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“It didn’t seem like fear,” James said. “We had two extremely shy clients that day. They would have bolted if they were scared. But they barked like the others.”
Something flickered across Ker’s face.
She’s got something, I realized, turning away from Wallace since his sandpapery tongue was starting to scrape at my ear.All the barking…is she thinking about werewolves?
James frowned. “I really just hope all our clients are fine, and they weren’t in pain despite what the vet said.”
“When they do catch the perpetrator, I’ll be glad to see him pay for his crimes,” Aristide said.
“Yes,” Noctus said. “I heard they even have a few suspects.”
“Really?” James brightened again. “The Curia Cloisters is so tightlipped about this, I haven’t heard anything about that!”
Aristide tapped his cane on the floor. “As a vampire, I’ve heard a few whispers. Nothing official, mind you. Apparently they’re looking for a tall, blond man. He’s a supernatural, but they believe he initially posed as a human.”
Noctus adjusted his aviator sunglasses and scoffed. “As if that kind of description narrows it down. You said you were here, James. I imagine you saw a number of blond men walk past.”
“Yes,” James agreed. “But there was one outside just when the dogs started barking. I noticed since I looked to see if there was something that set them off.”
“Really? What did he look like?” Ker asked, sounding harmlessly curious.
“Tall,” James said. “Taller than me. He was wearing what I’d call casually expensive clothes. I didn’t see his face—his back was to me by then, but I remember wondering what his hurry was because he was walking ultra-fast, and I thought he might have done whatever set the dogs off.”
Hm. Yeah, I think we can assume that fae is responsible for all of this.
“I see,” Charon said. “Perhaps he was fleeing the scene of the crime?”
“Seems likely,” Aristide said.
James shrugged as I backed into him in my effort to escape Wallace’s tender ministrations.
“Mind your manners, Wallace,” James told the shop cat, who meowed pitifully before rubbing his head on my chest.
Good to know my magic is working just fine.
James petted me for a moment. “You know, I’m noticing her fur is a little thin. We sell powder supplements you could sprinkle over her food to help her skin and coat.”
Aristide broke off into a suspicious cough, and even Ker was struggling not to snort.
I narrowed my eyes at them.Go ahead, laugh. You all are at least partially responsible for the stress that makes me lose my fur!
“That won’t be necessary. Her hair is thin because she’s been stressed,” Noctus said. “But I figured out the source of her stress and eradicated it.”
Wallace, in his almost violent eagerness to snuggle, nearly knocked me off the wall, so James had to scramble to support me.Too strong words, Noctus, too strong! But you’re not wrong.
“Eradicated?” James repeated.
Noctus’s smile was as sharp as one of his many weapons. “Precisely.”
“Crazy pet parent,” Aristide accidentally-on-purpose loudly muttered.
Realizing Wallace wasn’t going to back off, James picked him up, so he didn’t notice when Ker nonchalantly tipped her head toward the door, signaling we could leave.
Yep, she figured something out.
“Thank you for your time,” Noctus said. “I am delighted that Ama seems calm in this establishment.”
“Of course.” James, still holding Wallace, watched as I walked down the half-wall, heading for Noctus. “Give us a call when you’re ready to schedule her.”
