“No, it’s fine.” Her tone is a mixture of benevolence and sarcasm that I can’t even begin to parse.

I open the door. “It’s not a good time,” I say. I’m not going to let Rafe into Georgie’s personal space right now. I can grant her that one courtesy at least.

Rafe’s eyes don’t miss a thing as he assesses the scene. Georgie isn’t looking meekly away from him as she usually does. Instead she’s staring him down, obviously pissed off. He leans close as if to kiss my cheek and whispers, “I came to help you pack, and it’s a good thing because it looks like you need a chaperone so you don’t divulge things that should be kept secret, as agreed.” He then plasters on a fake smile and pushes past me.

“Well, look at you, little beauty,” Rafe says when Bastet pads over to him curiously. He reaches down to scratch her on the head in exactly the way she loves. The blue cat immediately nuzzles against Rafe’s hand and allows him to pick her up. Georgie glares at her for being such a traitor. “Looks like someone’s been illegally experimenting on you,” Rafe coos to Bast, who has nestled comfortably in the crook of his arm. She purrs so loudly I wouldn’t be shocked to find out she was also bred with a motor.

Georgie isn’t having any more of it. “Give me back my cat.” She pulls a mewling Bast away from Rafe. “I’m going to bed.” She stalks off to her room and slams the door.

“See, no risk of me telling her anything,” I say to Rafe. “No need for you to stick around.”

“Maybe your roommate is the one who stole the Ha’i stone,” Rafe muses.

“What? Of course not!”

“Why are you so sure? She clearly has a grudge against Makers, and she has a blue cat.”

I entertain the thought for a brief—very brief—moment before I shake it away.

“She has a grudge against you because you are an ass. And she has a blue cat because she rescued her.” But I’m also curious about the missing Ha’i stone; the mystery of who might have taken it has been distracting me for days. Now I wonder if Bram and Yvette took it for Nora Montaigne.

“Either way, you can’t tell her about our plan. We can’t afford anything getting in the way of us leaving tomorrow.”

“Rafe, I already told her. And you should be glad of it. Georgie’s knowledge of provincial computers is the only reason I was able to locate Hypatia.”

I watch the progression of emotions play out on his face as he takes in this information.

“You can go now.” I try to herd him toward the door.