“Croak!” Quoth protested, hopping across my pillow.I’m watching out for you, and I don’t want him here.
I shook my head at Heathcliff. “That’s okay. I’ve got Quoth. You go to bed.”
Heathcliff’s eyes bore into mine. I’d hurt him by refusing his help. I wondered if the offer was his way of reaching out. Maybe he was trying to get me alone so he could talk to me about what was bothering him. I opened my mouth to say I’d changed my mind, but Heathcliff was already stomping up the stairs.
I sighed and turned back to the couch. A beautiful, naked boy sat where the raven had been only moments before. “Good riddance,” Quoth growled, flipping his silken hair over his shoulder.
“Don’t be like that. I think he wanted to talk to me,” I said. “Maybe if we both went to him together and—”
“I don’t want to talk to Heathcliff. Or about Heathcliff.” Quoth reached up and pulled the cord to turn off the light. Except for a string of fairy lights looped over the balustrade, Nevermore Bookshop was plunged into darkness. The mysterious draft whipped through the room, kissing my skin with ice. Quoth shuddered and pulled me closer.
Shrouded by darkness, Quoth and I whispered together. Mostly, I let him talk, expressing his frustration and suspicion of Heathcliff in a wave of bitter resentment that sounded nothing like the Quoth I knew. I held him tight and wished I could reassure him that we’d find who really did this and get the presents back and he and Heathcliff could go back to being friends, but I wasn’t sure I was as convincing as I hoped.
The only way to repair their friendship now was to prove Heathcliff didn’t steal the tree. Quoth realized that too. It was why he was here with me, waiting in the gloom for something to happen—
A key turned in the lock. My breath hitched. I stiffened, freezing in place lest a movement should give away our vigil. In my arms, Quoth’s body shifted, silently retracting into itself as feathers poked through his skin. A moment later, a bird of shadow scrambled out of my arms and went to wait in ambush.
Creak.The door swung inward.
Creak. Creeeeeak.
Someone tiptoed across the hallway. A shadow blocked the fairy lights as the intruder hovered in the doorway, fumbling for a flashlight. Quoth dived from the bust, croaking at full volume as he flapped his wings in the intruder's face.
“Argh, help, help!” the intruder cried.
“Ah, hah!” I cried in triumph, leaping up from the desk and flicking on the light. Tabitha’s face glowed with terror as she flapped her hands uselessly at Quoth, who flew at her with the full fury of a bird slighted.
Chapter Ten
“What are you doing here, Tabitha?” I demanded.
“I’m… I’m…” She ducked as Quoth grabbed the collar of her coat and tried to tug it over her head. “Get this bird off me! He probably has rabies.”
“Croak!” Quoth butted her with his head.I resent that.
“You’re perfectly safe. He doesn’t have rabies, and I promise he won’t attack you anymore.” I held up my arm and Quoth fluttered over to rest. “Provided that you answer my question. You can’t be setting up for the photo shoot, because I already told you it’s postponed. So why did you break into the shop?”
Tabitha’s lip trembled. “Technically, I didn’t break in. You gave me a key.”
“Croak!” Quoth glared at her with those yellow eyes. Tabitha whimpered. She collapsed into the velvet chair, her shoulders sagging.
“Fine. I came to try and find my missing earring. Because… because Roland and I came here last night to shag under the tree, and I lost it.”
Of all the things I expected her to say, that was not one of them. “You… what?”
“It’s one of Roland’s little traditions. You know artists – sex and inspiration are entwined. Before a shoot, Roland likes to make love to one of the models on set. It’s part of his creative process. And when he heard the set was an enormous Christmas tree, he was even more excited. He believes sex in nature imbues the air with a kind of activated magic—”
“Let me get this straight, you and Roland Crabapple were downstairs last night, shagging under the tree?”
“Well, wetriedto do it under the tree. It had tipped over onto the table, so there was some space back here.” She pointed. “But there were so many presents, it was a bit awkward. And then Roland’s foot bumped the stand and the tree toppled over onto the floor.” She shrugged sheepishly. “So instead, he bent me over the desk.”
I leaped up from the desk, yanking my hands back.I’m going to need a powerful disinfectant. No, no, Roland Crabapple might have touched it with his… I think it’s a goner. We need to burn the desk and salt the earth around it.
“What time was this?”
“We got here just after midnight. I know because Roland wanted to wait until the church clock struck twelve. That’s another part of his tradition.”
My heart leaped with joy. If the tree was still here when Roland and Tabitha were doing their thing at midnight, that meant Heathcliff hadn’t gotten rid of it when he arrived home for the pub. This proves that Heathcliff didn’t—
