Magpie by Kim Dare

very calmly. That was the important thing now. He needed to be calm and in control, of both himself and his reactions to Kane, or everything would quickly descend into insanity.
    “They’re stupid!” Kane snapped, apparently still completely focused on the pigeon.
    “They don’t have the reputation for being the brightest of breeds,” Everet admitted. “Magpies are smarter.”
    “Smart enough not to stay at the bottom of the pecking order for a second longer than I need to!” Kane cut in triumphantly.
    “But, at the same time, not always shrewd enough to know what sort of role would suit them best,” Everet continued, still keeping his words measured.
    Kane’s eyes narrowed. “And I suppose you know what’s best for me?”
    “Yes.”
    “Bollocks.”
    Everet lifted a hand and summoned the pigeon to their table. “We’ll both have the classic breakfast, please.” He dismissed the waiter before Kane had a chance to try to change the order.
    “That wasn’t what I wanted!”
    “You’re under no obligation to eat it when it arrives,” Everet said. “If you tell me, calmly, that you don’t like what’s put before you, we can order something else. But any decisions you make for yourself will be made quietly and with consideration for those around you, or you won’t make any at all.”
    Kane put both his hands on the edge of the table. It looked as if he might bolt. Everet tensed, ready to spring up and chase him down.
    “So this is why you agreed to keep me out of prison?” Kane demanded. “So you’ll have someone to boss about and bully all the time? And probably someone to wait on you twenty-four hours a day, too. Well, I’ve got a news flash for you—”
    “I have no use for a personal servant.”
    Kane stopped short “What?”
    “I said I’ve no use for a servant of my own. When you’ve finished acting like a brat, one of the things we’ll discuss is what kind of job you’ll take on at the nest.”
    Kane remained very still for a moment, but Everet had no doubt that inside the magpie’s mind, thoughts were racing around at a truly frantic pace. “I want to look around before I make any decisions, get a feel for the place.”
    “And try to find a rich old fool who’ll take you under his wing and spoil you, rather than make damn sure you work for a living?” Everet asked, knowing that the subject had to be dealt with, and the sooner the better. His tone was polite, but there was no way he could make the subject palatable.
    “You don’t think pandering to a rich man’s whims is hard work?” Kane shot back.
    You’re better than that.
    Everet bit back the words, judging it best to keep that particular opinion to himself for now.
    I didn’t get you this far through withdrawal just so you could go back to getting high and whoring yourself out.
    There was no need to make Kane aware of that fact either—far better for him to learn both things as time passed. Everet took a deep breath. All his carefully laid out plans and promises to himself regarding how he’d deal with Kane once he had recovered seemed so unbelievably naive now that he faced an avian capable of talking back.
    All the jobs he’d thought might suit Kane ran in the opposite direction at the sight of him in his current form.
    Their food arrived.
    Kane folded his arms and stared mutinously across the table.
    “If you’re going to try to get a wealthy new master, you’re going to need your strength,” Everet pointed out. “Unless you’ve already seen sense and abandoned that plan, of course.”
    Kane either fell for it, or he was willing to use the excuse Everet had offered him as an acceptable way out. He ate with far more appetite than he had shown before. He really was through the second stage of his withdrawal. The job could be ticked off Everet’s list once and for all.
    His anxiety level went down a notch. Everything would be fine. They were two thirds of the way there. If he could just convince the other