Copyright © 2020 Liv Rider

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law or for the use of brief quotations in a review. This is a work of fiction.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Cat-astrophe

Matthew looked over the scribbles in his notebook once again, running through the spells he was combining. He’d been working on this teleportation spell for a while, and he hoped it would impress his boss once he completed it. He worked for a security company catering to shifters, vampires, Fae, and anyone else who needed magical security on top of their regular security.

Security cameras were great, but they didn’t tell you if the raccoons going through your garbage cans were actual raccoons, or raccoon shifters acting the part.

Matthew did protective spells to make sure criminals wouldn’t get into the house. But protective spells weren’t perfect, which was why he was working on his teleportation enchantment. He wanted to enchant an item that teleported the wearer to a pre-set, safe location if something was wrong. If it worked, he was certain there’d be interest.

Plenty of their clients were more worried about their kids or their non-magical partner. A ring, watch, or necklace that teleported the wearer to the grandparents at the first sign of trouble would be a welcome addition.

Creating an enchantment like that was tricky. He had to combine a teleportation spell with several other spells. One for protection, one for safety, one for the destination, and a few others. He used a spell about feeling unsafe as a safeguard against the wearer setting it off outside of an emergency. Whether that would work in practice remained to be seen. They’d need to do a lot of testing once he had it finished.

Besides, he still needed to create an enchantment to let the client set up a safe destination.

He was close, though, and planned on spending the morning on it. A few uninterrupted hours of work were just what this project needed.

He got up to get another cup of coffee. Distracted by movement outside, he headed over to his front windows. His cat Josie was sitting on the windowsill. They’d given her the name at the animal rescue he’d adopted her from. While he wasn’t too familiar with the Josie and the Pussycats comics, the name had made him smile.

“Been keeping a close eye on things?” He scratched her head, and the calico meowed up at him. “Good girl.”

A large, white van with a local garage’s logo on the side stood parked outside with the back doors open. Two guys, both Black and wearing the same dark blue tank top, stood behind it. The taller one was gesturing at whatever was inside while the other shook his head. A third man hopped out of the driver’s seat to briefly join the discussion before ducking inside the back of the van.

When he pulled out a kitchen chair and handed it to the taller guy, Matthew realized what was going on.

Mrs. Johnson’s apartment, two floors below his, had been empty for a few weeks now. One of these guys must be the new tenant. Or maybe two of them? Mrs. Johnson’s apartment had the same layout as his, so there were two bedrooms.

“We’re getting new neighbors, girl,” he told the cat. “Or only one. What do you think?”

Josie meowed again, then hopped off the windowsill to walk over to her drinking fountain.

“Yeah, I have better things to do than watch people move house.”

The apartment building was created especially for shifters and other magical types. The building housed twelve apartments across four floors, and Matthew lived on the third. He’d been living here for about three years, moving in a few months after finishing his training as a mage. He wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Well, sometimes his upstairs neighbor, a pegasus shifter, would shift in her apartment. The apartment building was supposed to be soundproof, but there were limits to it.

He was the only mage in the building, and he wondered what the new tenant or tenants would be. More shifters? Fae? Would Fae bother getting a van to move their belongings?

They were out during a sunny day with no signs of discomfort, which ruled out vampires. That was probably for the best. A vampire couple lived on the fourth floor, and vampires could get pretty territorial. They were easy-going, but a new vampire in the building would set them on edge.

Probably a shifter, then. Apart from the two vampires and himself, everyone else in the building was a shifter. Matthew hoped the new guy wasn’t a noisy kind.

He went back to his notes, checking if he’d combined the spells correctly. The wrong connecting spell could give the whole enchantment a wildly different outcome. His teachers had compared it to writing. Whether you used ‘and’ or ‘but’ between two sentences mattered. It was one reason why creating new spells was such tricky work.

Matthew made a few more notes, then put down his pen. Reading through it once more wouldn’t fix anything. The only way forward was by trying the spell. He grabbed an old bracelet he often used for testing.

Josie wound her way around his ankles, meowing for attention.

He petted her on the back. “In a minute, Josie. You still have food in your bowl.”

She slipped under the table, and Matthew double-checked his notes again.

It was silly to worry about failure when it wasn’t for a grade and no one at work knew about this. The only person who’d know he’d messed up with the spell was himself.

“Failure is a chance to learn,” he muttered, repeating one of his old teachers. He’d never fully embraced it. Failure, as far as he was concerned, was proof you hadn’t prepared well enough.

Time to try. He focused on the bracelet on the table as he said the spell, careful with his pronunciation. He felt the magic flow through him and smiled. It seemed to work, or at least do something.

“Mrow?”

He started when Josie jumped onto the coffee table and head-butted his hand just as he finished his spell. He felt a familiar warmth inside, so the spell had done its work. Time to test the bracelet. “Josie, no, we’ve been over this.” He picked her up and put her on the floor. “The table isn’t for you.”

She rubbed her head against his shins, purring and meowing.

“Oh, feeling affectionate?” He picked her up again, this time placing her in his lap. Her purring became louder, and he petted her with one hand while taking the bracelet with his other. It didn’t look any different, but then, he hadn’t added a spell to change its appearance.

He put it down again, making a note to add a color change to the spell. How was he supposed to know if the spell had done anything to the bracelet otherwise?

For now, he’d assume it was fine and do some further testing. He still needed to set a safe location for the bracelet to teleport him to.

Once he had finished his own initial testing, he would ask Gwen to try it as well. She’d helped him before and she was always curious about the spells he was working on. She was a vet, specializing in shifters. They healed fast, but there was a limit to what shifter healing powers could do. He’d met the wolf shifter through work, when she’d come in to teach them about poisons and antidotes for shifters. He’d contacted her afterwards for some follow-up questions, and the friendship had grown from there. He was sure she’d see how useful this bracelet could be.

He was also sure she would spot plenty of potential issues. All part of the testing process, he reminded himself.

He gently put Josie next to him on the couch and got up. She gave him an unimpressed look and hopped off the couch. “I’ll pet you later.” She wandered back to the windowsill and hopped on, staring at the street again.

He tried to use his bedroom as a safe location, but he couldn’t attach it to the spell he’d cast on the bracelet. Should he try a location further away from where he’d cast the spell? Had he been specific enough with the location spell he’d used?

He headed into the second bedroom that he had turned into a library to double-check the spell he’d used.

All the while, Matthew tried to ignore the growing ball of nerves in his stomach. Failure. He’d made a mistake and messed up and failed at the spell. He was a terrible mage. His boss would find out soon enough what a mistake he’d made hiring Matthew and fire him. He’d be out of a job.

He closed his eyes, taking a slow breath in and a slow breath out. Failure is a chance to learn. This was a complicated spell. It was only his first attempt. He’d known something would go wrong. Now it was a matter of figuring out what. 

Using his books, he ran through the spells he’d combined and his notes, but couldn’t find why the bracelet wasn’t doing anything. His stomach rumbled, and he was surprised it was nearly two o’clock.

He closed his books, deciding he’d think better after having lunch.

As he opened the fridge, he reflexively called out to Josie. “Not your lunch time!” She was convinced that any time Matthew ate, she got to eat.

But there was no meowing or cat paws padding over to him.

That was weird, but he wouldn’t complain about getting to make himself a sandwich without Josie winding around his ankles and meowing as if she hadn’t had kibble that morning.

She didn’t come out while he ate either, and after finishing his sandwich he checked Josie’s usual napping spots.

On the windowsill in the corner, just behind the curtain. Underneath the couch. A different area underneath the couch. Underneath his blankets on the bed. The balcony. The windowsill again.

He called her name and opened the bag of treats. Usually, the scent would have lured her out of whatever hiding place she’d chosen this time.

Nothing.

His hands were getting clammy, but he told himself there was a perfectly good explanation. Maybe Josie wasn’t in the mood for a treat.

