Chapter 2

Chapter Two

SIMON

After possessing the whistle for approximately twenty-one hours, thirty-seven minutes, and forty-three seconds, I was a mess. I jumped and hissed at every little sound. Guilt ate at me like those caterpillars who infiltrated Mama's garden every year and gnawed on her cabbages. Every time footsteps headed in my direction, I was sure the police were coming to arrest me. Nothing calmed my nerves, not even holding my precious new whistle.

My concentration was non-existent, but at least my job was boring and predictable, so I didn't need a lot of brain power to get through my shift. I stomped along my usual route at the perimeter of the property, more out of muscle memory than from an actual conscious decision.

When I was rounding the corner, a shadow jumped toward me. I leaped away, darting in the opposite direction to return to the narrow walkway along the side of the property. Leaning against the wall, I gasped for breath. I swore my heart stopped beating as my ears strained for any sound of someone pursuing me. Then there was a sound like fabric snapping. What was that? I peered around the corner. The shadow bounced out of sight.

My hand trembled as I reached for my phone.

I swallowed hard.

This wasn't good. I couldn't remember anything. What was I supposed to do? Call someone? The police? Levi ? My hands shook so hard I couldn't get the screen unlocked. I messed up the pattern every time I tried to drag my finger across the screen.

That wasn't working.

I gulped as I shoved the phone back in my pocket.

I needed to get help the old-fashioned way. If I shifted, I could run to the police station.

The transition to my cat form slipped over me. Then I crept around the building, hugging the shadows. My tail was all puffed up. I didn't dare blink.

The shadow swept over the ground again in an erratic, jerky motion. What was that?

I inched forward.

Then I saw it. The inflatable tube man.

I gasped for breath. How had I forgotten about that thing in the one hour since my last round? Yes , anxiety had muddled my thoughts, but I was worse off than I had thought.

But was something else there too?

I held my breath and watched.

The shadows swept over the ground again and again as the inflatable man waved around. Nothing was there but that stupid tube man thing .

I let out the breath with a gusty exhale.

It hadn't felt like it at the time, but my phone not working had been a stroke of luck. The whole town would have laughed at me if I'd made that call.

The thing collapsed down, coming right for me, before the air filled it and it went shooting up again. Then it did the same thing again. And again. Coming straight at me every single time.

Was the thing possessed?

The way its wide, unblinking eyes stared at me made my fur stand on end. It shot down toward me again, its big eerie smile coming right at me, as if it meant to eat me.

It mocked me. I swore it screamed at me every time it flew down toward me. I know what you did. Those wolves are going to make trouble and you aren't doing anything. Thief ! Lazy ! Scaredy cat!

I arched my back. I hissed. No way!

I wasn't letting it taunt me like that. It came at me again.

With a screech, I leaped. My claws tore at the slippery fabric, slicing the tube into ribbons that flapped and slapped at me. I doubled my efforts.

Die , you blasted thing! Die !

I didn't stop until the thing lay limply across the ground. I panted and stared at it, daring it to come after me again.

It didn't.

Eventually , my breathing slowed, and my heart rate returned to normal.

I surveyed the mess I'd made. Bits of fabric covered the sidewalk, the road, and the lawn. The air blower still hummed as usual, but only a sliver of fabric still wiggled in its breeze.

Uh oh.

What had I done?

I didn't think anyone would be too upset about the inflatable man being gone. Getting rid of the thing was a community service, right? Except I doubted Levi would see it that way.

I tiptoed back to the shadows and looked up and down the street. Nothing moved, but that was normal. Willow Lake was a small town. There usually wasn't much activity on the streets in the middle of the night.

I prayed to the Eternal Magic no one had seen me. Maybe I should call her Mother Magic like Mama did. Would that help me gain her goodwill?

Then I sent out a second prayer that no one ever found out I'd destroyed the inflatable tube man, particularly Levi . As a minotaur, Levi could be a bit bullish. I doubted he'd see the humor in the situation, at least not before firing my furry butt.

And what would people think?

