Page 90 of Cats Never Fly

Everythingchanged at that moment.

Thewheat field disappeared, and suddenly we were standing before a concrete block building in what looked like an abandoned farmyard.Nohouse was in sight, but there were a few other rundown shacks around the place.Theconcrete structure with its chipped paint and rusted metal roof looked newer than those little outbuildings, but it was still old.

Soundsof people crying and the stink of fear crashed over me.Notmy fear.Butsomeone else’s… a lot of someones.

“Ogden!”Iraced forward, shifting mid-stride into my cat form.

Vantried to stop me, butIducked around him.ThenGagereached for me, andIevaded him too.Iwas a cat.Imay not be a brave or big cat, butIwas cat enough to get away from someone who tried to stop me.

Scramblingaround the corner of the building,Ilooked for a door.Thenit was there.Ajar.Idarted inside without stopping to think about whatImight find.

Largecages, stacked two and three high, crowded the interior of the long, narrow building.

Someonewas running ahead of me.Wasthat the human who’d helped kidnapOgden?He’dknow whereOgdenwas.Isurged forward, determined to catch him.Imay not be the best runner in the family, butIcould beat a simple human in a race any day.Thehuman ran through the building.Bythe time he reached the large door at the far end of the building,Iwas snapping at his heels.AllIneeded to do was trip him andI’dhave him.

“Thatnoise!Didyou hear it?Theyfound us,” the human—Edgar—shouted.

ThenIrealized he’d led me right to his cohorts.AndIwas alone.Iskidded to a halt and scrambled back a couple of steps.

“Openthe portal, demon.Troll, go get the dragon and the unicorn.Takeyour pet with you so he doesn’t get in my way,”Teddythe mage directed his underlings.

Valathe troll scurried off to do his bidding.Thehuman followed.Iguessed that was whoTeddycalled her pet.Ididn’t think trolls liked humans all that much.Wasit a star-crossed lovers thing?

“Fuck,”Teddymuttered. “We’llhave to leave the rest of these.Startfrom scratch.Again.”Hehuffed out a breath like this whole situation was an irritating inconvenience.

Thedemon growled but did as the mage said and opened a portal.Howon earth was a mage controlling a demon?Thatwas crazy.Thedemon didn’t move or say anything else.

“Hello, kitty cat.”Themurderous bear shifter grinned at me as he waggled his fingers in the creepiest waveI’dever seen.Ihated that he called me by the same nameOgdenused. “IfonlyIhad twisted your little neck whenIfound your broken body in that alley.Iwon’t make that mistake again.”

“Wedon’t have time for that,”Teddysnapped, stopping the bear’s advance on me.

Meanwhile,ValaandEdgarhad returned.Theypushed a wheeled cage toward the portal.Thecage was just asOgdenhad described it, but this one didn’t hold my dragon.Thesmall man had shimmering curls, round cheeks, and big expressive eyes.Irecognized him from the oracle’s painting.Thishad to be the unicorn.

“Morgan!”Ishouted, remembering at the last moment whatOdgenhad called him.

Theman looked up at the sound of his name.Helifted his hand in a little wave; a small shy smile played over his face.Ichased after them, hoping to stop the troll before she pushed the pretty man through the portal, but the bear swatted me with one of his massive paws.Theimpact sent me flying into the concrete wall.Allmy partly healed injuries screamed in agony.Bythe timeI’dshaken off the hurt, the cage with the unicorn was gone.

Thebear glanced at the mage to see if he was distracted, then he started stalking toward me again.Hefroze when a loud roar shook the building.Thesound came from behind me.Ithad to beGageand the others.Thebeast turned back and lumbered toward the mage.Obviously, he didn’t consider me a threat, which was okay with me.

“Getback here,Gus.Wehave more important things to worry about than a little shifter like that.”Teddyonce again stopped the bear’s advance on me.Thenhe scowledat the demon. “Ithought you reinforced the ward this morning,Solon.”

“Itold you someone broke through already,” the human muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “Whydoes no one ever listen to me?”

“Ilisten to you, baby,” the troll said softly.

Thebear shifter ignored the exchange, andSolondidn’t speak.Thedemon’s face, though, betrayed how much he was hating this.

“Howmany are there?” the mage asked.

Thedemon closed his eyes and his magic pulsed.Ididn’t know howIknew this, but there was something wrong with it.

“Four.Twowolves, a medium, and a mage.”Solon’seyes snapped open, and he looked at me. “Plusthat one, the cat.”

Ibarely registered that the demon had lied when everyone’s head swiveled to look at me.Isqueaked—and, no,Iabsolutely didn’t sound like a mouse—and dove behind some boxes close to the shimmering portal.Whenno one pounced on me,Ipeeked over the boxes.Iwas sure that bear would be coming for me again, butTeddysnapped his fingers to get everyone’s attention.Perfect.

BeforeIcould second guess whatIwas doing, my shift flowed over me.Thisshift to my human form didn’t hurt as much as whenHaydenhad forced my last one, but it wasn’t as easy as usual.Afterusing so much magic today,Iwas going to need a boatload of fish sticks to balance my magic.Icrouched behind the boxes and prayed they would forget about me—Iwas just a little cat shifter, soIwasn’t athreat, right?Theywouldn’t waste their time coming after little old me.

Ipulled out the pouch with the tracking device.