Chapter 351: The Stake and the Wizard
On the second day of term, Cuthbert was kicked awake.
Hermes drove his foot into the bedpost. The whole four-poster shuddered with a bang, and Cuthbert shot upright from under the covers, hair matted into a nest, one eye still glued shut. He mumbled something obscene.
He'd been up past midnight tinkering.
"What time is it?" he croaked, rubbing his eyes.
Nobody answered.
Regulus stood by the desk fastening the clasp of his cloak. Baruk circled the desktop in slow loops. The fire in the hearth was still burning.
Baruk's eight amber eyes fixed on Regulus, then swiveled to the hearth, then back. His chelicerae clicked once.
Regulus looked down at him. "Go on."
Eight legs tensed. Baruk launched himself off the desk in a clean arc and landed squarely in the fireplace, right on top of the glowing coals. Sparks erupted in every direction.