Fawn! A gruff male voice called out from the woods. Fawn, you’d better not be anywhere near that cursed cat!
Stag’s anger ripped through the low brush surrounding us.
She nudged me with her black nose.
I’m sorry, Tali, I have to go. Maybe another time.
She glanced at Lola, pointedly, as if to say ‘when she’s not here’, then turned on her hooves and darted into the forest. My last view was of her white flicking tail as she leapt between the rough trunks of two carrotwood trees.
So much for that idea.
I wriggled my nose.
But we still have to get to Dagda Cerridwyn. I thought you said you could find her?
I thought so too, but she’s become a rather slippery character to get hold of. I’ve put my eyes out and the minute I know, you’ll know.
Right. I bobbed my head. We’d better head back.
Sage cocked his feathered head from atop his perch.
It looks like rain, and I know how you felines hate to get wet. You always create an internal fur ball drying yourselves. And then I have to be disgusted when Lola hacks one up in front of me.
I stared at the incoming clouds, natural ones thank all that was holy, and sighed.
Don’t act like you like to get your feathers wet, bird brain.
Sage took to the sky in a dignified ascension and ignored my comment. Perhaps he’d had enough for one night, and it seemed like Lola had too. She didn’t talk to me the entire journey home and the minute we reached the front porch, she padded up the steps and through the cat flap without a word.
Hell hath no fury, my friend.
Sage was ever helpful as he perched on the roof and settled in for the night.
God, I was just trying to help. Didn’t it matter that I’d saved everyone, Lola included? How soon they all tended to forget. I sighed and prepared to follow my lady love into the house, keen to settle down on Penelope’s warm bed, but the soft rustle of footsteps on grass stopped me. What was that?
I turned and lowered myself to the porch on all fours, in the exact same position I used to hunt birds when Sage wasn’t looking. Don’t get your underwear in a wad people. I only scare them and watch them flit away.
Intruder alert! Sage chimed in.
I narrowed my eyes and focused, watching the bushes at the edge of the garden.
Damien Chokecherry stepped out of them, dusting off his shirt with a snobbish grimace. He tiptoed up the garden path, heading for the door, and pausing every few minutes to check that the coast was clear.
Intruder alert, indeed.
Chapter 5
I had no idea what Damien Chokecherry wanted, but whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. He was a hunter, a killer of an animals, and an arrogant whelp to boot. His presence outside Pen’s house couldn’t be tolerated. And it wouldn’t. I glanced down, thrilled to see my jade was full-green. Just in case.
I wouldn’t move if I were you. Sage remained still from his lookout perch. He’ll grab you and do unspeakable things.
Like he did to me.
I didn’t reply. I’d like to brag that I wasn’t afraid but that would be a blatant lie. The beginnings of a belly rumble scratched the insides of my gut. My nerves were on edge, telling me to run for my life, warn Penelope, and scratch Chokecherry’s eyes out all at once.
Obviously, I had to make a choice.
Damien sauntered, even when he was in creep mode. He passed the bushes, was halfway up the garden path, and close enough to catch me if he sped up. Something about him scared me more than El Chupacabra had and my fur stood at attention.
But then, it was one of his family members who’d summoned the damn thing.
Damien paused beside a rose bush and bent down to examine it. He brought a pair of scissors from his pocket and angled them toward the long stem of an iceberg rose.
He jerked and swore, then stuck his thumb in his mouth.
I had no clue why Damien would want one of Penelope’s flowers, but it couldn’t be for good. A keepsake? He certainly didn’t want to give them to her. Chokecherry wasn’t the flowers and chocolates kind of guy. More like assault and battery.
Now’s your chance, flea briggade, get inside to safety and warn Penelope.
My muscles tensed and I rose an inch. Damien turned his head to stare at the porch and I froze, hoping that the gentle creak of the porch swing in the breeze would convince him that there was nothing to see here.
Silence stretched into minutes as he crouched there, the moonlight glinting off the blades of the scissors, his gaze roving over the shadows which concealed me. He rose and crunched on the gravel, two quick steps toward my hiding spot.
