Bonus Scene

Connor’s point of view

Shadow swiped at me with his claws. I glared at the lynx. ‘No! Bad kitty,’ I snapped. ‘We’re doing a nice thing for Bunny, now stay still, and co-operate.’ Shadow swiped again. Little fucker.

‘Hold still, Shadow,’ I growled again. I was losing my patience. I’d had very little to begin with. Being apart from Bunny for so long was harder than I’d ever imagined it could be. We’d now been apart for longer than we’d been together. My heart was sore, my arms were empty and my balls were blue. I missed her bright smile, her whacky ideas and the way she looked at me like I was a hero. I wasn’t, but I wanted to be when she looked at me like that. And that had led to this. I’d had a little Nomo vest made for Shadow so he would match Fluffy. It even had Kevlar in it. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. It turns out it was the worst idea I’d ever had.

There’s a reason why you don’t get service cats. One, they like to be served, not the other way around, and two, they really hate being put in clothing – even the protective sort.

I finally got the last velcro strap done up under his belly and resisted the urge to give a victory fist pump. Other than a few healed scratches, I still had both hands. I counted that as a solid win.

I stood back and admired the effect. I grinned. ‘You look cute.’

Shadow turned flat unfriendly eyes on me, and hissed.

‘Chill,’ I said to him. ‘This is about making Bunny happy.’

The instant I let him go, he bolted. He skidded about ten steps on the wooden flooring, then he flopped to the ground and proceeded to act like he was dying.

‘Drama queen,’ I muttered. ‘You’re fine.’ Why was I talking to the damn cat?

Seeing that he wasn’t going to get any sympathy, Shadow stalked off to sulk. I stifled a laugh as he promptly found a cardboard box that was two sizes too small for him. I watched in amusement as he stuffed himself determinedly into the tiny space.

I turned to Fluffy, ‘Cats are weird.’

Fluffy gave a bark and a wag. His tongue lolled out of his mouth in amusement. He agreed with me. I gave his head a scruffle, and felt a pang of some alien feeling. It was hard, seeing Fluffy now. Harder now I knew what and who he was. There was something about the lost teen that called to me in the strongest way. I wanted to protect him, mostly, I’m sure, because Bunny loved him. She loved easily, and with her whole heart, and the two of them escaped from hell together. Only at the time, we didn’t know that Reggie was locked into his own hell. Stuck forever in dog form, his brain had regressed to far more basic canine impulses; Fluffy was an incredibly smart dog, but a dog still. Yet making him be a human again, with our higher cerebral capabilities, made Reggie feel overwhelmed and he shied away from his human form like he was allergic to it. Dogs don’t have existential crises the way we did. It was a lot for Reggie to deal with, and since Bunny had been gone, I’d only seen Reggie twice.

‘You want some time on two legs?’ I asked Fluffy hopefully.

He gave me a distinct shake, and my heart twanged. It was for him that I’d come up with a bit of a ridiculously elaborate plan to help him – and okay, Bunny too. She had the Commander’s Weekend coming up, during which she got a three day break Three days where I’d get to spend every moment with her. After eight long weeks, I couldn’t wait to see her, and knowing her, she felt the same about me, and her beloved animals.

She didn’t know I was bringing the pets with me, nor that I’d concocted up a ploy so we could stay more than the measly three days the academy was letting us have with her. Three days wasn’t going to be enough, not by a long shot. It would be like giving a thirsty man two drops of water; absolute torture.

So, I had my bags packed, including a tonne of stuff for Shadow and Fluffy, and a hefty tome on K-9 units.

Fluffy lay on the floor, head on his crossed legs, eyes watching Shadow as he wiggled around in the tiny box.

‘You know,’ I said conversationally to the dog, ‘you could help.’

He flashed me a doggy grin, but didn’t shift. He wouldn’t let me help him on two legs, so I’d arranged for something he could do on four. Something to build his confidence, something to give him purpose and value. It wasn’t much, but it was all I could think of. Bunny and Fluffy were going to lead some K-9 training at the academy, it would be great for her confidence too.

Shadow climbed out of the box he was sulking in, and then he sprawled onto the floor again. In moments he was in contortions, trying to kick the harness off. He yowled. It resisted his attempts at removal.

I smiled.

Shadow looked at me and then flexed his huge fluffy paws. Claws shot out.

‘Won’t work,’ I said smugly. ‘Kevlar.’

Shadow worked at the vest again, but it didn’t do a damned thing. In defeat, Shadow slumped back to the floor again, relaxing. He’d worked himself up to the point that he was panting. Stubborn thing.

