Something to Curse About (6 page)

Leglin barked, his ears perking. “I’m too tired to cook. We’re ordering pizza, okay?”

From the way he leaped to his feet, tail wagging, I guessed it was okay. “I’ll tell you the toppings, and you bark for the things you want on yours.”

My four-legged roommate’s tail wagged faster.

NINE

I sat on the living room floor next to the coffee table, holding a piece of pizza for Leglin while writing down the colors of tracking threads and the cases I felt pretty certain they were related to. Since I usually had more than one case at a time, “pretty certain” was as close as it got.

“Silver has to mean vampires. Red is for demons—and let’s hope we don’t see any more threads that color.”

Thump, thump
. Leglin nibbled another bite off his super meat and cheese pizza.

“It’s my turn to eat a slice next. Okay, brown…um, I think that’s animals and like, natural stuff. Because I had to find a carving once, and a brown tracking thread finally led me to it. But a brown thread helped me find clues to find that missing racehorse too.”

I stopped to wipe the hound’s lips, which had some strings of cheese dangling from them, with a paper towel. “Okay, green must be magical stuff. Or maybe ‘not evil’ magical stuff, because if it was for all magical stuff, then there would’ve been some green threads going on while we were looking for Thorandryll’s book, right?”

Leglin sneezed.

“Eww. Eat the rest of it. I have to wash my hand.” I shoved the last third of the slice in his mouth when he opened it. The hound’s shoulders quivered as he chewed. “Are you laughing?”

He gave me wide, innocent eyes. “You are. Gah.”

I went to wash my hands. Returning, I grabbed a slice of my pizza—mine had veggies—and went back to work. “I don’t remember any other colors, except for today, when the gold one popped up. So is gold for curses, or something else?”

No response from the hound, who eyed the slice of pizza I held. “It’s mine.”

I took a bite, thinking while chewing. “I guess it must be for cursed stuff, considering what happened.” Leglin bumped my elbow with his nose. “What?”

He jerked his chin at my pizza. “I told you, it’s mi…oh, you want me to hurry up and eat it?”

Thump, thump.

“This is a working dinner, dude. I talk during those.” I took another bite anyway, and remade a shorter list with just the colors and what they must be related to next to each. “There. I wonder how many other colors might show up?”

Leglin grunted, poking me in the arm again. “Okay, okay.”

We finished our dinner, and I let him out the front door before I cleared away the pizza boxes. Once he returned, I took a shower and put on one of my new PJ sets. Sleeping nude had become a thing of the past, because the hound slept in my room when Nick didn’t stay over. He slept on the couch when Nick did.

Since discovering Leglin was part wolf shifter and therefore more of a person than most people who loved dogs considered them to be, I’d decided to treat him like I would any guy I wasn’t dating. That meant no running around naked in front of him.

He probably didn’t care one way or the other, but I did. It felt respectful.

After I’d turned off the light and climbed into bed, Leglin jumped up on the other side and plopped onto his side, back to me.

“Ronnie’s been after me about moving into a house again,” I said, watching the shadow of the tree outside my bedroom window dance across the mini blinds. He grunted, turning his ear back. “You know, because it’s easier to set wards on a house since it doesn’t share walls with other people’s homes.”

He grunted again.

“Derrick’s paying my credit card bill for my car repairs, and I saved my bonus from Thorandryll’s case.” I rolled over onto my side and scratched the hound’s neck. “I saved last year’s Christmas bonus too, and I’ve put money in savings every check. Dad taught me to do that.”

Thump
.

“Anyway, I think I have enough to make a good down payment. You could have your own room and a yard. That’d be cool, right?”

Grunt.

“Is that a yes?”

Thump
.

“I’m thinking a three bedroom, so we’d have a guest room. It’s just,” I hesitated, scratching under his chin. “There’s a lot more things to worry about when you buy a house. Stuff you don’t have to deal with when you rent an apartment.”

“Hrr?”

“If something breaks, I tell the apartment manager, and she sends a maintenance guy or whatever. I don’t have to pay for it or worry about getting someone to fix it.”

Leglin grunted again.

“So it’s a big deal. A big responsibility. It’s scary.”

The hound snorted, and I laughed, rolling back onto my back. “Okay, not as scary as fighting demons or vampires, but it’s still scary. Night, roomie.”

Thump, thump
.

***

Barely three hours later, my tracking sense flared, yanking me from a nightmare of having a house falling apart around my ears. I groaned, seeing the thin black thread it presented me with. “Great, a new color.”

Leglin sat up and yawned.

“Go back to sleep, dude. I’ll call Nick, and if I need you, I’ll call you.” He plopped back down as I threw the covers off and hurried to dress.

Five minutes later, I locked the door behind me and shrugged into my leather jacket. While walking to my car, I called Nick, only to be shunted directly to voice mail. In a fit of sleep-deprived pique, I didn’t leave a message.

It didn’t matter. If I needed back-up, all I had to do was say Leglin’s name, and the hound would come to me, wherever I was.

It was a nifty bonus of the magical blood bond between us—though I still didn’t like that it made the hound a servant of sorts. I yawned my way out of the parking lot, enjoying the purring of my car’s engine.

