Something to Curse About (9 page)

The other noticed my staring, and nudged Nick. “Dog’s watching you.”

My boyfriend turned around, his eyes flashing to dark gold. “Would you take that damn dog home or whatever?”

Logan patted my head. “She’s not going to do anything.”

“Better hope it doesn’t,” the other shifter said. “We’ll rip it apart.”

Terra whirled around, her light eyes narrowed. “And maybe I’ll rip you apart. How’d you like that, wolf boy?”

“Come at me, kitty. I’ll tear your head off and use your skull to piss in.”

Wow, what a freakin’ douchebag. If he was Nick’s brother, I already didn’t like him. Logan released his hold my collar, taking a step toward the other shifter. “Don’t threaten our Queen.”

“She made the first threat,” Nick said, but he put a hand on the other wolf shifter’s arm.

“I did not. He threatened Angel.”

The other tigers, and Teague the lion, closed ranks behind the three of us. Nick’s brow creased, and brown flooded his irises, pushing the gold out. “The dog is a threat. It’s waiting for its chance to attack one of us.”

Schumacher wandered over, stopping so that he stood between the two groups. “Okay, folks, let’s everyone calm down. We’re here to find a missing person, not argue over the pretty puppy who can’t help her instincts.” He looked at Logan. “Just keep hold of her, okay?”

“Sure.” Logan patted his thigh, and I moved to stand beside him. He didn’t grab my collar, but his fingers rested on it.

The beefy detective winked at us before turning his head. “Now, you…what’s your name?”

Nick had to elbow his companion before the guy would answer. “Patrick Maxwell.”

They were related. I studied him, and decided they were definitely brothers. They looked too much alike to be anything else. Patrick stood an inch or so taller than Nick, and he was a little heavier built. I thought he could be a couple of years older, and could almost smell the arrogance oozing from him.

Definitely a douchebag.

“Nice name, kid. Why don’t you apologize to the little lady here for being ugly to her and the puppy and we’ll call it even instead of starting some kind of shifter war?” When Patrick scowled, Schumacher drew himself up to his full height and spoke in a less friendly tone. “That wasn’t a suggestion.”

“Discord likes dogs,” Logan murmured, so quietly Schumacher didn’t hear. But Nick must have, because he elbowed Patrick again.

That did the trick, though Patrick’s sarcastic tone didn’t suit the flowery bow he executed. It looked silly with his cutoff jeans and muscle shirt anyway. “My apologies.”

Terra hissed, but said, “Accepted.”

“There now, see? No need for anyone to get their undies in a bundle.” Schumacher grinned, smacking his hands together. “Much better, kiddies. Let’s focus on business now, okay?”

“I’m ready.” Damian’s announcement drew everyone’s attention. A few minutes of rearranging occurred, as everyone moved to find a spot to watch. I ended up standing between Logan and Terra, off to the warlock’s right side. The other cat shifters lined the edge of the circle from Terra around, ending with Teague standing between the tigers and Nick.

Damian began chanting. The candles he’d placed at the four cardinal points popped, their wicks lighting. The breeze tried to put them out, but my witch buddies had long ago learned to combat the wind. They used the same wicks in their candles, which Jo and Ronnie made, that joke birthday candles did. You had to pinch them to put them out.

Zing!
The circle flashed and formed a half-bowl of swirling grayness, obscuring my car from view. With a little more chanting, the gray changed, becoming dark and then clearing enough for us to see an empty parking spot within a circle of yellow light.

“So cool,” Terra breathed.

Damian spoke a final word before telling them, “Now, we watch.”

Several minutes passed with not much happening inside the impromptu theater, other than the light flickering and an occasional bit of dust skating over the asphalt.

Finally, my car pulled into the spot and my former human self stepped out of it. The warlock said something, freezing the scene. “Well, she was fine that far.”

I heaved a sigh, staring at myself, and heard an echoing, quieter sigh from Logan before he said, “She looks cranky.”

From the other side of the magic theater, Nick spoke. “She must’ve been asleep. Her hair’s messy. I bet her tracking sense woke her with something.”

