Page 27 of Raven's Instinct
Kendra braced for literal flight, just as Amy gave a shriek of either laughter or outrage from the van, and Bernard seemed to deflate at the innocent sound.
He shook his head and sighed heavily, then walked carefully to Kendra, who had to keep herself from stepping back. He put his nose out slowly, and Kendra elbowed Alan out of the way to lay her hand on it. “If he was going to hurt us, he would have by now,” she said, as confidently as she could. Bernard might not be a model citizen, but her owl was still convinced that he was no threat. Kendra wasn’t sure how good a judge she was ofpeople, but she could readanimalsreally well, and Bernard was akitten. His actions had been fear, not aggression, and he was obviously trying to express good will.
Kittensdidhave claws, but Kendra hoped that this trust would be repaid.
19
ALAN
Alan was not as willing as Kendra to assume that a violent criminal meant no harm. In his experience, brutality was not an isolated event. But there might be mitigating circumstances he didn’t know yet and he was willing, he realized, to give a shifter the benefit of the doubt.
“You can’t exactly detain him anyway,” Kendra pointed out logically. “I’m pretty sure he won’t fit in your car.”
“Your rig…?”
“I’m sleeping there. Speaking of sleeping, I have a little girl that I need to get to bed really soon, before she hits the too-tired-to-sleep stage.”
Bernard snuffled and sighed, then turned to clomp out into the darkness.
“Night after next!” Alan called after him. “I’m still hoping to get more information for you. And out of you!”
“And I want to check on your leg,” Kendra added.
Bernard’s swishing tail was the only answer he gave.
“I suppose I should go, too,” Alan said, hoping that Kendra would stop him.
She did. “Tell me more about this. You said it would let me know if I was in trouble. You didn’t say that it would tell me whatyou’re feeling.” The white raven lay in her palm. It gleamed in the darkness.
“You can…?” Alan was deeply alarmed and immediately wondered if she felt that, too.
“It’s flattering that you’re attracted to me, but I’ll be honest, it’s kind of distracting, and I haven’t decided what to do about it. And I realize that you didn’t know it was doing that, because you’re surprised, oh and now you’re feeling super guilty.”
“I had no idea,” Alan said. “That is very unsettling. I swear, I did not know it would do that. If it’s any consolation, I can’t tell if you’re attracted to me, or what you’re feeling at all.”
“That is reassuring,” Kendra said. “I prefer to be mysterious. But, I think you should take this back.” She rolled the raven into her fingers and held it out. “I feel like a peeping Tom keeping it.”
Alan took the token back and was surprised by the unexpected heat of it, and even more puzzled that it went cold almost at once, like it had turned itself off. “Do you still feel anything?”
Kendra shook her head. “You said you made it, but this isn’t like any magic I’ve ever seen before. How did you do it? What else can you do?”
“This is it,” Alan said, and he sounded as frustrated as he felt.
“So you can’t tell me?” Kendra asked in exasperation. “Is itclassified?”
“I’ll tell you everything I know,” Alan said firmly. “But it’s not as much as I wish I knew. How about another cup of tea?”
“I’ll get Amy down while it heats up.” Kendra didn’t invite him in with her, and Alan settled back down into his folding chair and threw a few more logs in the fire, which snapped and lapped flames at them eagerly.
By the squawking in the van, Amy did not particularly want to go to bed, and took refuge in owl form before Kendra coaxedher to bed. Alan could hear the cadence of Kendra reading a story, and Amy gradually went quiet.
Kendra finally came back out, handed him a cup of steaming tea, and scooted her chair closer to the fire. “Sorry, I don’t keep marshmallows on hand. I have no self-control around sugar, so the easiest way to keep from eating the entire bag at once is not to have it around.”
“I’ve always wished they sold marshmallows in smaller bags. Ten would be plenty for a weekend camping trip.”
“Brilliant marketing. Better yet, a ten pack with chocolate and graham crackers, because if I don’t want seven hundred marshmallows, I definitely don’t need an entire brick of sweetened cardboard.”
“Amy doesn’t like graham crackers?”
