“But I’m glad you’re both here.” I addressed the gloom and shade together. “Because I wanted to ask—do any of you want to come live with me?”
Chapter Twenty
Leila
“Queen Leila, we need to discuss—” Skye strode into my library, but her arms shot out and she gripped the doorway when she saw the four glooms and seven shades sitting around me and Chase.
“What? What is it?” Indigo pushed her head into the space between Skye and the door with a scowl, which shifted immediately to surprise as her eyes grew as big as moons.
“Indigo, Skye—perfect timing!” I smiled. “I’d like you to meet our newest additions to the mansion!”
I waded through the shades and pointed to each animal as I named it. “We have Bob, Larry, Barbra, Mary, Tom.” The shades flicked their ears as I said their names.
I paused in front of the last two—the biggest shade of the pack, and a smaller one that had adorable gray front paws. “And this is Kevin and Steve—Steve is, in fact, a girl. I just didn’t think to check before I started naming, and now she won’t answer to anythingbutSteve.”
“Steve?” Skye repeated, staring at the shades in a way that said there was going to be a shopping trip for more antacids in her future.
“Yep. Then for the glooms we have Fluffy and Patches over here, and then Whiskers & Muffin.” I rested my hand on Muffin’s head—she had a cute little swirl of red fur on her forehead while Whiskers had excessively long, white whiskers.
Indigo stared at my new menagerie. “I’m assuming there is a reason why you gave the shades the most bland, human names ever, and the glooms all sound like pet cats?”
“I spent areally long timeon my night mares’ names—I wanted to give them beautiful names that would make people see their beauty.” I clapped my hands together. “That didn’t work. I figured this time I should concentrate on using their names to lower their potential fear factor a little. I don’t know if it worked. What do you think, Chase?”
The werewolf rubbed his jaw as he stared down at Whiskers, who was leaning into him and purring. “I think I might prefer a higher fear factor for the sake of security.” He absently patted Whiskers’s back as he pulled out his cellphone.
“I was introducing them to Chase, so they’d know to go to him if they see anything weird or dangerous,” I said. “But I should probably introduce them to you, too.”
Indigo sucked in a deep breath that made her puff up like a hedgehog, then stiffly marched deeper into the library.
Skye took a few steps and paused—I think out of confusion and not fear based on the way she furrowed her eyebrows. “You believe they can understand such things?”
“Oh, for sure.” I nearly fell over when Kevin and Steve crowded my space, asking for more pets. “My natural magic is the one part about my fae heritage I’m confident in, and it’s a bit of a cheat code that makes whatever animals I work with smarter. But even beyond that, the fae creatures are way more intelligent than your typical pet dog. They’re a cinch to work with—once they trust you.”
Indigo was still puffed out with fear as she thrust her hand out to Steve. “Nice to meet you.”
Steve sniffed her hand, then leaned her massive head forward and licked Indigo’s cheek, her tail wagging wildly.
Indigo made a strangled noise. “Their breath isawful.” She squeaked when Whiskers—bored since Chase was busy—sniffed her back and then leaned into her. Since Indigo was smaller, the shades were taller than her, and the glooms were nearly eye height.
“Do you think they could be taught to watch for certain individuals, or pick up distinctive smells?” Chase squatted down and took Fluffy’s picture.
“Yeah, but not right away,” I said. “It’s going to take them some time to adjust to living here and not in the Night Realm.
“Livinghere?” Skye asked with extra politeness in her voice.
Chase nodded, then addressed the cat. “You’re Patches?”
The real Patches tapped her paw on Chase’s shoulder.
“My apologies, then you must be Fluffy?”
Fluffy purred and twitched his whiskers.
Chase tapped away on his cellphone. “I’ll make certain to send their pictures to my men.”
“Thanks, Chase.” I sat on the arm of one of the comfortable couches.
Chase bowed slightly, then moved on to taking the shades’ pictures.