Yeah, right.

He opened the hallway to check his front door. It was still locked, and he hadn’t left his apartment since the last time he’d seen her. She’d been sitting on the windowsill, keeping a close eye on the goings-on outside.

Where had she gone?

His heart stopped when he heard meowing from somewhere downstairs. It couldn’t be Josie. There was no way she could have gotten out of his apartment.

He grabbed his keys and opened his front door, stepping into the hallway and closing it behind him again. If Josie was still in his apartment somewhere, he wouldn’t give her a chance to escape. The meowing came from two stories down, and he walked down the stairs. The noise sounded familiar, but then again, plenty of cats sounded alike, right?

“Who’s a pretty kitty, then? Is it you? Is it you?”

He stopped halfway down the stairs.

One of the guys he’d seen carrying furniture that morning was standing in front of his own apartment, cooing over Josie and cradling her in his arms.

His very nice arms, emphasized by the dark blue tank top he was wearing.

Josie’s purring was loud enough that Matthew could hear it from ten feet away. Of course she was purring. Matthew would purr too if he was being held by a hot guy like that.

Still, Josie was his cat.

He coughed awkwardly, and the guy holding Josie startled so badly that she jumped onto the floor. His golden eyes were wide, looking from Matthew to the cat and back.

“Um,” the guy said, “it’s not my cat.”

“I know,” Matthew replied, feeling equally awkward. “She’s my cat.” He walked down the remaining stairs, and Josie head-butted his ankles. “Sorry about that. She rarely escapes like that.”

She never escaped like that. Because she couldn’t.

She had jumped onto the coffee table and touched his hand just when he’d finished his teleportation spell. And he’d definitely cast a spell. He eyed Josie suspiciously as he picked her up. She couldn’t have teleported.

And yet it was the only explanation he could think of.

He’d have to undo the spell immediately. Assuming it even was the teleportation spell gone wrong.

Josie wriggled around in his arms so she could look at their new downstairs neighbor. “Were you the guy moving in this morning?” Matthew asked, because that was a better subject than discussing his cat escaping. Now that the man was no longer holding his cat, Matthew could see the same logo for the garage on his shirt as had been on the van.

The man nodded. “Yeah, I’m Ethan.” He held out his hand, then pulled it back sheepishly after a few seconds. “Right. Stupid.” He had a few inches on Matthew and was broad-shouldered. Like Matthew, he was in his early twenties.

Matthew changed his grip on Josie, making sure he was still holding her securely. She seemed very interested in Ethan for some reason. Maybe because he was new?

“Nice to meet you, I’m Matthew. I live two stories up. Surprised you guys finished so quickly. You had a big van with you.” He realized how that must have sounded the moment Ethan looked surprised. “I just noticed. I don’t look out the window all day to keep track of everyone’s business with a creepy notebook.”

“Good to know,” Ethan replied lightly, running a hand across his short-cropped hair. “It didn’t feel that fast while we were doing it. I guess me and my brothers make an awesome team, working together, wanting to get it over with, and—” He paused for a moment, his shoulders relaxing. “Wait, you live here too, right?”

“Yes?” Where was Ethan going with this? Why had he been nervous?

Ethan grinned with excitement, his eyes bright. “That means you’re a shifter, right? So you get it. I don’t need bullshit excuses about how we moved everything in so quickly. I can just say we’re lion shifters and that having shifter strength comes in handy when you’re moving a big couch.” Ethan looked so relieved and pleased that for a moment, Matthew was reluctant to admit he wasn’t a shifter himself. But the guy had a point, and it was something Matthew had been taking for granted.

“It’s not just shifters in here,” he replied. “I’m a mage. But you’re right. No need for bullshit excuses.”

“A mage? Cool!”

Matthew gave him a wan smile. “Most people just worry about me accidentally setting the building on fire…”

Ethan frowned. “Is that a risk?”

Matthew shook his head. “No, don’t worry. I’ve got loads of protective wards set up inside my apartment, just in case.” Maybe he should offer to do some for Ethan. It’d be a chance to get to know him. Just being neighborly, obviously.

“Just in case you set fire to your own place?” Ethan raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound very reassuring.”

He was making a worse impression the longer he stayed here. “Magic can be unpredictable sometimes.” He was holding the furry evidence of that. “You know, I should leave you to unpack. I bet you’re busy. Sorry to have disturbed you.”

Ethan smiled, reaching out to Josie. He glanced at Matthew, then scratched the cat behind her ears when Matthew nodded. “She can disturb me any time. She’s very sweet. How old is she?”

“About six years old. I adopted her a few years ago when I moved in.”

“Makes sense. These apartments are big for one person.” Ethan stepped back. “But yeah, I should start unpacking. Can you believe it, my brothers will carry a couch and a fridge inside, but bail when I mention putting some furniture together.” He rolled his eyes, but his smile was fond.

“They remembered a previous appointment, huh?” Should he offer to help? No, he needed to deal with Josie’s teleportation spell.

“Very important appointment it must’ve been too. But Dad said he wanted the van back as soon as we finished up here.” Ethan shrugged as he gestured at his shirt. “It was difficult enough convincing him to let us borrow it.” He glanced down his own hallway. “Still, they could’ve offered to come back…”

Matthew smiled. He remembered how overwhelming all the packed boxes had been when he’d just moved in. “I should leave you alone to get to work on that.”

“Yeah. The sooner I get started, the sooner I’m done.” Ethan didn’t look convinced by his own pep talk. “It was nice to meet you. See you around?”

“Sure!” He was more than happy to get to know his new neighbor. After he had gotten Josie back to normal. “Good luck with the furniture.” He walked back up the stairs, glad Josie was happy to stay in his arms.

It was awkward, opening the door while holding onto his cat, but he managed it. He let her go to close the door behind him. Josie padded into the living room, jumped onto the chair in the corner and started licking her paws as if nothing had happened.

Matthew walked over and crouched in front of the chair, studying his cat. “You must’ve teleported. You couldn’t have gotten out any other way. Stay here.”

He knew telling her to stay was pointless the moment he got up and said it. He grabbed one of his books from the coffee table, searching for a good way to check whether a living being had a spell cast on them.

After casting a detection spell, his cat gave off a soft, blue glow. Josie let out a panicked meow, then zoomed off the chair and underneath the couch. Matthew winced when he heard more panicked meowing.

He got down on all fours to look at her. She was still glowing, and her eyes were wide. “Hey Josie. You’re having a rough day, aren’t you?”

She meowed again, moving further into a corner.

The spell would wear off after a few minutes, but he wouldn’t let her panic that long. He muttered the counterspell, and the glow vanished.

Josie was quiet for a long time, then crawled out from underneath the couch. Matthew gathered her in his lap to pet her, and soon she was purring. “Definitely having a rough day.”

Since she was sitting in his lap, he could inspect the spell he’d cast to see how he could remove it. He cast another spell to detect magic, but solely on himself this time.

He kept petting and muttering reassuringly as he looked at her.

Magic threads were not only wrapped around her, but connected to her. Matthew groaned, realizing that this would make it a lot harder to remove the spell. If he wasn’t careful, he might end up hurting Josie.

He’d never intended to cast his teleportation spell on a living being, so he’d anchored the spell to whatever object it would get cast on. In this case, Josie. Separating a spell from an object was difficult, precise work. Matthew had experience with removing curses from old heirlooms, and he always worked with another mage for that. If something went wrong, you wanted someone nearby who could heal you or, in one case, help douse the flames.

“I definitely don’t want to set you on fire,” he told Josie. “What do you think? Should I create a counterspell instead and use that?”

Josie blinked up at him, turning to lie on her side in his lap.

