Chapter 20 #2
“Yeah. We’re going to get Liam and Axle.” He looked up at Aggie standing in the doorway. “You have them?”
“Go do what you need to. I’m gonna light a fire under the coven’s asses and see what we can do from here to help. There’s no way the rest of those geriatrics’ll be able to hoof it out there.”
Jena’s brow rose. “‘Those’ geriatrics? You might want to add yourself to the list.”
“And you might want to wear something warmer,” Aggie smiled, batting her lashes. “Cold front’s coming through.”
“And you have to take Pablo,” Sway said, her little face uncharacteristically serious.
“Pablo?” Jena looked at Felix for help.
“It’s her squirrel—”
“Her dead squirrel,” Cruze shouted from the kitchen.
“He’s special!” Sway yelled back.
Jena looked horrified. “She has a special dead squirrel?”
“Long story,” Felix sighed. “Sway, we’re not going to have time—”
“He wants to go there. Please, Uncle Felix?” she wheedled.
“You just have to leave him under a nice tree, and the Kinip-kinap will come get him.” Her eyes got big and she went still, then cocked her head like she was hearing something they couldn’t.
“As long as it’s in the woods. They said not the swamp.
If you bring him home, they’ll help you, I know they will.
That’s how it works, so everything balances, and you promised, Uncle Felix! ”
Felix just stared at her, his mouth hanging open.
“Is this some weird witch thing I don’t know about?” Chase asked.
Felix scrubbed a hand over his face. “No, it’s a weird Sway thing,” he muttered.
“Okay, fine.” Leaving Pablo out there was probably a better alternative than gifting Liam’s parents with questionable lawn art, and it would get it out of Felix’s car.
Goddamn it, he was going to have to call Liam’s parents.
Maybe he’d just text Kelsey. He didn’t even know how to begin to explain this.
Sway clapped her hands and scampered back to the kitchen. Aggie followed, giving the little girl a side-eye that Felix didn’t have time to unpack.
“I’m going to put on something warmer,” Jena said, glowering at the kitchen. “I’ll meet you guys at the truck.”
Felix zipped up his parka, muttering as Chase did the same, then opened the door. Myx jumped off the couch, his tail swishing as he passed between them and went down the steps. Chase’s brow rose.
“Just—don’t ask,” Felix said, holding up a hand and following the cat outside. Sway’s weirdness was enough to deal with. He couldn’t handle his cat’s right now.
Felix pulled the boots and Pablo out of the car and trudged over to Chase’s work truck.
Myx was already in the back seat when Felix climbed inside.
The big were raised an eyebrow again as Felix set the taxidermy squirrel on the seat between him and the cat and started swapping shoes.
They were surprisingly comfortable, considering how much they weighed.
The passenger side door opened a moment later, and Jena did a double take as she got in.
“That’s Pablo?”
“It is, and he’ll be riding bitch to his final destination.”
She snorted. “I can’t believe you let your six-year-old niece buy a taxidermy squirrel posing beside a beer can with her Christmas money,” she said, buckling up.
Chase snickered as he pulled out of the parking spot.
“Okay, so it sounds bad when you say it like that.” Felix huffed, his finger hovering over his phone’s screen as he tried to figure out what the hell to text Kelsey.
Jena rolled her eyes. “You think?”
“Look, I never claimed to be a fit role model, but it’s not like it’s loaded or anything.”
dragon has liam @swamp
going to get him with j & c
sorry about dinner
There. That worked, right?
WHAT?!
Felix tucked his phone away. Maybe not. He was just gonna pretend he didn’t get that.
“You sure?” Chase asked. “Maybe if you pull its tail a cigarette will pop out somewhere.”
“Har har. Just drive, Montgomery,” Felix grumbled. “Or I’ll feed you another cat food cookie.”
“Wait, what?” Jena laughed
Chase put a hand over his face. “Dude!”
“Cat food? Is that what the Meow Medley theme song at Snaps was about?” she asked.
“Mmm.” Felix smirked. “Apparently, they’re part of Lorraine’s secret recipe. You’re more than welcome to the rest in case Chase gets the three a.m. zoomies and needs a little treatsie to calm him down.”
“The fuck she will. That was vile.” Chase shook his head. “Damn, I can’t believe you just told her that.”
“I can’t believe he held out this long! That’s gold right there,” Jena said, still laughing.
“Well, it’s not like you’ve been in the mood to text lately. I couldn’t even get a GIF out of you after I told you about Liam and me,” Felix said, affecting a pout.
She turned in her seat to look at him. “I know, I suck, but I am so fucking happy for you.”
“Thanks—are you crying?” God, this was an alternate universe.
“What? No,” she snapped, turning back around as she sniffled. “Ugh, okay maybe. These stupid pregnancy hormones are ridiculous.”
“They are,” Chase said. “I caught her crying over a block of cheese this morning.”
Jena flushed bright red. “Shut up. It was really good, okay? Now, let me focus. I need to start summoning the node.”
“Well, then obviously tears were warranted.” Felix bit his lip. “You both do realize the sheer stupidity of this, right?”
“Yup.” Chase nodded as he turned a corner.
“But that just means the dragon’ll never see it coming.
” He glanced over at Jena. She’d begun chanting softly under her breath beside him, violet sparks of karma manifesting around her fingers.
“Look, if she thinks we can do this, we can. The node…it’s more powerful than people think, and she’s been spending a lot of time with it and going through her mom’s grimoire. ”
“But it’s a dragon.”
“Yeah.” Chase chewed his lip. “Still, I’m betting her father was worse, and she managed to banish him. Her mother couldn’t even do that,” he said, glancing at Felix in the rearview.
That was also true, but Felix was pretty certain there was more to that than met the eye. Jena’s father wasn’t exactly on the up and up. But maybe Chase was right. Felix sighed. The element of surprise had to count for something, didn’t it?