Chapter 6
Everly
Iwoke to someone knocking on the front door. I lifted my head from the overstuffed pillow I’d been resting on and glanced around the living room where I’d fallen asleep the night before.
No one was in sight.
The knocking came again, followed by the bright chime of the doorbell. For some reason, I tried to disentangle myself from the blanket I’d been snuggling in. I couldn’t answer the door—it wasn’t even my house—but I did it anyway. I guess I was curious.
The doorbell chimed again, and I flapped my wings and glided gracefully toward the window facing the front yard... then immediately ruined the gracefulness by biffing it and tripping over my own taloned feet.
I gnashed my beak and made a frustrated growling sound.
Why was this so hard? I could fly just fine, but walking continued to elude me. It was frustrating and embarrassing. Then again, I was used to walking on five toes, and they all pointed the same direction, so there was that.
The knocking came again—harder this time—like the person on the front stoop was certain someone was home, but they thought the house owner might just be hard of hearing.
I nudged the curtain aside with my beak and peeked at the person knocking.
A woman was standing there. Again, I couldn’t discern body, hair, or eye color, but her long hair fell to her waist, and she had very symmetrical features. Symmetry, in appearance, usually meant beauty.
Alaric strode into the living room, soaking wet, with a towel wrapped around his waist. A sound escaped my beak entirely involuntarily.
It was the sound of me swallowing my tongue.
He cut his eyes toward me and froze. We stared at each other. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the doorbell rang again, so he sighed and turned to answer it.
“Alissa. Can I help you?”
Alissa sputtered for a moment, probably swallowing her tongue too, then quickly regained her power of speech.
“Hi, Alaric. Can I come in?”
I really liked his name, but for some reason, I wasn’t fond of another woman saying it the way she did. Huh. Something to think about later.
“You caught me at a bad time. Can I get a raincheck?”
That was polite for please leave. Even I knew that. But Alissa didn’t seem to. She laughed—a sound like the tinkling bells on Santa’s sleigh, high, bright, and merry.
“Oh, but I was hoping I could bring this in for you!”
Silence.
“And I can just heat it right up—it’s no problem!” She swished past him and made a beeline for his kitchen, like she was afraid he might grab her by her long, glossy hair and yeet her back outside.
Did she just... barge into his house?
My beak was open in astonishment.
Wow, that was so rude.
Alaric saw my open-mouthed expression, and his lips tilted in a small smile. He walked over and held out a hand, and I fluttered over and settled on it as he carried me back to his bedroom.
After placing me gently on the bed, he grabbed clothes and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the door cracked so I could hear him.
“Sorry she woke you.” His voice was deep and quiet, like he was trying to dampen its power so as not to scare me. It didn’t matter; I could feel the power in his presence all the time. It didn’t really affect me, though.
I trilled that it was okay the lady had woken me, and he chuckled softly.
I was sure he didn’t understand anything I was saying, so I didn’t know what he was chuckling about.
He came out dressed in what I thought were jeans and a tee shirt, judging by the fabrics.
Everything still looked like it had been run through a magic rainbow blender, so I had no idea what color anything was.
But I imagined it was a dark tee and faded blue jeans.
No idea why. Maybe because he reminded me of the lead in a lumberjack Hallmark romance.
He sat on the bed next to me. In the kitchen, the water ran, shut off, and clinks of movement echoed—then the scent of something delicious drifted into the room. Well. At least she could cook.
“Alissa is from the town in the valley below. She... does this.”
What, stops by unannounced and barges into your house? I snapped my beak shut. Maybe he liked her. I didn’t know why that thought made me uncomfortable, but it did. A bit. Okay, really just a smidge. And I had absolutely no idea why. I literally just met this man a few days ago.
I made a confused warbling sound.
Also, I could see coins on his dresser from where I was perched, and I had a very strong urge to... hide them? They were so shiny. So mesmerizing. And I wanted them.
Alaric followed my gaze, saw the coins, and chuckled.
“Are you having compulsive urges, Everly?”
What?! No!
He looked at me, and for a second—just a flicker—his expression softened. There was tenderness in his eyes. But then he masked it, his eyes becoming blank and unreadable, and I suddenly hated that.