“But I don’t even know what went wrong with this spell.” He petted her, and she closed her eyes contently. “I haven’t set a safe location for you, and you don’t seem to have set one yourself. You also didn’t teleport when you got scared just then.” Why hadn’t she done that? He’d been so sure she’d teleported downstairs to Ethan’s new apartment, but now he was wondering if she hadn’t slipped out in some other way. But the teleportation spell was anchored to her. He could see the threads.

“Then why did you teleport earlier?” Had a loud noise outside spooked her? “And why did you teleport to somewhere you’ve never been? How would you have known where to go?”

He didn’t expect Josie to reply, but sometimes talking to her helped him get his thoughts in order.

But right now, it only led to more questions.

He gently set her on the floor, and she bumped her head against his hand, wondering why the petting had stopped.

“I have to do more research, Josie.” He gave her a final scratch behind the ears. “This is not the trial and error I was hoping for.”

He grabbed his notebook, grumbling at himself for not setting up a counterspell in advance. Now he’d have to do that and watch Josie in case she vanished again. Part of his brain was insisting he was a massive failure again, but the part that worried about her drowned out his self-doubt. He had to get to work, or who knew where Josie might teleport to next?

◆◆◆

By the time Matthew started on dinner, he knew two things for certain.

1. He was no closer to a solution than he’d been a few hours ago.

2. Working on a solution while trying to monitor your teleporting cat was impossible.

Whenever Josie wandered out of view, he’d get up to check on her after a few minutes. She’d been on the balcony at one point, and it had taken him several nerve-wrecking minutes to spot her behind the potted plant.

This was not good for his blood pressure.

Fortunately, since he was using the last of his chicken with some leftover vegetables to make a rice dish, Josie was happy to wind around his ankles as he cooked. He’d given her a piece of chicken already, but that didn’t deter her from meowing for more.

“You’re lucky you’re cute and fluffy and adorable.” He gently nudged her out of the way as he rifled through his cupboards for a plate.

She nudged his elbow with her head, meowing insistently, but then wandered off into the living room.

He heard her jump onto the windowsill and smiled. She’d given up for now.

When he walked into the living room with his plate, intending to eat while going through one of his books, he didn’t see her in the windowsill anymore. His heart was in his throat as he put the plate down on his coffee table.

“Josie?” he called out, checking the balcony.

Nothing.

He searched his apartment, but when she didn’t come out when he shook the bag of treats, his heart sunk. She’d teleported. Again.

And he hadn’t even seen her do it.

While he’d prefer it if his cat didn’t teleport at all, the least she could do was do it in front of him so he could observe and make notes.

What was he supposed to do now? Go downstairs to see if she’d ended up with Ethan? Matthew wanted to see him again, but not like this. Not because he’d failed to cast a spell and couldn’t even fix it.

And what if Josie wasn’t there? What if she’d teleported to another neighbor’s apartment? Or worse, outside?

He couldn’t stand here and do nothing, so he inhaled his dinner, put on his shoes, and grabbed his keys.

His stomach squirmed nervously at the thought of knocking on Ethan’s door and asking him if he’d seen Josie.

He opened his front door, still thinking of what to say, and froze at footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Not that I mind you visiting, but your owner’s probably worried out of his mind, and—oh!”

“Hi,” Matthew managed, watching Ethan come up. He was still wearing that tank top and he still had really nice biceps.

Josie was purring again, rubbing her head against Ethan’s chest.

He couldn’t blame her.

“I found her in my kitchen,” Ethan explained, standing opposite Matthew and gently offering him the cat.

Matthew took her, his fingers brushing against Ethan’s. “Thanks, I was wondering where she’d gone.”

Ethan frowned. “I don’t know how she got in. I had my front door closed the entire time. At least, I think so.” He scratched the back of his head. “Maybe I should look at the lock to be on the safe side…”

“It’s an old building. Maybe she found some way to get behind a wall and got down to your floor?” Matthew lied. “This place used to be a warehouse before they turned it into an apartment building, and I don’t know how they renovated it. Maybe someone cut a few corners.” He trailed off when Ethan’s frown deepened.

“We need to fix that, then.” His tone was firm. “If there’re holes a cat can get through, what else can get in? Mice? And if they didn’t do a good job with the walls, what else did they half-ass? She turned up in my kitchen. I’ll see if I can figure out how she got in.”

“Wait!” He didn’t want Ethan to worry about his new apartment, or think the building was a dump. “Look, I don’t know how she got out. I need to figure that out first before you do a kitchen inspection. We don’t even know if she entered via the kitchen or through somewhere else and wandered into the kitchen. Did you have your balcony door open? Maybe she fell off mine and landed on yours.”

“I had that door open,” Ethan admitted. “But I didn’t hear anything. Besides, if she fell two stories down, would she be this happy?”

“Lucky fall?” Matthew tried.

“Very lucky.” Ethan sounded worried as he gently patted her on the head. “Has she done that before?”

“She has her adventurous moments.” Matthew’s heart was racing, hoping he didn’t look too nervous or flustered. Why had Josie chosen today of all days to be adventurous? She’d never taken the slightest interest in getting beyond the hallway.

Sure, she enjoyed sitting on the windowsill, and inspecting the surrounding area from the balcony. But she’d never tried to get out while Matthew came in carrying groceries or anything like that.

Ethan smiled, his golden eyes warm as he looked down at Josie. “Well, I’ll let you know if she adventures into my apartment again.”

Matthew sighed. “I hope not. I mean, I don’t want to be a nuisance, and you have better things to do than take care of wayward cats…”

Ethan shrugged. “I don’t mind. She’s good company.”

Josie squirmed in Matthew’s arms to rub her head against Ethan’s hand again. Matthew smiled. “I think she feels the same way about you.”

“Most cats I’ve met so far hate me,” Ethan admitted, smiling as he let Josie rub against his hand. “Must be because I’m a lion shifter. Animals often react strongly to shifters.”

“She’s always pretty friendly.” To Josie, another human in the apartment meant another pair of hands to pet her. “But she usually takes longer to warm up to strangers.” She preferred to peer at them from her cat tree first before deigning to come down for sniffing and petting.

“Really?” Ethan’s smile grew, and Matthew felt something warm inside his chest at that. Ethan sounded so surprised and flattered.

“Anyway,” Matthew said, because he couldn’t stand here staring at Ethan smiling down at his cat all evening, “thanks for bringing her back. I should take her inside.”

Ethan’s smile faded as he nodded. “Yeah, I should get back too. It was nice meeting you both again.” He gave Matthew a wave before heading down the stairs.

Matthew leaned back against the wall and let out a sigh. At least Ethan didn’t think Josie was teleporting her way around the apartment building. He hoped Ethan had bought the dumb falling-off-the-balcony story. At least that would explain it if Josie decided to teleport again.

He headed back inside, closing the door behind him and putting Josie down in the hallway. She meowed up at him. “No more teleporting. I don’t care how cute he is.”

Josie meowed again before running off into the living room. Well, it had been a whole fifteen minutes since she’d looked at the street in front of their building.

Matthew looked at her as he sat down on his couch. Why had she teleported? She hadn’t got scared or upset while he’d been cooking. She’d just wandered off. He hadn’t heard any loud noises.

He snorted when he realized the most likely explanation. “Was Ethan cooking something better than I was?” Josie didn’t reply. Maybe she’d smelled it and went downstairs to beg for scraps?

He spent the rest of the evening working on a counterspell and watching his cat. Fortunately, Josie was content to lounge in the hammock in her cat tree. Whenever Matthew came over to look at the threads of magic wound around her, she’d look up at him with narrowed eyes.

“Sorry for interrupting your very important nap.” He scratched her behind the ears and she started purring as she wriggled so he could pet her left side instead.

He could see where the different spells connected, but the one for the location seemed off. Well, he hadn’t set a location for her to teleport to, so that could be it. But the way it connected to the spells about feeling unsafe and protection seemed wrong. It was hard to say with the way Josie kept squirming to get her other side petted.