‘Embrace the inevitable,’ I advised the cat. ‘Resistance is futile.’

Fluffy gave an amused chuff. Reggie must have been a Trekkie.

I admired the lynx’s harness; it was perfectly sized for the teenage cat. The sides had the Nomo shield, and ‘Nomo Feline’ printed below. I thought Bunny would get a kick out of it. Shadow, however, evidently did not. Ungrateful beast.

Unfortunately, my work had just begun. Phase one was putting the vest on. Phase Two was training the little monster to walk on a leash.

I sighed. I could hear his heartbeat thundering in my home, his and Fluffy’s. I was no newly turned vamp, but there was a reason most vampires don’t keep pets. This was going to require more blood. And patience. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

I looked down at the leash on the table. It clipped to the harness. Now was as good a time as any to start training the willful lynx. I leaned over Shadow and scratched his ears. He leaned into my hand, and the gesture made my heart warm unexpectedly. The little tyke wasn’t holding a grudge. Yet.

I snapped the leash to the hook on the harness. That went well. Now to get the cat on his feet. I tugged on the leash. Shadow slid forward on the hardwood floor. I picked him up and set him down on his feet. He instantly collapsed back on his side like his legs were made of jello. I picked him up again, and he went boneless on me again.

I could take the fighting, but a limp cat was getting us nowhere fast. Little prick.

I looked at Fluffy, hoping my desperation didn’t show. ‘Come on dude. You gotta help. We have less than a week to make Shadow look and act like a real police lynx.’

Fluffy gave out a huff, but he at least got to his feet obediently. He stood next to Shadow. Shadow stood up and swatted Fluff’s nose. It felt like a coincidence when we stood nicely next to Fluffy. But I’d take it. ‘Thank all that is holy,’ I muttered under my breath.

‘Okay, Fluffy, let’s walk around the room and see what he does.’

Fluffy yipped and started walking slowly around the room. Shadow thought that was fun for about a quarter of the room, then he took off. Since I wasn’t expecting it, he hit the end of the leash and snapped back. Turns out that I was prematurely jubilant. It was the only thing I was premature in.

Shadow landed on his side and started flopping like a fish, hissing and yowling at me like it was my fault. Fluffy send me a put upon look. Then looked back at Shadow, then back at me. He shook his head. I agreed. We were done here. We could try again on another day, when my patience reserves were a little higher.

‘Okay, okay. I’m taking it off. I’ll go watch more instructional YouTube videos, this is obviously not going well.’

Once Shadow calmed down, enough for me to approach, I carefully took off the harness. Once he was free from his constraints, he ran straight to my bedroom, and I was sure, right under the bed.

I was pushing three hundred years old. I was not going to be defeated by one lousy little cat. A sigh escaped me. He was going to beat me, I knew it. Realistically, I might have to give up on the leash idea, probably the harness was enough. Bunny would love it, and be happy to see him. Without the leash, I wouldn’t be able to take Shadow out and about with us, but I was thinking that might actually be a good thing. He was trouble on four legs.

Sometimes I wished Shadow was a human shifter in disguise like Fluffy. Things would be easier if he had the same type of intelligence Fluffy did. But Shadow was something no one knew about. A supernatural anomaly of some kind. He appeared to be a regular lynx kitten, but he just wasn’t. He was smarter than a normal cat, that was clear, but he was still a cat through and through – as my harness and leash experiment had just proven.

Well, best laid plans and all of that. I had a few days to practice with him, and he was smart. I wasn’t giving up yet. Connor MacKenzie was not being bested by a cat. Or if I was, I wasn’t telling anyone about it. I looked at Fluffy; I was confident he’d keep my secrets.

Fluffy gave me a sympathetic look, then jumped up on my large leather sectional and went back to resting. Honestly, that seemed like a good idea. Spending time with him on the couch sounded great, but if I wanted a week off with Bunny, I didn’t have time to lounge around.

I needed to clear at least six days from my schedule before I could comfortably leave. I was going to be busting a gut for the next few days, burning both ends of the candle, and then some. Still, even with all the work ahead of me, just knowing I’d see Bunny soon made it all worth it.

Jill and I hope you adores this little snapshot of Connor. We have just finished The Vampire and the Case of the Cozy Christmas which will be out any day now, so keep an eye out for that!

Don't forget to Pre-Order the Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag, where we'll back in Portlock proper for some more paranormal adventures!