Terror rifled through me and my hackles rose again.
“Hey,” a man spoke and stepped onto the garden path, “what are you doing here?”
Excellent timing for once, Dr. Luke. My muscles relaxed at the sight of the good doctor. Chokecherry wouldn’t dare hurt me while he was around. Unless he decided to get rid of the vet, somehow.
Damien Chokecherry slipped the scissors into his pocket, unseen by Dr. Luke, and sniffed. He straightened his shirt and dusted off his jeans, then skewered his competition with an expression of distilled venom.
I say venom because Chokecherry is a snake in his own right, a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, glitz and glam. Just one bite and he’d take you down.
“It’s past midnight,” Dr. Luke said, checking his watch. “You shouldn’t be anywhere near Penelope’s house.”
“And how do you know I haven’t just left it?” Damien folds his muscly arms with a satisfied smirk.
That sick freak! As if Pen would touch him with a ten foot pole. He was the Antichrist of Shadowkeep, at least where us animals were concerned, and Penelope had no time for his destructive, sadistic ways.
Dr. Luke stammered for a moment, then set his jaw and glanced up at the darkened windows of Penelope’s house. He squared his shoulders and stepped toward Damien, raising a finger. “No offense, but I highly doubt that. Penelope doesn’t even like you.”
“Shows how much you know. What are you doing here, Noah? Ark done and you need to file some mangy animals aboard two by two?” Damien licked his lips and stuck his hand into the pocket that held the scissors.
My fur stood on end. Damien was armed and dangerous and my unlikely savior, Dr. Luke, had no clue. This could get out of hand real fast. I had to wake up Penelope and alert her so she could put a stop to this.
I rose from my spot on the wooden boards, using their argument as a distraction and ran through the kitty flap. I darted up the stairs and into Pen’s bedroom, then hopped up on the bed and made my way to her face.
Lola was a white ball of silence beside her pillow and she didn’t acknowledge my presence. I was in the cat box with her tonight.
Penelope lay on her stomach with both arms sprawled across the sheets, hanging off the sides of the bed. She snored gently and each exhalation came out as a cartoon whistle. Great, tonight she decided to sleep like the dead. But when I wanted a late night kibble snack she was on high alert. Typical.
I hopped onto her back and licked the side of her face, desperate to get her attention. She snorted and slept on, oblivious.
Raised voices came from outside.
Uh, Talisman? You’d better get out here with Pen and fast.
I’m trying, I’m trying.
I kneaded her back, licked her ear and tried tugging the blankets off, to no avail. Penelope was down for the count. I gave it up and dashed downstairs, my protective instincts re-awakening, but this time for Dr. Luke.
He was a good guy. He cared for Penelope and for the animals at the shelter.
I hurried out of the cat flap and down the front steps, paws whispering over the boards.
Dr. Luke and Damien stood face-to-face, toe-to-toe, anger leaking out of every pore. Damien held up a fist, without the scissors in it at least, and wiggled it under Dr. Luke’s nose.
“You’d better back
off Penelope, if you know what’s good for you, doctor.” Damien’s words oozed sarcasm, a mocking tone which had Dr. Luke’s cheeks bright red, obvious under the luminescence of the full moon.
“I’ll do no such thing. Penelope is a sweetheart. A kind and loving woman and she needs protection from idiots like you.”
“Ha! You couldn’t protect a fly. You’re weak. Too weak to ask Penelope out. You’ve lost your chance, Collier, the sooner you realize that, the better. Step aside, Dr. Dolittle.”
“That’s it, I’m calling the cops.”
“And tell them what, you just happened to be out for a midnight stroll when you saw me out on mine?” Damien threw back his head and laughed. “No one will ever believe you.”
“You’d better get out of here,” Dr. Luke said, clenching his fists. He wasn’t a violent guy, but if I’d seen the beginnings of one fist fight, I’d seen them all. I may even have started one or two back in the day. But don’t tell Lola.