“At least you’re happy.” He smiled as Josie kept purring. Whatever was going on, it hadn’t harmed her.

He’d made some progress with the counterspell and called it a night a little after eleven. Tomorrow was a Sunday. He didn’t want to think about what would happen on Monday if he didn’t figure it out tomorrow. Ethan probably worked on Monday, so what would happen if Josie teleported to his apartment? Would she be able to get back by herself?

He went to bed, a little surprised Josie didn’t join him, but put it down to her having a weird day.

At least, he did until there was a knock on his front door fifteen minutes later. He’d been about to fall asleep, and he grumbled as he made his way to his front door on bare feet. Whoever was on the other side was lucky he had remembered to put on some sweatpants along with an oversized t-shirt.

Ethan.

Holding Josie.

“Hi,” Matthew said, not entirely sure this wasn’t a dream.

“She just turned up a few minutes ago.” Ethan looked embarrassed as he handed Josie over to Matthew. He was wearing striped pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. “I didn’t hear anything. I still had the balcony door open to let some fresh air in, and then she came wandering into the bedroom.”

“It’s fine.” Matthew felt a stab of guilt as he cuddled Josie close. Ethan had done nothing wrong, but he sounded like he had. “It’s not your fault.” Matthew was to blame.

And Josie herself.

Why had she visited Ethan?

“You should probably do something about your balcony. She might get hurt.”

Matthew smiled at the genuine concern in Ethan’s voice. “I’m working on it. I should have it fixed tomorrow.”

Ethan brightened at that. “Oh! Do you want any help? I’m good at DIY’ing and—”

“No!” Matthew felt bad at the flash of hurt and confusion in those warm eyes. “I mean, it’s my problem. I don’t want to bother you more than I have.” And there was no way Ethan could help with this.

“It’s no bother.” Ethan shrugged. “I have nothing to do tomorrow, anyway.”

“You moved in today. Have you unpacked everything already?” He knew shifters were strong, but you needed more than strength to unpack and figure out the right place for your belongings. “Nothing that needs fixing?” The apartment buildings were well-maintained, and the owner sorted out the bigger issues. But minor things always popped up, and they were especially obvious when you just moved in. “Not even a light bulb?”

Ethan glanced away for a moment. “Okay, I have some things to do tomorrow,” he grumbled.

Matthew smiled. “I’m afraid you can’t use my cat to procrastinate.”

“Shame.” Ethan gave him a quick smile. “But if you need help with that balcony, let me know.”

“I will!” Matthew called after him as he went downstairs. He took Josie back inside, dropping her in the hallway so he could lock the door. She was already lying on his bed when he entered his bedroom.

He leaned over to pet her. “What was that all about, girl? What scared you?” He couldn’t think of anything. “And why did you go to Ethan again?” Had she somehow set his apartment as a safe location after the first time she’d teleported there? “What did you do?”

Josie yawned and settled down to sleep.

Matthew stared at his ceiling. He had more questions now than when first discovering Josie could teleport. The teleportation spell definitely wasn’t working as intended. He needed help to figure out what was going on with Josie. Someone who knew about animals and magic.

It looked like he’d be calling Gwen sooner than he’d expected.

◆◆◆

“And what, exactly, do you expect from me?” His friend walked into the living room and immediately looked for Josie. The cat hopped off the windowsill and ran over to her. “That eager for a check-up, huh?”

When Gwen offered Josie her hand to sniff, Josie rubbed her head against it. Gwen petted her once, then turned to Matthew.

He was glad his friend had come on such short notice on a Sunday morning.  “I’d like you to check on Josie and see if she’s all right.”

“You know I’m not a mage, right?” She’d told him that over the phone too.

“Yeah, but there’s a reason she teleports.” She hadn’t teleported because she’d gotten scared, so if feeling unsafe didn’t trigger the teleportation, what did? “You know cats hate showing when they’re in pain. They’ll hide.” His stomach churned nervously at the thought Josie might be ill.

Gwen nodded at that. “How has her behavior been otherwise? Eating and drinking normally? Using the litter box like she should?”

“Yeah.” Matthew watched her snap on a pair of latex gloves before crouching down to look at Josie. Gwen muttered reassuringly as she ran her hands across Josie’s sides, pressing now and then. “The only thing that has changed is the teleporting. Everything else is the same as usual.”

Gwen hummed as she inspected Josie’s eyes and ears. “Can you come here? I’d like to look at her teeth.”

Josie meowed when Matthew kneeled down to join them. He held her, but she kept trying to squirm out of the way as Gwen looked at her teeth.

Gwen let go of her and shrugged. “Obviously I can’t say for sure, but she seems like a happy, healthy kitty who happens to teleport. But if you’re worried, you better take her to your regular vet.”

That was not the answer he’d been hoping for. “I am worried. That’s why I called you!”

“I am not your regular vet,” she reminded him. “I don’t have all her information on file, and I can’t do a blood test like this. But based on what you’ve told me, and looking at her briefly, I don’t think you need to. If the only thing you’re worried about is her teleporting, then you’re the one who can fix that, not me.”

“I don’t get it, though.” He gestured at Josie, who had jumped on the couch. “I don’t understand why she teleports. She’s only supposed to do it when she feels scared or unsafe. But as far as I can tell, there’s been nothing to scare her.”

“I don’t know either. I work with shifters for a reason. They talk back.”

Matthew snorted. “I am not messing with communication spells. They rarely work the way you want them to.” Especially since he’d already cast a spell on her. He didn’t know how his teleportation spell would interact with a new spell. Too risky.

“What’s your next move?” She nodded at Josie, who had sat up to stretch. “I assume you’re working on removing it?” Gwen looked at him expectantly.

“Obviously. But I need to know more about how—” He paused at the slight gust of wind in his face. They both looked at the couch.

Empty.

“She’s gone!” Gwen went over to the couch, frowning at it. “Just like that?”

Josie hadn’t teleported in front of him so far, and he felt annoyed for a moment he hadn’t seen her do it. Then the anxiety set in, same as the previous times she’d vanished. What if this time she hadn’t gone to Ethan? Why had she left? What if Ethan was slowly but surely starting to hate Josie, and Matthew by extension?

“Shouldn’t you go downstairs and collect her?” Gwen asked.

He shook his head, stomach squirming at the thought. “No. I only did that the first time. He’s been bringing her back since. I haven’t told him she teleports. He thinks she keeps falling off my balcony and onto his, or crawling down between the walls.”

Gwen laughed. “Crawling between the—he’ll figure out that’s bullshit, Matthew!”

“Not if I fix it before he realizes!”

“Right.” She sounded skeptical. “Why not tell him? He’s a new neighbor. He may as well learn that sharing an apartment building with a mage comes with risks.”

He winced, even though he knew she had a point. He should tell Ethan. There’d be other experimental spells that would go wrong, as careful as he was. “I don’t want him thinking I’m a terrible mage. He just moved in yesterday.”

Gwen was silent for a long time. “Do you think he’s cute?” She grinned when he blushed. “You want him to like you!”

“He’s a neighbor, and who knows how long he’ll be living here?” Matthew felt his cheeks turn redder.

Gwen raised an eyebrow.

“And he’s cute.” Matthew dropped on the couch. “You should see him with Josie. He’s so sweet with her, and worried. He wanted to help me fix my balcony!”

“Sounds like someone wants an excuse to visit.”

He snorted at that. “Or he’s starting to get annoyed by her visits.”

“Only one way to find out. C’mon, would you rather he thinks you’re a terrible mage, or that you’re a terrible cat-owner?”

If she put it like that…. “Fine. I’ll tell him what’s going on.”

“Good! Didn’t you say he’s been bringing her back? It’s been a few minutes, hasn’t it?”

The worry in her voice made him nervous too. “Maybe he’s out doing some shopping.”

Gwen headed over to the window. “You’re sure she can only teleport to his apartment?”

