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The first warning was the heavy footsteps in the hall, followed by the low murmur of voices outside my door. I groaned and buried myself beneath my blankets. A knock came from the door.
My muffled voice somehow escaped the pile of blankets. “Nobody’s home!”
The hinges on the door warned me my extractor didn’t care, and a pair of familiar boots strolled across the floorboards. The intruder reached the bed and I peeked out to find the smiling and handsome Ben Castle standing over me.
“Do you ever sleep?” I questioned him.
“Very rarely,” he admitted as he plopped down on the bed beside me.
I lifted an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “Quite serious. My. . .condition grants me not only strength and speed above most others, but I also need very little sleep.”
I readjusted my comfortable position. “So that’s how you were able to do your day and night jobs.”
“Yes, and how I’m able to be here at just the right hour to awaken you for our exciting day.”
I stuck one finger out of the warm covers and wiggled it around to test the air. It was chilly. I yanked my finger back. “My internal barometer says it’s not time yet.”
I felt the bed move as he stood. “Some of the thunders start their practice runs early because their engines prefer the colder weather.”
I sighed and waved a hand in the general direction of the door. “Get out.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You won’t come with me?”
I peeked my head out and glared at him. “No, I won’t get dressed with you in the room, now get out.”
Ben smiled and bowed his head. “As you wish.”
The moment he left the room, I shot out of bed and over to my clothes. They were cold to the touch, and I reluctantly hopped into them. My skin shivered, but the warm sun through the windows helped to fend off the slight bite of the morning.
I scurried downstairs and into the dining room where a warm fire burned in the hearth. Ben was at his usual seat with a cup of tea clasped between his hands when I stopped in front of the fireplace and turned to warm my backside.
Ben turned his face just enough that I could see one of his bemused eyes. “I must remember to tell Tully to start a fire in your room on these cold mornings.”
“That would be appreciated,” I replied as I rubbed my arms, or tried to. I looked nervously down at the container attached to my arm. “Do you think I should bring this along?”
“Do you have a concern about doing so?” Ben wondered.
I plopped myself into my customary seat and shrugged. “I don’t know. I just feel a little uncomfortable having something this valuable going around with me.”
“I doubt we’ll find it a hindrance outside of you not being able to enter narrow doorways,” he teased before his face took on a more thoughtful expression. “And then there are its practical uses. The staff did save us on our last adventure.”
I shuddered as I recalled that horrible scene down in the catacombs. “Yeah. Good thing Elias was there to play the flute.”
“Speaking of that, I sent a crow to him this morning telling him you would be missing the next few practices,” Ben told me.
I sighed and my shoulders slumped. “That’s probably for the best. His ears could use a break.”
Ben reached across and set a hand on mine that lay in my lap. I looked up to find him with a gentle smile on his face. “And so could you.”
I snorted. “A break full of fast and loud thunders?”
He grinned. “There’s hardly anything better.”
Tully brought us a warm breakfast which we consumed, and in half an hour we found ourselves on the road heading south. I was bundled in a warm blanket with Ben at my side. He had a heavy coat and the collar was buttoned up so high that I couldn’t help but be reminded of his thief attire.
“So how long did it take for you to figure out that costume for your night job?” I asked him.
