Gray took a tiny pizza box out of his pocket and offered it to the nearest squirrel. "Reporter's Special," he said, and the squirrel snapped it open and inspected the rodent-friendly toppings on a nut flour crust, then snapped the box shut and scampered off with it. "Ray's gonna be so proud they're consuming something other than booze," he said, although Ray was, of course, also going to want to know why he'd needed a Reporter's Special later.

Once he was sure the squirrel was gone he turned back to Arden, his shoulders slumped. "So he doesn't want to know," he sighed. "I told him, you know, no spoilers but I think you need to be prepared for this. He thinks nothing destiny has in store for him could be that bad, and I reminded him we were cursed before we were ever conceived, and he said that was different, and then I gave up because I realized I was talking to Pride more than Alastair and there was no use." He flopped into a chair. "I should have gone with my first idea of, 'Hey, Al, what's the worst possible person you can think of for your soulmate?'"