Species Interaction (10 page)

So here I stood, hopping on my right leg at a moderate pace while rubbing back and forth on my my tummy to guide the case right or left. Teach me to not practice in years. I filed those magic words away hopefully forever not to use again.

Getting the glass clear, I hopped slower, trying for a gentle landing on a nearby carpet. Closing my eyes, I heard a thump. One peek told me that somehow the rug cushioned the fall enough. No cracks or splintered glass appeared, the whole remained intact as far as I could tell.

Spinning around, I grabbed the stone off the pedestal, praying for silence. Sure enough no lights flashed or sirens screamed. Instead, I heard a much more ominous sound.

A roar, angry and intense, shot from the next room. Loud thumps in a quick rhythm announced each step of the heavy creature; the noise grew in intensity signaling his closing proximity. An occasional thump followed along, probably a tail smacking against the floor.

Sucking in a breath I stood perfectly still, hoping the voice was in my head, a mere hallucination, and a side effect of poof or sleep deprivation or some other quirky tidbit of my life. The so-called hallucination stormed around the corner into the room, mouth open to show way too many razor sharp teeth. Dark greenish-brown lizard skin covered a beast about the size of a school bus. Short front arms ended in claws, but appeared pretty weak compared to the rest of the large body. In contrast, his hind legs were massive and powerful, bearing the weight of the entire body as he walked upright. Shiny talons extended from each toe. His large, wedge-shaped head sported two beady eyes. A long tail followed behind, flicking in agitation, and slapping the doorway as he stormed through with surprising quickness for such a large animal.

Dang magic words woke up allosaurus
. Think. Think. What do I do now?

Magic words woke him, maybe they would put him back to sleep. I started singing Brahms' Lullaby. He roared all the louder, making a beeline for me. Obviously, my singing didn't agree with him. There was a reason I never sang at a karaoke bar.

"Nice dinosaur. What big teeth you have…" Those eyes pinned me and I swore he licked his chops.

I started hopping along the hallway, clutching the precious stone against my belly. Using the rock, I moved my hand back and forth across my tummy, hoping it might have the same effect as on the glass case.

When allosaurus continued stalking me step by step, I abandoned that hope. Jogging around the corner, I contemplated my options. Sure I could poof out, but leaving the ancient dinosaur awake and unleashed seemed a bit socially irresponsible, no matter I drew a blank on how to stop him. On the other hand, within seconds I could become a tasty Shy breath mint. After all, he probably hadn't eaten in millions of years and saw me as a Pringles chip. He couldn't just eat one.

Running only seemed to increase his speed of pursuit.
Well, crap.

I hopped on the other foot and searched for other powerful magic spells locked away under cobwebs and buried under files of useless information in my pea brain. Anything to rectify this situation while I still lived and breathed.

"One of these things…" I sang the
Sesame Street
song loudly, scurrying around another corner on one foot. Rounding one more corner, I headed to the caveman exhibit, cowering in the cave behind the hide dressed man with the club. Rushing, I quickly finished the short song, praying it worked. I held my breath, listening for heavy footsteps or roars. When only silence greeted me, I snuck out of the man made cave and headed to the corner, peeking around.

The sight before me inspired awe.

Allosaurus had returned back to his old skeleton bony self. Unfortunately, his choice of resting stations left something to be desired. His head rested against the doorway to the women's bathroom, blocking it completely. If that wasn't bad enough, his rear end butted up against the statue of George Washington. George's sword pointed outward, virtually poking the dinosaur in his would be butt. The long tail wrapped around, with the very tip in a huge black kettle where some mannequins of early settlers stood cooking their pot of food.

I blinked. Who knew the television show taught such powerful spells? My attention turned to the rock in my hand. As far as I could tell, it could wake long dead dinosaur skeletons and that was it. Big whoop. Not much of a need for such things in the modern age. Too bad the item couldn't actually do something useful. Unless, maybe the rock held more powers that only a person filled with magical knowledge could unlock. While certainly possible, that left me out.

Making a beeline to my starting location, I picked up Ribbit, then focused on home once more, teleporting out with my prize.

No sooner had I returned home than I found my phone. The clock chimed three am as I punched in Meat's cell number.

