Harry hugged her, wrapping his arms around her. “Yeah, but you need me. So, I’m here. And as long as you need me, I’ll be at your side.”
“I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you.”
“That’s the whole point, isn’t it? You remember jack shit.”
She slapped his stomach hard. “Asshole.”
“Hey!”
She slapped him again.
He laughed and rolled onto his side, tackling her, and buried her under his weight. “Gotcha.”
“Gah! Get off!”
“Make me.”
Still, she struggled, even if it was useless. “You’re three times my size!”
“So? Deal. You started this. You want out? Work for it.”
Wriggling did no good. She couldn’t kick him or hit him with the way he had her pinned to the mattress. With a long, angry sigh, she finally gave up. “Fine! Fine. Uncle.”
Harry rolled off, chuckling. He patted her head. “You’ll never beat me in a wrestling match, you know that.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Mr. Linebacker over here.” When she looked up, she was surprised to see Gideon standing in the doorway, leaning up against the jamb, watching the whole scene with a faint smile on his face.
“Good morning, children.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Are we having fun?”
“Actually? Yes.” Maggie climbed from the bed and picked up her coffee from the end table. “I always bring him coffee in the morning. And then he goes back to sleep like the zombie that he is.”
“Revenant,” Harry mumbled as he rolled onto his side, burying his head in the pillow. “For the last time.”
With a smile, she ruffled Harry’s hair, which earned her a disgruntled grumble that already sounded half asleep. Taking her coffee out into the hallway, she let Gideon shut the door behind them as they headed downstairs to the kitchen. The necromancer looked half asleep. She poured him a cup of black coffee and slid it across the counter to him. “Black. Like your soul.”
“You remembered.” He took it and blew across the top to cool it down before sipping it. “I’m touched.”
She sat on one of the stools at the counter and reached for a piece of paper and a pencil that sat to one side. “I meant to talk to you last night about what our next step is, but we, uh—got distracted.”
“That was entirely your doing.”
“Well, you didn’t exactly say no.” Sketching out loose shapes onto the piece of paper, she began to go into more detail. Archways and columns, reflecting off the surface of water.
“Mmhm.” He sat across from her, watching her draw with a look of fascination. “What’re you doing?”
“I don’t know where exactly, but I saw where another piece was. Maybe you can recognize it if I draw it.” She began to detail out the strange column she saw that was so different from the others. Covered in inverted teardrops, the carving almost resembled the knots of a tree. When she finished well enough for her liking, she slid it over the counter to him.
It appeared it wasn’t going to be a long mystery. He took one look at it, blinked in surprise, and then let out a laugh that ended in a long, tired sigh. “Oh, fantastic.”
“What? Where is it?”
“You have a sense of humor.” He shook his head. Drinking half his coffee in one go, he set the mug down and stood. “I will start packing and make a call about booking a flight.”
“Oh? Where’re we going?”
“It seems it’s time that I go home.”
* * *