Secondhand Garagyre

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

LAITHOG

I am not sure what I expect to see when we open the portal to enter Paisley’s dwelling, but the cacophony of noise once she opened the door startles me so much that I scoop her up and shoot into the air, away from the two tiny beasts making that gods-awful racket. My wings gust air across the fiends below, inciting them further.

I ignore her shriek of alarm and the sound her keys make as they hit the ground while I hover over the creatures circling below.

“ Why do you have deformed wolves in your home?! Those creatures are misshapen and unnatural!” I ask with mild alarm.

I have never seen the likes of these creatures before. They’re long bodied, but sturdy. In fact, they look like small barrels, but with short, stubby legs, large, triangular-shaped ears, freakishly tailless, fluffy posteriors, and a pointed face. One of them is light, while the other is dark, and they have yet to shut up.

How does she live with these things?

A snort catches me by surprise, and I peer down at the woman in my arms to see one of her hands covering her mouth and tears streaming from her beautiful eyes. Alarm fills me until she bursts out laughing. “ Laithog , those are not deformed wolves. Those are my dogs! The breed is called a Corgi . Pembroke Corgis , to be specific,” she manages to eke out between fits of laughter.

Chagrin fills me.

I have just “saved” her from her own pets.

Not my finest moment, I must admit. Slowly , I lower us back to the ground. My feet have no more settled on the ground when I am assaulted by the two creatures. Who still have not stopped making that awful noise. Now I understand what the additional scents clinging to Paisley are from.

It’s these two… things.

“ Laithog , put me down. They’re just excited to see me, and they love meeting new people. The fact that you’re not human, apparently, doesn’t faze them because they’re still begging you to pay them some attention,” she says with a fond chuckle.

Complying with her request, I ease her down, being mindful of the state her body is in, and allow her wee feet to once again resume their contact with the ground.

“ Please , little one. Tell me you did not pay coin for these poor creatures? They do not appear… natural?” I ask, disbelief coloring my tone.

“ Oh , stop that. They’re adorable! Allow me to introduce you to Merry and Pippin . Merry is the red and white, while Pippin is a black-headed tri. That’s the name of their color patterns and why they aren’t identical. They aren’t litter mates, but they did come from the same breeder.”

I bite back a heavy sigh at the obvious love in her voice for these things. I can feel their beady little eyes staring up at me expectantly. “ They are staring. Why are they staring at me? It is most unnerving. Do they ever stop making that infernal racket?” I ask in rapid fire.

“ Merry ! Pippin ! Hush up! Sit !”

To my surprise, the irksome little beast immediately ceases their yapping, and their freaking fluffy posteriors descend the short distance to the ground as they follow Paisley’s commands to the letter.

“ Sorry about that. The breed is known to be yappy. I would imagine your hearing is fairly sensitive?” The upward lilt of her words indicates a question.

“ Yes , my hearing is rather acute. Their noises are borderline painful to me.”

At the crestfallen look on her face, I rapidly correct myself.

“ Ah , actually, it is more abrupt than painful. The tone of their noises is piercing but will not cause me any damage. Do not worry, little Paisley . Now that I know of their existence, I am sure I will become accustomed to their noises,” I soothe.

Stepping around her, I scoop up her keys and hand them to her. I pull my wings close to my body and duck into the house, holding the door open for her and her tiny beast. “ Come inside. It is cold out. I was promised a meal, and I am quite looking forward to it,” I say with a charming smile.

She rolls her eyes at me, but I see the tiny grin she tries to hide as the three of them step past me and into her home.