Something to Curse About (12 page)

After lifting the last little dog from its cage, the girl kneeled to hug her dog, who’d stuck to her side since being released. The Chihuahuas clustered around my hind legs in a shivering, multi-colored lump. The girl looked at them then at me, her forehead wrinkling. “I don’t think you’re an ordinary dog. Are you someone’s familiar?”

I shook my head. “
Tell her you need to go. The other two men might come back soon
.”

The Husky yipped, grabbing hold of the girl’s coat sleeve. “
Come on, Tonya
.”

Rising, Tonya let her dog pull her toward the door. She looked at the wolf shifter, who’d fallen silent, though his eyes darted around. “You’d better run if you’re that afraid.”

He whined, focusing on Red and Sal. “They’re going to kill me.”

“No, they won’t. Everyone out!”

“
Go
,” Bone said. “
We’ll keep the little ones together
.”

I left, rushing out the door with the smaller dogs on my heels. The four pits followed, with Tonya and her Husky behind them.

Not knowing where else to go, I headed up the ramp and back along the way we’d come, and called a halt at the window. “
Crap
.”

Sal leaped through it. Red stopped. “
We’ll bring them after you go through
.”

I made shorter work of climbing onto his back and through the window the second time around. Bone and Red brought two each, while Diablo spat one tiny black pup out at my paws with a disapproving grunt.

Standing on my hind legs, I looked through the window for Tonya and her dog, but didn’t see them. She must’ve come in another way, and left the same. I dropped to all fours. “
Okay, we’re all going to my friend’s place
.”

“
Not us
.” Bone slopped his tongue across my muzzle. “
We’ll get you there, but we ain’t staying with animal people.
”

“
I promised to find you homes if you helped me. How can I keep my promise if you don’t stick around?
”

“
Do you know when you won’t be a dog anymore?
”

I sighed. “
No
.”

“
Can’t keep it until you’re a human again. We’ll be around
.” He flicked his good ear a few times. “
Come on
.”

“
Wait. There’s empty houses down at the end of Bartley. You know which street that is?
” When he responded affirmatively, I continued. “
Go there every night. When I’m human again, I’ll go there to find you and keep my promise
.”

“
Okay
.”

“
You’re not going to ask how you’ll know it’s me?
”

Bone chuffed. “
You’ll be the only human who knows our real names
.”

Oh. “
I really appreciate you guys helping stop the dog fights
.” The four large dogs traded glances. I perked my ears. “
What?

“
We didn’t stop nothing, except for keeping those dogs from going into the ring. They keep the dogs already used in the ring somewhere else.
” Bone’s tail drooped. “
Outside of town somewhere, someone’s place. Don’t know where, because they always took us in van when we left it
.”

Well, crap.

***

“
Quit wiggling
.” The black pup obeyed, but it still felt weird carrying him in my mouth. Only a few months old, he’d proven the youngest of the little dogs, and had quickly tired. If not for Red, he might’ve been left behind. I’d taken over carrying him once we reached the alley that ran behind the garage. It had been nerve-wracking, crossing the busy streets with the little ones, and had taken a lot longer to get back.

“
Don’t forget
.” My reminder earned a quick tail wag from Bone.

“
We won’t. Go on. We’ll watch until you get there
.”

“
All right, and thanks, guys
.” I set off with the other four Chihuahuas, dodging pedestrians. “
Stay close. It’s not much farther. Don’t be scared of these animal people. They’re my friends. Princess is staying with them
.”

They were too tired to care, panting like crazy, with tucked tails and folded-back ears. We went into the first open bay door, marching past the half dozen tiger shifters working on cars, and stopped at the door to the stairway.

I put the pup down as gently as possible, and barked.

“Hey, the dog’s…what the hell?” The one I’d bowled over during my mad dash that morning rolled out from underneath a car. “It brought puppies.”

I sat down, let my tongue flop out, and grinned at him.

