Klef wakes up before I do the next morning, and is taking a shower when I finally come to. I knock on the door and the water turns off. Klef pokes his dripping head out in front of the door. “Yes?”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQC89Fca3S
“I’ve got to pee,” I deadpan.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfjmXCZlkk
“Nah, I don’t think you would yet…you went before bed, didn’t you?”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBVNa4nEnJ
“Nope,” I say, shaking my head. “Dry off in the bedroom, bird brain.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Kq6fXjevz
Klef closes the door and I’m about to yell at him when the door opens and he walks out in just a towel. I walk into the bathroom, closing the door harder than necessary. I do my business as fast as I can and open the door to the bedroom when I’m decent. Klef walks in, ruffling his hair and feathers. “There a comb in here?” he asks.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAbR9rgP11
I toss the brush by the sink toward Klef. “Use a brush, comb might be hard to find when everyone around here is covered in fur.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKJwNUsTCt
Klef whines. “But brushes are for long hair!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMwwQoyVPD
“I use a brush, and my hair is almost as short as yours.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KyMfALtKi
“But I don’t wanna!” Klef protests.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeh4ElvrwJa
“Use it or have a nest of birds in your hair.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeS3J7lVAm
Klef frowns and chews the bottom of his lip. Then he hands the brush back. “‘Kay, I’ll risk it.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQduWJEjz5j
“You are ridiculous,” I scoff, running the brush through my own hair.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAhSX3yZT4
“And you love me for it!” he cheered.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSmWJes9dR
I look just beyond Klef, to find Dad in the doorway, jaw dropped and looking murderous. “Klef…” I try to warn.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMxIIzJqIb
“No no, don’t even try to deny it! You know as well as I do that you are smitten!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCSVySZFzz
“Klef, it’d be best if you shut up, now.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9A8pfy3Ik
“Oh yeah? Why?”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIQVYCczJ6
“Probably because you didn’t lock the door,” Dad growls.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6jJamc0ey
Klef jumps up and runs behind me. I roll my eyes. “Really? Treble, you’re 21.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJmwxVOhyD
“Sh-shut up!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP24sxyCBhK
Dad frowns. “A good boyfriend would stand up for his girl, you know.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54SQdJza8m
“A good father lets his grown daughter stand up for herself,” I threaten.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8eXyzMc9yS
Dad smiles. “Always nice to see you, Iri.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14XjqnBfwI
“Why are you here, Dad?” I ask.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTcTgzObfr
“I need to get you somewhere safe. Out of the way of a siege or an uprising.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYsBvKQNFp
“Oh, come on, what are the odds of me getting hurt out here?” I scoff.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFBIKcPS0x
Klef tenses behind me and wraps me in his wings. “Get down!” he yells.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQLq8q9WSa
All 3 of us hit the floor as a flash of light and a loud BANG appear from the main room. Everything in the room is shrouded in dust and smoke. But when it starts to clear, Klef stands up. “Thought I recognized the shape! That was a grenade!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHvXRVFWYL
“What’s a grenade?” I rasp, even though I dread the answer.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjvwvEa0kL
“It’s a bomb. A small, strong bomb.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwNnLfFQaU
I swallow and cough. “What was it doing in our bedroom?!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NGYVcqQ7B
“I saw someone throw it in! Crap, I thought you were gonna die!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn81on1cu3P
Dad growls, fur standing on end as he stands up. “And how do you know what that thing was?”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG259XMOLrt
“I-I stole one once,” Klef says, scratching the back of his neck. “You both know my job. It took my buyer until I got the grenades he wanted to tell me how dangerous it was to have them loose!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gMh0wgIZu
“How dangerous?” Dad asks.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ664r9XEgNw
“You pull a pin, and then throw it or roll it. When the timer runs out, or if it’s jostled too hard, that happens,” he nods at the flames licking the remains in the bed. “Unfortunately, with more technology being spread, weapons are being made more too.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEBR3M3jJN
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I say, standing up. “That had to have come from the doorway. One of the Crusaders is trying to kill us.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIG6rPi4Ysi
~/~1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJrhR8YsWG