Human Me’s long, brown hair did look kind of tangled with spots of fuzziness. Her narrowed eyes and faint scowl definitely indicated crankiness. I wanted to hide when I realized her tee was inside out.

At another word from Damian, the scene began moving again. Human Me locked my car, dropped the keys into the inside pocket of my jacket, and disappeared. I’d never gotten to see myself teleport before. It wasn’t something you could watch yourself do in a mirror or anything.

For about five minutes, my car sat there by itself, the sun eventually rising and overpowering the parking lot light, and then the magic dissipated, leaving my real car in the center of those watching.

“Right,” Damian said. “She went into the Palisades. I’ll call Kate, see if she can pinpoint a location.”

“We’ll go in, start looking for her trail.” Nick glanced at his brother. “In pairs.”

“We’ll help.” By “we”, Logan didn’t mean Terra, her two guardians, or me. Our “we” was sent home.

THIRTEEN

Once home, Alanna and Terra filled in the hole I’d dug before leaving me in the backyard. I took care of a suddenly pressing need and then wandered around, looking for another way out.

A whimper on the other side of the fence drew my attention. I trotted over to the gate and barked as quietly as possible, hoping my question was understandable. “
Who’s there?”

“Princess.”

I hit my nose on the gate, trying to look through the wooden slats. After a few seconds of adjusting, I could make out white fur. “
I’m Cordi. I’ve been looking for you
.”

The Chihuahua seemed to understand my whining without any trouble. “
Why?”

“I know your mom, Vera.”

“
You do?”
Princess pressed her face to the other side of the gate. “
I want to go home. Can you take me home?”

Marveling at the difference being a dog made in communicating with one, I said, “
Not right now, but as soon as I can. You need to find a way in here. I’m staying with friends, and they’ll take care of you too until we can take you home.”

She yipped and began scrabbling at the ground. “
There’s a rock
.”

“
Yeah, I kind of dug out earlier. Let me see if I can move it
.” Hooking a paw over the rock, I scraped at it. It moved a little. “
I can. Wait a second
.”

“
Hurry. I saw the bad man looking for me
.”

Still working the rock away from the gate, I asked, “
What bad man?”

“
He took me away from Mom’s friend, Eileen. He had others in a place that smelled bad. I couldn’t open their cages, but I opened mine
.”

With a final hard pull, I managed to move the rock several inches back from the gate. It would’ve been a lot easier with hands instead of paws. “
Can you get in now?”

More scrabbling and Princess wiggled under the gate. She shook dirt from her fur before looking up at me with bright, brown eyes. “
You’re big!”

I debated telling her that I was actually a human, but decided against it. “
Yeah. Do you know what shifters are?”

“
The animal people?”
She shrank back against the gate, looking around while her ears flicked back. “
They’re scary. The bad man’s an animal people.”

What? Shifters were stealing dogs? “
What kind of animal is he?”

Princess sneezed. “
Wolf.”

Okay, I needed some time to think about that. However, I didn’t get it right then, as footsteps sounded in the alley. “
Someone’s coming. Go hide.”

The Chihuahua didn’t waste time, scooting away from the gate with her little whip of a tail tucking between her hind legs. I didn’t move, watching the gate and listening.

“Last damn thing we need to be doing is looking for that yappy scrap of fur again.” A heavy thumping sound followed the words, and someone yelped. Pressing my nose to the gate, I sniffed.

The person who’d yelped spoke. “I didn’t let it out of the cage.”

“Dogs are stupid, they can’t open their own cages.” Another thump and yelp. “I swear, if he finds out, you’ll be the one getting your tail cut off.”

They were coming closer, and the breeze carried their scents to me. A growl rose in my throat. They were wolf shifters. “Did you hear that?”

“Yeah.” A few seconds later, the two were outside the gate. The larger one grabbed and shook it.

I went nuts, snarling, barking, and throwing myself at the gate, saliva flying everywhere. My doggy instincts shrieked
Kill, kill, kill!