“Anything in my house is fair game for you to hoard,” he said. “As a dragon, I get it. But if you steal my keys, try to remember where you stashed them, so we’re not stuck here.”
My brain short-circuited, torn between raven instincts and Everly instincts.
Alaric didn’t seem to need my answer. He held out his hand and I hopped on. But before he opened the bedroom door, he hesitated and sighed.
“I don’t ever encourage her,” he muttered, “but she’s been persistent.”
Clearly.
He must have heard the sass in my silence, because the corner of his mouth lifted again.
“She’s a fox shifter, just so you know,” he added, then took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s get this over with. I’m going to tell her you’re my pet, and that you’re off-limits.”
Wait—what?
Somehow, he sensed my confusion.
“You know,” he said casually, “because foxes eat birds.”
WHAT?!
We left his bedroom with me hissing at him, which made him quietly chuckle. And not once did I stop to think how odd it was that Alaric pulled me into his bedroom for a private conversation—even though we’d only known each other for a matter of days.
Somehow, it felt like we’d known each other for way longer.
When we entered the kitchen, I was perched on Alaric’s shoulder. My talons dug into his tee shirt with a grip so fierce I was sure I was scratching him—but being up on his shoulders was way more terrifying than being in his hands.
As though he sensed my sudden fear, he gently pulled me from his shoulder and cradled me in one of his big hands.
I knew ravens were larger birds, but somehow I still fit comfortably there. It was like one of those magically expanding spaces in books. I snorted at the ridiculous thought, and Alaric eyed me for a second, before turning to Alissa.
“This is my bird, Everly. She lives here now, and since she’s still adjusting to her new living space, she remains with me.”
Alissa seemed to accept this fairly well with a puzzled nod as she brought the dishes to the table and sat down.
Who got a raven for a pet anyway? It’d be way cooler to get a bird you could actually talk to a little—like a cockatoo. I’d just seen a pretty white one scrolling Instagram last week. They were so cool looking, with a mohawk and everything.
Alaric set me on the table beside him, and Alissa immediately protested. “Really, Alaric, must the bird be on the table? It’s unsanitary.”
I glared at her. I’ll show you unsanitary, lady.
Turning my back on her, I stared pointedly at the far wall. The kitchen was large—way bigger than mine back home, so the far wall was many feet away.
“Did it just—” she spluttered.
“Did it just give me the cold shoulder?”
Alaric coughed into his hand, clearly stifling laughter.
His eyes were sparkling with amusement, and I preferred that to the dull, hollow look he’d given me earlier.
I thought maybe he was worried about something to do with me, but I couldn’t figure out what.
Whatever it was, he looked like he was hurting.
He cleared his throat. “Of course not. Everly’s a bird. She doesn’t understand what you’re saying.”
“If you say so.”
I ignored the rest of their conversation.
I’d just noticed the food on Alaric’s plate—oddly colored through my raven eyes, but I thought it might be green beans, a steak, and a potato with butter, chives, and sour cream.
I zeroed in on the baked potato, and my mouth started watering.
With two hops and a near faceplant, I was there—delicately balancing on the edge of the plate and shoving my beak into the potato like I hadn’t eaten in weeks. I was starving!
Alissa screeched, jumping up from her seat, and I winced.
Ugh. Bird hearing was intense.
Alaric, valiantly trying not to laugh, soothed Alissa and coaxed her back into her seat. She went—reluctantly. I kept a wary eye on her as I inhaled more of the potato.
This peripheral vision thing was wild. It was one thing to know you could see 180 degrees. It was another thing entirely to experience it. It was still a bit tricky, even days later, but right then it was incredibly handy.
Alaric rose and fetched a small dish, filled it with water, and set it beside his plate.
I nuzzled his hand in gratitude—accidentally getting potato all over him—then hopped over to the water dish and guzzled it down.
He stood to refill it, but I followed—flying then awkwardly hopping—until I reached the big farmhouse sink.
Clearly amused, he turned down the flow of the faucet from gushing to trickling so I could drink straight from the tap.
How long had I been asleep this last time? I felt like I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything in days.
Once I’d had enough water, I flapped smoothly back to Alaric’s place at the table, knocking several things over on the table from the gust of wind my wings made. Alaric merely picked them up without comment.