Page 24 of Cats Never Fly

“Whenwe get to the office,I’llgrab you some clothes.We’vestarted keeping a few things on hand, just in case.Theywon’t be pretty, but they’ll be better than what you have,”OfficeHellhoundsaid as he drove us through town.

Thepolice department filled a boring little one-story building close to what appeared to be the town’s main commercial district.Trueto his word, soon afterVanushered us inside a little meeting room, he disappeared, only to return a few minutes later with a dreary looking set of clothes and an equally awful pair of paper-like slippers for my feet.Isighed asIaccepted them, knowingIwasn’t in any position to be picky.VanandSimonleft the room long enough for me to change.

Thebland grayT-shirt and generic gray sweatpants were hardly my style.Notonly that, the shirt was way too big for me.Itugged on the bottom hem of the shirt and tied it into a knot.Thathelped a bit.Butthere was nothing to be done about the pants.Whenthe two returned,Simongulped.Hiseyes widened as he eyed me from top to bottom.Hispupils changed, taking on the slitted appearance of his feline form, which suggested he liked what hesaw.Ilooked at the travestyIwas wearing, andIdidn’t understand his reaction.

Simon’sgaze darted toVanwith an accusatory scowl on his face.

Vanchuckled again as he pattedSimon’sshoulder. “Sorry, kid, that’s the best we have.”

Thatjust madeSimon’sscowl deepen.

Chapter Eight

SIMON

Ogdenwas gloriously gorgeous.

Ikind of noticed that when we were down by the lake, butI’dtried my best not to look at him too much.Imean he was naked, and my mama had drilled it into me that ogling was bad manners.

Buthe wasn’t naked now.

Instead, he was wearing gray freaking sweatpants that revealed thingsIhad trouble ignoring.Andthe way he tied up theT-shirt to reveal that sliver of skin along his tight abdomen?Mytongue nearly fell out of my mouth, butIwasn’t a disgusting dog.Wecats didn’t let our tongues loll out of our mouths.

Catspurred.

ButIshouldn’t do that either.Hewas a stranger, andI’dseen him naked, andI’dsummoned him, and…Thewhole situation was messy.Ididn’t want him to feel uncomfortable.Exceptmy chest kept rumbling and vibrating and…Ineeded it to stop.Ithumped my chest a few times to interrupt the purring before things got out of hand.

Iwas making a mess of this.Didhe thinkIwas channeling some latent caveman impulse by hitting my chest like that?Andif he did, would he be wrong?Afterall,Iwasitching to throw him over my shoulder and haul him off to my apartment, where no one else could see him in those stupid sweatpants.

Howcould anyone look as good as him with so little effort?

Ogdendidn’t look like he’d been dunked in water earlier.Everyhair was in place.Andhe didn’t smell like the lake either.Notreally.Sure, there was a bit of a lake scent about him, but under that was the most delicious scentI’dever smelled.Itwas like catnip, only a thousand times better.Mybody rippled, andIfought back the urge to shift.Icouldn’t let that happen.IfIdid,Iwould probably end up in his lap, rolling around on him like a weirdo, rubbing my scent all over him.

“Thankyou, kitty cat,”Ogdensaid as he returned my jacket.Thesame jacket he’d been naked in.

Itook it from him, barely resisting the urge to push my face into the lining and inhale his scent.

“Let’ssit and you can tell me what happened tonight.”Vanwaved to the cushioned chairs around a shiny wooden table.Unlikesome of my rowdy brothers,I’dnever been to the police station before reporting the wolves all those months ago.Thattime,I’dsat besideDot’sdesk while she made some notes.Thistime, we were in a separate room,butIdoubted this was the interrogation room.Itwas too nice.

VanandOgdensat down at the table like normal people, butIdidn’t move from the doorway.Iwanted nothing more than to sit beside the dragon, but would that be weird?Ididn’t know him.He’dprobably want a bit of space.Itsounded like he’d had a pretty awful day, and part of that was my fault.

“I’mnot sureIshould be here,”Isaid, my gaze darting over my shoulder to the hallway.

“Comehere,Simon.”Ogdenpatted the chair beside him. “Youcan’t leave me yet.”

Ijumped forward and sat in the chair he indicated, like an obedient dog.ThanktheEternalMagicthat my brothers weren’t here to see that.They’dnever let me hear the end of it.Acrossthe table,Vanlifted one eyebrow.

Ididn’t want to know what he was thinking.

“Okay,Ineed to tell you what happened.Iknow that,”Ogdensaid, meetingVan’seyes steadily. “ButIneed your help first.Whenthe time for our negotiating expires,Ican’t go back without gear.Theonly wayI’llstand a chance of escaping again is ifI’marmed from head to tail.Somethingmagical would work best,Ithink, but something mundane might work in a pinch, like a blowtorch.”Henodded. “Yeah.Thatmight work.Butnot one of those wimpy ones used for crème brûlée.I’mtalking a powerful one, like something a bank robber would use to break into a safe.”

“Iknow you believe what you are saying to be true, butI’mgoing to need more information.”Vaneyed the dragon. “Let’sstart with your name.”

“OgdenWalsh,” he said with a resigned sigh.

“Okay,Mr.Walsh.Whatcan you tell me about how you came to be inWillowLake?”

Ogdensmiled, and it lit up his face.Hislaugh lines crinkled, and his pretty blue eyes sparkled and…Ugh.Ibit back a groan.Seriously, no one should be that attractive. “Please, call meOgden.Evenmy lawyers don’t call meMr.Walsh.”