“Hey, looks like we got ourselves a candidate for the ring.” The gate rattled. “It’s locked. Step back.”

“Wait, don’t you smell...”

Behind me the door opened. I redoubled my efforts, aware that backup was on the way. I hoped it wasn’t just Terra. Splinters of wood peeled away from the wooden planks as I raked my nails down them.

“Hey! Calm down.” It wasn’t Terra, but Teague. I spun away from the gate, dashing toward him, only to turn and run back, throwing myself against it again. The wolf shifters beat a hasty retreat down the alley.

Alanna appeared in the doorway. “What’s going on?”

“The dog’s lost its mind.”

I stopped, cocking my head with my ears perked, and then gave a satisfied bark. “
That’s right, run! Cowards
.”

“She hasn’t lost her mind. Can’t you smell them? There were wolves here a minute ago.” Alanna shook her head. “And they weren’t any of those doing the searching. Better call Logan and tell him we had visitors.”

Teague sniffed the air as I turned around, scanning the small yard for Princess. The Chihuahua had shoved herself under a tangle of weeds, and neither of the shifters had noticed her yet. “
You can come out. These animal people are my friends. They won’t let the wolves get you
.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
Yes. Come on
.” I walked toward her as Teague dashed back into the building. Alanna stayed, watching me, and sighed when she spotted Princess. “Great, another dog.”

***

Terra seemed delighted I’d brought a friend home, swooping down on Princess to pick her up for a cuddle. “You’re precious. Are you hungry? I bet you’re hungry. You need a bath too. You’re a little stinky.”

I settled on the floor to think about the wolf shifters. Why would they be stealing dogs? Who was the “he” mentioned? Their pack leader? Were they members of Nick’s pack?

None of them seemed to like dogs, but why would they steal them if they didn’t like them? To eat?

A shudder worked its way down my spine. Surely not. I couldn’t see Nick eating someone’s pet, or being able to play dumb about our missing dog case if one of his pack had stolen Princess.

I laid my head on my forelegs, watching Terra fuss over Princess. The smaller dog had stopped shivering, reveling in the attention. At least she was safe. I’d have to figure a way to get her home. If Logan would take her to the office, Mr. Whitehaven, Kate, or Nick would recognize her and that would take care of that.

One case mostly solved. Not bad for someone who’d been turned into a dog.

I still needed to figure out why those wolf shifters had taken her, for whom and to what purpose. Lying there, watching Princess chow down on the doggy kibble Terra poured for her, I sighed. She was registered, and there was that “excellent pedigree” to consider. Maybe they were stealing dogs to sell them?

Wait. The larger shifter had said “candidate for the ring” when I went nuts at the gate.

Dog fighting. They’d stolen Princess to use as a bait dog. I shuddered again, in spite of feeling glad the little dog wouldn’t be facing such an awful fate after all.

Okay, then I had the “why” in addition to recovering Princess, but who were those shifters working for?

I should probably be worrying about returning to human form instead of that, yet couldn’t stop wondering who the mentioned “he” was.

When Logan rushed into the apartment a half hour later, I was still wondering.

“Are you all right?”

Terra frowned, busy drying off Princess, who hadn’t thrown a fit about being bathed. “Yes, why are you here? You’re supposed to be helping look for Discord.”

“I was, but...”

“There were only two of them, and they were wolves. Do you really think wolves are working with tigers?”

Head up, I looked from her to Logan with my ears perked. Something was going on.

“Less than half the tigers moving to Santo Trueno have approached us. Establishing a clan here with a Queen as young as...”

She interrupted him. “I know, I know. But I’m safe here. You’ve made sure of that.”

Logan dropped into a chair at the table and sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. “You’re as safe as possible. That doesn’t mean we can’t be attacked here.” His head tilted as his gaze zeroed in on Princess. “Where did that one come from?”

“She’s a friend of Angel’s.”

“Angel?”

Terra nodded at me. “She needed a name, so I gave her one.”

Logan glanced my way, his brow furrowing. “Huh. Why ‘Angel’?”

