Feral Magic (9 page)

"Yes."

Brandy stared at them in disbelief.  "A black panther would tear up my house, probably me, too."

"You are known to feed the ferals."  The female cop appeared disapproving.

Brandy laughed.  "So you think I'm a crazy cat lady?"  She opened the door wider.  "I have two cats and you're welcome to come in and check the house.  Mine are shy, though, and you probably won't see them if they're inside."  She didn't know whether they had come in through the cat door or not.

"Brandy?" Dak said, coming up behind her.  Dammit!  She'd jolted and the cops wouldn't miss that.

The officers faded back a little.  The big guy – not as big and definitely not in as good shape as Dak – looked warier.

"This is my boyfriend.”  She hesitated over
Dak
, and transformed his name to something more likely, “Dakota," she said.

The female cop looked at him askance.  He was probably scowling, not liking the addition of "ota" to his name.  But she'd given it a little thought and believed it was a good compromise for him.  Not that he seemed much of a man for compromise.

"Miss Svensson..." the cop began.

With a chortle, Favel crawled around Brandy, took the short dive from tall step to porch floor, laughed some more, and latched on to the woman officer's blue trousers.

Dak slid around Brandy and scooped him up, and the baby's incipient golden glow vanished.

Favel tangled his hands in Dak's hair, blew wet bubbles at his uncle..."Da..da...dak."

Both cops' stances eased a little, especially when Favel cuddled against Dak.  To Brandy it was obvious the baby was happy and not abused, and she hoped the police saw that, too.  There wasn't a mark on the baby, though this wasn't the time to point out that shapeshifters healed really well and fast.

She gestured Dak inside and he went, and she stepped back, too, saying, "No wildcats in my house, but you're welcome to come in."  Then she frowned.  "You're sure of this tip?"

"Thank you, Miss Svensson," the woman said, and turned and left with her partner, who hadn't said a word.

Brandy closed the door, leaned against it and sighed.  "I guess you must have been seen." Her voice held an accusatory note that she didn't like.  She wiped her forehead with her oversize shirt.  "Sorry for the tone, but this is not so good.  They'll report following up on a rumor and talking to me.  It will be on record.  Not that I think anything will happen, but they may keep an eye on the house and if any other strange things happen...."

Dak inclined his head.  "They are good guards if they investigate all rumors, make note of all details, remember incidents."

"Seemed that way."  She flattened her mouth.  "But we'll have to be more careful now."  Not looking at him, she tried to hide her hurt.  "You didn't stay all night." 

"I...needed...to run."  His jaw firmed.  "And I wished to check out the west and the mountain terrain.'"

"Did you find the portal?"  Just how fast could he run, how far, how long?  Big cats were usually sprinters.

"Not quite, before I had to turn back," he said steadily, rocking a little as he held Favel.  "It seems to be close enough for us to reach, and stationary."  He glanced at the dining room table where the red jewel sat.  It glowed brightly and the backs of her eyes stung.  So this was really the end.  Just as well…she couldn't go through the daily stress.

He moved to the couch and sat down, placed the sleeping Favel next to him and rubbed the baby's back.  Dak's soles appeared nearly black.

"How are your feet?"  She scrutinized him. He seemed okay physically, but she
sensed
he was still a bit off his internal balance, whatever that might be.  As if his emotions hadn't recovered as quickly as his body to all the dramatic events of the last couple of days.

"They will do."  He stood, nodded toward Favel.  "I would like to bathe, but both of us would take too much time.  I will change into another set of fighting leathers, then we can leave once more."

"Wait just one moment."  Okay, fear and irritation and stress snapped through her.  She stopped herself from shifting her feet as she met his purple gaze, let her own face form into serious lines.  Kept her arms from crossing her body, too.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

No, she would
not
shift under the weight of his intense stare.

She cleared her throat, lifted and ungritted her teeth.  Dammit
.
  "I have one rule for lovers."

He raised his brows.  "Only one?"  He patted Favel on the back and a large burp emerged.  The baby opened sleepy eyes.

"Please do not leave me – this house – without waking me."

"I was being considerate."

