Page 19 of Hostile Holiday

“No. I haven’t understood the attraction to doingthat.” She waved her hand in the air.

“Thatis how nearly every creature on this world arrived here.”

“Not via me. I require a passport and inoculations. Possibly a visa if they wish to explore areas to stake a claim.”

“That is very formal.” He slid a cup of coffee, cream, and sugar over to her.

“I think it is the sort of thing to be hashed out before impulse takes over. Plus, I like paperwork. It doesn’t let me down.”

Yesoff nodded. “Fair enough.”

She prepped her coffee with cream and smiled as the dessert pile was delivered. “Thank you very much.”

“My pleasure. Lord Winter just grunts his way through food.”

Orla smiled and picked up the elegant fork. “I can’t promise not to do the same. This looks really good.”

“Let me know if it tastes as good as it looks.”

The fork went into the cake, and as Orla took the first bite, she smiled. She covered her mouth. “It’s very good.”

“Thank you.” He smiled and returned to whatever he had been doing.

The slice of cake was reasonable, and there were three cookies on the plate. The portions were good but not huge.

When she had moved on to the cookies, he took the cake plate and replaced it with the chocolate pie. She kicked her feet happily and kept eating. She normally didn’t eat a lot of sugar, but today was an exception.

“What is Hunter doing?”

“He is making calls. I don’t know to whom, but he looked serious. I do not interrupt him when he is serious.”

“Oh.” She finished the cookies and went on to the pie. “So, can he eat all the chocolate? Because of the canine thing?”

“The canine thing is a projection, like your hair.”

She mumbled, “You can see that?”

“Of course. Working for Winter has its perks.”

“Winter?”

“Yes. The avatar of winter. He is at his most powerful this time of year.”

“Oh. Well, that explains the giant wolf.”

“It becomes a puppy in high summer.”

Orla looked at him with an excited smile. “Really?”

Yesoff blinked. “That idea makes you happy?”

She bit her lip. “I always wanted a really sturdy pet that my brother couldn’t kill. Hunter looks sturdy.”

He paused. “You are thinking of keeping the avatar of winter as a pet?”

“Not keeping him. I just like the idea that he is out there. Fluffy with a wagging tail.” She prodded her pie and started pushing it around her plate.

“Wagging tail?”

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