The girl shrugged, picking up the dog brush to begin on Princess’s coat. “I don’t know. Kind of fit.”

I wagged my tail. He knew my middle name was Angel. Maybe he’d keep thinking about it and something would click. I could hope, anyway.

“Okay.” He patted his thigh, and I went to him, receiving a neck scratch for my trouble. “I should stay here. My first duty is to you.”

“Don’t be silly. We have twenty-four people here. One more isn’t going to make me any safer.”

Logan scowled. “Thanks.”

She reached over to pat his shoulder. “I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it. If I’m going to be Queen, I have to trust my people, not just my protector. You’re not going to be that forever. I’ll have a mate one day.”

“It’s my job to make sure that day is when you decide, not when someone else decides for you.” He scratched harder at my neck. I poked him in the leg with my nose. Logan’s fingers eased up. “Sorry, girl.”

“I’m not a kid anymore.”

“You’re not an adult yet either. Diana should’ve waited until you were before sending you here.”

Terra laughed. “She wanted to, but Dad was tired of breaking up fights.”

“I bet he was,” Logan muttered. I laid my head on his thigh, my eyes closing. Their conversation gave me an interesting look into their lives. “Keeping you safe was easier when you were little.”

“That’s what Dad said, before complaining about how old he’s getting.” The girl shrugged, setting the brush down. “There, Precious. You smell a lot better.”

“Alanna’s good at keeping people under control, but I really should stay here.”

“No, you should go help find Discord.” Terra latched onto his forearm, her pale green eyes swirling to a green-gold. “She’s the one who needs help right now.”

Logan’s lips pursed as he stared at her. “You really like her.”

Releasing his arm, she sat back. “Yeah, but that’s not the only reason I think you should be helping find her.” The teen bit her lip, her gaze dropping to Princess. “I’m hoping she’ll help me pick the right mate.”

Whoa.
I lifted my head to look at her. That was a tall order. Why the hell would she want me to help her with that?

He leaned, catching hold of one of her hands. “As long as you make your choice freely, he’ll be the right one.”

“Everyone says that, but you know that’s not always true.”

Logan spoke, a purr underlining his words. “I have faith that you’ll choose someone who will be a good Consort. Someone who will love you and be strong enough to protect you.”

“I have to be strong enough to protect myself.”

He chuckled. “That’s a given with our bloodline. You will be.”

Terra sighed, her back and shoulders straightening. She seemed to shake off her doubts in a second. “Right. Now, go. I have Alanna and Teague to help me. You concentrate on finding Discord.”

There were a few more minutes of back and forth, but Logan finally gave in and left. It appeared that Terra and I had some stuff in common, sort of. She might have been born into a world of magic, but she had the same kind of self-doubts I did. Not that I’d tell anyone, but I worried a lot about coming up against someone and not being strong enough to protect myself. That was one of the reasons I hadn’t thrown a bigger fit about the boss hiring Nick.

Yet I’d never be Queen of a shifter group, like her. Having people look to her for leadership for the rest of her life...boy, that sounded like a few thousand pounds of pressure. And they had to watch out for other tigers trying to kidnap her and force her into marriage? Wow.

I’d never have to worry about that kind of stuff, and it made my life look like a breeze compared to hers. Poor kid.

***

“
Don’t pee on the floor. She’ll take us outside in a minute
,” I promised Princess, who danced around my front legs, her already bulging eyes bugging out even further.

“
I can hold it
.”

I whined again, looking over my shoulder at Terra. The teen looked up from her book. “Oh.” She put the book down and rose from the couch. “Sorry. Let’s go outside, girls.”

Teague sat on a folding chair in the hallway outside, reading a magazine. “Do you need something?”

He smelled different than Terra, and I remembered he wasn’t a tiger, but a lion. Even so, he smelled better to Doggy Me than the wolf shifters did. Border Collies probably didn’t run across lions and tigers on a regular basis. Yeah, I still held out hope that was why Doggy Me didn’t like wolf shifters.