Page 16 of Cats Never Fly

“It’sokay.”Jaketried to use a soothing tone. “Theseguys know what they’re doing.They’regood at their jobs.Thereisn’t anything to be worried about.”

Ifonly this was about my normal scaredy-cat impulses.

“Igotta go.”Iyanked out a handful of bills and tossed them on the table.Thatshould be more than enough to pay for the pint.

Myhand shook asIscrambled to fix the stupid chair.ThenIran out the door without any thought for my previous hunger.Thecream ale was churning in my empty stomach, andIhopedI’dmake it outside beforeIlost it.Imay enjoy pampering myself like a house cat with regular meals, butI’dsurvive without eating tonight.

Acrossthe street from the inn,WillowLakeglittered under the setting sun.Thedays were getting shorter as fall approached, but tonight the late summer’s heat lingered in the air.Lightbounced off the undulating water and seemed to call me to it.I’dnever liked big bodies of water all that much.Ipretended it was a cat thing, but my brotherWarrenloved swimming, soIknew it wasn’t really that.Buttonight, for some reason, the water captivated me.Maybebecause the undulating surface reminded me of the etchings on my whistle.

Thelake was large enough that the water lapped at the shore.Thesound was sort of soothing.Ifyou liked that kind of thing.Iclimbed onto a large boulder that sat right where the water met the land and stared at the water.

Myphone pinged, announcing a text message.Dreadcoiled in my belly.Ihoped it wasn’tJakeorGageor worse—Van—demanding answers for my weird behavior.Witha trembling hand,Ipulled it from my pocket and found a text fromJeremy.

Jeremyhad recently started texting me.Oneday, he’d asked me to feed his cat.I’dsaid yes, mostly to get away from him so he wouldn’t ask me a bunch of questions.I’dseen him working his way through the supes around town.Heasked a lot of questions.Hewas more curious than a cat, and that was saying something.

Thenhe’d asked to exchange numbers.Ididn’t know how to say no, not afterI’dagreed to feed his cat.Ifsomething went wrong with the cat,I’dneed to phone him.He’dtried to convince me to put his contact information in my phone under some weird name.Ihadn’t.

Afterthat, things got weird.

Ishould have known he’d use it for more than just checking in about his cat, butIhadn’t expected the guy to be addicted to texting.Andthe stuff he asked?Itwas super strange.Mostof the time,Ididn’t answer him, butIstill opened every message.Likenow…

Jeremy:We’regetting togetherSaturdaynight to watch “TheLordof theRings” movies at the inn.Haveyou seen them?It’llonly be you, me,Ash, andJake, soIneed you there to help answer questionsJakeandImight have about the magic in the show.Like, do you think a magical ring could make you invisible?Doyou think actual supes inspired the species in the show?Oh… and one elf can sense the future, soIthoughtJakewould appreciate that.Butmostly we’re watching becauseJakeneeds to have more pop culture in his life and it’s our job to help him.Anyway, don’t worry about bringing anything, but if you really want to, a bag of chips would be great.

“Huh?”Iblinked at the message.

Ihadn’t agreed to any of that, hadI?Iignored the message and shoved my phone back in my pocket.Myfingers brushed against the whistle, andIforgot all aboutJeremy.

Ipulled the whistle from my pocket and stared at it.

Itwas too pretty to be dangerous.

MaybeifIblew on it once, it’d satisfy my curiosity enough thatIcould give it back.ThentheSCwouldn’t have any reason to come after me.Mymouth went dry at the thought of putting my lips on it.Whoknew where the whistle had been?ShouldIwash it first?

Idunked the whistle in the lake water, then dried it off with the sleeve of my hoodie.ThenIstared at it some more.

Myheart pounded asIlifted it to my lips.

Myhand trembled.WasIreally doing this?Ipulled it away before the metal touched my mouth.Whydid this seem so important?Itwas just a whistle, right?Right.

Ibrought it to my mouth again.Thistime,Iwrapped my lips around the cool metal mouthpiece without yanking it away.

Iblew softly.

Afaint noise came out, but it was hardly noteworthy.Ifrowned.Wasit a fancy dog whistle or something?No,Iwould have heard that, even in my human form.Ihoped it wasn’t broken.MaybeifIblew on it harder, it’d sound better.Ilicked my lips, sucked in a deep breath, then blew into the whistle with everythingIhad.

Iwanted this to work.Iwanted to know what it could do.Iwanted…

Chapter Five

OGDEN

Mythroat was getting sore, butI’dbe damned ifIstopped singing now.Iwas a supernatural fucking being andIcould do this.Mymagic would repair any damageIdid to my vocal cords, soIwas going to keep singing my fucking heart out, damn it.Theymight have put me in a cage, but they couldn’t lock down my spirit.

Iwas bellowing loud enough to wake upLittleSusiewhen the door at the end of the room clanged again.Thelittle troll was back.Shedragged the end of her cattle prod along the concrete floor.Thehand and armI’dzapped were wrapped in bandages.Thething about supernatural healing was that it worked great until a dragon attacked you.Ourmagic had a way of changing things.Igrinned.It’dtake her a while to heal.

“I’vethought of a way to shut you up.”Thetroll grinned evilly at me as she banged her weapon against the cage next to mine.Thecute little unicorn jumped.Hiscurls jolted and bobbed around his face.Thehappy little rainbow bubbles the unicorn had giggled into existence a mere moment ago were all burst and gone now.

“Seethis?”Thetroll held my gaze as she wiggled the prod between the bars of the unicorn’s cage. “Shutup orI’llstart poking your neighbors with my little toy.”