Hocus Purrcus, page 5
He grinned. “Hello, Pippa. My name’s Jared. I hear you’re an expert on cats.”
Behind him, Corwin groaned, but Jared ignored him and waited patiently for his mate’s response.
Pippa was certain she’d misheard the very handsome wolf whose voice sent shivers down her spine.
Finally.
A potential bedmate.
And he was right in front of her.
Asking about cats.
Weird.
Why would a wolf need an expert on cats?
She really must have misheard him.
“I’m sorry,” Pippa said. “What did you say?”
“You’re an expert, right?”
“I don’t think anyone has ever referred to me as an expert on anything, unless it’s causing chaos,” Pippa said, intrigued by the entire conversation. “What am I supposed to be an expert on again?”
“Cats,” he said.
Dear goddess, he really was a wolf asking about cats.
Tempest burst into laughter. “Did you hear that, you guys? Someone’s claimed our Pippa’s an expert on cats.”
“I could be an expert, Tempest. You never know.”
Tempest grinned. “Was it the cougar clan that did it?”
Pippa rolled her eyes.
“Cougar clan?” Jared growled, the raspy sound making Pippa shiver.
“Oh, yes, our Pippa must have dated at least—what do you think? Twenty? Thirty of them?”
“For goddess’ sake, the clan didn’t even have that many eligible cougars in it,” Pippa exclaimed.
The wolf at her side let out a low growl. “Who are these cougars and where can I find them?”
“Far from here,” Tempest said cheerfully. “That was what, a good twelve hundred miles and seven months ago?”
“So, what do you need a cat expert for?” Pippa asked.
“I just adopted a grumpy, depressed cat.” Jared gestured toward the next table.
Pippa’s eyes widened when she caught sight of the huge black cat sitting inside the carrier.
“His name’s Chester,” Jared said.
Hocus Purrcus caught sight of the cat inside the carrier and immediately started growling.
His growl slowly filled the room, rumbling on and on and on.
Pippa sighed. “It’s okay, buddy. No one’s going to let the big, bad kitty free in the diner.”
H.P. leapt down from her lap, stalked over to the next table, then jumped onto a chair and from the chair to the table, then to the top of Chester’s carrier.
The entire time, H.P. never stopped with the rumbling growl.
He slowly crept across the top of the carrier until he reached the front, where he stretched out and leaned over to peek at the cat inside.
When Chester didn’t react, H.P. slowly put his paws on the front bars of the carrier and leaned in closer.
The two cats were nose to nose for a long moment, then all hell broke loose.
Chester let loose with a yowl that sounded as if all the demons in hell had been unleashed on earth.
H.P. jerked back with a loud hiss, did a flip mid-air and landed on his feet between the two tables.
Chester kept yowling and H.P. let out a mimicking yowl, then leapt back onto the table, raced around the carrier to the front and stared inside, yowling the entire time.
“Why are they doing that?” Pippa called, pitching her voice to carry over the cacophony.
“How would I know?” Jared shouted back. “I thought you were the expert.”
“I just found the kitten this morning!” Pippa leaned closer to the wolf. “Your cat’s much older. You probably know a lot more than I do.”
“Not likely,” Jared said. “I just adopted him an hour ago.”
“Great,” Pippa muttered.
For a few moments, the only sounds in the diner were that of the two cats serenading each other, but with so many wolves present, what happened next was inevitable.
One wolf let out a loud howl, then another wolf joined in, then another.
Within moments, every wolf in the diner was howling, including Jared.
“Oh my goddess,” Pippa muttered.
Any moment now—
Yep. There went the first wolf.
Clothes fell to the floor in shreds as one wolf after another burst free from their human forms and then—
Dear Goddess, they were chasing their own tails.
So freaking predictable.
Thankfully, most of the humans had left in the aftermath of the spider incident, though Starlight was still working, and interestingly, didn’t seem too terribly surprised to see so many of her patrons shift into their wolf forms.
Pippa eyed Jared, hoping to get an eyeful when he shifted, but apparently, he had better control than the other wolves in the diner.
“I can’t stand it,” Amaryllis shouted. “It’s too much!”
Oh, crap.
Pippa whirled to face Amari. “Just hang on. We’ll leave and you can—”
Too late.
Pippa’s hair blew back as Amari’s magic whipped past in a frenzy.
It landed in the middle of the room and exploded like a bomb, sending sex magic everywhere.
“What the heck just happened?” Bygul demanded.
“Oh, my,” Tivali said, wide eyed as she stared down at the people in the diner.
“That vampire just carried off the human waitress,” Soraya observed.
“Oh, dear,” Tivali said. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”
“Who cares about the human?” Bygul said impatiently. “Did anyone see where the kitten went? Or our witch?”
“We have to go!” Pippa shouted. “Now!” She scooped up Hocus Purrcus, grabbed Amaryllis by the arm and bolted for the front door.
It was like running the gauntlet.
Wolves and chameleons and vampires were everywhere, all of them desperate to steal a kiss or a mating, perhaps both.
In her panic, Pippa’s magic burst from her skin in a rush, forming a lasso of fire around the coven and pulling them with her to the door.
