by Zoe Chant
Without thinking, he replied, “Why don’t you come meet them? You can see for yourself.”
Everly seemed taken aback. He hoped she was only surprised, not thinking that his invitation was too much, too soon. Then she smiled. “Sure. I’d love to meet the family.”
Chapter 8
On Angel’s suggestion, Everly came to Vets For All Pets at closing time, so she could meet the unusual animals they were boarding. But once she got to the door of the veterinary hospital, she couldn’t help being a little nervous; though she’d been joking when she’d called it meeting the family, once she got there, she wondered if she’d come closer to the truth than she’d known. Angel had told her he wasn’t close to his own family, and he really loved his job.
She opened her purse, silenced her phone so no magical animals could be scared by buzzing text messages, and told Rock sternly, “No clawing or biting. We want to make a good impression.”
“Do you always talk to your purse?”
Everly nearly jumped out of her skin. A teenage girl was leaning out of a window, looking her up and down with great interest. She had short, flaming red hair and looked about thirteen, and Everly had absolutely no idea what to say to her.
“I, um,” Everly stammered. She had no idea who the girl was, so she could hardly explain that she was actually talking to the baby dragonette lurking inside her purse. “Adults are eccentric sometimes.”
The girl burst out laughing. “Kidding! I know you have a dragonette in there. Angel told us. Can I see it? I love animals. Especially unusual ones. When I grow up, I’m going to be a vet and work here. Dad lets me help out sometimes, but not with the dangerous animals. I’m working on talking him into letting me help with all the animals, though.”
“Work away,” said a rumbling male voice. “The answer is still going to be no.”
The man who had walked up loomed over the girl, but then again, he was big enough to loom over practically anyone. Though he wore the standard veterinary gear of green scrub pants and a white coat, his red-gold hair and beard made Everly think of a Viking.
Or a bear, she thought. If he’s not the grizzly bear, I’ll eat my cell phone.
He opened the door, beckoned her into the lobby, and offered her his hand. It engulfed hers when they shook hands. “You must be Everly. I’m Waylon Brody.”
Yep. Bear.
“And this is my daughter, Raelynn.”
“Pleased to meet you, Raelynn.” Everly wondered if Raelynn turned into a bear too, and if it was rude to ask. And also, where Angel was. She’d expected him to meet her at the door.
“Your dragonette?” Raelynn reminded her.
Everly opened her purse, and Rock clambered out and perched on her shoulder. “There she is.”
“Ooh, gorgeous,” breathed Raelynn. “I think that’s the prettiest one I’ve ever seen. She looks like a summer sky. What’s her name? Lady? Sky? Lady Sky?”
“Rock,” said Everly. “Like, um, a rock.”
“A rock,” repeated Raelynn. “Like… a jewel! A sapphire! What about Sapphire?”
“Raelynn…” Waylon spoke in a long-suffering tone. “It’s Everly’s dragonette.”
Hopefully, Raelynn suggested, “Lady Rock?”
“Rock,” said Everly firmly. Rock nuzzled her neck. “See? She likes it.”
“I’ll show you and Rock around,” Raelynn said. “Want to meet our unusual animals? And the regular ones too. I love ALL animals.”
“I’m sure Angel will want to do that,” said Waylon. He glanced around. “Where is Angel?”
“I’ll find him!” Raelynn turned to rush off, and almost ran straight into another man in scrubs and a white coat.
This vet had come in so silently, Everly hadn’t noticed him until that moment. His hair was as black as Angel’s, but where Angel’s fell in silky locks, this man’s was spiky, like an animal’s ruffled fur. His eyes were amber, and and they had a dangerous, almost feral gleam.
“So you’re the woman Angel was talking about,” said the amber-eyed man, in a tone like a TV detective saying, “Her fingerprints are all over the murder weapon.”
“Yes.” Everly wondered what exactly Angel had said about her. Waylon had acted like she was his friend’s new girlfriend, but this man was watching her like he thought she was a spy from one of those evil labs. She offered him her hand. “I’m Everly Sawyer.”
