“And do they have ten yards of bubble wrap to wrap you in afterward?”
“Ha. Ha. Ha.” I pretended to grumble.
“And shut up about the whole crane thing…”
“Hydraulic lift.”
Dismissing my correction with a wave of her hand, she countered, “Whatever. Just stop. Your butt is perfect.” Reaching down, she winked. “Now give me your hand.”
I had been upright for exactly three seconds when an unfamiliar, cold, wet nose slid into my hand. Spinning toward the intrusion, I saw the gorgeous female Wolfhound with light fur and big blue eyes. Then my eyes went to Arthur, who was standing next to her in full-on protector mode.
Before I could ask what was happening, Mona whined. Swinging her head towards downtown Dragoon Bootay, she whined again, louder and with way more feeling.
Unsure what was happening and why she wasn’t talking like my boys, Arthur took over the conversation. “No one ever taught Mona to talk. She was forced to live as a dog… like a real, non-Magical dog.” The disgust in his voice was palpable. “She only got in here when Miss Maxine had to pick up her son from college and opened a portal.”
“Oh.” I nodded. Holding up the scrap of Kai’s T-shirt, I asked, “So, where did she get this?”
“That’s what she was trying to tell you,” he explained. “She found it near the Hoopingarner House.”
Mona yipped.
“She says there was smoke,” Arthur went on.
Another yip with a grumble at the end from the furry lady.
“There was Magic,” my big guy recounted.
Mona gave four short, staccato barks. Arthur’s eyes got big. Otis gasped, and Chewy huffed, “Well, shit.”
“What?!” I demanded. “Tell me.”
“Mona says there was a hole.”
I froze. “A hole?”
Arthur’s big head went up and down right before he repeated, “Yes. A really big hole,” in a low, hair-raising tone.
“Nope.” Zelda shook her head with such exuberance that her red curls flew in every direction. “Absolutely not. Nobody gets to say ‘hole’ in a creepy voice. That's how people die in horror movies.
Coming out from behind the bigger dogs, Chewy, fifteen pounds of chocolate fur, squishy face, bushy tail, and attitude, adamantly agreed, “She's right.” Looking from Zelda to me, he added, “Let’s get tacos instead.”
“YES!” Otis, the younger of my boys, a Wolfhound with dark gray fur, chimed in. “I vote tacos.”
“No.” It was my turn to shake my head until the marbles I called brains were shimmying and shaking. Stopping, I glared in their direction. “Kai is missing."
“Mona says she can take us there,” Arthur exclaimed.
“Then what are we waiting for?” I was game. Hell, I was already turning toward the shop to go get my keys. In fact, I’d made it two steps when Zelda put the kibosh on my plans.
“Backup?”
"I am the backup."
“That's what I’m afraid of.”
“Fine,” I snapped. “Theresa and Maeve are in the shop. Are they better?” Throwing my hands in the air, I kept right on going. “I can call Maisie, and she can bring the triplets. How about that?”
Spinning in a complete circle, I added, “Or what about the Edwards Brothers?” Holding up my hand when she was about to interrupt, I huffed, “Hell, I have a hotline to Fate. How would that…?”
