Chapter 166: Protective Pets
I was so distracted by my thoughts I stumbled into something huge and hairy at the bottom of the stairs. The lump grunted as I jerked back in instant fright. Glowing red eyes flashed from the darkness for a moment before the fire died in them.
"Galleytrot." I clutched at my T-shirt, heart pounding. "What are you doing?"
"Waiting for you." His growling voice always made me think of meadows and secrets kept, the thrum of wild places rippling through it. The hulking black dog of the Sidhe climbed to his feet from where he'd sprawled at the foot of the steps. His head was almost at level with my chest as he looked up at me.
I scratched one of his ears before rubbing my hand over the top of his head where the softest fur was. "You have to stop following me."
The man I'd once known as Jared, locked forever in the body of a magic dog, shook his head, heavy mane flowing. He pushed his flat, wet nose into my stomach gently. "I'll never stop," he said. "You rescued me, Syd, and I owe you my life. Nothing will ever hurt you again for as long as I have breath."
Seeing as he was immortal and tied to the rising of the Wild Hunt buried in my back yard, I knew I'd have no relief from him if he really wanted to push it. And now that I thought about it, the past week he'd been pretty much under my feet the entire time. I just hadn't really noticed.
"Just be a little more subtle," I said, going easy on him as I wouldn't for anyone else. He'd had it pretty tough so far and I wanted him to feel welcome. Yeah, he'd almost gotten my family killed by betraying us to the Moromonds last fall, using his Sidhe magic to undermine Mom and take the power of the coven from her. But he'd proved faithful and loyal since then and I made sure he stayed that way by winning him his freedom from the Wild Hunt.
His huge, wide head bobbed. "Fair enough." Galleytrot padded to one side, thick tail wagging, the thump, thump, thump of it against the living room chair behind him betraying his good humor. "After you."
I climbed the stairs with him following, feeling a little weird about the whole thing. Worse, when I entered my room and softly closed the door with him inside, I turned to see my demon cat, Sassafras, sitting at the end of the bed, amber eyes aglow. The silver Persian's thick tail hung over the edge, the tip twitching back and forth.
"And just what were you thinking?" His sarcasm and anger mingled together in classic Sassy attitude. "Tell me you did not just go out into the back yard in the middle of the night."
I rolled my eyes, flopping down on my messy covers. "Sass," I said, "it's our back yard. The safest freaking place on the planet. There are wards on it that could survive a nuclear bombing for goodness sake." I stroked one hand down his back. His fur rippled as he tried to reject the pleasure of it.
"You need to be more careful." He glared at me, one paw reaching out to swipe my fingers away. "Always with the stupid, impulsive acts, Sydlynn."
He was such a brat. My fingers found the body of a toy mouse buried in the folds of my comforter. I whipped it out and dangled it in front of his nose. Instantly his pupils flared huge, ears flattening as he tensed, hind quarters quivering.
"Sassy want a mousey?" I shook it a little as he fought for control. He lunged at it, ripping it from my fingers, pinning it to the bed with a growl only to shake himself and snarl at me.
"Damned cat body," he said.
I knew teasing him only made things worse in the long run and that doing so was all kinds of cruel. So why did it always make me laugh?
Even Galleytrot chuffed out a chuckle. I slid under the covers, sighing as I curled up on my side. Sassafras wasn't about to forgive and forget. He tromped his way across my body, shaking the bed with his heavy progress, until his face was in mine.
"Are you going to tell me who was out there?" Amber fire glittered.
"You know very well who it was." My anger came back. "Thanks for telling me Sunny and Uncle Frank are family lepers all of a sudden."
He sighed and settled. "Not all of a sudden." I knew he was right. It was only because of Mom they were part of the family at all anymore. She insisted. And since she had some vampire power tied to hers as well, the coven listened.
"What happened?" It felt crummy and dirty and made me want to bang on Mom's bedroom door and demand an answer.