"What?" he grouched into the phone.

Prepared for the crankiness of a middle of the night phone call, I started talking. "Where are you? I need to see you. Now."

He paused only a split second before answering. "At my house. Why?"

I dropped the phone and teleported out immediately.

Opening my eyes, I found myself in Meat's living room. He and Misha sat together on the sofa. At least they still had clothing on.

They both stood at my sudden entry. He shot me a quizzical look, his head tilting to the side. Misha stared at my attire and snarled her lip in disgust. So she wore the latest fashions. I still had my pink pajamas on, now dusty, along with my pink bunny house slippers. She was Marilyn. I was Lassie on the scale of beauty, but I had fortitude. Besides, underneath the happy-go-lucky exterior, Lassie could spontaneously morph in to Cujo at any instant. This could be just one of those instances.

"Shy?" Meat asked.

"I have something for you." Opening my hand, I gave them a quick glimpse of the relic before tossing it at Meat.

He caught it easily, gaping at the object in his hand for a long moment. Turning it over a couple of times, he appeared to verify the legitimacy.

Misha glanced at the item before her incredulous gaze turned on me. "Where did you get that? It can't be the real thing," she bit out as her eyes narrowed.

"It is." Once more Meat rubbed his thumb across the stone, and his eyes met mine. "But how? And do I have a mess to clean up?"

His words stirred my hormone induced irritability once more, setting a frown on my face. "You don't have to do anything. The how doesn't matter."

Misha huffed. "Like we should believe her."

He walked over, gave me a hug, then turned to Misha. His fangs flashed as a low growl escaped his throat. "She wouldn't have had to do anything if you hadn't messed with things you were told to leave alone. As it is, she fixed your screwup. Instead of being a bitch, you might say thank you then shut your damned mouth for once."

She glared at him, her ice façade cracking as her eyes filled with water. With a hateful glance my direction, she disappeared.

"So much for manners." I sighed, suddenly tired and worn out.

"You should have done as I told you. Not taken the risk." His lecture lacked fire, as if he chided a small child for spilling a glass of milk.

I shrugged, too tired to argue.

Wrapping me in his embrace, he kissed my forehead. "Let's get you home."

In a flash, we stood in my bedroom.

Chapter 10

I woke alone in bed, way before the first rays of dawn covered the sky. Checking the clock, I groaned. Four fifteen. So much for sleep.

After Meat escorted me home, he tucked me into bed, kissed my nose, and left. I wanted him to stay, but harbored a bit of annoyance toward him with the whole incident. First, shooing me away lest I hear details of this missing rock, then his teaming up with Misha to recover the silly object she lost in the first place. Let's not forget his order to obey. I shuddered. Sure, he wanted to distance me from any danger, but his decree backfired. The more he wanted me out, the more determined I became to be in. Not to mention all the time he spent with his former lover, who wanted to get her claws in him any chance she had.

Flipping over, I pushed my long braid to the side. The whole event left me unsettled, like Meat and I covered a particularly rocky patch in the path of our relationship. He maneuvered the area without difficulty, while I clung to the face of a small cliff holding on tight, with slipping confidence.

Picking up my cell phone, I called him. The sooner we ironed out things, the better. Maybe I could actually get some sleep then.

He answered on the second ring. "What is it?" The hoarse sound of his voice told me he'd been sleeping.

"We need to talk. Now. Please?"

Meat puffed out a long breath. "It's four fifteen in the morning, Shy."

"I know. Please?"

"Fine." He sounded resigned.

"I'll be at your house in ten." Quickly, I hung up before he could change his mind.

Tucking the phone in an oversized pocket on the pajama bottoms, I closed my eyes and teleported out.

Whap!
Ow! Dang
. That landing needed work.

Blinking, two things came to my attention quickly. The power had to be off as I couldn't see past my hand in the dark and I smelled spaghetti, lots of it. A quick glance told me all I needed to know and grossed me out at the same time.

Sure enough, I landed in a trash dumpster. The quantity of the noodles, sauce, and garlic, told me this happened to belong to an Italian restaurant. By the sheer amount of waste, I decided the entree fell short of expectations.

