Page 20 of A Phoenix Reborn at Christmas

“What are you doing here?” Leo asked.

The raven stood in the snow before Leo, staring up at him. She opened her black beak. Three surprisingly shrill calls echoed, followed by several clicks.

Leo had just finished up working at the Christmas markets and was heading home. His feet hurt, and his limbs ached from exhaustion. It had been a long fucking day. He couldn’t wait to drop into bed.

“Sorry I don’t have any seed on me. It’s back at the bakery.” Leo patted his pockets and then started walking.

She hopped along beside him. Leo wasn’t entirely certain that the raven was a she. There had been some discussion and guessing inside the bakery after the raven visited. Kit said he sensed the bird was a she. With no better information, Leo was going to have to go with that. Who knew, maybe cat shifters could sense that sort of thing.

“Oh. I see your game. Come with me to the bakery and get seeds.” He laughed. “You really are a clever bird.”

The raven took flight. But she wobbled in the air, movements awkward. Leo frowned. She landed gracelessly in the snow. She ruffled her feathers. She cawed.

Leo ran up beside her. “Is something wrong with your wing? Are you injured?” He knelt. He tried to get a better look at the wing. But in a dark alley with few street lanterns, that was practically impossible.

“Why don’t you come home with me and I can check on you better? I can carry you. I’ll try not to hurt your wing.” But as Leo reached out, the raven hopped away.

Well, at least her feet weren’t injured. Leo walked at a slower pace so the potentially injured raven could keep up with him. At a fork, Leo continued walking the way home.

The raven hopped the other way.

“No. This is the way home.” Leo pointed. “This is where the seed is.”

But she just hopped further down the other lane. Then she stopped, looked at him, lifted her head, and cawed.

“What? I don’t know what you want. I don’t speak raven.”

She cawed again. Then hopped two more steps, stopped, and watched him.

If she were his familiar, their bond would allow him to actually feel what she felt, and vice versa. In this situation, that would have been extremely helpful.

She continued to hop down the lane. After a few more steps, she stopped, looked back at him, and cawed again.

“Do you want me to follow you?”

She clicked.

Leo sighed. “Fine. But you better not be leading me into some bloody trap where I end up robbed of my coin and clothes.”

Leo followed her. She hopped down the lane. Then down another. She seemed to know where she was going. At least, Leo hoped she did. Because Leo felt pretty fucking ridiculousfollowing a raven around the city, in the snow, in the middle of the night, when he should be going home to bed.

“How much further?”

She didn’t answer. Just hopped around a corner.

Maybe she was leading him to her nest or her mate. Maybe they needed help.

She flew to a stack of broken crates piled up on one side of a narrow and cluttered alley. She perched on top of them and clicked.

Leo climbed over rubbish and more broken crates. The scent of smoke and ash lingered in the air. The raven stared into his eyes. Then she looked down behind the crates.

He leaned against the wall to see behind them. He had to close one eye. He spotted something bright moving on the ground. Maybe it was trapped.

The bird made a light trilling sound.

Leo’s brows lowered. “That doesn’t sound like a raven.”

He moved around, knelt in the snow, and stretched his hand towards the bird. His fingers grazed the warm, fluffy creature. Strangely, the bird jumped onto the back of his hand and walked up his arm. He pulled his arm out and…