Sassy licked at some imaginary dirt on his paw. "Nothing and everything." He paused in his grooming as Galleytrot approached the edge of the bed, his big chin resting on the sheets. "With all that the coven has gone through this year, there were those who insisted on some precautions."
I could imagine who he was talking about. And Celeste Oberman would be leading them. She'd been undermining Mom's authority for ages. I wouldn't put something as petty as this past her. And it was petty.
"So they can stand around in the yard," I said with some sarcasm, "in the center of the family power, but they're not allowed inside the house. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"Me too, Syd." Galleytrot's deep voice was welcome support.
Even Sassy nodded. "Myself also." He settled his chin in his paws, eyes half lidded. "Your mother is well aware this is simple retaliation from those unhappy with the choices she's made. Give it a little time, some peace and quiet, and all will be resolved." His eyes narrowed further. "I mean it, Syd. Peace. And. Quiet."
I thought about Sunny's warning even as I stroked the fur of Sassy's paw with one fingertip. "I'm not looking for trouble."
He grunted something I didn't catch. "Your mother should have sent you off to camp with Meira," he said. "At least then if something did hit the fan, you'd be far enough away the coven could stay out of it."
Oh hardy-har-har. Like I was a nine year old to be sent off to camp. I shuddered at the thought. I'd only gone once, when I was about Meira's age. "I hope she has fun, at least." I knew she would. My little sister was half demon, just like me, only she wore her heritage on her body. Her red skin, cute little horns and amber eyes said it all. Normally, she was forced to disguise herself. But she was at witch camp, so she would be able to spend the whole summer as just Meira.
I missed her more than I was willing to admit, lost in thought about her and how she'd be horrified to know her uncle and his girlfriend weren't welcome anymore. Sassy took the opportunity to dig in a jab of his own.
"I'm sure she'll do much better than you did."
He just had to bring that up. "It wasn't my fault." The old excuse. But I really believed it.
"What happened?" Galleytrot settled next to the bed, chin still at rest, eyes curious.
"We don't really need to go into that," I said even as my demon cat chortled with glee. I'd never heard glee before, but this was it.
"She was kicked out." He snickered and snorted while he went on. "Lasted two days before the counselors demanded Miriam come pick her up."
"Stupid camp," I said, a flash of that horrible two days passing through my mind.
"What did you do?"
I exchanged an angry look with Sassy. It didn't stop him from speaking, mind you. I just figured I had to make the effort.
"There were a few girls who didn't get along with her." My dislike of bullies ran deep. Didn't get along? The trio of young witches whose names I'd purposely forgotten chose me from the moment I arrived as their target of choice. "Syd took it for only a short time." Like about ten minutes. I may have been a pushover in the real world, wanting to fit in, but I despised being a witch back then and no one was going to treat me like that. "The girls ended up with rather uncomfortable maladies." I had a habit of speaking things out loud my demon took literally. In that case, I'd been happy about it. "Boils, I believe it was. And rashes."
Ah, the rashes. Yes, most excellent.
I shook myself free of the memory as Galleytrot chuckled. "Good to know," he said. "I'll do my best not to piss you off."
For some reason I had a moment of worry for Meira. Would she be all right? I just as quickly brushed it away. Of course she would. Miss Meems got along with everyone.
The boys finally settled, Sassafras's amber eyes falling closed, Galleytrot groaning softly as he curled up on the floor. Their calm helped relax me enough I drifted near sleep. And good thing. It might have been summer vacation for everyone else I knew, but not for me. I had years worth of work to catch up on. I was just grateful the nausea plaguing me in the past was long gone. Now if only I could convince my three magics to work together instead of colliding into each other... if I'd been allowed to develop normally, none of this would have been an issue.
Not that I blamed Gram or anything. She did what she had to do to save our family. Still. Sucked.
I was almost asleep when I remembered my three promises. Namely, the final one. Alison. I had to do something about Alison.
A plan formed in my head even as I drifted off again. She wasn't going to make it easy, I was sure of that, but then again, nothing in my life was simple, so I had tons of experience.
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