Something to Curse About (10 page)

“To take the dogs outside.”

“I’ll go with.” He stood, dropping the magazine onto the chair’s seat. “Logan said you’d named them?”

The teen grinned. “Yeah, Angel’s the big girl, and the little one’s Precious.”

“Cute names.”

Also pretty darn close to our real ones. Well, Angel
was
my real name. I wondered how Terra had managed to pick one of my names and one close to Princess’s real name.

I made it down the stairs without any help, watching the two of them. Teague didn’t seem interested in Terra. He called her “kid” a couple of times. Maybe lion and tiger shifters didn’t mix the way natural lions and tigers sometimes did. I’d seen a liger once, during a family vacation to Las Vegas, back before the Melding. It had been bigger than Logan was in his tiger shape, and he was larger than natural tigers.

It would’ve been silly to leave a tiger standing guard over her, after what I’d heard, unless that tiger was Alanna. Teague must be the safest choice Logan had available.

Out in the yard, Teague walked to the gate and poked around while Princess quickly found a spot not far from the back steps and squatted. I chose a hidden spot again, and was aware of Terra’s gaze when I left cover to rejoin Princess. The Chihuahua bounced around. “
Let’s play!”

I tried, but had no clue how to go about it. Princess yapped and ran, dodging under me and out while nipping at my legs. I pushed her a few times with my nose, careful not to be too rough. She gave up on me, sitting down with her tongue hanging out. “
How come you don’t know how to play right?
”

“
Um...ooh, a bird!”

The Chihuahua leaped to her paws and spun around, barking as she raced off to charge the pigeon that had landed in the yard. I sat down to watch her.

Terra was still watching me. Done scaring the pigeon away, Princess pranced back and sniffed my mouth. “
Why, you’re a pup. You should know how to play
.”

“
Sorry. I haven’t been around other dogs much
.” Leglin didn’t play. Maybe I should try taking him to a dog park. Hell, I’d probably be joining him. Returning to human was beginning to feel like it wouldn’t happen.

“
You’re sad
.” The Chihuahua cocked her head, her bat ears so perked, they trembled. “
Why are you sad?
”

“
I’m sad about all those other dogs in the bad-smelling place
.” Talking to Princess reminded me of talking to Jonah. “
Do you know what will happen to them?
”

“
No, what?
”

I hesitated, worried I’d give her nightmares, but continued anyway. “
The bad men will make the big dogs fight. They’ll teach them how on the little ones
.”

Princess’s eyes bugged out again, and she whimpered. “
That’s bad. Bad, bad, bad!
”

“
Yeah. I wish we could help them
.” I did, whether doing so would lead to discovering the identity of the mysterious “he” or not. No dog deserved either fate.

The Chihuahua sniffed, her ears drooping and perking. “
I remember where the bad-smelling place is.
”

“
I can’t get out
.” I heaved a sigh, glancing at Terra, who watched us intently. “
And you don’t need to go back there.
”

“
We could lead your animal people friends to it. She’s
,” Princess pointed her nose at the teen. “
Nice. She would help
.”

“
I’m sure she would, if we could explain. But it would be dangerous for her too
.”

“
Why?
”

Yeah, just like talking to Jonah. Question after question. “
Some animal people that smell like her aren’t nice. They’ll be mean to her if they catch her
.”

“
Oh
.” The little dog’s ears folded back. She stood and shook so hard, her twiggy hind legs flew from side to side. Too cute. “
Want to run?
”

“
You go ahead
.”

Princess did, taking off and running in gradually widening circles. Teague left the gate, pausing to avoid stepping on her as she crossed his path, and shook his head. “Dogs are crazy.”

“She’s playing,” Terra replied, transferring her gaze to the Chihuahua. A smile appeared on her face. “And having a lot of fun.”

“Heh, hah, heh,” Princess panted, zooming between the teen and me. She made a lot of noise for something so small. Probably didn’t weigh five pounds. She came back around. “Hah, heh, hah.”

I felt tired just watching her. Where did she get all that energy? Dropping to the ground, I stretched out on my side. The sun felt warm on my fur. I closed my eyes, keeping one ear up to listen to the Chihuahua’s frantic progress around the yard.

“Heh, hah, heh.”

Wow, that grew annoying really fast. I opened an eye the fourth time she began to zip past. “
Aren’t you tired yet?
”

Princess skidded to a stop, almost going tail over nose when her hind end flipped upward. “
You act like an old dog
.”

“
Hey, I ran the wolves off, remember?
”

“
Oh, and you’re still a pup. You’re tired
.”

“All right, let’s go in, girls. Come on, Angel. Here, Precious.” Terra picked up the Chihuahua. I climbed back to my paws and stretched.

Upward dog. Downward dog
.
Heh
. I stretched each hind leg out until they quivered. Stretching felt way better as a dog. Finished, I followed the teen back into the building. A couple of shifters came in from the garage as we neared the stairs. The door took a few seconds to close. Long enough for me to bolt through it. I eyed it. Maybe I could still do something about those other dogs.

“
Can you tell me how to find the bad-smelling place?
”

“
Sure
,” Princess yipped.