I realized the thread led into the Palisades and muttered a few choice words. The last time I’d left my car unattended in that area resulted in the need for its nearly complete rebuilding by Logan.

Making a U-turn, I parked it under a working light in the lot of the strip mall across the highway from the Palisades. After locking it, I focused on a familiar memory and teleported into the warzone, as the
Santo Trueno Daily
loved to label the Palisades.

The thread held, its darkness leading me down several streets and into an alley. I poked around the spot it ended, but didn’t find anything. “Not useful. Thanks for nothing.”

As I straightened, the soft sound of a footstep came to my ears. Before I could turn around, an arm slid across my throat and began applying pressure. I grabbed for a hold, intending to try and throw him over me.

“You’re an irritating, interfering little bitch,” my attacker muttered. “I made this one just for you.”

With that, he bent us backward and poured something nasty-tasting into my gasping mouth. I tried to spit it out, but he proved faster, dropping the bottle and slapping his hand over my mouth and nose.

The liquid, thick and sour, slid down my throat and my vision went dark.

Looked like I’d found the guy responsible for cursing people.

TEN

Upon regaining consciousness, I clambered to all fours while opening my eyes, and froze. My hands were gone. In their place were two bony white paws tipped with short nails. I fell over with a thump when my gaze focused on the black nose at the end of a black and white muzzle.

Climbing to my feet—paws—again, I bent and tucked my head to look under me. Yep, I was a dog, with white hair, pink belly, and hind legs ending in two more bony-looking paws. A long, black and white tail tucked between my hind legs as I watched.

Holy crap
. Crazy Curseman had turned me into a dog.

I looked up, and then around, realizing I was still in the same alley. My clothes were gone, along with my keys, wallet, and cell phone.
Okay, don’t panic
.

Kate and the coven could break this spell. I just had to get to them. Closing my eyes, I pulled up an image of my office and tried to teleport.

Nothing happened.

I tried to call fire, to lift a rotting piece of newspaper, and finally, since I was in the Palisades, to contact Logan telepathically.

Not a damn thing resulted from those attempts, and a whimper escaped as realization crashed down onto me: For the first time in my entire life, I was truly alone. Worse, my abilities were gone, leaving me utterly helpless.

Numbness filled me, but I tried walking and made my way to the end of the alley. Everything seemed quiet, and I crept around the corner to look up at the street sign, wanting to know exactly where I was. My ears kept flicking, which felt extremely weird, and it took me a couple of minutes to make the letters be letters.

Wasn’t a street name I knew.

Turning, I saw my reflection in the large window of the corner store, and walked over for a better look. Ears flattening, I saw a largish, black and white mutt staring back. Definitely not as large as Leglin, and probably part Border Collie from the coloration, but not as long-haired. I turned my head from side to side.
At least I’m not an ugly dog
.

I opened my mouth, lips quivering upwards. Long, wicked looking canines appeared. I closed my mouth, lips falling back into place.
Okay, maybe I’m not entirely helpless. I’m not little, and I have big, sharp teeth
. My stomach gurgled.
And I’m hungry
.

Not dog enough to Lassie my way home, I decided the closest safe place was Logan’s garage. At least, it would be if lion and tiger shifters didn’t consider dogs chew toys. I hoped they didn’t. My immediate issue would be finding it.

I turned away from the shop window to look around the street. Nothing looked familiar on this block, so I trotted down to the next, pausing to look both ways before crossing. In the middle of the street, a better idea struck, and I halted to act on it, mentally calling Leglin.

Being magically bound to me, the hound could come when I called him, whether out loud or mentally, no matter how far apart we were.

At least, that’s what was supposed to happen.

It didn’t. Maybe Crazy Curseman’s magic was stronger or something.

I heaved a big sigh and began trotting again. Three blocks down, I spotted the little fast food joint where Nick had bought burritos for us during a previous trip to the Palisades. It offered some orientation, and after standing still for a few minutes, I had a mental map of how to reach the garage.

Progress!
I set off at a run, my paws thumping across cement and asphalt, and quickly learned to slow down when making turns. The weight of my tail threw me off on the first one, my hind end going sideways while my front paws scrabbled for purchase.

I hoped I wouldn’t stay a dog long enough to figure out all the fine tuning of four-legged locomotion. Proceeding at a lope instead of dead run, I put the brakes on two streets away from the garage as a light breeze brought a new smell to my nose.

It seemed familiar, and I sniffed, attempting to figure out why. Another deep sniff caused an explosive sneeze, briefly clearing my nose. I took a more cautious sniff, catching the smell again, and realized why it seemed familiar. The scent was the same as the taste of Logan’s kiss, the night we’d shared Thorandryll’s bed and I’d accidentally dragged the shifter into a retro-cognition dream.

Rich, nutty, and slightly sweet. I lifted my head, looking down the block on my left. There were cars parked along the curb, blocking my view of the other side of the street. I moved past them, still couldn’t see because of more cars parked on the other side, and hurried across to slip between two.