Bunches of Crusaders, attracted by the noise, swarm the bedroom and bathroom after the flames are put out and the rooms are impossible to navigate. I try to find Klef in the chaos after I’ve been furiously questioned, but in all the people it’s impossible to find his wild dark hair. Ama and Dad whisk me out of the room as soon as I’m close to the door and to my relief Klef is waiting outside. I wasn’t comfortable around him at first, but now I find it hard to be away from him. Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome, maybe it’s just the fact that someone is trying to kill me. But I’m not going to fight it as long as it doesn’t cause trouble. “Hey, pointy ears,” Klef teases. “Meet anyone in there half as great as me? Anyone I need to beat up?”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOMSdHkevu
“Not today, bird brain,” I scoff. “If anyone should be beating up anyone, I should be smacking you around for making that grenade thing public!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnffOUhANn
“I didn’t know it was dangerous, all right?!”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOmHvw3tFO
“Oh, a likely story,” I say sarcastically. “I told you your thieving ways would catch up with you.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WuZxoCOwO
“Lighten up Ride!” Klef retorts. “You and I both know you thieve as much as I do nowadays.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQfAJtfIWS
“You have no proof!” I protest.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjw9gR1u4O
“A testament to how good you are,” he points out.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWjPwXXeLZ
I pause. “I am good,” I reason. “Maybe not at thieving, but I am good.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡancSDQlLOz
“Oracle,” Ama murmurs. “We need to move you.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUxTYSNIMO
“Don’t,” I snap. “We need to know who wants to kill me before I can leave. They could just endanger me somewhere else if they tagged along.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYqp7uMl8u
“Much as I hate to admit it, Iri has a point,” Dad grumbles. “If we move her, she could be in even more danger.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdvcrYfYjy
Ama bites her lip. “…Fine. But she’ll need a human I know for protection in addition to myself.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2W86otOVbD
She walks off and I don’t hesitate to follow. “So…can I ask you a personal question?” I request.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLOdFFKR63
“I won’t guarantee an answer, but sure,” Ama says, smiling.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6UEZ1ounI
“You seem so sweet. How are you a necromancer?”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7O5rmfiQL
Ama’s smile drops. “You wouldn’t like me angry, let’s put it that way,” she mumbles.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnI06uRg6j
Someone laughs walking towards us down the hallway. “You lose it again, Ama?” they chuckle. “Bobbi, they/them. Pleasure to meet you.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nvQ75wf9z
“Likewise,” I stammer.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZyGjZouCV
Bobbi runs a hand through their bright blue hair and fixes me with hazel eyes. “So you’re the Oracle, huh?”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72FvZPYI1e
I cringe. “Uh…yeah.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuTTazMouF
“See anything about me?” they tease.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnE8SVoWx3
“Bobbi!” Ama reprimands.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTnsh2SS3O
I laugh, but it’s too high and sounds more like a choke. “Haven’t seen you that I know of,” I supply. “Sight is sort of finicky. Can’t really control it like everyone thinks.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rZxq14ygc
Bobbi nods. “Wasn’t expecting much,” they chuckle. “I’m not a celebrity like you.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7aQqfbsoO
“Please don’t call me a celebrity,” I ask. “I don’t know you all that well, and it sort of…makes me really uncomfortable.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYcTjfBs4P
“Oh!” Bobbi exclaims. “Sorry. Want to go somewhere quiet? Away from everyone like me who doesn’t know how to make sure you’re comfortable?”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkZCwDsKnd
“Is there such a place?” I laugh.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPysJZOtT5j
Bobbi crooks a finger. “Follow me.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bVUqNKmPB
I run to keep up with their quick pace. Ama follows behind, slower. “Bobbi is who I was going to look for. They’re my partner in crime, I suppose, the way you and Klef are to everyone around here. I couldn’t think of someone I’d rather have my back in a fight more.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9AcDV4g0x
“Oh you,” Bobbi laughs, looking back at Ama. “Speaking of, where’s your partner in crime?” they ask me.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyE4JJWwLnd
“Oh, Klef!” I exclaim. “I left him at the bedroom we used last night! I’m not sure if I could find my way back, though,” I say, looking back down the hall we were walking through, upset.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdqsh1VLGQ
“He’ll find us,” Bobbi assures. “He’s that kind of guy.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnU8w550PwA
“He’s really not the best tracker, especially in a concrete jungle.”1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiA3VuYljT9
“True, but he also won’t stop until he finds you. It’s his way of caring,” Bobbi rebuts.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuJ7yVc1bY
I smile at that. “He’s a big softie,” I sigh, shaking my head.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4e7hfzI7R
“Oh, we’re here,” Bobbi says, gesturing to a nondescript door.1568Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFTFF4Ovh0
1234 copyright protection1564ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwM53Jeek5 尼

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