SIXTEEN

“Here.” Alanna passed the third Chihuahua over to Terra, who wrapped it in a towel. “Two more to go.”

“Aw, the widdle baby is cold.” I watched the teen dry the little dog off from my sprawl on the couch. Princess lay on my neck, and the two who’d already been washed and dried were curled on and around me, snoring their tiny tails off.

Rescuing dogs was exhausting work. I let a burp escape. The first thing I’d done upon entering the apartment had been to eat and slurp down most of a bowl of water while ignoring Terra’s alternating between scolding me and cooing over our new guests. Alanna had pitched in to feed, water, and bathe them, though she griped about it until Terra growled at her.

Princess licked the fur over my right eye. “
I didn’t believe you’d save them, but you did. Even though you’re a puppy!
”

“
I had help. Four other big dogs
.” I closed my eyes, more than ready for some sleep. She subsided, dropping her head so that it hung over to rest between my eyes and I dozed off, feeling pretty pleased with my day’s work.

Being a dog made things tougher, yet like Human Me, Doggy Me had found friends to help make it through.

The two women finished bathing and drying dogs. Alanna left the apartment as the last three Chihuahuas joined our pile on the couch. Vaguely aware of Terra clearing things away, I wondered what time it was.

Everything went quiet for a while, until I heard, “Discord.”

Princess slid off my head when I jerked fully awake and turned to look at Terra, who sat in the recliner. She smiled as I wondered how long she’d been watching me. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

I wagged my tail, drawing sleepy mumbles of complaint from my nap buddies.

“Logan’s going to think I’m crazy when I tell him. I’m not sure I’m not crazy, but,” she hesitated. “One wag for yes, a bark for no. You were talking to Precious last night, weren’t you?”

A wag of my tail caused an eruption of pissed-off puppy. He sounded like a miniature Tasmanian Devil, and went completely nuts on my tail, biting and slapping at it. Terra giggled, jumping up to grab him. “Hush, Speck.”

She sat back down and settled the puppy in her lap. “Okay. I’m guessing you were talking to her about these dogs?” Wag. “Logan mentioned you had a case looking for a lost dog. Are one of these that dog?”

I nosed Princess while giving the required tail wag.

The teen smiled again. “Good. I’ll have to convince him to take us to your office so we can show them Precious, and that should make it easier for them to believe you’re you. He should be home soon. It’s getting dark.” Her smile faded, and she worried at her bottom lip for a minute. “Um, do you want to take a bath or anything?”

I thought about it for a minute or two before barking.

“Okay. I bet being a dog is really strange for you, but you figured it out fast. The first time I changed shape, I couldn’t walk without tripping all over my paws.” Terra grinned. “Logan helped me learn to walk. He held me up by the scruff of my neck so I wouldn’t fall.”

She told me a little more. Logan was twelve when she was born, and had been named her protector nearly the second she’d popped into the world. They’d barely begun establishing a territory when the Melding occurred, throwing everything into chaos. “A dragon found us, and flew me back home.”

“Rroo?” We had dragons? I hadn’t heard anything about dragons.

Terra misunderstood the sound I’d made. “Really. Dragons are the oldest living beings, and that one was huge. He looked white, but when the sun came up, the light turned his scales into rainbows. It was so cool.”

Okay, dragons probably weren’t anything to worry about, especially since I’d only now learned they existed. However, I did wonder what else there was I didn’t know about, and how many of those beings might be of the less friendly variety.

Seriously, vampires and demons were enough trouble. Oh, yeah, and whatever Crazy Curseman turned out to be.

“Why haven’t you used your telepathy?”

The question scattered my thoughts. I barked.

Lips slightly pursed, Terra regarded me for a long moment. “You don’t have your powers?”

I preferred “abilities”, but whatever. I barked again.

“Maybe that’s why your hound couldn’t find you.” We both heard Logan’s footsteps in the hallway. When he reached the door and opened it, a tornado of yapping, dancing Chihuahuas surrounded him, each begging him to pick them up.