The lasso was all that was keeping the other paranormals back.
The coven spilled from the diner and raced toward their vehicles.
Half of them piled into Pippa’s car while the rest dove into Morana’s truck.
As paranormals stormed out of the diner, Pippa threw her car in reverse, whipped the wheel to the left and tore out of the lot, Morana’s truck right behind her.
“Good news,” Tempest reported from the backseat where she was staring out the back window. “The diner doesn’t appear to be on fire.”
“It’s a frigging miracle,” Pippa said.
“And no one’s following us,” Tempest continued. “Except for the rest of the coven, of course.”
“Even better,” Pippa said.
“I’m sorry,” Amaryllis whispered from where she cuddled Hocus Purrcus in the passenger seat. “So sorry.”
Pippa snickered. “It’s okay. Honestly, that was the most fun I’ve had in ages.”
Tempest let out a bark of laughter from the backseat and the next thing they knew, all three of them were howling with laughter.
Jared scowled, furious that his mate had gotten away from him.
His wolf was scratching at his skin, demanding to be let out so he could chase after her.
Meanwhile, wolves and vampires were either pairing up, racing off to find their mates or heading several towns over in search of a hookup.
Several wolves invited Jared and Corwin to join them, but both declined.
“You don’t have to stay with me, Corwin,” Jared said. “Go find someone to spend the night with.”
“Eh, my wolf isn’t interested in just anyone,” Corwin said. “He’s been acting weird ever since we arrived here.”
Jared glanced at him sharply. “Is it your mate?”
Corwin shrugged. “No idea. If we’d met her, though, you’d think my wolf would let me know.”
“Yeah, my wolf sat up and howled the minute we saw Pippa standing in the door of the diner.”
“Exactly. I can’t imagine my wolf containing himself when we do meet her, so I’m guessing he’s just tired of waiting. And speaking of waiting, what are you doing hanging out here? Aren’t you going after your mate?”
“Have you forgotten Chester? I really should get him settled at the den first.”
Corwin grinned. “Well, let’s get to it then.”
“You’re just eager to see the cat’s reaction to all the wolf scents.”
“And our packmates’ reactions to having a cat in their midst.”
Jared grimaced. It was definitely going to be an interesting evening, to be sure.
“You were amazing, Pippa,” Jo exclaimed as she walked into their coven house, holding hands with the shy vampiress. “By the way, this is my mate, Annika.”
Annika blushed as everyone rushed to offer their congratulations.
“We’ll have to celebrate your mating at the next moon ceremony,” Rowan said.
Pippa couldn’t understand why Jo and Annika beamed at that news. It seemed incomprehensible that Jo would be so happy to have found her mate.
In fact, Pippa had never understood the appeal of tying oneself to another human being. It just seemed like another cage to her.
“So, Pippa.” Natalie pulled her attention back to the conversation. “I’m curious because Jo’s right. You were quite effective today with your magic.”
“You really were.” Tempest said. “I can’t believe you used your fire magic twice today and nothing burned to the ground.”
“I was sure the diner was toast,” Morana agreed.
“How’d you do it anyway?” Natalie asked.
“I have no idea,” Pippa said.
“I know how,” Amari said. “It’s Hocus Purrcus. He’s becoming your familiar.”
“I always figured that was just propaganda,” Pippa said. “Not to mention blatant stereotyping.”
“The brooms are stereotyping,” Natalie said.
“I like the brooms,” Amari protested.
Pippa snickered.
“Yes, I know,” Natalie said. “And don’t think I’m unaware of how many of you have striped knee-high socks in your closets.”
“Hey,” Morana said. “Don’t knock ‘em ’til you’ve tried ‘em.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “I think I’ll stick to my solid–colored knee-highs, thank you very much.”
“Oh, yes,” Pippa said. “You’re breaking all the stereotypes with your pointed witches’ hat and wooden staff.”
“‘You shall not pass!’” The six of them chorused together, then burst into laughter, Annika giggling with them.
“Yes, yes, very funny,” Natalie said. “But back to the whole familiar question. It’s not propaganda or stereotyping. Familiars can do wonders for a witch’s control and the best familiars in the world are felines.”
“Hmm. It’s really too bad you didn’t keep one of those cougars, Pippa,” Tempest said. “Imagine the power you could wield with a cougar at your side.”
Pippa rolled her eyes. “Please. Those cougars had great stamina, but they weren’t very bright. Fantastic in bed? Yes. Familiar potential? Absolutely not.”
Amari giggled. “Good thing Hocus Purrcus found you then, I guess.”
“Good thing,” Pippa said dryly. “So you think H.P. is the reason I had better control of my power today, Natalie?”
“I think it’s a definite possibility. Where was the cat when you cast your magic?”
Pippa thought about it a moment. “I’m pretty sure he was in my arms when I burned the spiders and he was definitely in my arms when I cast the fire around us so we could get out of the diner. That’s not super helpful though because it’s not like I’m going to carry the cat around with me everywhere I go.”
