19
I wasn’t roused until a terrible migraine crept into my dreams. The pain forced me into a half wakefulness. The incessant pounding hammered away at my left temple. I reached up my hand to massage the sore spot, but my fingers bumped against something fluffy and cross.
“Will you stop bumping me?” Blackbeak squawked as his wing feathers flapped against my face.
One of the ends became lodged in my nostril and a sneeze jolted me out of the rest of my grogginess. Blackbeak flew backward onto the coffee table and landed with a small splash into his unfinished bowl of goat’s milk.
He lifted one dripping talon and frowned. “Now look what you’ve done. It’ll take a lot of preening to get this sticky stuff out of my claws.”
I sat up and rubbed my temple. The tell-tale marks of a beak h
