Page 30 of Cats Never Fly

“Italways comes back toRobbie,”Haydenmuttered.

“WhoisRobbie?”Ogdenwhispered to me.

“Hayden’sbrother,”Iexplained. “Hedid some… uh… not great stuff.He’smissing now.Noone knows where he is.TheSCis looking for him.”

Uponhearing my description,Hayden’seyes turned golden, suggesting his wolf was close to the surface.Hegritted his teeth and shook his head to get control.Amoment later, he cleared his throat, looking more like his usual self. “Areyou sure he stole it?”

“That’swhatUlricsaid.”Davinanodded.

Isquirmed, becauseIhad one of those missing artifacts too.Iswallowed hard and slid down in my chair.Everyoneelse let that bit of news sit for a minute beforeVanturned back toOgden.

“Thenwhat?”Vanprodded. “Whathappened next?”

“Notmuch really.”Ogdentilted his head as he went back through his memories. “Thetroll came back just beforeIcame here, but otherwise no one else came into the room whileIwas there.”

“Howlong were you held there?”Vanasked.

Thedragon tapped on the table as if he was counting something. “Ifinished about seven sets.”Wemust have all looked confused, because he shrugged again. “Isometimes perform at my bar.Ithought some songs might help lift people’s spirits.Itcertainly couldn’t hurt.”

“Howlong is a set?Anhour?”

Ogdennodded. “Thereabouts.”

“Soyou sang for seven hours?”Vanasked.

Ogdenrolled an elegant shoulder. “Itook a few breaks between sets so magic could soothe my vocal cords, but none of them were too long.Themorale really dropped quickly whenIstopped singing.”

BothVanandJeremyadded more notes to their books.

“I’dlike to show you a picture of a message from our oracle,”Gagesaid as he leaned forward.

Ogden’seyebrows rose. “Youhave a hellhound, a demon, and an oracle here?That’s… surprising.”

Gageinclined his head in acknowledgement.

Ihadn’t ever thought aboutWillowLakebeing special or unusual.Itwas just my home.Butmaybe it was strange to have all these powerful and unusual supes living here.

“Okay.Let’ssee your oracle’s message.”Ogdennodded.

Davinatapped on her tablet a few times before turning it towardOgden.Ileaned over and looked at the image too.Itshowed people in cages.Oh, right.Iremembered something about that now.Mamahad been there whenJakepainted it.ButI’dbeen so caught up in my whistle thatIhadn’t paid much attention to it.Ithad just been so… separate from me and my world.Ithadn’t meant much.Sure,Ifelt for the people, but what couldIdo about it?

Butnow thatIknewOgdenhad been there…

Ogdenswallowed as he took the tablet and zoomed in on it.

“Yeah,” he said with a dry sounding voice. “Yeah.That’sit.That’swhereIwoke up.That’sthe view from the cageIwas in.”Hisvoice cracked, the first obvious sign that he might not be as calm about the situation as he seemed.

Hewas handling everything so much better thanIwould have.Justlistening to him talk about what happened made my anxiety grow.Myskin felt too tight for my body and my stomach churned.

Idesperately wanted to comfort him.Buthow?Mamawould know what to do.ShouldIhug him?Mama’shugs usually helped me.Iwrapped my arm around the dragon’s slim shoulders.

“Themiddle-aged guy is a phoenix,” he continued. “Thewoman there?Hername isTammy.Youcan’t see him in this picture, but the guy to my left was a monkey shifter.Andthat guy on the right side, he’s a unicorn.Hisname isMorgan.MorganRussell,Ithink he said.”

“Aunicorn?”Nelsonasked as he jolted upright.Iwouldn’t have said he was slouching before, but he lookedready to spring from his seat now.Theedges of his body seemed to dissipate, then solidify again.

Ogdennodded. “Heis a sweet man.Ihaven’t seen a unicorn in…Itmust be centuries.Ididn’t think their kind were still around anymore.Hisenergy felt… innocent.Thatmight not be the right word, butI’mnot sure how else to describe him.Itmade him seem young.It’salways difficult to tell with supes, though.”

Theshadow jumper was usually on the pale side, but his face looked ghostly white now against his black hair and his black clothes.