Dragon Witch ✔️

49 - Interrogation

I looked the gray wolf up and down. He was enormous and definitely threatening, but I didn't feel like moving.

"I'm sitting here. What do you need a table for, anyway? You're a wolf."

He bared his fangs. "I'm not a wolf. I'm a-"

Another wolf, this one with a darker coat, ran up. Her voice trembled as she spoke to the first wolf.

"Are you insane? She's a changeling."

The first wolf stumbled back, head lowered. "Sorry, so sorry. I didn't realize. I've never seen a changeling before. So sorry." He ran away with his tail between his legs, followed by the other wolf.

A little perplexed, I stroked Eva's head. Am I really that scary?

She looked up at me with her huge yellow-orange eyes. You tried eat me, I scared. Not scared now.

That wasn't entirely true; I could sense some fear through our mental bond. But I couldn't blame her for being afraid. Not after what I'd done. If she stayed as my familiar, she would be in danger from me and all the monsters I spent time with. It'd only been a month or so; our bond wasn't permanent. It might be best if we separated before it was too late.

Eva nipped my hand, and I jerked it back.

What was that for?

She hissed. You be mine, my Lizzy. I not leaving. Can't make me.

What if you get hurt?

I strong, fast. I be fine. She angrily fluffed up her feathers. You friends talktalk.

What? Oh- I checked my ID. Kyton and Piper were still talking to each other.

"Why'd you have to be so pushy?" she asked. "She answered me first, and you should've let me talk."

He rolled his eyes, and his antennae mimicked the movement. "Something else distracted her. It wasn't my fault."

"Of course not. Lilly would be here already if it weren't for you and that stupid comment-"

I cleared my throat, and Piper fell silent.

Her cheeks reddened. "Hey, you're back. Are you heading this way?"

"No, I'm-"

Nissa flew back to the table and sat down. She slid a glass of blood in front of me.

"Is that my brother?" she asked.

I nodded, not wanting Ky and Piper to hear me talking to her. She seemed confident enough that they couldn't hear her, though. It must've been some privacy feature of the ID.

She shrunk back in her chair. "You said you won't tell him."

"I won't."

"Won't what?" Piper asked from my ID.

"Nothing. Look, I'm not coming to lunch, ok? I've got something else to do." Something like avoiding Kyton. "Call you later." I hung up on both of them.

***

Even though one of my morning classes was canceled, I still had to make up for missing the first week of classes. I had an hour and a half until history, so I set up shop in the library to catch up. By hooking up my ID to my textpad, I could access the campus web and the virtual classrooms for my classes. Luckily, there weren't that many assignments the first week. Mostly I just studied the syllabuses and did a couple of introductory worksheets posted in the classrooms.