She didn't know about that.  "With human men, leaving when one's lover is sleeping is extremely tacky.  Please, don't do that again."

He frowned.  "Tacky?"

"Rude and disgusting."

His nostrils flared, his upper lip lifted as if unhappy such words had been applied to him.  He straightened into a soldierly bearing, inclined his head in a nod, his own face serious.  "I will not do so again."

Of course he wouldn't.  He wouldn't be here.

Favel gurgled, rolling over and propping himself against the couch to stare at them with a dribbling grin, obviously not picking up on the tension between Dak and her.

"We need to leave as soon as possible."

"I understand and accept that."

Dak glanced away, back toward the door.  "I apologize.  Circumstances made me restless."

She thought of a black-maned panther running through the neighborhood, scattering all before him, liked the image and smiled.

"There is another person outside the porch.  Female," Dak said.

Brandy turned and opened the front door.  Waved to the mail carrier, took a sheaf of letters from the box and flipped through them.  The cop car drove by slowly and she'd have bet that the officers had circled the block and gone down the alley.

"The guards are curious and careful," Dak said from the doorway.

She stepped back into the house more quickly than she would normally have done, and still thought she felt the woman officer's gaze on her.

Flipping through her mail, she sighed.  "Bills," she said.

"Invoices?" Dak asked.

"Yes."  She frowned.  "I'm still not sure how you know our language."

He shrugged.  "Spell. It will wear off as I learn."

That sounded confusing, too.  Her smile strained.  "You won't be here long enough."

"No, but it would only take a few more of your days, less if we went out amongst other people."

She opened her mouth to protest, and he raised a hand, saying quietly, "It has been best that we stay hidden.  I do not like even the guards knowing Favel was here. "

Of course he wouldn't.  He was all about protecting the baby.

His hand blurred and when he opened his fingers, there was another gold link on his palm.

"I will pay you for the items you purchased for me and Favel."  Dak tilted his head toward the sturdy playpen.  "And our food."

Brandy stepped back.  "I think the first link you gave me is sufficient."  And easier to explain.

His intent gaze burned as she met his eyes.  "You have taken much trouble with us.  I have not seen you work."

Her turn to shrug.  "I work on the machine in the office.  My hours are flexible."  But she did have deadlines coming up.  She'd have to pull long days if she wanted to meet them.  Her clients depended on her.

He took her hand, kissed the cup of her palm, set the gold in it.  "Let me help, give you something more solid than my affections."

She smiled.  "You've given me promises that I think are more valuable than gold and that I know you would never break."

He blinked as if in astonishment, inclined his head.  "That is true.  But I will not be here to keep them."

"They are good memories."  She opened her arms wide.  "All of this is.  You...helped me."

"How?"

She should have anticipated that.  She stiffened, swallowed, kept her stare locked with his.  "I had a man go to war.  He didn't return."

His face went stony, shadows of grief passed in his own eyes.  "I am sorry."

"So am I."  Another breath.  "I hadn't been physically intimate with a man since I lost him."  Now her smile wobbled.  "You helped me know that I have moved past the deepest mourning."

He nodded.

There came a little thud and they both turned.  Favel pushed up to his hands and knees – then wavered.

"Don't let him change!  We can't be seen with a black panther cub in the car!"

Dak whisked the baby into his arms, spoke words in a liquid language.  Favel cried, but stopped shimmering.  His golden glow smoldered with a touch of red

Want to be CAT.  Want to PLAY.  Want my fur and my tail!

Another soothing sentence from Dak, then he glanced toward the window.  "The moon has set.  The cub is cranky."  His gaze bored into her.  "Can we leave within one of your hour units?  Very soon is best."

"Yes," she said.  "I'll shower and dress.  Make it fast."  She went into the kitchen to grab another cup of coffee.

When she came out, she stared at the wickedly sharp knives laid out on the dining room table.  "You can't be seen with those!"

"I won't be." He didn't even glance at her as he began stashing them around his person, a couple in his boots, one up each of his sleeves, one stuck in a hidden sheath in his thigh. 

"Can't you, um, just pull them out of your, uh, personal aura storage?"

