He gently pressed the grouting between the bricks with his fingertips, leaned in to sniff it, and then gave the wall a tentative lick. Morrigan gave him a look of horror. “Ugh, stop that. What are you doing?”

some huge, terrifying birds of prey that reminded Morrigan of her grandmother.

Trust me. If I tell him to go low-key, he’s going to go

All in all, Morrigan had been so pleased to see Jack that she’d thus far resisted the urge to mock his posh uniform from the Graysmark School for Bright Young Men, and felt deeply virtuous in her restraint.

but Jupiter got bored after a few minutes. (Typical,

I told her, the fool—safest place for a firecracker is out in the open.”

And whatever you do, do not stray into the Whingeing Woods.” “Are they dangerous, miss?” asked Francis, peering nervously through the undergrowth. “No, just annoying.”

“The floor’s got more cat fur than rug.”

Jupiterian