“Hmm?” The mage looked at the sandwich he was holding as though wondering how it had got there. “Oh, right.”
Still with a rather abstracted expression, he tore the sandwich in two. Cramming one half into his mouth, he tossed the other to the crow-cat. The little griffin caught it neatly in mid-air, clearly well used to this routine.
Cathy hid a smile as the crow-cat retreated with her prize. “You didn’t tell me you had a pet.”
“I don’t.” Aodhan sounded far more defensive than he had when she’d asked him whether he hoarded erotica. “It’s a working animal. I keep it around to catch pests, that’s all.”
“Didn’t you say that you protected the books with magic?”
Aodhan hesitated for a beat, a brief look of chagrin flashing across his face. “It never hurts to have a backup. Anyway, the damn oak has a soft spot for the cursed thing. Keeps letting her in, no matter what I say.”
Cathy was absolutely certain that if Aodhan had really wanted to keep the crow-cat out, the griffin wouldn’t currently be perched on his desk eating his breakfast. Still, she let the subject drop. If Aodhan felt he had to maintain a certain aloof, severe image, it wasn’t her place to argue.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked instead. “If you like, I could—”
“Here,” Aodhan interrupted, thrusting an enormous leather-bound volume into her hands before she could complete the sentence. “Krellig Longstride’s Practical Advice for Planewalkers. Bloody long-winded bore, and a literal troll, but he sometimes has useful spells in between the endless restaurant reviews. You can start there.”
“Um.” Cathy looked down at the book. “I was thinking more, you know, tidying up? Or maybe bringing you some fresh tea?”
Aodhan stared at her as though she’d suggested that she sit on a sofa and eat bonbons. “You can read, can’t you?”
“Yes, of course.” Cathy struggled to hold on to the mammoth book. If she dropped it, she’d probably break either her toes, or the table, or both. “But I don’t know anything about magic!”
Aodhan lifted an eyebrow. “Generally one reads books because one is not already familiar with the subject matter. Anyway, this is more travelog than textbook. Just look up ‘human’ in the index, and bookmark anything that isn’t a recipe.”
“But I’m not a mage!”
“Herne’s hooves, woman. Anyone who was prepared to assault the seelie lands with a cooking pot can handle a little cross-referencing.” Aodhan waved her away, taking a fresh book for himself. “Tell me if you find anything that might be useful.”
When did I become ‘woman’ rather than ‘human?’
He probably didn’t mean anything by it, but Cathy felt strangely warmed by the slight promotion. Even though she’d smashed into his perfect, peaceful life like a wrecking ball, maybe he wasn’t too annoyed by her continued presence.
Clutching the book, she searched for somewhere to sit. Aodhan had spread his research materials across the entire large desk, but off in one corner was another chair, set in front of a high, long workbench. Going over, she found that the surface was covered in scattered herbs, along with a large bowl of salt. Unless Aodhan was preparing to brine a turkey, it had to be the remnants of a magical ritual.
As she tried to find a clear space to put the back-breaking Practical Advice for Planewalkers (evidently planewalkers, whatever they were, needed a lot of advice), another book caught her eye. It was propped up on a stand behind the bowl of salt, as though Aodhan had been following a recipe. His distinctive handwriting covered the old, yellowed pages.
Major ward against fate, she read absently. And then, underneath that intriguing heading: By the grace of all the goddesses, may I never to need to use this.
Though apparently he had needed it, given the half-burned candles and crushed herbs. A few drops of what could only be dried blood marked the coarse salt. She wondered if whatever spell he’d been trying to cast had worked.
“Can I move some of this stuff?” she asked. “If you’re done with it, I mean.”
Aodhan was reading again. It took him a moment to drag himself away from the page. When he did glance her way, he shot to his feet so fast he knocked over his chair. Noodle yelped, phasing out just in time, while the crow-cat took flight with a startled caw.
“No.” In an eye-blink, Aodhan was at her side, snatching the book off its stand. “I’m still working on this.”
“I’m sorry,” Cathy said, taken aback by his reaction. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“It’s fine.” Despite his words, he held the book tight against his chest, arms crossed over the cover. “Look, on second thought, perhaps you should leave the books to me. Why don’t you, ah, take the hound out for a walk?”
It hadn’t been her idea to help with the spell research in the first place, but the clear dismissal still stung. Cathy did her best not to show it, pasting a cheerful smile onto her face.
“All right.” Not wanting to risk messing anything else up, she put the giant book onto the chair. “But is it really okay for me to leave the tree?”
“I’ve got wards over the whole clearing.” Aodhan backed away, still clutching his spell book as though he feared she might wrestle him for it. “As long as you don’t stray into the woods, you’ll be perfectly safe. I’ll keep you updated on any progress.”
“Okay.” With sheer force of will, Cathy kept up her bright smile. “I’m sure you’ll come up with a solution soon, especially without me hanging around distracting you. Just let me know if you need more tea or anything. Noodle! Want to go walkies?”