FOURTEEN

Silly me, thinking it’d be easy. Princess couldn’t read, though she understood letters were shapes that meant something to humans. Her directions consisted of smells and landmarks in the form of notable-to-a-dog places.

I had her go over it five times before Terra fed us dinner and began to cook, to make certain I wouldn’t forget anything. The Chihuahua couldn’t quite describe the “bad-smelling place” but she was quite firm there was a “meat-cheese-lettuce place” directly across the street from it. I thought she meant a taco or burger place.

“
How do you know what lettuce is?
”

“
My mom taught me all sorts of foods. Chocolate is bad.
” Princess listed several other foods Vera had given her as treats. It was a pretty impressive list for three-year-old, much less a tiny dog whose whole body would fit in Doggy Me’s mouth.

I repeated her directions back, and felt proud when she said I had everything correct.

“
Can you open cages?
”

Oops. Potential stumbling block. “
I don’t know.
”

“
They’re easy if they’re not big or stuck. You pull out and push them if you’re outside them. You push and push if you’re inside.
” Princess sat up, waving her front legs in an effort to illustrate her directions.

The sound of stirring stopped, and I looked up to find Terra watching us again, a faint line between her brows. “What are you two doing?”

I nudged Princess’s shoulder, pushing her over. She jumped up and ran around me, then dove under me to tug on one of my front legs. I fell over, pretending she’d pulled me down, and she pounced on my neck, worrying a mouthful of fur.

The display seemed to take care of the teen’s curiosity. She returned to stirring. I winced as the faint aroma of scorched tuna rose. If I returned to human, I was going to give the girl some cooking lessons. Though she read the directions, Terra didn’t quite have a handle on cooking temperatures.

Hearing footsteps outside in the hallway, I jumped up and barked at the door. It opened and Logan came inside. Princess danced around on her hind legs, waving her front ones to get his attention, but he patted my head first.

“Any luck?”

He shook his head, bending to pick up the Chihuahua. She settled in the crook of his arm. “We found her car keys and her wallet, but no sign of her.”

“Where were they found?”

“The keys in a trashcan, outside a taco place.” He shrugged off his jean jacket, transferring Princess from arm to arm. “Down on Augustine, across from that old brewery that’s been condemned. Her wallet was in the middle of an empty lot over on Thompson.”

I wasn’t sure where Thompson was, but thought I remembered driving down Augustine when we were following my tracking sense and found Carole Bronson’s body a month or so prior. It didn’t seem close to where I’d regained consciousness and discovered my new body.

Logan sat at the table, absently stroking Princess’s side with his fingertips. He frowned, staring at the tabletop. “I’m worried this could mean a demon got her.”

“That hound could find her in the demon realm.” Terra shook her head, lifting the pan from the stove. She carried it to the table and set it on a hot pad. “Why would a demon scatter her things? It’d be easier to take everything, where it wouldn’t be found.”

“To throw off any searchers?” He shrugged, leaning forward to peer into the pot, and sat back. “We won against them because of her, and demons bear grudges.”

Argh. Totally wrong direction. I turned to cross the room and climbed onto the couch, feeling pretty disgusted. Shifters, witches, and whatever Mr. Whitehaven was, yet not a one of them seem to have considered the possibility I’d been cursed—again!—by the asshole who’d been making people commit suicide all over town. I wondered if he was still busy killing people, and growled quietly in frustration.

***

I spent the night on Logan’s bed again, staring at him between naps and trying to make telepathic contact. As much as my abilities scared me at times, they’d become a part of me. Not having them proved scarier.

Sometime close to morning, I had a nightmare about a dog trapped in my body, running around without being able to control my abilities. The dog’s fear choked me as I chased after myself, positive if we touched, we’d return to our rightful bodies.

I yelped and snapped when something touched my head, eyes opening as Logan snatched his hand back. “Easy, girl. Bad dream?”

You have no idea
.

He slowly extended his hand again, and I licked it, thumping my tail a couple of times in apology. I didn’t like the possibility the nightmare offered. What if that was what happened? I’d need to find my body to return to human.

Terra and Princess weren’t awake when we left his bedroom. Logan called me to the door. “Come on, I’ll take you outside before I leave.”

Ugh
. I followed anyway.

Halfway down the last flight of stairs, I heard the sound of one of the garage bay doors opening. Logan reached the foot of the stairs ahead of me, and turned to walk toward the back door.

As I hit the last step, someone came through the door leading to the garage. I bolted, slipping through before it closed and ignoring the shouts that filled the air. A shifter I hadn’t met jumped in front of me. I leaped, hitting him in the chest with my front paws, and eeled through his arms as he went over backward, trying to close them around me. Upon reaching the open bay door, I turned right and ran as fast as I could, nearly knocking a few more people over before reaching the end of the block.

From somewhere behind me, I heard Logan calling. “Angel!”

I made another right at the end of the block, paused briefly at the alley entrance to orient myself, and took off again, directly across the street. Princess had stuck close to hiding places, traveling down the alleys as much as possible.

Anxiety, more than exertion, made me pant. I hoped no one would catch up before I found the right place. With no clear way to help myself, attempting to help those dogs was the least I could do.

