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I gulped the cool liquid, my throat dry and parched. After a moment, my heart stopped racing, and I shook my head. The events of the dream were fuzzy but still there.
"Great Mother Bast, that was bad." I wiped my mouth and scrunched back against the headboard. Bringing my legs up, I wrapped my arms around them and rested my chin on the top of my knees.
"What was it about, or do you mind if I ask?" Chase pulled the covers up so we wouldn't freeze—by now the temperature in the room was hovering around ten degrees above icicle time—and he put his arm around my shoulders, gently rubbing my back.
"I think I know where to look for the Hunters Moon Clan," I said, trying to make sense of the dream. In it, I'd been a black panther, not a tabby. Wish fulfillment, no doubt, but I knew everything else in it had been accurate. "There should be a road near the waterfall. You said Snoqualmie Falls, right?"
He nodded.
"Okay, we need to look for a road back in the woods near there, and it will lead to a turnoff called Goldenrod Road… or Drive… or Avenue. There's a cave against one of the foothills, and that's where the Hunters Moon Clan makes their nest. And Chase, that man you showed us a mug shot of? Geph…"
"Geph von Spynne, the dude Zachary got into it with?" He yawned, then grabbed his pocket-sized notebook and jotted down a few notes.
"That's the one," I said. "He's in charge. Or at least, he's involved, and trust me, he's dangerous."
"And when you factor in Kyoka and the other two members of the Degath Squad…"
"We have a very lethal combination." I slid out from under the covers and grabbed the corn chips sitting on my dresser. Normally, I'd go watch Jerry Springer when I woke up in the middle of the night, but my dream was so vivid and the danger so real that I couldn't think about anything except those red eyes that had been staring at me out of the forest. And the spirit guide. Who was he? And why had he helped me?
With more questions than I had answers for, I padded over to the window seat. Chase joined me, and I gave him a gentle peck on the cheek, then he went back to bed and turned off the light while I curled up to watch the snow fall softly to blanket the ground with its white shroud of winter.
* * *
CHAPTER 15
When I woke up, the world looked a whole lot bigger. I blinked, trying to make sense of things, then realized I was curled up on my pillow next to Chase, who was staring at me with a soft smile. He reached out to gently scratch me behind the ears and then stroke my back. It felt so good I didn't want him to quit and head-butted his hand for another ear rub, then lightly padded down to the foot of the bed and jumped off. Once on the floor, I closed my eyes and willed myself to transform, which went a whole lot smoother than it did when it happened involuntarily.
As I came back to myself, clad in my PJs and feeling decidedly tousled, I looked up at him from where I was kneeling on the floor. Chase started to laugh.
"I think I've almost gotten used to that," he said, climbing out of bed and stretching. "After the first few times, it doesn't seem so strange."
I grinned as I pushed myself to my feet and stretched, yawning. "Good, because it's probably not going to change." About fifty percent of the time when I spent the night with Chase, I woke up in cat form, curled on the pillow next to him. He usually gave me a good rubdown before I shifted back, and I think that my inner cat was so tickled by the attention that she decided to take advantage of him as much as possible.
"What are you doing today?" he asked. "I've decided to go with your idea and see if I can cover up what's going on with the OIA. We need all the time and info we can get, and without the department backing me up, we'd have to kiss a lot of that good-bye."
"Good," I said, glancing at him. Chase kept in shape, that was for sure. His stomach was taut, a six-pack to make any man envious, and the sight of him naked sent my mind reeling in other directions. I looked at the clock. Six a.m. Still early. "Listen," I said, slowly unbuttoning my pajama top. "Why don't we start the day with a workout?" As I slid out of my PJs, Chase's gaze flickered to mine, and there was no more we needed to say.
Iris had breakfast ready by the time we showered, dressed, and headed downstairs. Camille was helping her, and Maggie was sitting in her custom-made high chair, slurping at the bowl of cream, sugar, cinnamon, and sage.
"I'll do that," Chase said, taking the plates from Camille and beginning to set the table.
"Thanks," she said. "You know, you're all right sometimes."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Go sit down and talk to your sister for a while." He grinned at her, but with very little of the continuous leer he used to shoot her way.
Camille settled into a chair and motioned for me to join her. "Menolly left us a note before she went to bed," she said, holding up a paper. "She did a little sleuthing of her own, and I'm happy to report that both the Wayfarer and the Indigo Crescent are paid for in full. We don't have to worry about mortgages. We just pay property taxes and go along like we have been. And they're in our name since we're ostensibly the owners, so there shouldn't be a problem. With a little luck, the OIA—whatever there is left of it—will forget about us."
"Finally, some good news," I said, accepting a plate of hotcakes, eggs, and bacon from Chase. "Where's Trillian?" Neither of Camille's lovers was anywhere to be seen.
"He took off for OW early this morning. Tanaquar is running him ragged, and he wanted to let Father know what our plans are. And Morio went into town. He said he had something he wanted to check up on." She handed Maggie a squeak toy, and she happily started hitting it against the high chair, making a racket.
Iris finished up at the stove and joined us at the table. "I think it's time we started her on solid food in addition to her cream mixture," she said, attacking her plate. For such a little person, Iris could pack it away, but that seemed true with most of the Fae. We all ate like pigs in comparison to most humans. "I suggest a few ounces of ground meat, once a day to start. After a month, we'll move her to twice-a-day feedings."
"Sounds good. What kind of meat do gargoyles eat?" Camille asked.
"What kind do you have?" Iris grinned. "I almost forgot," she said, sliding off her stool and crossing to the bookshelf that hid the entrance to Menolly's lair. "Wait till you see what Menolly had me get last time I was in OW. Apparently she did some research and found out this was the best book on the subject." She held up a slim volume bound in leather. "The Care and Feeding of Woodland Gargoyles. Isn't that just perfect?"
"How do we know Maggie's a woodland gargoyle and not from some other land?" I asked. "Technically speaking, she's a Sub Realms 'goyle if you go by where she was born."