Excitement seized me when I saw a dark figure walking down the block, away from me. The smell had grown stronger. Logan had told me, back when we first met, that he liked to take late-night walks. It had to be him.

I ran after him, catching up faster than expected, and he halted as I collapsed at his feet. My legs had tangled when I tried to stop and turn, dumping me on my side. He looked down as I looked up, rolling to my back and waving all four legs in the air to untangle them. “Well, hello.”

Man, am I glad to see you! The guy throwing curses around turned me into a dog. Can you believe that? I need a ride to David’s, like pronto
.

Logan pulled his hands from his pockets and squatted while I managed to sit up. He held the back of one hand toward my nose. Some automatic reflex made me sniff it. He smiled. “Are you lost, little girl?”

Crap, he can’t hear me. If it looks like a dog
…I sighed, staring at his face. He slowly reached to begin scratching behind my left ear. “I guess you’re okay with shifters, huh? Good girl.”

He scratched a little harder, and to my embarrassment, my spine curved, one hind paw bouncing on the sidewalk. Ear scratches felt
good
. I vowed to scratch behind Leglin’s ears more often.

You know, if I ever had hands again.

The shifter stopped scratching, both his hands sliding down my neck and halfway down my sides. “No collar, but well-fed and not very dirty. You haven’t been lost too long.”

I whined, trying to catch his eyes again. Logan’s narrowed as he stared into mine. “Now, that’s odd.”

What?
I wondered, feeling my tail begin to wag. He ruffled the fur on the back of my neck before standing.

“Why don’t you come home with me, girl? I’ll take you to a vet tomorrow, and see if you have one of those microchips so we can get you home to your family.”

Jumping to my paws, I said “
Yes!
” but it came out as a bark. The shifter smiled again, bending slightly to pat my head. “Good girl. Come on.”

Note to self: Logan really is a good guy
. I fell in on his left, walking with him. Apparently, finding a stray dog ended his walk for the night, because he led the way to the garage.

For the moment, I had safety with someone I knew. Definitely a step in the right direction. I couldn’t help but feel a little proud of myself. As far as I knew, no one had even realized I was missing yet, and I’d already managed to make contact with a friend.

Soames stood guard, and raised both eyebrows as he saw me standing next to Logan. “A dog?”

“She’s lost, and seems to like shifters okay.” Logan shrugged. “I’m going to try and find her owner.”

“Okay.” The other shifter stepped aside, and locked the door once we’d walked through. Logan’s fingertips brushed the top of my head.

“This way, girl. Sorry, we have to climb stairs.”

Crap
. I hoped I could make it up them.

***

I did, but only because Logan picked me up after I took a tumble down a few on the third set when a back paw missed the edge of one. He put me down right outside his apartment’s door, opened it, and waved me inside while calling, “Hey, Terra, look what I found.”

The teen came out of her bedroom. Her eyes widened, and she took a half step backward. “That’s a dog.”

“Yes, a real dog, not an elf hound, and she’s friendly. It’s okay.” His assurance didn’t soothe her, because she stayed exactly where she was. A faint, acrid smell wafted from her. I didn’t like it, and sat down just inside the door. It clicked when Logan closed it. He dropped down to one knee beside me, putting his hand on my shoulders. “I wouldn’t bring home a threat. She’s lost, and hasn’t even growled once. It’s okay.”

Terra edged forward a few inches, her pale green gaze never leaving my face. “It’s staring at me.”

He ruffled my neck fur. “Yeah, she does that.” He’d emphasized the “she” and moved to stroking the top of my head. “But it’s really okay.”

“I can’t believe you brought a dog home.” She moved sideways to sit on the couch, and pulled her knees to her chest. “A big dog.”

The acrid scent had grown stronger, and I sneezed before dropping to my belly and scraping a paw over my muzzle. The teen froze, her eyes so wide I thought her eyeballs might pop out. Call me slow, but it was only then that I realized she was afraid of me.

Well, of Doggy Me.

A soft whine worked its way out of my throat, and I sat up, turning to look at Logan. Why was she scared of dogs? Okay, I could understand shifters being afraid of elf hounds, since those were used to hunt them, but scared of normal dogs?

Terra could shift and eat a dog my size for lunch. A Chihuahua wouldn’t even be a snack for most shifters.

He put his arm around my shoulders, his other hand rising to scratch my chest. I leaned into him, suddenly worried her fear might end with her jumping on me and biting my head off or something. “Do we have any leftovers from dinner? She’s probably hungry and thirsty.”

“Yeah.” She unwound her arms from around her legs and slowly unfolded them. Her feet touched the worn carpeting, and after watching me for several seconds, Terra stood. “You’re sure she’s not going to bite me?”

“Some normal dogs like cats. Maybe she’s one of them.” Logan didn’t rise, and kept his arm around me. “All I know is she came right up to me while I was out. Flopped at my feet and showed her belly. She didn’t growl at Soames when we came in either. Pretty sure she’s okay.”

I did not show my belly. I tripped.

Of course, he couldn’t hear me. I sighed and lay down, my muzzle propped on my legs. This was going to take some getting used to.