"If you feed him, will your magic work on him too?"
"If I make the food.I gave the cats back home the scraps.Shixyll doesn't believe in buying cat food.She thinks cats should hunt for their meals."
Of course she did.Cat food.Damn, he had to go to the grocery store.They needed...stuff.He'd lied to the woman at the shelter and told her they had everything they needed back home.
"I need to hit the grocery store.Is there anything you need?"
"Vanilla extract."
Rourke nodded."Anything else?"
Ezra looked away from Harold."I don't know what's in the kitchen.You complained about the bread.Are there ingredients to bake?"
"I'll check."Rourke didn't have a clue how to make bread.Or he might have a clue, but no one here ever baked."You'll be okay here by yourself?"
Ezra nodded, but Rourke was reluctant to leave him."Okay, I'll be back in a bit."
Another nod, but his focus was on Harold.Rourke exited the room and went directly into Ulric's.
"Yes?"Ulric was on the bed, reading.
"I got Ezra a cat."
He lowered the book and widened his eyes."A cat."
"Mmm, and while at the shelter, we ran into Shixyll.She didn't have a clue Jiprix had been here."
"Oh?"
"Yeah.She looked furious."
"Huh."Ulric chuckled.
"She was there getting the black kitty back, so not great."
Ulric closed the book fully."So she didn't drop the connection?"
"Most likely not."Rourke stretched."I'm heading to get food for Harold, and I guess we have to have a litter box."He grimaced.
"Can't you get a cat flap?"
"The woman at the shelter said he needed to be inside for at least a week before we allowed him outside."
Ulric hummed."A fucking cat."
"I know."Rourke grimaced."But Ezra is happy.Oh, and his magic works on the familiars too."
Pursing his lips, Ulric's gaze turned distant."Do you think she realizes how much she's weakened herself by giving us Ezra?"
"No.I don't think she has a clue.She didn't pay him any attention at all today, dismissed him as if he was nothing.The only time she acknowledged he was there at all was when she told me there was no use in getting Ezra a cat since he can't use it."
"He told the truth about it then."
Rourke nodded."Unless they made a plan beforehand to say he can't, but I'm beginning to think he's told the truth about everything."
"Me too."
"So we let him cook and bake to his heart's content?"