Everyone in town already gave me strange looks. I didn't need them finding out I'd lost control and attacked the tube man like a kitten high on catnip for the first time. Not only would it make me more of a weirdo in everyone's eyes, it might even cost me my job, and then what would I do? Job opportunities were scarce for a regular cat shifter like me. I'd never survive picking up odd jobs here and there like my brothers Clive and Warren did. I liked the routine of steady employment. Knowing I'd get paid each month helped me sleep like a kitten each night .

I sighed as I crept around the building toward the front office again. As I shifted into my human form, I sucked in a couple of deep breaths. All I wanted to do was run home and hide under my bed, but I liked my job and if I wanted to keep it, I couldn't abandon the motel.

How could I explain this? And more importantly, what had come over me?

It almost made me suspect the whistle was bad luck.

Almost .

Except it was too shiny and pretty to be bad luck.

No . I knew what this greasy, slimy, heavy feeling was. It was guilt. My brothers always called me a sucker for falling for Mama's guilt trips, but it was what it was. I was who I was.

That inflatable tube man's death was all about my guilt.

I sighed.

I had to tell the police what those wolves had said. Jake was too nice. I couldn't sit back and let someone rob him again. Although … Had he even noticed being robbed the first time? The robbery should have been the talk of the town today, but no one had said a peep.

No . Jake's ignorance didn't justify the robbery.

I needed to go to the police station and tell them what I knew. It was the right thing to do. In the meantime, I had to write up an incident report about the tube man and hope I still had a job. My brothers didn't have trouble telling a few white lies here and there, so maybe I could do it too.

Of course, their lies usually sounded like:

Have I eaten? No , of course not, I'm starving.

Do I want my belly rubbed? Sure .

Of course I didn't turn up my nose at this same dish the last time you gave it to me.

Huh . Now that I thought about it, maybe gaslighting was a better way of describing what they did. Unlike them, I only lied when it was absolutely necessary. I was always too scared of getting found out.

After I fudged my way through the report, I heaved out a sigh and went hunting for a rake and some garbage bags. The front desk clerk offered to help clean everything up, but I had to do this myself. I'd made this mess; I needed to clean it up. It took longer than I thought to pick up all the little pieces. A few fine threads of fabric still clung to the grass when I was finished, but I'd done the best I could. I wheeled the air blower over to the maintenance shed and shoved it inside.

Then all I had left to do was wait for Levi to get there in the morning.

The minotaur stomped into the office at seven with a large, insulated cup of coffee in his hand. The side of the cup read Half of what I say is bull . He always used it when he bought coffee from the Flying Rowan Café . The way he flaunted things like that suggested he wanted Parker , the human owner of the café, to discover he was a minotaur. I'd seen them flirt, so maybe he did.

I couldn't imagine trying to have a relationship with someone who knew nothing about supernatural beings. The guilt over keeping quiet about the wolves stealing from the inn overwhelmed me; I couldn't imagine what it would be like trying to keep the Eternal Magic a secret from someone I dated.

Levi's drink smelled strong, like he didn't have a drop of cream in it. How anyone could drink coffee without cream was a mystery to me, but Levi smiled when he took a sip. Then he spotted me, and his broad forehead furrowed.

" What's the matter, Simon ?"

" There … uh… was a… situation…" I stuttered. He was totally going to know I was lying.

" Hey , it's okay." Levi clapped his large hand over my shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. " Calm down. Tell me what happened."

I shoved the incident report at him. He set down his coffee and took the form. As he read over my report, his face flushed, his nostrils flared, and he tilted his head down like he was ready to charge after someone and ram into them.

If I'd been in my cat form, I'd have ducked under the desk.

" Damn kids," he muttered and shook his head in disgust.

I kept my mouth shut. Sweat beaded along my brow.

" Hey , don't blame yourself," Levi said when he glanced at me. I could only imagine what I looked like. I was terrible at hiding my emotions. " You can't be everywhere at once."

Guilt clawed at my throat.

" And thanks for cleaning up the mess. I wouldn't want anyone to trip over that stuff."

Not trusting myself to speak yet, I nodded.

" I hope you didn't worry about this all night. You look shattered," Levi said with a soft voice.

I bit my tongue .

" Go home and get some rest."

I left work feeling guiltier than I had when I started. But , by some quirk of fate—or perhaps with the Eternal Magic's help— I left the Tarbeck Motel still employed. But how was I going to make it up to Levi ? I sighed.