He looked down. “I kind of hoped Warren had been drinking. Guess not.”

“
Quiet now
.” I barked, and they stopped yapping. Logan pulled his jacket off while glancing at me. He tossed it onto the back of a kitchen chair and sank down to sit cross-legged in the floor.

All six scrambled into his lap, pushing and shoving at each other. Logan petted with both hands until they settled down. I memorized the sight. A hunky guy with a lap full of tiny dogs seemed to be one of the things that made my heart melty.

He looked up, focusing on Terra. “Okay, now what exactly happened?”

She told him what she knew, which came down to “Angel came back this afternoon with five more little dogs.”

My turn to be stared at. Logan said, “We don’t have room for any more.”

“Hey, didn’t you say Discord had a missing dog case?”

He blinked at her question. “Yes.”

“Maybe one of them is the dog she was looking for. Will you take me to her office tomorrow, so we can ask?”

“We’re meeting there in the morning anyway, so sure. I’ll have Alanna and Teague follow us. They can bring you home afterwards.” Logan surveyed his full lap. “We’ll need a box.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Terra promised, getting up. “Are you hungry?”

“No, I grabbed something a little while ago. Did you name these too?”

“Only the smallest one. His name is Speck.” She began transferring them from his lap back onto the couch with me. “They’ll need to go outside soon.”

Logan rose from the floor, the last two Chihuahuas in hand, and passed them to her. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll help you take them out after that.”

***

My third night as a dog I again spent sleeping on Logan’s bed. Speck, the little black puppy, threw a fit until Terra brought him in to join us.

Early the next morning, a yawning Teague and Alanna helped get everyone downstairs for potty time, and back upstairs afterward for breakfast. By ten after eight, we’d loaded up into two vehicles and were on our way to the office.

I hoped, sitting between Logan and Terra, who held the box of little dogs, that they’d listen to her. That my witch buddies could reverse the curse, and once they had, that I’d have my abilities back. As interesting as being a dog was, I’d gotten tired of it.

Besides, I had a mystery to solve and a bad guy to catch. Make that two: I still had to figure out if my other client’s grandson was her thief or not. Well, I did if the boss hadn’t reassigned it to Kate by now.

Terra laid her hand on my back, and smiled when I looked at her. The best I could offer in return was a tongue-lolling doggy grin. The fact the teen had been the only one to figure out the stray dog was actually the person everyone had been looking for made me wonder how she’d done it.

I supposed she’d explain, after dropping the bombshell of who the stray dog really was on them.

When we arrived, Kate’s car sat in the parking lot. A hoofed demon had once used it as a landing pad, but it hadn’t taken nearly as long to be repaired as mine had after being demolished by a couple of vampires.

The witch huffed into the phone, her scarlet-painted nails tapping furiously on the receptionist’s desktop. Mr. Whitehaven hadn’t hired a new receptionist yet. The last one had quit because Percy, Kate’s parrot familiar, kept crapping on his head.

Said familiar stood on his brass perching stand, preening his feathers and grumbling in French. I barked, startling him into a puffy mess of mostly green feathers and flared wings. He screeched. “No dogs allowed!”

“Sorry.” Logan’s apology earned a harried glance from Kate, who waved them by with a flick of her free hand. He twitched the leash. “Come on, Angel.”

As we paraded by Percy, he settled his feathers and focused a bright, black eye on me. The flutter of wings caused Logan to duck just before we reached Mr. Whitehaven’s office door, and the parrot flew past, squawking at those within to “Move, dog breaths” before he landed on the boss’s desk lamp.

Hackles rising and legs stiffening, I stalked into the office beside Logan, trying to control my building growl. Nick and Patrick were there, along with another four wolf shifters.

