“Stop anything that comes through from the other side.”

“And did anything?”

“No.” Tony took a long swallow of coffee. “The gate stayed open for a couple of minutes and then it closed.”

“A couple of minutes?”

“Or less. Or more. When you’re thinking about evil wizards and brain-sucking shadows, you don’t really have a grip on time passing.”

“Next time check your watch. The interval might be important later.”

“What do you care? I thought you weren’t helping.”

“And yet you keep showing up at my door.”

He wasn’t sure that twice merited “keep showing up.” Setting his backpack on the floor, he sat down and almost instantly had a black and white cat on his lap.

“That’s Zazu.” Brows drawn into a deep vee over her nose, Arra didn’t look happy. Tony slowly moved both hands away from the cat. “She doesn’t ever do that.”

“Do what?”

“Sit on strangers.”

“She’s not exactly . . . OW . . . sitting.”

“She’s just making your lap more comfortable.”

The cat’s claws went once more through denim and into skin. “For who?” Tony yelped.

Arra’s expression suggested the question was too stupid to answer. She went back to her games and Tony tried to hold perfectly still. God only knew what the cat would stick a claw into if she thought she was in danger of falling.

“I could feel it more this time,” he said after a moment when no further blood loss seemed imminent. “The gate, I mean.”

“It’s because you were shadow-held.”

“Yeah, I figured. But it was more of a shadow-grab than a hold. I mean, shouldn’t there be a time limit on held?”

Hand poised over the laptop’s touch pad, Arra turned to face him, brows up. “Does humor help?”

He risked a shrug. Zazu rolled over on her back in the crease between his tightly clamped legs, all four feet in the air, her stomach a blaze of white. The fur looked soft. He tentatively reached out a finger.

“I wouldn’t.”

And he snatched the finger back. The cat looked disappointed.

Arra snorted and turned back to the games. “So, as much as I’m thrilled to have the company, why are you here?”

“I brought back the thermoses.” About to bend over and open his backpack, he caught sight of the expression on Zazu’s face and reconsidered. “We didn’t use any more of the potion, but I wasn’t sure how long it would last. You know; the sparkly part of it.”

“The potion part will last indefinitely but I will need to reactivate it before it’ll do any good magically.” She turned up a king, moved queen to ace over, and waited while the line collapsed. “Now why are you really here?”

“The potion . . .”

“See that?”

He leaned forward. “The game?”