"That takes a couple of seconds I might not have.  We must be prepared for Bretine."  He glanced at Brandy and gave her a scary smile.  "I noticed that your guards carried something that appeared to be projectile weapons?"

"Guns, yes.  They fire bullets.  Ah, small projectiles of mostly lead, I think."  Obviously she should have been watching more of those crime shows.

He clicked his tongue and frowned.  "There's no honor in that."

She stared at him doubtfully, then shook her head.  The
pantherman
was accustomed to fighting in cat form – always up close and personal.

There came an almost audible thud in her mind.  She had a weapon, too: one that she'd completely forgotten.  She didn't like firearms and only an extreme situation would force her to use one, but she figured two panthers and a tiger might do it.

"I'll be down as quickly as I can," she said.

While Dak and Favel got ready, Brandy went to the darkest corner of her walk-in closet and pulled down the box that Ross had left.  She took out his taser.  The weapon felt funny in her hand, though in the first flush of infatuation with Ross she'd practiced with it – and with a gun at a shooting range.  She hadn't kept his gun, gave it to a friend.

The taser's charge was low, but still easily within the expiration date.  When she put in new batteries, it looked ready.  She grimaced and stuck it in the outside pocket of her purse.  After taking the fastest shower on record, she dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved blouse, then put on her hiking boots.

Dak and Favel awaited her, Dak murmuring soft alien words to the infant.  Whatever he said seemed to have put the baby in a happy frame of mind...along with the strip of jerky he gnawed on.

Brandy led the way out of the house and locked the door, then took a minute to gaze at the man and child. She wanted to keep that picture of them against the lush greenness of her yard as a memory.  A
good
memory.

Tom-Tom sat staring through a wide crack in the wooden slats of the back gate.  Gypsy lounged on the catnip plant.

Turning his head to glower at them, Tom-Tom said,
Is the big thing leaving now?

Gypsy aimed a glare at Dak.
 Are you REALLY going and not coming back?

"Yes," Brandy said aloud.  The more she verbalized the reality of their departure – the more she really
felt
it – the better off she'd be. Grateful for the experience of having the shapeshifters in her life, but not missing them or the shakeup they'd given her.

Tom-Tom hissed. 
There were PEOPLE who smelled of bad weapons at the back gate!  They drove up and down the street with one of those different cars that We don’t like. Those that make terrible noises and flash awful lights.

"The city guards," Dak said.

"Yes, checking out the neighborhood."  She grimaced.  "I've never had them at my door before.  Guess they just drove by, but they could have come in if they feared for my safety."

Dak patted Favel's back.  "We appeared harmless and innocent of any wrongdoing."

He'd said that to lighten the moment, she knew, and she laughed.  "Hardly harmless, but maybe a little innocent.  Favel, at least."  Glancing at Tom-Tom who hadn't moved, she said, "Scoot."

"Your cats do not treat you with enough respect."  Dak hissed at Tom-Tom and he bolted.

"We get on well enough," she said, opening the gate and going to the car she'd left in the alley the day before.  She opened the door, slid the taser under her seat –
just in case of a white tiger
.  How strange was that?  She put her purse in the back seat, checking on the unopened second can of wasp-spray.  She was armed well enough, too.

Glancing back at her cats, she said usual mantra-like words, "I love you.  I'll be back soon."  She swallowed.  She would return alone.  "Before afternoon."

Dak strapped Favel and himself in, and they were off.

When they pulled up to the first light, the cop car drove up beside them and the female officer stared at them.  Brandy began to sweat.

"We are fine," Dak murmured.  "I am in my human form.  Favel is in his human form.  No weapons are showing."

Not even the taser under her seat.

Someone honked behind her and she realized the light had turned green.  Getting a grip on her nerves, she headed out of town, west toward the mountains.  Following the brightening ruby glow of a dimensional portal tracer.

Brandy took I-70 into the mountains; the route seemed nearly a straight shot up the highway...and the other appearance of the portal had been by a highway.  Was the thing attracted to high-speed lanes of asphalt?  The busyness of the roads?  She didn't know, and it would be something to ponder for the rest of her life.