Chapter 12

Chapter 12

P rimula wasn’t sure what woke her. She hadn’t been dreaming about Trafford, so she couldn’t even blame her regular nightmare. Then a warm, scratchy tongue licked her hand.

“Ugh, Lothario!”

The flying cat, meowl, or whatever he was, had decided to sleep in her cabin, instead of with Daedalus. She wasn’t sure how the creature even managed to get in, but once he was there, he was only too happy to curl up in the bed beside her, while she scanned the surveillance videos in the cargo hold. She’d turned the wall screen off so she could sleep, but she flicked the power on again. Just a quick scroll through all the feeds, and she’d go back to sleep again.

Yawning, she swiped through the tanks. If the cameras weren’t set at slightly different angles in each bay, she’d have sworn she was looking at the same picture, over and over, with a closed tank on either side, both lids clipped tightly shut. Blink. Different angle. Blink. More tanks. Blink. Huh. Daedalus must have trouble sleeping, so he’d decided to check the tanks, too. Blink.

Wait…

She flicked back to the cargo bay where she thought she’d seen Daedalus, standing next to the tank. He was gone now, if he’d been there at all. But the lid was definitely missing off that tank, and the fish were splashing around in agitation.

A shadow eclipsed the camera view for a moment, before the dark blob resolved into a shape, standing beside the tank. No, not beside the tank. Perched on the edge of it. She’d thought it was Daedalus, seeing as it was broad and tall enough to be a man, if his bottom half was hidden by the tank.

But this wasn’t a man at all.

As she watched, the enormous owl took flight, hovering over the tank for a long moment, before seizing a fat fish in its talons. In three gulps, it was gone – down the owl’s gullet. It flapped its wings, rising up to select the fish that would become its second course.

At her side, Lothario stretched and chirped.

“I’m sorry I ever suspected you. This whole time, that monster was stealing my fish. Well, I’m going to go catch it, then take it to Daedalus for him to deal with.” She grabbed the spare blanket, hoping it would be big enough to toss over the bird. It should work, as long as she managed to cover it before it opened its wings. “You stay here where it’s safe. That thing’s so big, it might think flying cats are food.”

She palmed open the door and dashed out into the passage.