Page 50 of Ignited

‘More’ Malory’s Peak? Had he been sitting here while she slept, streaming teen paranormal soaps? Maybe for days? The idea of him keeping watch over her made her feel surprisingly weepy.

She didn’t do weepy. “Have you been sneaking into my bed while I was unconscious? Perv.”

He grinned. “It’s my bed, Tiger Queen. But when you can stay awake more than five minutes, I’ll let you pick the show. Be good now and rest.”

She was going to put her claws out and cut him. She really was this time. But he was warm and solid, and the bed was comfy. Maybe she’d just shut her eyes for a bit…

The last thing she remembered was Boomer’s arm sliding around her shoulders, snuggling her close to him.

When Karisma woke again, she felt better. Almost human.

It was evening—the sky nearly dark outside the window—and she had no idea how much time had gone by, except that she was starving.

And the room had been hung with colored Christmas lights. They twinkled all around the ceiling, intertwined with gold tinsel, which made them glow even brighter.

On the nightstand beside her was a tiny potted evergreen with a star on top, and decorated with… she looked closer. Were those brass shell casings? Yes. Covered in glitter.

She suppressed a smile. It was so… Boomer.

She didn’t know to feel about Boomer. She hated being helpless, hated being in his power. But then, he’d fed her and watched over her and put up Christmas decorations for her. She reached out and touched one of the shell casings. When the hell had he had time to do that?

Disquiet filled her. How long had she been here? And where were her magic items?

She started to get out of bed, but as soon as she did, something came at her out of the shadows. It glided towards her, about waist high, and she aimed a martial arts kick at it.

Or it would have been one, if she hadn’t been so weak she lost her balance and fell on the bed. The creature stopped, and spoke. “May I get Madame some water? Perhaps a nice protein shake?”

It was a butler. A three-foot tall metal butler with a Roomba base and a rakish bow tie, and a cloth towel draped over a dowel in front of him.

Karisma stared. “Boomer!” she yelled.

There was a thud of footsteps, and then Boomer slid into view in the doorway, his heavy socks skating across the wooden floor. “You rang?”

His eyes fell on the butler. “Oh, cool! You met RoomBubba.”

RoomBubba? Fuck. “Where’s the Barbie box?” she demanded. “Did Thanatos take it?”

“Relax,” he said. “Dragon Boy put it in the closet and warded it.” He opened the door. The box was in there, surrounded by a faint magical glow. She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’d tell you Thanatos doesn’t even know about it, but he knows everything else that happens on the Ridge, so I wouldn’t swear to it.”

Karisma let out her breath. At least, when she was better, she could still complete her mission. Even if she had to steal Thanatos’ part of the Orb.

“Don’t worry about that now,” Boomer said. “Just worry about getting well. Look, I’ll show you what RoomBubba can do.”

“You were really desperate to stop waiting on me, weren’t you?”

Boomer gave her an unreadable look. “Well, you kept threatening to kill me when I tried to feed you. And we don’t have a Ziggy to bring you stuff. Or a Thing. Which would be cool, by the way. So I got you RoomBubba. Watch.”

He said, “RoomBubba. Get Karisma a sandwich. And a bottle of water.”

“I live to serve.” His little motor whirred and he swiveled around to face the fridge.

Karisma leaned over and whispered to Boomer, “Does he know he’s not alive?”

“Not sure,” Boomer murmured.

RoomBubba glided to the mini-fridge and opened it. Two gripper arms extended from somewhere on his body and grabbed a plastic-wrapped sandwich and a water bottle. He swiveled on his base and glided back to Karisma, holding them out to her.

She whispered, “How does he know it’s me?”