Page 25 of Truthfinder’s Promise

“If I went through that? I wouldn’t exactly trust Aspecters either. And let’s face it, our society has a history of elitism and bigotry and fearing everything it doesn’t understand. You saw what they tried to do to Siren when Jace found her. You know what they would have done to you if they’d understood when you were younger just how powerful your screwball Aspect was going to be.”

“Again, taking that in the loving spirit I’m sure it was intended.”

“The point is, there are many different forms of power out there. It would be foolish to think we know what all of them are. But while we may not know about them, I’m pretty sure they all know about us. Aspect doesn’t maintain a low profile in the magical world. So if Monster wants to keep what he is to himself, I’m fine with it so long as he doesn’t hurt anyone.”

A knot in Jensen’s chest unwound, even as he told himself not to get too comfortable. Meredith saying she was fine with him being something other was one thing. Her seeing it and being okay with it was another.

Random looked at Monster. “Any magical being in Seclusion has two weeks to identify itself to the Council upon entering our borders.”

Jensen felt Meredith bristle. “Are you threatening my not-dog?”

Random sighed. “Of course not. I’m merely letting him know that once he’s recovered enough, he should go home before he hits his two week limit.”

It took another half an hour, but Meredith finally convinced Random not to say anything to Valkyrie about Monster, and then convinced them both that she wouldn’t be killed or kidnapped the second they left. She had dutifully promised to key herself in as the primary on the wards Val placed around the house, and now she was done. Exhausted. She figured she’d gotten maybe an hour of sleep before the attack had woken her up, as it was now past one in the morning.

Monster still sprawled across her lap—he had moved from resting his head on her leg to practically crawling on top of her—and she would swear the front half of his body alone now weighed fifty pounds.

“You can stop pretending to be asleep,” she told him. “Everyone’s gone.”

He opened a bleary eye and looked at her, and she thought maybe he had actually fallen asleep after all. Clearly, however his magic worked, it required large doses of sleep and food to do its job. She wondered if running out after her had set his progress back, and she was oddly touched that he’d done it.

“You gonna get up?” she asked him. “You’re not as light as you used to be and my legs are half asleep.” He made a grumbling sound and gently picked himself off her, no paws digging in to soft flesh like a normal dog would do. He walked over to the food bowl she’d placed on the floor for him earlier and sat there, expectantly.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” she said, “but that month’s supply of dog food Random brought? You already ate all of it. Can you eat human food?”

In answer, he went to the fridge and pawed it open. Then looked back at her with a disappointed, mildly accusatory look. She thought there might be a carton of orange juice in there. Maybe.

“What? I’m not exactly Susie Homemaker. If you wanted a casserole, you’d have had better luck with Random. When I asked if you could eat human food I meant do you want to order takeout? We have a great twenty-four hour place that delivers.”

He trotted over. She pulled the menu up on her phone. “Uh, I guess just bark or whatever when you see what you want.” She’d barely gone past the appetizers when he barked. And kept barking every time she scrolled. “Are you changing your mind about what you want or are you trying to tell me you want all of it?”

He barked again. It was starting to hurt her ears. “Was that a yes or a no? Paw my knee if you want to order literally every entree on the menu.” He pawed her knee enthusiastically. Of course he did. “Fine, but only because I’m still feeling sympathetic towards you on account of the basement torture, and you heroically running out after me when my wards got attacked.”

She went through the virtual checkout, muttering. “You’d better be glad you landed with a rich bitch, Monster, because no one else could afford to feed you.”

The food arrived forty-five minutes later, delivered by a bleary-eyed twenty-something surprised to find one woman and one dog waiting for the order that required her to make three trips from the car to the kitchen island. Meredith opened the containers for Monster, set them on the floor, and left him to it. If he was actually capable of consuming that much food, she figured the activity was one best left unobserved.

She went upstairs, grimly determined to attempt sleep again. But it wasn’t until Monster jumped up on the bed an hour later, his back pressed against hers again, the she finally fell asleep.