“Why would you want one?”
“Oh, right, you don’t rem—know yet.” That time, she barely caught herself.
Angelica seemed the least affected by the time-loop. She never went misty-eyed or talked about things no one else remembered. There was no unexplained hostility or affection. The only difference I noticed was the romance novels she’d insisted on bringing along for ‘research.’
“What don’t I know?”
Delilah cleared her throat and straightened up in her chair. “I am a cat.”
Angelica stared at her, possibly waiting for a better explanation.
Fitz nodded along, like he’d heard it before—which he probably had—and focused on his meal.
Maximus reached out a tentative hand, pausing an inch from Delilah’s head. “Can I pet you?”
“You may,” she said, like a queen granting a petitioner’s request. Her eyes closed in contentment as he rubbed her ears. A small, feline smile curled her lips.
That went on for about thirty seconds before Angelica demanded, “Doesno onethink this is weird?” She looked around the table for an ally, her gaze finally landing on Wilde.
Wilde blinked at the unexpected attention. Finally, slowly, he said, “One of these days she’ll become a real cat, which will certainly be harder to explain.” After a few seconds, with a completely straight face, he said, “Meow. See? Harder.”
Angelica covered her face with her hands and muttered, “You’reallweird.” Then she dropped her hands, picked up her book, and continued reading her smutty orc novel at the table.
The inn had prepared a private dining room for us, and all the food was laid out on the tables, so there was no reason for the staff to disturb us. It was the perfect time to discuss the quest. “So, how do we defeat the Lord of Grimnight?”
I’d asked the question just as Delilah had taken a large gulp of water. She choked and sputtered and sprayed half of it into Angelica’s face.
Angelica sat frozen, her face contorted into ugly surprise. One eye twitched for several seconds, the only part of her that moved. “Youbeast!” She smacked Delilah over the head with her book, then looked down at the damp pages in dismay. “The ink is smeared!”
Fitz winced in sympathy and slowly inched his own book further away from Delilah, then handed Angelica a napkin. “We can find you a new copy.”
“Whereexactly are you going to find me a new copy when we are on the road to ahaunted forest? Do you think the forest hasbookshops?A library?” By the end she was shouting so loudly that the dishes on the table rattled.
“Well, yes,” Fitz said. A confused, foggy look entered his eyes, one I recognized as another set of memories. “Doesn’t it?”
“There’s a library,” Wilde confirmed, “but I’m not sure you’ll be welcome.”
Fitz made a noise halfway between a cat’s mewl and a strangled yelp. “What do you mean I’m notwelcome?”
“You upset the librarian,” Maximus said. He blinked, considered the statement, then nodded to agree with himself.
I tried to remember the library. Pictured the card catalog, with its neat font. The librarian standing behind the circulation desk, cheerful and ready to help. The rows and rows of books—no, I was just picturing a normal library.
“I—what—how could I—I’ve never been there before!” Fitz started to stand up from his chair, but Maximus grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I have to apologize!”
I snorted and then outright laughed. “Do you plan towalkthere? Or were you going to steal the carriage?”
Fitz sat back down. “No, I wouldn’t steal anything from our quest. That would be evil.”
A phantom pain squeezed my heart and released it just as quickly. I swallowed and looked away from him. What had I asked before the library distracted us? Right, I’d wanted to discuss the Lord of Grimnight. I focused on Wilde, thinking the mage would be the best place to start.
Wilde stared at Fitz, his expression hard to read. Until now, he typically avoided looking at the other man. Any time Fitz addressed the group, Wilde looked down or away, not necessarily ignoring him, but not meeting his eyes either.
The brief memory I had of Fitz on bended knee flickered in and out of focus, flitting away the moment I tried to grasp onto it to examine it closer. What kind of relationship did they have in another life?
