Chapter 71

I unlocked room four, and Studmuffin tiptoed inside, his little nose working overtime.

"The floor's too hard," he announced.

"It's only for a little while," I reminded him, locking the door behind me.

"It smells like other people in here."

I sank down into the desk chair by the colonial TV and lugged out my grimoire from my backpack. "Come sit on my lap, and it'll smell like me. Or us, I mean. The unstoppable duo."

He smiled a little at that. He hopped up immediately and stroked his cheek on my grimoire, my backpack, and everything else within cheek distance to help spread his scent.

"Studmuffin..." I said, struck by an idea.

Stroke, stroke. "Hmmm?"

"Can you help me read the spell from my grimoire?"

He whipped around on my lap to glare at me.

I grimaced. "Is that a yes?"

No answer. I was really stepping on his murder mittens today, wasn't I?

"I'm only asking because this would go by so much faster if you could be looking at my grimoire, too, while I - "