Page 25 of Cats Never Fly

Vannodded and made a note.Iwanted to ask whyOgdenneeded lawyers, butIdidn’t.Maybehe was a criminal mastermind, and if he was,Ifelt a strange compulsion not to get him into trouble withVan.Iprobably watched too muchTVif that was my first thought, but whatever.

“Lastnight, afterIclosed up the bar for the night,Iwent to the lake for a little dip.”

“Doyou do that often?”

“Almostevery night.Nomatter the weather.”

Vanmade another note.

“Andthen…”Ogdenfrowned. “Actually,I’mnot sure what happened.Iremember changing into my bathing suit.”Heturned to face me with a sexy smirk. “It’sa tight little numberIgot inMonacothe last timeIwas there.”

Atight little number…Meow.

Mycheeks burned.Itried to swallow soIwouldn’t drool.Ogdengrinned as if he knew exactly what he was doing to me.Whena little purr squeaked free, he winked at me.

Vancleared his throat.Right.Heneeded answers. “Soyou changed.Thenwhat?”

“Iwent down to the water…”Hiswords trailed off and his forehead furrowed. “Huh…”

“Youdon’t remember?”Vanasked.

Ireached for the dragon’s hand, needing to offer some sort of comfort.WhyIthought he’d find comfort in holding my hand,Ididn’t know.Hisface didn’t register any obvious distress, but his fingers tightened around mine.

“No…Idon’t remember what happened next.”Hefrowned. “Iwoke up, naked as the dayIhatched, in a large-ish crate or cage thing.Itwasn’t super big.Icouldn’t stand or stretch out my legs, butIcould sit up in it.Magiccoated the cage, reinforcing the bars enough thatIcouldn’t bend them or break the lock.”

“Acage?”Van’sface contorted like he’d tasted something vile.

Ogdennodded. “That’swhy the blowtorch might work.Themagic on the cage will probably repel other magic, but they might not have protected against a mundane approach.”

Vanleaned forward. “Whatelse did you see?”

“Abunch more cages, all filled with other supes.”Ogdenstared at the wall behindVan, as if envisioning the scene in his head.

Van’sbody went eerily still.Theonly movement was the creepy fire dancing in his eyes. “Whatcan you tell me about where you were being held?”

Ogden’shand squeezed mine. “Thewalls were concrete and so was the floor.Icouldn’t see the ceiling because the top of the cage was solid, butIknow the lights were fluorescent.Theyhummed and gave off that awful glow that makes everyone look sickly.”

“Youdidn’t recognize it?”

Ogdenshook his head.

“Shit,” the hellhound muttered. “Okay.I’mgoing to call in a few other people to hear this, okay?”

“Whateveryou think is best,”Ogdenagreed. “Buthurry.Weneed to get everything sorted before my time runs out.Doyou have a gunIcould borrow?”

“Ican’t give out guns, but we’ll figure out something.Doyou think you could pull another person with you going back?”

Ogdenconsidered the question, then shook his head. “Idon’t know, but it seems unlikely.Theway the magic felt when it pulled me through…Itseemed specific to me.”

“Goodto know.Okay.I’llbe right back,” the hellhound said as he left the room.

“Ican’t believe you were in a cage.”Iwanted to cling toOgdenand make sure he never went back there again. “WhatifIhadn’t blown on that whistle tonight?I’vehad it for months without doing that.WhatIfI’dwaited another few months or years or…?”

Ogdenpeered into my eyes. “Butyou did.”

“Butwhat if?—?”

“Don’tthink of that,” he said. “I’mbeginning to suspect theEternalMagichad a hand in this.”