Page 75 of Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates
The thumping continued, drawing her up. Had to be the wind beating a branch against the roof.
The door waited at the top of the landing, just large enough for one person. Mari tried the door, but it did not budge. Locked. She felt around the top of the frame for a key, even though the door had an arch, a design less than ideal for hiding keys.
A sharp nail jabbed her finger.
“Ow!” she hissed, immediately sticking her bleeding finger in her mouth because hygiene and common sense didn’t happen before coffee. She examined her finger and the drop of ruby red blood spreading from the tip. It needed to be cleaned and bandaged.
She descended no more than two steps when someone knocked on the door.
Knocked.
On the locked door to the attic.
“Hello?” Mari tried the handle again, smearing it with her blood. She tried to clean it with the corner of her tank top, but that just made it worse. Frustrated, she bunched up her shirt and wrapped that around her bleeding finger. At this rate, the entire staircase would look like a crime scene. “Is anyone in there?”
No response.
She allowed herself to breathe normally again, unaware she’d been holding her breath. Had to be a tree branch or whatever vermin got into houses. On the station, they had rats and rabbits, a fast-breeding Earth animal initially kept for food or as companion animals. Her knowledge was entirely from pop culture. Sometimes rabbits were beloved pets. Other times they ended up in a stew. Mari only knew that when you were down on your luck, you had to eat rabbit, which no one seemed to like, and you paid good money to an exterminator to keep the rabbits from chewing through your wiring.
So, rabbit in the attic. Had to be.
She found Winter at the bottom of the hidden staircase. “I couldn’t reach that window,” she said, pointing to the high window. “And I think there’s something in the attic, but the door is locked. Rabbits? Do you have rabbits? Anyway, it was thumping.”
“What is a rabbit?”
“Fluffy. Chews on wires. Vermin,” she answered, waving a hand.
“A tree hitting the roof,” he said. “There is nothing to be done now.”
“Don’t you need to check?”
“No. Those windows are always shuttered and I do not have the key,” he said, not even looking up to the attic. “I need to check the garage and the workshop before the storm arrives.”
“Wait, this isn’t your workshop?” she asked, following him to the back door. The wind already beat against the house hard enough to make the shutters groan and creak.
Mari stood at the door, waiting. The winds blew in from the west, surprisingly warm, and the air was thick with dust. Her eyes stung, and wind whipped her hair, lashing against her face. She tried to hold the mess back with one hand while she waited for Winter’s return.
Light from the house filled the open doorway. She couldn’t see much beyond a few steps from the back porch, and she hoped the light would be enough to guide Winter back. The sky remained unwaveringly dark during the day, even when her regular morning alarm went off. Honestly, it was less weird for Mari to look out at the start of the day and see darkness than sunshine.
A warm breeze smacked her in the face, sucking the moisture out of her lungs. It felt as hot as a ship’s engine room, but with tiny bits of dust going up her nose.
Winter emerged from the dust and the dark, a scarf wrapped around his head and face. “Inside,” he barked, pushing her in and slamming the door.
“Was it okay?”
He removed the scarf and shook it out, debris falling to the floor. “Asan was already there. We got everything locked up. He, Karil, and Brae will spend the day in their cottage so we’re on our own. Breakfast?”
Mari nodded, heading into the kitchen. She could admit to not be the best cook—adequate at best, if she were being honest—but she could manage toast and eggs. The housekeeper kept the kitchen efficiently organized and stocked. Mari grabbed a carton of eggs from the cooling unit, along with butter, jam and a package of berries. “Wash up. I’ll take care of breakfast. How long do the storms last?”
“A day, give or take a few hours.”
She fumbled with the carton. “Like a whole day-day?”
“I’m sure we can keep ourselves entertained.” His tail swayed behind him, announcing exactly the sort of entertainment he had in mind.
Winter
He enjoyed the slower pace of the day. Since returning to Corra, the company demanded his attention, Chase pressed him to attend every useless meeting and business function, and his mate asked uncomfortable questions. He knew returning to the house had been risky. Every room held memories, both pleasant and worrisome, but his father had scrubbed away so much of Rebel’s presence. Winter did not think his discomfort was worth more than Zero’s delight with familiar surroundings.