I lifted my arms; sauce coated my clothing, sinking through to run into my slippers. A few cold noodles fell from my shoulders and another batch from the top of my head as I pulled myself to a standing position. Sloshing and crawling, I managed to somehow climb out of the trash only to stand dripping on the street. Shaking my whole body only loosened a small portion of the discarded leftovers.

Just great
. I'm slimed with tonight's special.

A nearby clock struck half after. Closing my eyes, I focused once more, hurrying to avoid showing up late.

The crackling zing rushed through me. Opening one eye, I peeked out then sighed in relief. Sure enough, I landed in a familiar living room occupied by a yummy liger.

He wore leathers pants, probably from work, his chest bare. A few sparse hairs sprinkled across the muscular ridge, emphasizing the fitness and strength in his upper body. The black material coated his thighs like a second skin, leaving little to the imagination as to their size and power. Hair so dark brown, it bordered on black, tossed back to rest just below his shoulders. His eyes caught my attention. Piercing deep blue, like an endless ocean. He could easily pull you in and under with one look.

His gaze raked over me as a dark eyebrow shot up. "Looks like you landed in an Italian restaurant."

I shrugged, dislodging another spaghetti noodle to fall onto my nose, then slide downward, plopping on an ear of my right bunny slipper. "Close." I glanced down at the gradually growing puddle of sauce forming around me. "More like their garbage dumpster out back."

His lips twitched as he moved closer, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "I see. Having troubles with teleporting again?"

I glanced at him. "Again? I'm not sure I ever mastered it in the first place."

His grin widened slowly into a smile as he stopped just in front of me. One large hand reached over, as his index finger gently brushed my cheek, coming away with red sauce covering the tip.

I squirmed under his scrutiny. "At least there wasn't anyone naked in the dumpster. That would have been… awkward."

"Probably so." He chuckled and snapped his fingers.

Looking down, I found myself spotless once more. No more puddle, no more noodles on my bunny slippers, no more ick in my hair.

I rewarded him with a sincere smile. "Thank you."

He inclined his head marginally. Stepping back, he stared down at me and waited.

"I missed you," I whispered earnestly. He left me a couple hours ago, but too long in my book.

"Ditto."

When he didn't make any move toward me or continue speaking, I nervously chewed my lip. "I guess I should explain why I needed to talk to you right now."

"That might help."

Not sure where to begin or what to say, I headed to the couch, plopped down, and waited for him to follow suit.

"Well… I wanted to help. No. Knew I could help."

He remained mute.

"When you wouldn't listen to my information and ordered me to leave it alone, I guess I needed to prove it to you."

"And?" He folded his arms across his broad chest.

Another reason? "I thought we loved one another. To me, that means being a team, not simply you ordering and my being a submissive, brainless trophy girlfriend. I do have a brain. Maybe not the best brain or smartest in the world, but it's a fine one I intend to use and keep." I huffed loudly and continued my tirade. "I also know about 'others'. All kinds of them. So I couldn't see why you would clam up about this situation and shut me out. I'm a good listener. I could help. Heck, I even sleep poofed to find your silly lost relic and caught a glimpse of a thief in Misha's apartment. Well, his hairy mole elbow anyway."

His brow furrowed at my words, those muscles in his upper body tensed considerably.

"And?"

"That hurt. I love you with all that I am and want to stand beside you. Our relationship is a partnership, or at least, I thought it was."

"And?" he insisted, his eyes locked on mine.

Oh good grief.
What in the world did he want me to say? I dug a little deeper. "And you no longer had time for me. I thought if I helped you'd finish the case faster and return to me, to our time together. Show you how valuable I can be as a partner. No matter what I did to help, you refused to release this case from your tight grasp. You held on like it was a lifeline, spending every waking hour working on it."

"And with Misha?"

I saw red. "Yes, damn it. With Misha." I quickly stood, pacing the living room floor in front of him. "She's beautiful, gorgeous, could easily be the cover model on the
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit
edition. She's rich, has fancy clothes, knows fashion, and always dresses to make men drool at her feet. Not to mention she's a shape-shifter, one of your own kind. You understand one another, share common traits. She goes into heat; you drool like a thirsty tomcat at the sight of a rare and illusive oasis. You've been with her before. Even after we started seeing one another. You chose her over me."