“Yes,” said the amber-eyed man, not taking it. “He told us your name.”
Waylon made an exasperated huff. “Everly, this is Bryan Lee. He’s one of the vets.”
Of course, Everly thought. The wolf. He sure looks like he could go for the throat.
“Have you repeated anything Angel told you about us?” Bryan asked.
“No, and I won’t. He told me to keep it a secret, and he told me why.”
“He told you why?” Bryan demanded. “Exactly what did he tell you?”
“Lay off her, Bryan,” said Waylon. “If Angel trusts her, I trust her.”
“A dragonette would never bond with anyone evil,” put in Raelynn.
To Everly’s surprise, it was Raelynn’s point that seemed to get through to Bryan. Grudgingly, he broke eye contact with Everly and bent to offer his hand to Rock. She gave a little trill and nuzzled him, and he stroked her outstretched throat with a fingertip.
I bet Raelynn’s right, Everly thought. Anyone Rock likes has to be all right.
Angel rushed in, panting and slightly wild-eyed. “Nightcrawler’s out of her cage! I can’t find her anywhere!” Turning to Everly, he said in a rush, “Sorry, we’ve had an escape, maybe Raelynn can get you some coffee while we hunt.”
“I wanna help hunt!” Raelynn exclaimed, and dove down behind the counter to search.
“It’s fine, Angel, I don’t need any coffee,” Everly said. Nervously, she said, “What’s a nightcrawler?”
“It’s her name, not her species,” said Bryan over his shoulder. He was leaning out the window, sniffing.
“She’s named after Nightcrawler from the X-Men,” said Raelynn, popping her head back up. “Because they both teleport.”
“Is she dangerous?” Everly cupped her hands protectively around Rock. “Should I put Rock away?”
Everyone glanced at each other, then Angel said, “Yeah, I think that’d be a good idea.”
Everly scooped up Rock and popped her back into her purse, then edged closer to Angel. He put his arm around her. “So what is—”
Waylon, who’d opened the front door, exclaimed, “I see her!”
He bolted outside, followed by Bryan. Waylon ran like a football player going for a touchdown, with a massive, visible strength. Bryan moved like a predator chasing down his still-living dinner. Waylon had a head start, but Bryan vanished into the woods before Waylon reached them.
Raelynn ducked around the corner and made for the door, but Angel stepped in front of her. “Wait. They can corner her between the two of them. One more person will just get in the way.”
Sure enough, Waylon emerged from the woods, clutching something white to his chest. He hurried back to Vets For All Pets, followed by Bryan. Everly watched in fascination. What was the teleporting beast?
Waylon strode inside, clutching a flapping chicken emitting loud, angry bawks. “Angel! Grab her, quick!”
The chicken vanished from his arms, only to reappear perched on the counter. One of its legs was encased in a shiny blue splint, and it couldn’t stand easily on the smooth surface. It scrabbled around, letting out panicky bawks, before Angel lunged forward and laid his hand on its side. Instantly, the chicken calmed down. He scooped her up, and she sat docile in his arms, letting out the occasional pleased cluck.
“It’s a chicken,” said Everly.
“That’s no chicken,” hissed Raelynn. “That is evil manifest!”
“What?” Everly asked.
“It’s a chicken,” said Angel. “A chicken that teleports.”
“Evil!” Raelynn insisted. “Beware of
the evil that flaps in the night!”
“Knock it off, Rae,” said Waylon. “You’re teasing Everly like she’s one of us, but she’s not. She’s just a visitor who found a dragonette.”
A pang went through Everly’s heart. She was just a visitor. But suddenly, she wanted to be one of them.
“Just wait till you’re minding your own business, and a chicken materializes behind you and pecks your ankle,” said Raelynn. “Then you’ll understand.”
“She’s a fierce and stealthy beast,” said Bryan approvingly.
“How do you do keep her in a cage when she can teleport?” Everly asked.
“We can’t, really,” admitted Angel. “We try to make her want to stay in her cage. It’s the only place in the building that has mealworms. And during the day we have dogs everywhere, so she mostly only terrorizes us after hours.”
