Drogar stood outside the supply shed, a bag of feed over one shoulder. “Your friend has left you.”
“She’ll come back.”
“Will she?” He grinned and strode toward the western enclosure.
I checked the hearthmaw. He was calmer this morning, lying in the grass under a shade tree.
When I returned to the building, Sofia was sitting on Laina’s desk again in the same spot.
“She won’t be here for a few hours,” I said from the open doorway. “Not until eight.”
That was the time she and Traig had agreed upon.
The emberkit’s spiked tail curled around her feet.
Crossing the room, I lifted her gently and carried her back out to continue rounds. She tolerated my shoulder for as long as it took me to reach the main hallway.
With a peep, she flew straight back to the office.
“Fine,” I called after her. “I’ll…come find you later. For treats.”
My shoulder felt light in the wrong way. For the past year, she’d ridden there through morning rounds, every intake, and the nights when a frightened creature needed watching and I’d stayed until dawn.
She’d never left me for someone else.
I’d watched other creatures make their choice known during our Love at First Growl events, something we’d started after Drogar suggested them. People hoping to adopt a creature would sit on chairs in a room and the animals would stroll among them. They’d pick their person, one they trusted most, and the matches had been one-hundred-percent successful.
It appeared that Sofia had chosen Laina. Which meant I’d chosen her too, in some way I wasn’t ready to examine yet.
I left the emberkit where she was and went to finish rounds alone.
Laina walked through the door a few hours later.
She wore the same boots, clean of mud, but her jacket was different today. Tan instead of dark green, and it made her eyes look warmer, like honey instead of amber.
Sofia scrambled off the desk and shot into the hallway, her wings flapping so hard she tilted sideways and nearly hit the wall. She corrected mid-flight, zoomed through the entryway, and launched herself at Laina before I’d managed to say good morning.
Laina laughed, catching Sofia against her chest. “Hey. Did you miss me?”
Sofia trilled and climbed up to her shoulder, nestling against her neck.
“She’s been waiting for you,” I said.
Laina looked up at me, her smile bright. “Really?”
“On your desk. She wouldn’t leave.”
Her expression softened. She stroked Sofia’s spine. “I missed you too.”
The emberkit purred, a sound like distant thunder, and I stood there feeling like I’d intruded on a private moment.
“Should I show you to your office?” I asked.
“That would be great. Thank you.”
She shifted her bag higher on her shoulder, but I took it from her.
We walked down the hallway.