Before long, I had to slow down and backtrack. The Chihuahua’s legs were a lot shorter, and I’d overshot one of the markers.

“
Hey, chica! What you doing?
”

I lifted my head to find a dog nearly as tall as I was padding toward me. He looked like a pit bull of some sort, mostly white with a few brown spots, all broad head and big chest. There were scars on his muzzle and neck, and he limped. “
You a fighter?
”

He stopped, lifting his head. “
A fighter? Naw, chica. I’m a champion. I lived.
”

I noticed his tail drooping. “
How did you get out?
”

“
Kept my head
.
The others
,” he paused, cocking his head to one side. Most of his left ear was missing, leaving a nub. “
They go crazy, you know? Insane.
” He dragged out the last word. “
Go crazy, you lose
.”

I sat down. “
My name’s Cordi. I helped a little one hide from the bad men. She escaped from a place where they’re keeping a lot of dogs
.”

“
I’m Bone
.” Three other dogs slunk out from concealment behind him, one red, one black, and one mostly white. “
This is my pack
.”

Uh oh. I rose and backed a few steps. “
I’m not looking for trouble. I want to help those dogs
.”

“
Why?
” Bone cocked his head the other way, after glancing back at the other three. They stopped, one of them sitting down. Each of them looked like pit bulls too. From the scars showing, they’d fought as well. I noticed two toes missing from the right front paw of the red one.

“
It’s wrong the bad men make dogs fight each other. That they make big dogs hurt little ones
.”

Bone shook his head, his lips flapping. “
Chica, you can’t help them
.”

“
Do you know where they are?
”

His good ear swept back. “
Maybe
.”

I offered them the only reward I could think of. “
If you help me, I’ll help you find homes
.”

The red dog snorted. “
Bitch is crazy, Bone
.”

“
Hey! I’m not a…”
I stopped. Dog, female…yeah, I was a bitch to them. “
I’m not really a dog. I’m human. A bad man cursed me, turned me into a dog. And my name is Cordi, not Chica
.”

The black dog, missing part of one lip so that his teeth showed, growled. “
I’m outta here. Don’t want no part of people again.
”

“
You stay put, Diablo
,” Bone growled back, gazing steadily at me. I tried not to wince at the other dog’s name. “Diablo” meant devil, and devils were usually demons.

“
You fall for every line a bitch throws your way. Always ends in trouble
.”

My adventure offered a fascinating education of dogs, one I’d definitely keep in mind. If—when—I returned to human, I hoped I could retain enough from it to communicate with them better than before. “
Look, dude, I’m not asking for anything but help to find the place. I can handle things from there myself
.”

“
She’s telling the truth. She’s not natural
.” The last dog, white with merle markings and a graying muzzle, moved up to Bone’s shoulder. “
Look at her
.”

All four stared. I lifted my head, ears perking forward. “
What’s wrong with me? I think I’m doing a pretty good job of being a dog
.”

“
I see it
,” Bone said. “
Okay, we’ll show you the place
.”

“
But we’re not getting involved. We did our time
,” the red dog grunted. “
Right, Bone?
”

Their pack leader didn’t answer.

***

I felt out of place, trotting between Bone and the older dog, with the other two bringing up the rear. Doggy Me was taller, and stuck out like a sore thumb with my somewhat longer coat and lack of scars.

“
You really human?
”

“
Yes. I have a car, an apartment, and a job. I work as a private investigator
.”

Bone cocked his good ear back. “
A what?
”

“
Like a cop dog,
” the older one said.

“
Oh, yeah. So why do you smell like those animal people that live over on Haymill?
”

I nearly tripped. “
How do you know what street they’re on?
”

Bone snorted. “
Might be missing an ear, but I can hear people talking.
”

“
Right. Sorry. A couple of them are my friends. Well, they are when I’m human. Guess right now, they’re kind of my owners
.” Whom I’d run away from, again. I hoped that wouldn’t be the last straw for Logan or Terra. It’d suck to end up in the pound.

No, it’d more than suck, whether someone came along to adopt Doggy Me or I visited the Bad Room. I’d either be dead or spayed and consigned to a shorter lifespan. I shook my head to dispel those thoughts. They didn’t help jack. “
How come they don’t understand dogs?
”

“
Too much human in them. They don’t understand cats either
.” Bone jerked his muzzle upward. “
It’s up ahead. They keep ’em down in the cellar, so no one hears all the barking.
”

We were nearing a street sign, and I glanced at it: Augustine. Interesting. “
My cases are related.
”

“
Huh?
”

“
Princess, the little dog I helped, I was looking for her before I became a dog. She said there’s a taco or burger place across from the bad-smelling place where the dogs are. And my animal person friend said my car keys were found in a trash can at a taco place, across from,
” I halted, looking at the three-story building taking up two full blocks further on, surrounded by tall, chain link fencing. I remembered it. “
The old brewery
.
We’re close to the outskirts here.
”

“
Yeah
.” Bone sat down and scratched behind his nub. “
There’s a taco place across from it, a block down. Why does that make them related?
”