Sage swept from the top of the roof, claws outstretched as he would to catch an innocent mouse in the woods. He scratched the top of Chokecherry’s flawless do, then swept into the sky and circled above. I knew Sage was desperate because that was the second time he’d flybombed Damian’s hair and now the evil douche would be looking for revenge.
Take that, hunter boy.
Damien growled and raised his arms over his head, slapping at thin air. He stared up at the owl, then made eye contact with Dr. Luke. He huffed out a breath, then stormed off, trailing his rich cologne in the air.
Dr. Luke stood on the garden path, staring after him and shaking with anger, his fists still at his sides.
I curled around the doc’s legs to let him know he had our support and he looked down at me.
“I don’t like that guy, Talisman, he’s up to no good,” he said, falling back into his strange habit of talking with animals. “You make sure to stay away from him.”
Sorry doc, no can do. I had to follow Damien Chokecherry and figure out what he’d planned. His little rose escapade had to be significant, and I’d eat my tail if he wasn’t on his way back to Lucinda to report in.
Sage landed on the awning and settled his feathers, pressing his head back into them.
I hurried forward to follow Chokecherry, but Dr. Luke swept me up and stroked the soft fur behind my ears – the sweet spot.
“Come on, Tali, you know better than that. It’s too late for you to be out, anyway.” He walked me right to the front door and injected me through my own cat flap. The cheek of it. “Get some rest.”
The doctor’s footsteps faded and I yawned. He was right, I did need some rest. I hurried up to Pen’s bedroom to join Lola on the bed, quietly thankful that Dr. Luke had been out and about tonight.
Who knew what Damien Chokecherry might’ve done if he hadn’t been.
Chapter 6
Penelope stood on the front steps, staring at her garden with her mouth wide open and an expression of horror creeping over her face.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered, shaking from head to toe. She stepped down, then halted as if she didn’t want to get any closer to the ruined plants, because doing so would make it real.
My master doesn’t just love animals, she loves all living things. Especially her gorgeous rose garden and now it was ruined – the roses had wilted and dried overnight, the grass had curled into the likeness of burnt brown hair and don’t even get me started on the creepers curling along the fence. They hung low, fat and brown, draped across the entrance to the shelter.
“What the …?” Ami appeared at the end of the path, followed closely by Kara and Chase.
“I don’t understand,” Penelope repeated.
I had an inkling about what’d happened, but it wasn’t like I could tell Pen that Damien Chokecherry, the kiss of death himself, had destroyed her garden.
What’s new, pussy cat? Whoa. Whoa. Sage swept down from the roof top and settled on the rim of the fence, bowing his head to stare around at the garden. Well, that’s not good. That damn cat snatching, bird eating…
Cool it. We need to keep our heads clear on this one or it won’t end well for Pen.
My fur had stood on end the minute Kara and Chase appeared. There was something off with them. The loving vibe was strong in Kara, stronger when I’d seen them the day before, but for Chase it was the opposite.
He was pale and he kept glancing over his shoulder at her. Probably had something to do with the manic smile stretching her lips apart to show perfectly white teeth. Bleach much?
“I watered the garden yesterday,” Penelope said, lamely, and Ami hurried over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Pen, we’ll get to the bottom of this. There has to be some reason for it.”
“Poison? Though, I don’t know what kind of poison could kill an entire garden overnight. It would have to be something heavy duty.” Chase stepped up with another furtive glance at Kara.
Penelope chewed her bottom lip and I wound around her ankle to provide moral support. I could tell she’d take this hard. Pen could be brave in the strangest ways, but she wasn’t cut out for emotional knocks like this.
She didn’t notice me, just blinked the tears onto her cheeks and wiped them away.
“Gosh, this looks terrible. And I just told Bianca Chokecherry about your garden the other day. It was so lovely. Don’t you think, Chase?” Kara slipped her hand through his arm and he jerked it out of reach.
Uh oh. Looks like there was definitely trouble in paradise and Penelope had noticed. Hell, she probably thought this was the perfect distraction from her gardening trouble.
Prepare yourself, cat burglar, things are about to get magical.