“Why the hell did you bring that damn…” A storm of yipping and yapping interrupted Nick’s complaint. I barked several times, telling the Chihuahuas to hush, and they finally subsided. There were mutters of “Stinky animal people” from the box.

Logan and Terra ignored the wolves in favor of crossing to the boss’s desk. Whitehaven smiled. “Good morning. What have we here?”

“Logan told me that Discord had been looking for a missing dog. I’m wondering if one of these might be the dog?” Terra moved around the desk’s side to set the box down. “Maybe this one?” She bent, plucking Princess from it, and held her up.

“That’s the dog. Princess.” Silence followed Nick’s affirmation for a few seconds. The teen held Princess out, and Mr. Whitehaven took her, nearly engulfing her in his large hand.

“Where did you find her?”

“I didn’t.” I heard Terra draw a deep breath. “Discord did.”

Logan dropped the leash, jumping between her and my boyfriend when Nick lunged across the room at the teen. He stopped, baring his teeth at the tiger. “Where is she?”

I bit him on the butt.

Nick spun around, swinging a fist, but Logan caught his arm. “Don’t hit the dog.”

“The dog bit me.”

“The dog is Discord.” Terra’s announcement, delivered in a calm, firm tone, briefly froze everyone. Every pair of eyes in the room landed on me. Lips drawn back in a silent snarl, the hair from neck to tail standing on end, and ears back, I’m pretty sure no one believed her.

Except maybe for Logan, whose dark brows drew together even as Nick scoffed at her claim. “That dog isn’t Cordi.”

Terra lifted her chin and crossed her arms. “And you know that how?”

“Because Cordi likes me. That dog hates me. It just bit me,” he reminded her.

She shrugged. “I don’t think she can help it.”

“If this is Discord, why hasn’t she said anything?” Logan asked. “She has telepathy.”

“Not right now, she doesn’t. I asked her and she doesn’t have any of her powers.”

Mr. Whitehaven spoke. “Why do you believe this dog is Discordia?”

“She was in the Palisades and found Logan. He’s not afraid of dogs, but he’s never brought one home before. You didn’t even think twice about doing it, did you?” She dropped her arms to her sides.

“No.” Logan released Nick’s arm, and my boyfriend backed away from me. “I didn’t.”

Terra pointed at me. “I left her in the yard, she dug out, and found the car. After we went home, she somehow found Princess, and ran off two wolf shifters who came sniffing around our place.”

“The dog found the car?” Patrick’s question earned a narrow-eyed frown from Terra.

“We saw her, and chased her all over that parking lot. She didn’t stop running and dodging until she saw the car. She was looking for it.” The teen spread her hands out. “That night, I watched her with Precious, I mean, Princess. Princess did this thing,” Terra mimicked the gestures the Chihuahua had made, trying to show me how to open cages. “And I knew they were having a conversation.”

“Yesterday morning, she ran away and came back in the afternoon, with these other little dogs.” She wrinkled her nose. “They smelled as if they’d been somewhere no one had bothered to clean up for a long time, and I remembered that Princess smelled the same way at first.”

While she’d explained, I managed to calm and sit down. Ears perked, I wondered if she might be interested in becoming a private investigator. The girl had some mad deductive skills.

“There were a couple of other small things. Like when you came home and told me her keys and wallet were found. You were worried a demon had her, and Angel, I mean, Discord huffed and jumped on the couch. She looked,” Terra clasped her hands together. “Disgusted.”

“Discordia.” At Whitehaven’s call, I stood and lifted my front paws to the edge of his desk. Percy shoved his head into my face, gazing with an eye into one of mine. I stared back.
It’s me, bird brain. Help her out and tell them
.

The parrot clacked his beak and kept staring. I held my breath.
Come on, Percy
.

He drew his head back, shook it, and squawked. “
La petite déesse
! Cordi, Cordi, Cordi!”

Kate rushed into the office. “Where is she?”

Percy trilled, stretching to his full height and spreading his wings wide. “Cordi is dog!”