Page 48 of The Bright and Hungry Future of Hawks

Nikolas frowned.

“It’s an expression.”

“It’s not a very good one. Do you mean blank page? What if the book is written in Swahili? Open or not, I still wouldn’t be able to read it.”

Before he could be hit again, he added swiftly, "I do not like you thinking because it inevitably concludes with questioning. I believe I am question-intolerant. I'm sure my wife would agree that this was the case."

“Ex-wife.”

Ben had switched to English, so Nikolas was more than able to get the stony implication of that short correction.

He sighed unconvincingly. “Yes, of course, all in the past. This is the end. The severing of the last few ties.”

Ben nodded, picturing them soaring just a little higher yet, their bloodied jesses falling away from such heady flight.

“I wonder what Philipa will have for Molly. I will be intrigued to see.”

“For Molly? Why?”

Nikolas gave him a strange look. “It is nearly Christmas, and Molly is three. Do you not think Philipa will have planned something special for her? When she washisnanny“—he caught Ben’s snort of amusement and was clearly having a hard time suppressing his own—“she once arranged a herd of reindeer to visit him on Christmas Eve.”

“Yeah, but you’d have made them actually fly in.”

Nikolas flicked his ear, but nodded gravely. “I would have, yes. One way or another…”

Ben glanced over, flicked Nikolas back equally hard, then turned the radio on and began to sing along toI Wish It Could Be Christmas Everydayin a deliberately off key and irritating tone sure to wake everyone up.

* * *

Chapter 26

Four Months Before April

It was unfortunate, buthewas apparently at Barton Combe when they arrived. Nikolas claimed he’d carefully arranged this visit so Philipa would be on her own, but apparently not. But they’d come now, and it was too late to turn around and go back, despite how much Ben could tell Nikolas might want to. He didn’t understand his other half’s relationship with this ex-wife, but he never even discussed Nik’s history withhim. He thought his gulag comment had been pretty astute though.

The first security detail was stationed a mile from the house at the junction of a lane and the B road they’d been navigating. Nikolas clenched his jaw and allowed Ben to do the talking.

The guards were Met, so were reasonably proficient, superciliously polite and armed with Airwave communications to the house, where identity was quickly confirmed.

Nevertheless, they were still subjected to a further stop at the gates, and both adult humans had to exit the vehicle while more personal protection officers did checks beneath with mirrors, and they signed in and were photographed in the guardhouse, which had once been the old lodge.

Molly was surprisingly silent during these proceedings. Ben suspected she classed herself as one of the dogs anyway, and was therefore not upset to be excluded from the human activity. She became more vocal during the long approach to the house along the winding driveway. She kept getting glimpses of the building through the bare December trees and seemed massively unimpressed that this was the promisedqueen’s palaceshe’d been led to expect. Where were the turrets? The knights in shining armour? The unicorns?

The presence of the heir, naturally, threw their plans a little. Ben had assumed they’d go into the private family kitchen, hand over the present, be offered a plate of mince pies, hopefully also some Christmas cake and a pot of tea, and then depart. Nikolas’s belief that Molly would have a present for her around the stunning tree which always adorned the main room added a nice extra touch to what Ben had viewed as a vaguely pleasant afternoon. Not as good as a run, or a ride, or working out in the gym, obviously, but better than a dinner party, which is what he had often had to endure in this house before the more interesting events of the visit could be enjoyed. Before Nikolas could be enjoyed.

The parcel, apparently, could not be handed over in person for security reasons. Obviously, Ben had not wanted to do this himself anyway, but Molly had been practising her curtsey for days with Sarah so she could do the honours. The Met officer took pity on her and let her place it on a sliver tray which a servant hastily fetched on seeing incipient tears.

The tray disappeared upstairs.

Nikolas was watching it depart with a strange expression on his face, but when questioned on this only shrugged and murmured, “We should have returned when he was not here.”

Half an hour passed.

They were not offered mince pies; there was no sign of cake; and tea was not forthcoming.

Molly filled in the time by running around, opening doors, and playing hide and seek in the huge house, which being built of a material that allowed dark recesses and nooks, and had staircases, many often hidden and in strange places, clearly fascinated her.

Ben spent the thirty minutes retrieving her and trying to make her stay with them through threats and bribes.

---