He wasn’t. Not really. “I’m not sure what she can and can’t do!” He got up, joining his friend at the window. “I don’t know how the spell works on her. That’s the whole problem.”

“You should go downstairs and check. If he’s not at home but Josie’s there, she’ll meow at the sound of your voice.”

Matthew wasn’t sure if he’d preferred it if Ethan was at home, or out on an errand. “If he is at home, he’s probably decided to keep her until I’ve fixed my balcony.”

Having Ethan think he was a terrible cat-owner was definitely worse than having Ethan think he was a terrible mage.

“Let’s check.”

Gwen was already at the front door before Matthew followed her reluctantly. “If he’s not at home, all we can do is wait. I can’t get her out of there.” He didn’t know where exactly in Ethan’s apartment Josie was, for one.

“At least we’ll know she’s somewhere safe.”

When they got to Ethan’s apartment, Matthew paused at the dull thuds from inside. He frowned at Gwen, who shrugged. He knocked on the door, but there were no footsteps, nothing. The dull thudding continued, along with a low rumbling. Was Ethan doing some DIY’ing himself? Maybe he hadn’t heard Matthew knocking over the noise.

“Does he have a doorbell?” Gwen asked.

“Only at the front door to the building.” Matthew tried the door handle and to his surprise, the door opened. “Okay, someone is getting a lecture in home security.”

“What kind of shifter did you say he was?”

“A lion. Still.” He gave Gwen a significant look when she shrugged. “There’re all kinds of things that can hurt a shifter.” She should know better than anyone.

“A lion can handle a burglar. I could handle one burglar.” She nudged him. “You can lecture him later. See if Josie’s in there.”

He felt awkward entering the hallway. The low rumbling had stopped, but there were more dull thuds along with a clicking noise that sounded oddly familiar. Matthew frowned, opening the door to the living room. “Sorry,” he said, intending to explain, but then he entered the living room and his mouth fell open.

A lion stood in the corner near the kitchen, his fur golden in the sunlight. How had Matthew never realized before how big a lion was? His massive paws had made the thudding noises as he moved, and those claws must’ve caused the clicking. No wonder it sounded familiar, Josie’s nails did the same against Matthew’s wooden floor.

Josie herself was looking up at the lion, rubbing her head against the underside of his chin. The lion rumbled as he bumped his head against her tiny body, sending her tumbling over. He immediately moved closer to sniff at her and make sure she was all right.

She meowed, then swatted at the lion’s nose with her front paw before jumping back up with her tail lashing.

The lion—Ethan, it had to be Ethan—pulled his head back in surprise.

Matthew bit his lip, trying not to laugh. Of course Josie attacked a lion towering over her.

Josie darted over to the lion’s hindquarters, where Ethan’s tail was flicking from side to side lazily. The lion turned his head to look at her, too focused on her to notice Matthew standing in his doorway.

Ethan was definitely getting a lecture on home security.

Matthew winced when he watched Josie leap up and catch Ethan’s tail between her teeth.

Ethan roared briefly, and Matthew felt the noise in his bones. The lion turned around to shake her off. He huffed down at her, using a front paw to send her tumbling onto her back again. He stepped back, and Josie got up to wash herself as if nothing had happened. Ethan let out another huff, shaking his impressive mane.

Josie finally noticed Matthew’s presence and came over to greet him, meowing as she rubbed herself against his ankles.

Ethan’s golden eyes locked with Matthew’s, and the lion froze.

“Hi.” Matthew gave a nervous wave. He reminded himself that this was Ethan, not an actual, wild lion. His fight-or-flight instinct didn’t get the message, telling him to get out of here before the lion and his sharp teeth and claws attacked. “Um, the door was open, and I knocked but you didn’t answer so I came in and did I mention I was sorry?”

“What’s going on?” Gwen called out from behind him.

Matthew had forgotten she was there, and her voice startled Ethan. The lion darted over to an open door that led to another hallway and, presumably, Ethan’s bedroom. He heard some shuffling noises that told him Ethan had shifted back into his human form and was grabbing some clothes.

He leaned against the wall, his legs feeling a little shaky. He’d just been face to face with a lion. He’d worked with plenty of shifters over the past few years, but most of them didn’t shift in front of him.

Josie meowed again, wondering why Matthew wasn’t petting her.

“Matthew? What’s going on?”

He looked at Gwen, who was a few feet behind him, and still in the hallway. “Josie’s in here.”

“Great!” Gwen entered the living room and crouched down. “Aren’t you being neighborly?” she told Josie, who allowed Gwen to pet her twice before rubbing herself against Matthew’s ankles again.

“Hi!” Ethan walked back in, wearing the same sweatpants he’d worn yesterday. He was still pulling on his blue t-shirt, showing a far too brief flash of abs before he ran his hands down it. “I can explain.”

“You already told me you’re a lion shifter,” Matthew replied. If anyone had something to explain, it was him.

“Not that. Who are you?” Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Gwen, who was still petting Josie.

She got up, looking embarrassed as she stepped back into the hallway. “I’m Gwen, a friend of Matthew’s. He invited me over to look at Josie. I’m a vet.”

“Right.” Ethan’s tone was flat as he watched her. Then he shook his head. “Sorry, getting needlessly defensive.”

“Don’t blame you. I shouldn’t have come in like that.” She looked up at Matthew. “You know, I just came here to check on Josie, and it seems to me that she’s fine. How about I leave, and you two can explain things to each other?”

“You don’t need to leave,” Ethan said. “Not if you want to check on her.”

Gwen smiled. “I already did, and I have better things to do with my Sunday. Matthew, remember what we talked about earlier?”

Matthew grimaced as she left. “Sorry about that. Shifter instincts telling you she was a threat or something?” He’d worked with enough shifters to know they could get territorial, and this was Ethan’s home. No wonder Gwen had waited outside for as long as she had.

“Pretty much. I didn’t think I’d get territorial like that. I only moved in yesterday.” Ethan smiled apologetically. “Guess I feel more at home than I thought.”

“That’s good, at least.” Matthew’s own tension eased a little. Ethan didn’t seem angry with him.

“It’s my fault for not bringing your cat back immediately.” He nodded at Josie, who wandered over to him since Matthew wasn’t petting her. “Could’ve avoided this whole thing.”

“Was having Gwen in here that bad?” He couldn’t understand what it was like being a shifter, but he knew the instincts could be strong.

“No, not really. Just kind of annoying, but no big deal.” Ethan looked down at Josie, a soft smile on his face. “More you coming in here and surprise, lion.”

Matthew laughed. “Yeah, that was definitely a surprise! I knocked, but I guess you were, um, busy…”

Ethan looked embarrassed again. “How much did you see?”

“Enough to know Josie’s a mighty hunter.” He struggled not to laugh as Ethan groaned, burying his head in his hands.

“Please promise me you won’t tell my family. They’d never let me live it down. A cat catching my tail!”

Matthew tried not to laugh at Ethan’s embarrassment. “What were you two doing?”

Ethan shrugged, folding his arms. “Playing, basically. She turned up, and I thought, why not? I should’ve just brought her back when I saw her.”

Matthew looked over at the closed balcony door. “You’re probably wondering how she got here.”

Ethan followed his gaze. “Huh.” His head turned sharply to look at Matthew again. “How did she get in?”

He picked his cat up, needing something to do with his hands. Having Josie purr contently eased his nerves. “She teleported.”

“She what?”

“Teleported. That’s how she got here yesterday,” Matthew continued. “She didn’t fall off the balcony and you don’t need to worry about rodents or holes in the walls.” Ethan just had to worry about him messing up more spells.

Ethan remained quiet for a worryingly long time. Then he grinned. “Seriously? That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. A teleporting cat! That’s awesome!”

He smiled, glad at least one person thought so. “So far she’s only been teleporting to your apartment, and I don’t think she can even teleport back to mine.”

