Page 18 of Cats Never Fly

Thecreature wasn’t big and bulky likeI’dalways envisioned a dragon would look.Youknow the image: curved horns protruding from its head, sharp-looking spikes along its back, thick reptile-like legs, and gigantic wings.Yeah, well, this creature was nothing like that.Thiscreature was sleek and lean and long, with surprisingly small wings on its back.Itswhole body was more snake-like than not.

Itsbody undulated through the air, surfing the air currents the same as fish swam along the currents in the water.

Thenthe creature’s body jackknifed.Now, rather than shooting up, it blasted back to the ground or the water or…

Oh…

Ohno…

Itwasn’t heading for either of those.Thecreature was coming straight for me.

Uhoh.

WhathadIdone?

Iwas definitely losing one of my nine lives tonight.

Hoveringover the middle of the lake, the creature hadn’t seemed too big.Butmy eyes must be broken because as the thing came closer, it appeared more and more enormous.

Igulped down a breath and prayed it wasn’t going to eat me.

Inmy shifted form,Iwas on the smaller side—more house cat than lion—but right now?Inmy human form?Iwas big enoughI’dcatch in the creature’s throat, and that didn’t sound pleasant.Foreither of us.

“Hi, nice dragon-y person,”Ichoked out asIraised my hands in surrender. “I’mpretty sureI’dtaste awful.Ieat too much processed meat and sodium and sugar—no, forgetIsaid sugar—Imeant… uh… artificial coloring…So, yeah, you definitely don’t want to eat me.”

Thedragon was close now.Everyundulation of its long body mesmerized me as it glided toward me.Wasthat how it incapacitated its victims?Theglow from the town’s evening lights caught on its scales, which appeared to glitter and glisten as it moved.Iswallowed hard.Thecreature was beautiful and utterly terrifying all at once.

Thepart of my brain that loved having all its nine lives, which until this moment had always been the most dominant part of my psyche, couldn’t even motivate me to move.Ihad to see what was going to happen next.Ihad to know more.

Andthen it was too late.

Thecreature was on me.Itslong, thick body whipped around me, encircling me, untilIcouldn’t budge ifIwanted to.Itscoils squeezed my soft belly, making me keenly aware thatIwasn’t super fit like my brothers.Iwasn’t beer-belly fat, butI’dnever seen myAdonisbelt either.Ofall the ways to lose one of my nine,I’dnever imagined being crushed to death.Thiswas the worst moment of my life… even worse than whenI’dcoughed up a hairball on my biology exam in high school and made the girl next to me throw up.It’dbeen awful.Myclassmates—especially my brothers—never let me forget it.

Butthis?Thiswas awful in a different way.

Whatif the creature took more than one of my nine?Whatif it took all nine?Wipedthem out?Gone.Kablooey.Poofedinto thin air.

Istarted counting down to my impending death.

Iwould be down to eight lives in three… two… one…

Mylungs sucked a breath in and let it out.Andagain.Thecreature wasn’t crushing me.Ithadn’t bitten me yet either.Hopesurged through me.

“I’msorry.”Thewords rushed out. “I’msorry.Idon’t know why you are mad at me.Ididn’t mean to do anything.Pleasedon’t hurt me.”

“Whoare you?”Adrawn-out hiss punctuated the dragon’s question as its long, thin, forked tongue curled through the air in front of my face.AslightEnglishaccent coated the words.Iusually found accents sexy, but not this time, not when spoken by an angry dragon.

“S…Simon…”Istammered. “SimonRivers.”

“SimontheCat.”Thattongue hissed the “s” before it unrolled and drew a long lick up my cheek.

Ishivered. “J…JustSimonis fine.”

“HowamIhere,JustSimon?”Thetail tightened around my body.Ifit wanted, the creature could kill me.Weboth knew it.Ireally didn’t need the demonstration.

“I…I…”

SuddenlyIknew the whistle was no ordinary whistle.I’dalways suspected it was special, but…Davinawas right, unfortunately.Thewhistle was dangerous.