“Show her the video,” suggested Raelynn.
“Of Nightcrawler terrorizing you guys?” asked Everly.
Angel chuckled. “No, of the portal. We have a hidden camera on it, so we can see when it opens.”
“Ooh!” Everly exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me before? I want to see it!”
He led her to the reception desk. Beneath the counter, placed where only the receptionist could see it, was a webcam feed of a pretty but unremarkable forest glen with a small pool.
Everly peered at it. “Where is it? I feel like I’m looking at one of those pictures with a sailboat or a clown or something hidden in the dots.”
“When it’s closed, there’s literally nothing there,” said Waylon. “I’ve watched deer walk right through the place where it would be.”
“I’ll take you to see it the next time it opens,” Angel promised her, seeing her longing expression.
“Have any of you ever tried to go in?” she asked.
“You can’t,” said Bryan. “Only creatures that came from it can go through it.”
Settling the now-contented Nightcrawler under one arm, Angel extended his hand to Everly. “Would you like the tour now?”
She offered him her elbow, and he took it as if he was escorting her to a dance. The Magical Poultry Ball, maybe.
“I’ll take you straight to where we keep the unusual animals, so I can put Nightcrawler back,” Angel said.
Raelynn started to tag along, but her father gave her a quick shake of his head. She stopped, looking disappointed. Angel gave Everly a questioning glance. Everly appreciated Waylon trying to give her and Angel some privacy, but she liked Raelynn’s exuberance and sense of humor. And she didn’t often get to interact with kids that age—her nieces were much younger.
“Come on, Raelynn,” Everly said. “I bet you can tell me all about the animals.”
Eagerly, the girl followed. Waylon came with her. So did Bryan, though he looked more like he was shadowing a suspect than tagging along for a tour.
Oh, well, Everly thought. Two out of three isn’t bad.
The magical animal room was all the way at the back of the building, as far from the lobby as possible. On the way, Angel pointed out the examination rooms, the operating theatre, the bathing room with bathtubs sized for everything from mice to Saint Bernards, and the rooms with cages of recovering dogs and cats and rats and birds and reptiles and rescued ordinary wild creatures.
“Can we go inside those rooms after I see the magical animals?” Everly asked. “I’d love to see the non-magical animals, too.”
“Of course,” said Angel.
She caught Bryan’s surprised, grudgingly approving look when she asked. Had he assumed she only cared about magical animals? But the expression was only there for an instant. The next moment, what seemed to be his habitually wary look returned.
They came to a door with a prominent sign:
Surgical Waste And Chemical Disposal: Warning! Biological Hazard!
DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT!
Everly started to give it a wide berth, but Angel grinned. "This is it. We want to make sure no one looking for the bathroom opens it by accident.”
With a flourish, he opened the door. “Ta-da!”
It was a spacious room with sorts of cages and enclosures, from lizard habitats to aviaries to aquariums. Angel deposited Nightcrawler into a small chicken coop, and watched her until she strutted off and began to peck at her food dish.
Most of the cages were empty. Seeing her glance at an uninhabited terrarium with lush tropical plants, Angel said, “We never know what might come through. We even have a barn for large magical animals, but nothing’s in it now.”
“How large is large?” Everly asked.
“The portal’s not that big,” said Waylon. “Nothing bigger than a horse could fit through it.”
“So no dragons.” Everly wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
“Oh, we get dragons,” said Raelynn, her eyes gleaming. “Just not adult ones. Teenage dragons are about the size of a horse.”
“Amazing,” Everly breathed. “Every time I think I’ve gotten used to what you have here, it hits me again how amazing it is.”
“Me too,” said Angel. “Every day.”
Raelynn pointed to a terrarium. “Look at this! I call it the Toad Mahal. Like the Taj Mahal. But for toads.”
The ground and logs were brown with patches of green moss, and the toads were also mottled brown and green. They would have blended in and been hard to see, but each toad had a gleaming jewel embedded in its forehead, sparkling with ruby or emerald or diamond or sapphire light.