“Still awesome. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? If I had a teleporting cat, I’d tell everyone. Everyone who knows about magic and shifters, anyway.”

Ethan’s enthusiasm was heartening and was making Matthew wonder if he should work on a ‘teleporting pets’ spell once he had figured out the spell he was working on now. Maybe having pets who could teleport was useful for a client. “Because it was an accident,” he admitted. “I messed up a spell I’ve been working on. I wasn’t trying to make my cat teleport. I was trying to… it doesn’t matter. It’s not cool or awesome. It’s a failure.”

Ethan just smiled, walking over to pet Josie again. “Plenty of cool things got invented by accident. Are you going to undo it?”

Matthew sighed. Ethan obviously thought he easily could if he wanted to. “I’ve been working on that. Creating a counterspell hasn’t been easy. I don’t know why this one didn’t work as I intended. Removing a spell is tricky, and Josie is a living creature. I can’t risk it going wrong. I could hurt her.”

Ethan’s hand froze on top of Josie’s head. “That makes sense. I didn’t know magic was that complicated.”

“There’s a lot that can go wrong. So, I think Josie might randomly turn up here over the next few days while I figure it out.”

“The offer to help still stands.” Ethan went back to petting Josie, smiling down at her.

Matthew laughed. “Thanks, but I don’t see how you could, unless you know a lot about magic.”

“Is there a system to it? Steps you have to take in the right order?” Ethan asked.

“Yes.” What did that have to do with anything?

“Then I can help.” Ethan radiated confidence.

Matthew definitely wanted the other man in his apartment, but how would it help? Ethan was more likely to distract him. “How?”

“By asking stupid questions. Whenever we get a broken-down car at the garage and we get stuck, we ask each other stupid questions. That way, we go over everything that could be wrong with a car or mistakes we made while fixing it.”

Maybe it wasn’t a terrible idea. He could use someone to talk to about the problem. “Well, having you over wouldn’t make it worse.”

Ethan snorted. “Gee, thanks for the show of faith there.”

“Sorry.” It was incredibly nice of Ethan to offer to help. “But I’ve been trying to fix it and nothing’s worked so far.”

“Emphasis on the ‘so far.’ C’mon, let’s get going. It’s not that I don’t want Josie visiting, but maybe without making you worry so much.”

◆◆◆

It took a lot of time and questions to explain the basics of his spell to Ethan, and Matthew was impressed the other man was still willing to stick around after a few hours.

“Are you sure I’m not boring you?” Matthew watched Ethan play with Josie. She’d caught the toy mouse on the end of the string Ethan had been dangling and was now biting down on the toy while Ethan tugged carefully. Josie was holding on stubbornly.

“Nah. It’s interesting.” Ethan let go of the string, and Josie rolled over to kill her prey more thoroughly. “Do you think it’s getting you any closer to a solution?”

“Not yet.” But then, he already knew he’d gone wrong with combining the different spells into one teleportation spell. “But you’re right in that it’s making me go over everything step by step.”

“Told you.” Ethan smiled at him, making Matthew’s stomach squirm.

It was so easy, having the other man around and watching him play with Josie like this wasn’t the first time he’d done that. He liked Ethan more and more, and not just because he was one of the hottest guys Matthew had ever seen. “I’ll make us some sandwiches and I can get back to answering questions.”

Ethan wasn’t here to hang out with him and Josie. He was here to help Matthew and make sure Josie stayed in the apartment. Part of him wished he wouldn’t have to remove the spell. Having Josie teleport to Ethan’s apartment was a great excuse to talk to him. While Matthew made the sandwiches, he glanced over at where Ethan had taken the toy from Josie, and was trailing it across the floor while she tried to catch it. Ethan laughed when he tugged it out of the way just in time, and Josie meowed up at him.

“Better luck next time, kitty!”

Something warm settled inside his chest. Something he’d have to ignore if he wanted to understand the spell affecting Josie.

◆◆◆

As they ate on the couch, with Josie lying on the windowsill and ignoring them once it was clear she wasn’t getting a slice of ham, Matthew explained about combining spells to create new spells.

“I wondered how creating new spells worked,” Ethan replied. “So, you combine existing ones? Cool. I’m guessing they have to fit together just right, or it doesn’t work?”

Matthew nodded, telling Ethan a little of what he’d been taught. “Every detail matters. How you connect them. The order you put them in.”

“Oh, I know all about how doing things in the wrong order can ruin a job.” Ethan shook his head. “And how important the right nuts and bolts are. D’you own a car?”

“No, the security company is on the other side of town. The bus is faster and easier than driving myself.”

Ethan eyed him. “There’s something very wrong about a mage using something mundane like a bus to get to work.”

Matthew shrugged. He was used to people having wild assumptions about how much magic he used in his daily life. “Could say the same about you, a guy who can turn into a lion, doing something as mundane as working as a mechanic.”

Ethan considered that as he ate. “Yeah, fair point. Our lives are pretty mundane for all the powers we have. Anyway, tell me more about putting spells in the right order. If you put them in the wrong order, does it not work at all? Or does it just work differently?”

“It still works,” Matthew explained. “The order changes the effect. But the incantation used to connect them is what really matters there.” He gave the example his teachers always used about ‘and’ or ‘but’ changing the meaning of a sentence. “Use the wrong incantation, and a spell you want to use to teleport something to a different location can become a spell that summons something from that location.”

Ethan then asked him what kind of spell he’d tried to create in the first place, and Matthew told him about his plan to enchant an object that would allow the wearer to teleport to a safe, pre-set location in case they weren’t feeling safe. “When I cast the spell on an old bracelet, Josie jumped on the coffee table, so I accidentally cast the spell on her.”

“That explains why she can teleport, but not why she keeps teleporting over to my place.”

“Exactly.” Matthew smiled at Ethan asking the same question he’d asked himself. Ethan was definitely starting to wrap his head around how magic worked. “I was going to set a safe destination once I enchanted the bracelet.”

“Could she have set the location herself somehow? Since she was the one who got enchanted?”

Matthew shook his head. “Josie’s not a mage, so I doubt it.” He looked over his notes. “She has also never been to your apartment, so it’s also not a case of her wanting to teleport somewhere familiar. There has to be a reason she keeps ending up with you.”

“Okay, tell me about the order you used, then.”

Matthew did, glad Ethan asked him a question. Otherwise, he would’ve just kept staring at his notes and wrecking his brain over why Josie had picked Ethan’s apartment. It had to be her own decision, somehow. He explained why he’d chosen the order he had, using his notes, and underlined the separate spells. “I started with a spell to detect someone feeling scared. I only want the teleportation to trigger when the person wearing the object is afraid, to make sure they don’t teleport around just for fun.” He gave Josie a look, but she was still studying the traffic. “Then there’s a spell for protection, since it’s a teleportation spell to protect the wearer. Next is the—”

“Wait, how does that first spell detect if someone’s feeling scared? You wanted an object to detect the feelings of the person who wears it, but you cast it on Josie. And pets can sense emotions, but how would an object sense it?”

“Josie isn’t an object.” Matthew dropped his pen. “Of course.” He had added a layer to the detection spell. One that let the object sense feelings of fear nearby. Josie wasn’t the one feeling scared.

“Uh, yeah, that’s why I asked. How does a bracelet sense if someone’s scared?”

“There’s a subtle change in a person’s energy.” Matthew stared at his notes. If Josie wasn’t the one feeling scared, someone else had to be. Someone else’s feelings were the trigger for her teleportation. “The spell detects the change, and that change is the trigger.”

“Like a smoke detector that goes off if there too much smoke? Those go off all the time, even when there’s no smoke. Maybe it’s that.” Ethan sounded excited. “Maybe your detection spell goes off when it shouldn’t.”

