Page 27 of Cats Never Fly

Couldthis day get any worse?

Ishrank down in my seat.Mygaze darted to the door.CouldIshift and run?CouldIget out the door before anyone stopped me?

No.Icouldn’t leaveOgden.

Hairballsand rocking chairs!HowwasIgoing to survive this?

Thedemon’s horns glinted under the office lights as he sat across from me.Whenhis gaze met mine,Iswallowed and managed a brief nod in acknowledgement.Theothersfollowed in behind him and sat down at the table with a familiarity that suggested this wasn’t the first time they’d all gathered here.

“Letme introduce everyone,”Vansaid.Henodded towardGagefirst.Thehorned demon radiated power from the far side of the table. “Thedemon isGage.He’srecently bonded toWillowLake, so he’s stable.Heleads an investigative team sanctioned by theSupernaturalCouncil.Iinvited him and his team here because they found a warehouse with a bunch of caged supes recently during another investigation.Aroundthat same time, our local oracle had a vision of more imprisoned supes.Andnow, here you are, talking about exactly that.Itseems highly probable this is all connected with theSC’songoing investigation.”

Ogdenglanced at the others. “Andwho are the rest of these people?”

“Thewolf isAdrian.”Vanwaved toward the muscular blond man with a very defined jaw line.Thefirst timeI’dever seenAdrian, a strange wolf shifter,I’drun away.Okay.Iran away from a lot of situations, but it was better to be safe than sorry, asMamasaid.Butexcept forHaydenandOak, wolf shifters didn’t have a great reputation.Adrianwas okay, though,Iguessed.Althougha lot of that had to do with my opinion ofJeremy.Jeremywas quirky and weird, butIcouldn’t see him putting up with a nasty mate.Thewolf was also a lot less intimidating with a pale green batch of hair and skin along his temple that marked him asJeremy’sfated mate.Thecolor and pattern almost made him look approachable. “He’smated toJeremy, who is sitting beside him.”

“Hi!IguessIknow whySimondidn’t reply to my text earlier,” the smaller man said with a wide grin as he waved enthusiastically at us.Jeremy’spale green markings matchedAdrian’s, butIthought they suited him better.

Andfor the record,Jeremy’simplication thatIusually replied was a lie.Todayhad not been the exception.

“Isit true you’re a dragon?”Jeremywiggled in his seat.Heheld a pen against a pad of paper, ready to take notes.

“Yes.”

“Doyou have a hoard?Canyou really breathe fire?Doesyour?—?”

“Saveyour questions for later,Jer,”Adrianwhispered in his mate’s ear, cutting off his questions.

Jeremypouted, but everyone ignored him.

“BesideJeremyisDavina.She’sa medium andGage’ssecond.”Shestill reminded me of an old-time movie star, except she was all sharp angles, narrowed eyes, and pursed lips. “Then, on the other side of the table, we haveTeague, who is a death mage.”

Isquirmed as the mage’s eyes went toOgdenand then to me.Hemight look nice and innocent like the stereotypical guy next door, complete with freckles and all, butIwanted nothing to do with a death mage, thank you very much.Ididn’t know what his magic did, andIdidn’t want to know.Theworddeathsaid it all.Iwas glad he was sitting far, far away from me.Mynine lives were precious.Ididn’t need to think about death for a long, long time.

“Thecentaur isIsaac.”

Isaaclifted his hand in a wide, sweeping motion like hisbig body couldn’t do small gestures.Hislong bleached blond hair and bright smiling face always struck me as strange.Itwasn’t natural for someone to smile that much.Itjust wasn’t.

“Andthe shadow jumper beside him isNelson.”

Thedark-haired man scowled at the mention of his name.Nottoo friendly, that one.Ididn’t know what a shadow jumper was any more thanIknew what a death mage was, butOgden’seyebrows lifted at the mention ofNelson’smagic.

“Thereare a few others we’ll be bringing in to help us too, but this is the core team.”ThenVannodded atOgden. “Couldyou repeat what you told me earlier about the room with the cages?”

“Wait.WhataboutHayden?”Iasked. “Shouldn’the be here?”Itrusted the alpha wolf more thanItrusted anyone else at this table… well, except maybeVan.

“Itexted him.Hedidn’t respond,”Vansaid.

“Butwe all know he doesn’t check his messages,”Iargued.Heatrushed over my face asIstruggled to stand up toVan.Everyonewas watching me, butIdidn’t back down.Ogdenneeded help, and getting the best help around was the leastIcould do for him.Haydenwas second to none when it came to helping people, ask anyone inWillowLake.Ilifted my chin and metVan’sfire-filled eyes.Hellhoundswere so freaky when they did that.

Normally,I’dhave slipped under the table and shifted under the intensity ofVan’sstare, butIdidn’t this time.Oh, howIwanted to, though!Myhair felt all puffed up, the back of my neck tingled, and my claws poked outthrough the ends of my fingers and toes.Mysocks would be ruined.ButIdidn’t back down.

Finally,Vansighed and pulled out his phone.Haydenpicked up on the second ring.Thehellhound explained the situation andHayden’scurse, even over the phone, was loud enough to fill the room.

Ogdenleaned toward me. “WhoisHayden?”

“Ouralpha.”

Haydenmust have heard my whispered response because he proclaimed he wasn’t “the fucking alpha” loud enough even the mage and the medium flinched.Thatsaid something because their kind didn’t have great hearing.Thenhe said he’d be right over, just like an alpha would.