I didn't go to Mama's for breakfast.

She would have sniffed out my lies the second I walked through the door. Instead , I went home and climbed into bed. I tried to sleep but I couldn't. By the time the sun went down, I knew it was time to act. My shift at the motel started at midnight, so I had a deadline.

Still , I didn't rush to the police station right away. It took most of the evening to work up the courage to go over there. Then I meandered over to the building, where I sat in front of the station for a bit until I finally sucked in a deep breath and accepted that I couldn't put it off any longer. I only had an hour left before my shift started.

I'd heard police stations in human towns weren't open all night, but luckily a supe ran our police department. His name was Van . He was a hellhound and someone I usually tried to avoid. I prayed I wouldn't have to talk to him. I could still remember when he came to talk to my class in elementary school. He'd looked at me with his eyes all lit up like fire and I swore I didn't breathe again until he left. I was ready to confess to anything and everything that'd ever happened in Willow Lake , regardless of whether or not I was involved. As soon as I got home, I slipped into my cat form and hid under my bed for the rest of the day.

I looked over my shoulder and scanned the sidewalk and the road up and down before I climbed the steps to the front door. I didn't see anyone watching me, but I knew Mama would hear about it anyway. She always knew where her kittens were and what we did.

I pulled open the door and forced myself to take those last few steps to the front desk. A scary looking woman looked up from whatever paperwork she was doing and glared at me from behind a barrier of protective glass. I swear her pale green eyes were almost cat-like with their thin, vertical, slit-shaped pupils as she stared at me. Except one whiff told me she was no cat shifter. She was an alligator or a crocodile or something like that. She could probably devour me in one bite if she shifted completely. I took a step back.

" How can I help you?" Her tone suggested helping me was the last thing she wanted to do.

" I … I need to report… uh, something…" I croaked out. Then I swallowed. My mouth had never been so dry.

" What is the nature of the incident?"

I gulped. " I … uh…"

Another woman I recognized approached the window and looked at me. This one was wearing a uniform. She eyed me curiously.

" I can handle this, Sandra ," the newcomer said. " I know you're ready for your break."

" Thanks , Dot ." Sandra nodded as she stood. " It's been crazy in here tonight. I can't believe they found that hellhound guy out in the woods. It's like half the town was out looking for him after that bartender had that vision and now everyone and their dog wants to know what's going on." The woman frowned at me. " That's not why you're here, is it? I've heard about you cats and your curiosity."

I shook my head .

" Good , then," the woman nodded. " Constable Hubert will take your statement."

Dot —or I guess she was Constable Hubert now—and I went to school together. She was a year older than me and my littermates. She'd always struck me as a timid person, ready to bolt at the first whiff of trouble. It may feed into a stereotype, but law enforcement seemed like a strange profession for a deer shifter. Their kind was known for running from trouble rather than tackling it to the ground and going for the jugular. I'd always thought that if I was into girls, she would be a perfect choice for me. I couldn't believe she'd become a police officer. I respected the heck out of her for overcoming all her challenges to go for the job she wanted. Obviously , she'd gotten over her scaredy cat tendencies better than I had.

She looked at me with her big brown eyes, assessing me. " You're one of the Rivers boys, aren't you?"

I nodded. It didn't surprise me she didn't remember my name. No one ever did. Littermates like mine usually attracted all the attention, and I was the other one .

" You said you had something to report?"

I nodded again. " I overheard some supes talking about something… Something , uh, criminal, I guess."

She blinked at me, then nodded slowly. " Okay . Stay here for a minute. I'll let Chief Clark know. Okay ?"

She wasn't gone but a moment. When she returned, her cheeks were a little flushed. She opened the door to the office area of the police station and motioned me inside.

" He's , uh, busy at the moment. I'll take your statement and if he has questions, he'll follow up with you. Sound good? "

She led me to a messy desk and motioned for me to sit on a chair beside it.

" Normally we'd do this in a meeting room, but… uh… not tonight." She pulled out a form from a pile and then took a minute to unearth a pen from the heaps of things on her desk. " Okay . Tell me what happened."

I told her about everything except the whistle and the inflatable tube man. She didn't need to know about those things. No one needed to know about them but me.