Page 21 of Dragon's Golden Mate
Erin sat next to her, her hands around a cup of tea. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”
Iris held her fluffy orange cat on her lap. “Do you think it was some kind of wild animal? Jake slipped out the door the other day, and I don’t want anything to happen to him.”
Jake lolled limply in her lap, closing his eyes as he enjoyed her fingers through his fur, clearly unaware of any danger.
“I’d keep him inside, just to be safe,” Zoe suggested.
“What’s going on?” Maeve could sense the tension and fear in the air.
“Erin, Zoe, Iris, and I went for a run this morning,” Jamie explained. “We needed a chance to stretch our legs.”
“Or wings,” Zoe added.
“We heard this awful, mournful cry,” Jamie wenton. “It sent shivers down my spine, but I had no idea what it was.”
Erin fiddled with her nose ring. “Some wildcats make pretty strange noises. Cougars sound like a woman screaming.”
“Are you saying it was you?” Kristy asked, referring to Erin’s inner bobcat.
“No!” Erin tossed a napkin at her.
“But don’t you think it sounded kind of sad?” Iris added. She kissed the top of Jake’s head.
An odd, cat-like shriek made Maeve think of the strange gargoyle that’d come after her and Kendrick the previous day, but as far as she knew, those creatures hadn’t left the church. “No one managed to see it?”
“I tried,” Zoe told her. “I flew up pretty high, but I didn’t find anything.”
“And where was it?” Maeve asked next.
Erin pointed to the back of the house. “We went that way, towards the woods.”
“Hm. We should probably be careful for a little while, and keep our eyes and ears open,” Maeve advised. It sounded like they weren’t too far from the cathedral, but again, she wasn’t sure if that meant any real danger. Maeve had briefed the rest of thecoven on what’d happened, but no one quite knew what to think about it. “Don’t go out alone.”
The coffee machine beeped just then, signaling it was ready, and the witches jumped up to grab their mugs, the creamer, and the sugar.
Lucille stepped into the kitchen then. She observed the chaos and smiled. “I take it they’re not worried about the weird noise anymore.”
“Muffins are done!” Jamie announced.
Maeve laughed. “No, I’d say not. I was just wondering if it could be one of the gargoyles, but I don’t know. I don’t know much of anything.”
“I’ve got a bit of information that could be helpful. Grab some muffins and come with me,” Lucille suggested.
“If I can do it without losing a hand,” Maeve joked. She put two muffins on a plate, poured some coffee, and stepped out onto the back porch with her sister.
They sat in the same wicker chairs where she and Kendrick had spoken when he’d come to the house in search of help. Lucille was much more proportionate to the furniture.
“What are you smiling about?” Lucille asked as Maeve set the muffins down on the small, tiled table between them.
“Was I?” Maeve asked innocently. “I’m sure it was just because I like seeing how well everyone gets along here. Our coven is made up of all different kinds of shifters, backgrounds, and ages, but sometimes they remind me of teenagers at a slumber party. I like that.”
Lucille looked doubtful, but she cleared her throat and held out the book she’d been carrying. “I found this and thought it might help you.”
Maeve took the slim book. The hard, clothbound cover was ragged around the edges.Gargoyles and Grotesqueswas barely legible along the spine. When she opened it, the inside of the book had been taped to the cover to help preserve what little binding was left. “Where did you find it? In the dumpster?”
“I may as well have! It wasn’t in our system anymore and was going to be discarded.” Lucille clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and ran her fingers through her thick strands of chin-length white hair. “That’s what happens when no one checks a book out for a long time. If the people lose interest, then the library does. I never liked that idea.”
“Spare me the lecture on library science and archival preservation.” Maeve agreed with her sister, but it was more fun to tease her.
