Page 1 of The Dark Hiss of Magic
Chapter
One
Ieyed Dave, who was bent over in his garden with the pale crack of his arse visible above his drooping jeans. Although I was reasonably certain that my gorgeously grumpy neighbour had never once bothered to plant anything in his scrap of earth, he was clearly determined to scoop up every soggy leaf that had clumped onto the scrubby grass in front of his house.
‘I thought it was considered rude to ogle in these supposedly enlightened days,’ he grumbled.
‘I can assure you that there is no ogling on my part,’ I told him as She Without An Ear wound her way around my legs. ‘Not even the tiniest bit.’
He continued as if he hadn’t heard me. ‘This is what happens when you live on your own for too long. You abandon the bounds of propriety and forget what it’s like to be part of polite society. As a result, you can’t stop yourself from staring at my pert bottom.’
‘Pert?’
Dave straightened up and turned to face me, his scowl deep enough to engrave heavy ridges across his forehead. ‘Pert,’ hesaid, swivelling to permit me a profile view. ‘And very sexy.’ He slapped his rump – but he didn’t make any attempt to pull up his jeans.
‘I only came out to give you these.’ I held up the plate of freshly baked scones, still warm from the oven.
‘Last time I ate something you baked, I almost lost a tooth.’
‘They’re a bit chewy,’ I admitted. ‘But they’re mostly edible.’
Although Dave’s scowl grew even more pronounced, he ambled over and took them. ‘Thanks.’
I curtsied. ‘You’re welcome.’
He picked one up and bit into it. It was difficult to judge from his expression what he thought, though he chewed far longer than I reckoned was necessary. Finally he swallowed. ‘You are many things, Kit McCafferty,’ he grunted, ‘but you are not a master baker.’
True: I made a great casserole and I was a dab hand at roasts, but baking had never been my forte. ‘If you don’t try, you don’t improve.’
Scepticism flickered across his face, then he glanced over my shoulder and scowled some more. ‘Speaking of ogling…’ he murmured.
I turned around and followed his gaze. When I saw who was standing at my garden gate, I jerked in surprise. I hadn’t seen Thane, the copper-haired werewolf who’d joined me in rescuing Nick MacTire late last year, for several weeks. I started to smile – then realised that Thane’s expression was ravaged and there were black shadows beneath his eyes. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked in alarm.
A deep growl rumbled from his chest and grew in intensity as he stared at me in disgust. ‘You know exactly what’s wrong.’ He jabbed a finger towards me.
Er, no. No, I didn’t.
‘This isall your fault.’
I folded my arms. I’d been good lately: I’d not killed anyone; I’d eaten all my greens, and I’d been polite to everyone I met. I was practically a saint. ‘What’s happened?’
‘You.’ He glowered. ‘Youhappened.’
Dave leaned in more closely, fascination lightening his dark eyes. Any second now he’d be getting out the popcorn.
I tried – and failed – to think of anything I’d done that might have offended the lone werewolf. He was a redhead and supposedly they were known for their temper so perhaps I’d inadvertently slighted him and he’d taken umbrage, but I was sure I’d neither said nor done anything. Anyway, I hadn’t seen him for ages.
‘You’ll have to help me out here, Thane. I don’t know why you’re so upset – but I can see that it’s serious,’ I added to soothe his ruffled feathers. ‘If you tell me, perhaps I can help.’
He clenched his fists. ‘Do you have any idea – any idea at all – how difficult it is to sleep when a cat decides to smother you in the middle of the night?’
Ah. Suddenly his attitude was making sense. ‘Smother?’ I asked, trying to be delicate.
‘She tried to sleep on top of my face, Kit. I woke up hyperventilating and with a mouthful of fur.’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘You’re a werewolf so you must be used to fur. Don’t you shed during the full moon?’
‘No,’ Thane snapped. ‘And I don’t lie around on stairs waiting to trip people up. Or demand to be fed at half-past four every morning. Or curl up asleep on someone’s lap at the very moment they need to go and empty their damned bladder!’