“Gem toads,” said Angel. “They’re not hurt or sick, just lost. The portal isn’t always open, so we’re keeping them for their own safety till it opens again and we can return them.”
A gem toad with a faceted aquamarine in its forehead gazed at Everly placidly with startlingly beautiful eyes of brown and gold. Then she realized it wasn’t looking at her, but at an earthworm that was between them. The toad bent forward, snapped it up, and used its long fingers to stuff the rest of it into its wide mouth, like a person without silverware eating a very long noodle.
Angel opened the next cage for her, so she could pet the long-haired guinea pig with delicate moth wings and antennae. It snuffled at her, and Angel produced a piece of carrot for her to feed to it.
“Also lost,” he explained. “It goes back when the toads go back.” Leading her to the next inhabited cage, he said, “This little merhorse was hurt, though. He needed sixteen very small stitches. We’re keeping him till he’s all healed up.”
Enchanted, Everly gazed at the aquarium/terrarium containing a merhorse the size of a hamster. His wet coat was blue-green, as were the shimmering scales of the fish tail that he had instead of hind legs. He was lying on the tiny beach, munching on a strand of seaweed, and flicked his tail nervously when she approached. She quickly moved on so she didn’t scare him into abandoning its meal.
“That’s it,” said Raelynn. “Only four right now. I hope you’re not disappointed.”
“Are you kidding? They’re fantastic!” Everly glanced over her shoulder at the merhorse, which had finished his seaweed and was swimming underwater with heart-stopping grace, now and then diving to nose at the seashells at the bottom of the tank. A thought came to her. “These are all different environments. An ocean, a forest, a…wherever guinea pigs live.”
“Good catch,” said Angel. “The portal sends them back to wherever they came from. You can catch a glimpse of it when they go through.”
His dark eyes were full of wonder. She thought again of how he’d said he never stopped being amazed by his life. So many people were cynical or jaded or just held themselves aloof, unwilling to let themselves commit to wholehearted love or feeling that it was uncool to admit it even if they felt it. Angel wasn’t like that. He was sincere and openhearted, and he didn’t care who knew it.
“The animals are lucky to have you,” she said.
“I’m lucky to have them,” he replied. But his words were accompanied by
a wistful glance at her, as if there was something else he wanted that he wasn’t sure he could have.
Everly realized that the other people had quietly left the room, maybe while she was watching the merhorse. She and Angel were alone together, and the atmosphere felt charged with possibility.
He stepped forward, and she instinctively tipped her face upward to meet his kiss. Their bodies melded together. It was a magical moment, like their other kisses. Like everything here.
I can’t be in love with him, she told herself. It’s too soon. I have my entire life to go back to. This is only a vacation.
Her thoughts whirled on in a panicky rush. Am I leading him on? What if I break his heart? What if he breaks mine? I can’t give up everything I’ve worked so hard for… Can I? Should I?
“Everly?” Angel asked. “Are you all right?”
No, I’m afraid my life is turning upside down, she thought. Yes, this is the most right I’ve ever been in my life.
She settled on, “I feel like things are moving really fast. It’s good, but it’s kind of scary, too.”
“I know what you mean. And I don’t want to pressure you. Do you want us to stop…?” He made a vague flapping gesture.
“Kissing? No! Definitely not! I want to keep going! If that’s what you meant by..,” She imitated his hand-flap.
“That’s what I meant. Want to…?” He flapped his hand again.
Laughing, she returned to his arms.
Chapter 9
The days after Everly visited Vets For All Pets were the most joyous and most stressful of Angel’s life.
On the joyous side, he got to be with Everly and show her all over town and go hiking with her and play with Rock and learn more about her and her life. On the stressful side, his inner unicorn kept demanding that he tell her they were mates and meant to be together forever, but he couldn’t because Everly had already said she felt like everything was moving really fast. But every day he didn’t tell her, he felt like he was withholding information she needed to know.
Even worse, every day that passed was a day closer to when she’d go back home, and he’d have to decide whether he was willing to leave everything else that he loved to go with her. He tried not to think about it, but that was like trying not to think about a purple pegasus with candy-striped wings.
