maybe he was testing her or maybe it was the mischievous crow in him, but he couldn’t help himself. “Yes, I have a human to feed on.”

Her brow furrowed, then shot off her forehead. Her heartbeat stuttered, that tantalizing scent wafting.

“Was that a joke?” She slammed her hand over her mouth.

Qadaire held his breath. When her shoulders hitched with laughter, he breathed again, a satisfied smile creeping its way onto his mouth.

“I don’t have human food. Other than berries and apples, perhaps some other fruit, but you’d have to share with my friends.” He gave a pointed glance toward the crows hanging out by the window.

“Friends. Interesting.” She smacked her thighs again—why in the nine rings must she do that?—and glanced around the room. “Berries sound, erm, fine, but I’d rather have a cheeseburger. I’ll swing by the grocery store on my way back.”

Qadaire followed her to the entryway and plucked her purse from the back of the couch. She took it from him and, to his surprise, touched him gently on the shoulder. His whole body went rigid, a fuzziness spreading outward from the point of contact.

“Sorry if I came off as an ass.” She smiled softy. “I’m stressed. And I guess you’re easy to be around.”

Unaccustomed to any sort of compliment, no matter how small, Qadaire froze like puddles in winter. Unsure of the correct response, he inclined his chin and crossed all of his arms.

Cassandra gave her pup some attention, then headed for the doors. “Do you need anything?”

He shook his head.

She left.

The castle quieted the moment the doors clanged shut. Qadaire stood there for a moment, staring at the seam where the doors had closed behind her. To his right, Zero was pathetically attempting to climb onto the couch. He used his bottom hands to give the pup a boost, scratching behind his ears all the while.

“There you are, furry friend.”

Qadaire then retreated to the makeshift gaming room. He unloaded the pieces and arranged them on either side. Once that was done, he went hunting. With a crow’s vision, he located a wild turkey and devoured it, leaving the meat behind for the wolves. He meandered through the greenhouse, checked the water levels, and whispered sweet nothings to the more difficult plants.

Qadaire didn’t bore. He always had plenty to busy himself with. A book to read, a game to play, a trail to jog. For the first time in ages, he was waiting. Not passing time. Waiting. Each excruciating second lasted an eternity. He launched into a series of exercises. When the burn in his muscles wasn’t enough, he took to the sky until his wings were also worn out.

He couldn’t shake the thought of Cassandra from his rapidly firing neurons.

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