Matthew grinned at him. Ethan was wrong, but his reasoning was solid. “It is a subtle change, yes. I’ve had my share of false alarms when creating spells that depended on a change in emotions.”

“Is that it?” Ethan sounded very pleased with himself. “A false alarm?”

“No.” He smiled when Ethan’s face fell. “But you helped me realize what the problem was.” He pointed at the spell that detected the change in emotion. “I assumed Josie herself feeling scared triggered the teleportation. It doesn’t. She’s the object that got enchanted. She detects the feelings of the person wearing her. No one is wearing her, but she’s still sensing the emotions of people around her. If someone close to her is scared…”

“She teleports.” Ethan smiled, then looked worried. “Does that mean you were scared, and that’s why she teleported?”

He shook his head. “No. I’ve only felt worried after she’s teleported. So it can’t be me.” He shifted on the couch. What he was about to ask was a very personal question, and he didn’t know how Ethan would take it. “But since she’s teleporting to your apartment…”

Ethan stared at him. “You’re asking if I have felt scared over the past few days?”

It sounded even dumber coming from Ethan. Of course he hadn’t felt scared. He was a lion shifter. What could he be afraid of? “Have you?” If it wasn’t Ethan, he’d have to ask his other neighbors one by one.

“No. What’s there to be scared of?” Ethan gestured at the room. “This is a great building. Who’d feel scared around here? Are you sure it’s triggered by fear?”

Matthew tapped his pen against his notebook as he looked at his spell. “It’s not just feeling afraid. It’s feeling unsafe. Unsettled. Like something’s off and you’d rather be anywhere else than where you are now.”

“Oh.” Ethan’s voice was quiet.

“What?” Matthew looked at him, but Ethan’s eyes were unfocused as he looked down at the table. He looked lost, all traces of his earlier enthusiasm gone. “Ethan?”

Ethan remained quiet for a long time, wringing his hands in his lap.

Matthew was about to put a hand on his shoulder and ask what was wrong, when suddenly Josie appeared on the couch next to Ethan. She purred as she wriggled underneath his arm to settle in his lap. Ethan petted her, a soft smile on his face.

“She teleported. Because of you.” Matthew’s happiness at figuring out the spell was diminished by realizing Ethan had been feeling off. “Why? I thought you liked it here.”

“I do.” Ethan kept stroking Josie as he looked at Matthew. “I’ve been searching for a place of my own for ages. But when we’d moved everything in and my brothers left, I was all alone. I’ve been by myself before. On holiday, things like that. But this was different. It was like being homesick, except I was already at home.” He smiled wanly. “Kinda ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous.” Matthew remembered his first few days here. “It doesn’t feel like your home yet. But it will. Give it time.”

“I know. And I wanted to move out,” he added quickly. “I was the last one still living with my parents. We argued over the dumbest things sometimes. It was time. And yet…”

“You miss living with them.”

“Yeah. I miss having them around, even if we got on each other’s nerves every other day.”

“I bet they feel the same.”

“I should ask them over. I didn’t want to do it until I had everything unpacked and looking nice.” Ethan shrugged. “But it’s not like they’ll only be visiting once. Mom’s been calling me about it already.” 

“They’ll probably like knowing you’re getting settled in.”

Ethan hummed in agreement. “And you’re right. I have to give it time. It’s still amazing that Josie picked up on it and visited.”

“The spell must have been very sensitive.” Maybe too sensitive. “Or maybe it’s a shifter thing. Josie is friendly as it is, but maybe that’s why she was more inclined to teleport over to you.” Being a shifter could affect spells, since shifters already had their own magic. Matthew sighed when he realized how much work he’d have to do to get the spell working the way he wanted. “I’m so glad we got it figured out.”

Ethan gently picked up Josie and dropped her in Matthew’s lap. “Does this mean you can remove the spell?”

“Definitely.” He understood how the spell worked now. “I’ll get on it immediately. Josie won’t bother you anymore.”

“She wasn’t bothering me. I enjoyed having her around.”

Matthew smiled, remembering how he’d caught Ethan playing with her. “Yes, I saw that. Still, you won’t have to go through the trouble of coming up here to bring her back.” Finally, he could get to know Ethan as a regular neighbor, and maybe more than that. He petted Josie, and she wriggled to get more comfortable before purring. “No more excuses not to change those light bulbs or finish unpacking.”

“Guess not.” Ethan’s cheerful tone didn’t sound convincing.

Even though Ethan had repeatedly assured him that Josie visiting wasn’t a problem, Matthew had expected he’d be relieved once they resolved it. “You could always adopt a cat, if you wanted to. I got Josie a few years ago when I got tired of coming back home to an empty house.”

A small smile appeared on Ethan’s face. “I might look into it.”

Josie sat up, her eyes focused on Ethan. Matthew kept petting her. He didn’t need a spell to tell him Ethan wasn’t feeling great. “And you’re welcome to visit Josie.”

“Just Josie?”

Matthew’s heart skipped a beat. He glanced at Ethan, who was suddenly studying his hands. “You’re welcome to visit me as well.” Was Ethan nervous? Around him? “I’m glad you insisted on helping. Not that I expect you to help with something every time you visit. I mean, I’m impressed you sat through all my boring explanations of how spells work.” And he was rambling. He should shut up.

“It wasn’t that boring, even if I didn’t understand half of what you said. But, um, maybe it’d be nice to talk about something that isn’t magic. Or cats.”

“Yeah.” Matthew couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t magic or cats. Not when his brain was filled with ‘maybe Ethan is into me as well?’ Did he ask Ethan on a date now? How did you ask people out? “Or we could go somewhere else and talk.”

Ethan was silent for a moment. “We aren’t very good at this, are we?” He sounded like he was about to burst out laughing.

“Good at what?” Matthew’s heart was racing as he looked at Ethan. Were they on the same page?

Ethan’s golden eyes met his. “Asking each other on a date? That’s what we’re trying to do, right?”

“Yes.” Relief flooded through him. “Yes, definitely.”

Ethan smiled, his eyes lighting up. “Great! Glad we got that figured out now that I’ve lost the best excuse to visit you.” He reached out to give Josie a quick scratch under her chin.

His stomach squirmed. “Oh, is that why you said Josie wasn’t a bother?”

“She isn’t a bother, but it’s not the only reason I liked her visits.” Ethan glanced at Matthew. “When you were so happy about removing the spell, I wondered….”

“I was happy I was no longer annoying you!”

“You weren’t annoying me!”

“Still. What if she teleported while you were out? Or busy? Or had guests over?” Matthew insisted. “I didn’t want to be the idiot mage who couldn’t manage a simple spell. That’s why I waited to tell you.”

“What?”

“I already told you I did it by accident.” But he hadn’t told Ethan exactly why he’d waited as long as he had. “I didn’t want to make a bad first impression on you.” He felt his cheeks redden, and Ethan’s smile widened.

“Really?”

“Stop looking so pleased,” Matthew grumbled.

“I thought I had made a stupid first impression. You found me cuddling and baby-talking your cat!”

“It was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen.” Going by Ethan’s expression, that was the wrong thing to say to a lion shifter. It was true, though. “Adorable. Especially the cooing over her.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Despite knowing Ethan was into him, the words still made his stomach flip-flop. “So are you.”

Ethan smiled, moving closer to him on the couch. “Now that we’ve established that, what do you want to do next?”

Matthew had some ideas. “As a date?” Sudden inspiration struck. “They have a cat café a few blocks over…”

“Wouldn’t Josie get jealous?”

“Probably.” He smiled. “Better if we stay here instead to get to know each other.”

“Definitely better.” Ethan leaned in, pausing for a moment.

If it was to give Matthew time to back away, it wasn’t necessary. Matthew closed the space between them, pressing his lips against Ethan’s.

One of Ethan’s arms went around him, and he moved closer to Matthew.

Josie let out an indignant meow and leaped off Matthew’s lap. Two thunks told him she’d climbed her cat tree.