Sage pressed his head flat and swiveled it from side-to-side. I longed for Lola to come down and join us, but she was still pissed after the encounter with Fawn. She’d turned her tail on me this morning too. I wondered when the ice might start to thaw. Women.
Chase and Kara broke into a low argument and I relegated it to background chatter so I could focus on the matter at hand.
Penelope frowned, watching Chase and Kara interact and scratching the tip of her nose with a manicured fingernail. I batted her legs to get her attention. Nothing doing, the woman could be so single-minded when she wanted to be. Sure, she could hear me stealing a sip of milk from an old carton in the trash, but batting her on the leg? She was oblivious to that.
You’d better do something quick.
Quiet, I can’t think with you hooting in my brain. Why don’t you do something?
I wound around Ami’s legs and through Pen’s trying to get her to open her eyes, but she was distracted, staring up the garden path past the ‘happy couple’
Elias Stout stood there, watching the pair with narrowed eyes, his phone in his hand.
“Can we help you, Elias?” Ami called out, and psycho-stalker supreme jumped as if he’d been molested with a cattle prod.
“Ah, Miss Amelia, I didn’t see you there,” he said, smoothing one hand over his weasel chin. “Did you receive my text message?”
Receive my text message? Are you hearing this guy? What a beak-nosed douche. He’s the anti-cool.
And he’s also the anti-Penelope, so we’d better get him out of here.
Sage bounced back, sagely. His name wasn’t a double-entendre without reason. He was an annoying old owl, but he was wise, I’d give him that.
“I can’t say that I have.” Amelia countered. Translation: she’d seen it and ignored it flat because Stout was a creepy goober.
Kara and Chase continued fighting, Chase with a deep frown and Kara still with that manic smile which spoke of murders at the Amityville house. Gosh, what the hell had Pen’s spell done this time?
Apparently, Penelope thought on similar lines. She reached up toward her ear to tug on it and release another swirl of magic.
No! I knocked into her legs and she stumbled. The argument continued.
Gosh, didn’t Penelop
e see Elias standing right there? The death of her garden must have distracted her severely if she thought she could get away with a spell like that directly in front of him.
Sage, we need to get rid of Stout before Pen does something she’ll regret. She’s not in her right mind.
I’m on it.
Sage launched himself from the fence and into the sky, then disappeared overhead. I squinted to see him against the morning sun and got a headache for my efforts.
“I just came to thank Penelope before I leave, I’m not going to stay for long and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t follow me home.”
“This woman has been following you?” Elias asked, shuffling forward and lifting his phone slightly.
Penelope and Ami shared a glance.
“Yes, since a few days ago when we met at the shelter.” Chase frowned at Elias and looked him up and down, as if seeing him for the first time.
“Met at the shelter,” Elias repeated, gaze flicking to Penelope, a hint of triumph flashing across his hooked and crooked features.
“Is there something I can help you with Elias?” Penelope asked at the exact same moment Sage soared down from the big blue and landed on top of Stout’s head. He scratched and turned in a circle as if to settle down on a post for the night.
That’s nice symbolism.
You of all cats know that I have a wicked sense of humor.
Yeah, I’ve been victim to it before.
I sat down to watch the drama unfold.
Elias batted at the owl furiously, backing down the path and shrieking in an effeminate whine. Kara and Chase ignored the spectacle. Driven by their magical repulsion, they continued their argument while Ami and Pen simultaneously clapped their hands to their mouths
Elias reached up to grab Sage with both hands, but the owl flew off before Elias could get his grubby sausages around Sage’s chest. Stout stood there for a moment, breathing like a winded rhinoceros, then turned on his heel and marched out of sight.
Good day, you wheezing maniac. Don’t let the ruined vines slap you in the crotch on the way out. Or maybe do.
With Elias out of sight, Penelope’s hand skittered up to her ear again. I jumped to stop her, but it was too late. She tugged on her ear and murmured a few words under her breath, nodding toward Kara and Chase.
Fur Magic Boxed Set: Talisman, Sage, Fawn, Lola: Paranormal Romantic Comedy Page 15