“Well, first of all,” Natalie said, “that’s kind of the point of having a familiar. Most familiars become incredibly attached to their witch and will follow him or her wherever they go. So it’s not really about you having to carry the kitten because he’ll get really good at keeping up with you.
“And secondly, the stronger your bond with Hocus Purrcus, the better your control will be, whether he’s with you or not. Basically, think of the kitten as an extension of your well.”
“So another receptacle for her power?” Morana asked.
“Not so much a receptacle as a conduit,” Natalie said. “An effective familiar can help a witch not only tap into the full range of his or her power, but also channel it successfully.”
“Hold it right there!”
Jared glared at the stair he stood on.
He’d almost made it.
He’d managed to slip by the door to the pack dining room where there were sure to be many pack members eating dinner.
He’d made it past the entrance to the kitchen where more pack members were probably gathered, chatting and cooking.
He’d made it almost all the way up the stairs.
Three more steps and he would have been on the second floor of the packhouse, mere steps from his own quarters, where he could have let Chester out to explore in peace.
Instead, he now had to deal with her.
Which meant he’d probably have to deal with all of them.
He dragged in a deep breath for courage, then turned slowly on his heel and descended the steps toward the scariest sight in the world: his mother, arms crossed, hip cocked and a calculating look on her face.
“Yes, Mother?”
“What exactly are you carrying up those stairs? Because I can smell it from all the way over here, yet cannot imagine why my son, the alpha of the newly relocated Wildfire Pack, could possibly be sneaking a cat into a wolf den.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
Jared heaved a long sigh. “Corwin called you, didn’t he?”
She grinned at him. “He did. I thought he was kidding, of course, and laughed like a loon, then hung up on him.” She shook her head. “Now get down here and show me this poor cat you’re thinking to raise among wolves.” She turned and stalked back into the kitchen.
Jared swallowed a groan and followed his mother to his doom.
“So, Hocus Purrcus, what do you think of your new digs?” Pippa watched as the kitten bounced around her room, sniffing at everything.
“Apparently, we’re supposed to work on fusing our magic or something like that. I’m not even sure what that means, but Natalie seems convinced we’ve already started the process.”
Hocus Purrcus didn’t seem that interested as he was busy exploring the tree Jo had grown in the corner of Pippa’s room. “Because Hocus Purrcus needs a place to climb,” she’d said.
Pippa hadn’t protested because she’d assumed the tree would be growing inside the giant planter Jo had dragged into the room.
That had not been the case.
Oh, it had probably been Jo’s intention to grow the tree inside the planter, but what actually happened was the tree grew through the floor and out the roof and now Pippa had a giant tree in the corner of her bedroom and an unexpected skylight in the ceiling.
As long as Hocus Purrcus didn’t climb all the way up and out onto the roof and as long as it didn’t rain before they managed to cast a spell sealing everything tight, Pippa didn’t really mind the tree.
She loved the way its branches had spread across the ceiling and formed a canopy over the entire room. It was almost like sleeping outside, but with all the comforts of her own bed.
“So what do you think, H.P.? Would you like to practice some magic?”
Before the kitten could decide one way or the other, a soft tapping came from the window beside the bed.
Pippa stood, opened it and leaned out. “What are you doing here?”
Jared, the wolf from the diner, stared up at her. “Hey. I was wondering if you’d like to compare notes on caring for cats.”
Was that kind of like an invitation to look at his etchings or was he really that desperate to know what to do with his newly adopted cat?
Well, he was a wolf, so it could go either way.
“Sure. Shall I come down or did you want to come up?”
He glanced around. “Not sure how—”
She grinned and pointed to the left. “Just climb the tree.”
His jaw dropped. “Is that tree growing through your wall?”
“Yep. It started outside, but then it kind of curved into the house and now it’s growing through my bedroom and out the roof.”
“That doesn’t exactly seem safe.”
“Please. Who’s going to break into a house protected by seven witches?”
“Huh. Good point. Okay then. I’ll be right up.”
She grinned and watched as he walked over to the tree, examined it from both sides, chose a spot and started to climb.
She wasn’t actually sure he’d be able to get inside the house. After all, there might not be enough room for him and the tree, but he disappeared from view, so she supposed it was possible.
A moment later, Jared’s head appeared at floor level where the tree first entered her room.
His arm muscles bulged as he pulled himself inside, causing heat to rush through Pippa as she watched.
“Impressive,” she said.
He grinned up at her, then bounded to his feet. “For a moment there, I thought I might have to shift to make it through, but there was just enough room.”
“Which means I really need to seal that up as soon as possible since if you managed to fit through, Hocus Purrcus won’t have a bit of trouble.”
He grinned. “Hocus Purrcus? Is that the kitten’s name?”
“It is.”
As if he understood them, Hocus Purrcus suddenly leapt down from one of the many branches of the tree and attacked Jared’s shoelaces.
“Hey, there, little guy.” Jared crouched down and began petting H.P., who flopped onto his side and filled the room with his rumbling purr.
“When I adopted Chester, the woman at the shelter told me I needed a cat tree, so I spent two hundred dollars on this monstrosity that took over an hour to get set up in the packhouse.
“Seriously?”
