"Aww, poor thing.Did they abandon him?"
She shrugged."He might have snuck out without them noticing."
"Do you want to look at the others?"Rourke gestured down the row of cages.
"And abandon him?"
Rourke chuckled."I guess it's out of the question."He waved a hand at the woman."I think he's the one."
A smile stretched her lips."I think you're right.If you come with me to the counter, we'll fill out the paperwork.All cats in here are chipped and neutered..."She kept talking as she and Rourke left the room.Ezra remained.The cat still had its claws curled around his forefinger.He couldn't leave it.
Seconds or minutes or maybe it was an hour later, Ezra didn't know, the woman and Rourke were back.
She was holding an olive green and gray cat carrier."Ready to take him home?"
Ezra sought Rourke's gaze.They were taking him?
The woman ignored him and opened the cage.She made some cooing noises as she lifted Harold and shoved him into the carrier.Then she closed the door and handed the carrier to Ezra.
He was too stunned to speak.
"Come on, let's get him home."Rourke put a hand on his shoulder and more or less guided him out of the room with the cages.
"What about the others?"Ezra looked back.He had only looked into one cage.
"We can't adopt them all.Let's start with one, yeah?"
Ezra nodded, but his heart ached for all the other kitties in cages.He hadn't looked at them.Did it make him a bad person?
The cool wind caressed his cheeks as Rourke led him out of the animal shelter.
"Where did you get the carrier?"His brain wasn't working well today.
"Bought it from the shelter.Cost a fucking fortune."
Ezra winced, but Rourke only chuckled.
"How can Shixyll afford to get cats here all the time?"
Ezra climbed into the passenger seat, put Harold on his lap, and pulled the seatbelt over both of them.Rourke gave him a funny look, then shook his head.
"She doesn't get them all the time.It's not often she pulls so much power it kills them.The last battle was bad, though.I think almost everyone sucked their familiars dry."He shuddered.So cruel.
"But she came back for the cat."
Ezra shrugged."Maybe she never dropped the connection.Maybe she did, but they contacted her.The woman said they're all chipped, right?If they checked the kitty when Geri returned it to the shelter, they'd have known it was hers.I assume she didn't have to buy it anew."
If only he'd known how to cut connections.Then they could've kept the kitten.
* * * *
Chapter 18
Ezra was sitting on the floor, petting Harold.Farkas had left when they came back, but hopefully, his nap had been a good one.
Had Rourke known how much a cat cost, he'd never have taken Ezra.He believed they'd more or less give them away since they were in a shelter, but nope.The shelter had no qualms about clearing out his bank account.
Ezra was happy, though.Rourke didn't think he'd ever seen him as happy, so maybe it was worth it.Cats lived for a long time, right?