He could remove the spell later. Right now, he had a lot of kissing to do.

A note from Liv Rider

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Cover:

Lion: © Can Stock Photo / StepanKapl

Young man: © Can Stock Photo / AntonioGuillem

M/M Paranormal Romance by Liv Rider

Protector Dragon (Lewiston Dragons Book 1) Born human in a family of shifters, Joel’s been avoiding shifters ever since he moved away. But a chance meeting with Thomas, a dragon shifter, turns Joel’s safe little world upside down.

Halloween Dragon (Lewiston Dragons Book 2) Cameron loves nothing more than Halloween. Parker loves nothing more than his job. Finding common ground is hard, even before Cameron learns Parker is a shifter. How can they find their way back to each other?

Wedding Dragon (Lewiston Dragons Book 3) Shaun thought bringing a fake boyfriend to his sister’s wedding was a great idea. Mitchell thought meeting his fated mate would be the best day of his life. With two adventurous cats and sneering bridesmaids to worry about, can they find the courage to go after what they want?

Lewiston Dragons Collection (Lewiston Dragons Book 1-3) Three dragon shifters, three fated mates, three happy ever afters! This collection includes all three books in the Lewiston Dragon series plus three bonus epilogues.

The Werewolf’s Fae Mate (BlackEdge Pack Book 1) He always wondered where he came from. He just never expected the answer to include pointy ears, magical powers, and a six-foot-six werewolf sweeping him off his feet.

The Broken Faewolf’s Mate (BlackEdge Pack Book 2) Stuck in wolf form since he was a child, Aidan needs to learn how to be a man again. But can he persuade the pack’s newest member to embrace his inner wolf at the same time?

Angel’s Fall (Immortal Mates Book 1) The angels exiled him and stripped him of everything he held dear. Now they want his help—and they’ve sent one gorgeous angel to make him an offer he can’t refuse.

The Captive Incubus (Immortal Mates Book 2) 3000-year-old incubus Shay never thought he’d want anything more than superficial hookups—until he’s magically bound to warlock Alex. The problem? Alex is holding him captive for a band of vampires out for his blood.

The Vampire’s Werewolf Bodyguard. What happens when an out-of-control werewolf is hired to guard his immortal enemy?

Hunter Omega. Hunting werewolves is hard. Falling in love with one is harder. When childhood crushes reunite, fate pulls them together—but their secrets might still tear them apart.

The Sun Dragon’s Mate. He never believed he was destined to find a true mate—until one touch changed everything.

Wild City Life. In the ruins of a city once ruled by humans, only two packs of shifters remain. Can two rivals work together against a common enemy before all is lost again?

His Magical Pet (Anthology) Have a shot of concentrated joy, with nine stories by different authors of men in love... and their adorable magical pets! All proceeds go to OutRight Action International, which fights for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people worldwide.

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Bearly Dating by Calandra Hunter: Jonathan has spent years ignoring his bear and his family’s desire to see him settle down. The only way to enjoy a weekend with his nosy family is to bring a fake boyfriend. Eric is happy to pretend to be in love with Jonathan, but as they get to know each other, their attraction becomes all too real. Jonathan wants to make it work, but his aggressive inner bear refuses to be ignored any longer.

His Animal Instinct: More Tales of Wild Pleasure (Anthology) Nine sizzling tales of gay paranormal romance! From wolves to leopards, alphas to omegas, these men can change their shape… but they can’t change who they love. All proceeds of this anthology go to OutRight Action International.

Werewolf Happy Hour: The Raven Park Wolves Book 1 by Tavia Lark: After ending a bad relationship, Avery’s just looking for a good time. But sexy werewolf bartender Jack turns out to be way more than just a rebound.

Special sneak preview!

Protector Dragon

By Liv Rider

There was loud applause from the central hall, signaling the end of the speeches.

As expected, the first guests came in only a few minutes later. They were more animated now, although Joel noticed that their excited chatting suddenly fell silent when they entered the room. At least more shifters than before actually looked at the two of them and were polite as they got something to eat and drink. He wondered what the speeches had been about. Orders to be nice to the human staff?

Even though it was busy, he kept an eye out for the hot guy. He’d been pretty tall, even for a shifter, and Joel knew he’d be able to pick him from a crowd in an instant. His heart sank when things grew quieter as everyone returned to the central hall to eat and the blond still hadn’t shown up.

It was for the best, he reminded himself. He was a human, not a shifter, and he didn’t want anything to do with shifters anyway. Whoever that guy was, he’d have no interest in Joel.

But when the man walked in, Joel found himself smiling back automatically anyway. It had been quiet for a few minutes and Claire was already taking stock while cleaning up a few things. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, please!” The man smiled at Joel, and there was something oddly intense about his eyes.

“Well, we do have plenty of options.” Joel nodded at the tray of remaining sandwiches.

“I was wondering if I could talk to you.” His eyes were on the food, but Joel had the odd feeling the man was paying more attention to him than the tuna sandwiches.

“Um, if it’s about the food you should talk to Claire.” His palms were getting sweaty again.

The guy’s bright eyes met his again. “It’s not about the food.”

His voice was low, and Joel felt hot all over. His mouth had suddenly gone dry. He told himself he was being ridiculous. The guy’s tone hadn’t even been suggestive. He was just talking quietly because he was being polite. Besides, he was a shifter. He couldn’t be flirting with Joel.

He hoped his face wasn’t red. “Uh, sure. I guess—what’s it about?” he managed. Dammit, he’d managed whole sentences before, so why couldn’t he do that now? He looked at Claire, who was humming to herself as she rearranged the muffin display. Hopefully she was too focused on that to notice anything awkward going on.

The blond leaned across the table, glancing at Claire before looking at Joel again. “I think it’s better to talk about it outside.”

“Okay,” Joel said, too surprised by the guy’s sudden closeness. His brain kicked in a few seconds later. Wait, why did he want to talk outside?

The blond smiled in a way that had Joel’s knees feel unsteady underneath him. “In front of the building?”

“Sure.” He’d follow this guy to the moon if he kept smiling at Joel like that.

“All right, see you there.” With that, the blond grabbed a sandwich and walked away again.

Joel blinked, his heart still racing in his chest. What was going on? He had never reacted to a guy like this, and there had been plenty of cute and hot guys coming into Hampton’s Café. Why was this guy making Joel’s stomach flutter and his heart race?

“What did he want to talk about?”

He started at Claire’s voice. “What?” He hadn’t noticed the older woman sidling up to him.

Claire was still looking at the door where the guy had left through. “Was it about the food? Did he have any complaints?”

Of course she was worrying over that. “No. No, he just wanted to talk to me.”

“I didn’t know you had friends at the event. It’s fine if you want to go and talk to him. I can manage on my own here for a few minutes.”

“He’s not a friend.”

Her eyebrows rose at that. “Oh?”

His cheeks reddened. “I, um, I think he was flirting with me?” Although he couldn’t be. He was a shifter. Shifters didn’t flirt with humans. There had to be something else.

Claire smiled. “Well, you know how I feel about flirting with our customers, but I guess this is a little different from working at the café. Like I said, if you want to go and talk to him for a few minutes, and exchange phone numbers or something, that’s fine. So long as you are back after a few minutes.”

Joel nodded, still feeling flustered. “It won’t take long.” He removed his apron before walking out into the central hall.

All he wanted to know was why the guy was so eager to talk to him. It had to be something besides flirting.

The only other option made him feel like a fist had wrapped around his stomach. The guy knew about Joel and his parents. The thought was enough to make him freeze in the middle of the hall. His heart was pounding in his chest as he looked around, half-expecting someone to point to him and say, ‘there’s Joel Davies, the ungrateful runaway from Barnhill.’ 

Nothing happened, and he made himself walk outside. If this guy knew about him, ignoring him wouldn’t make the problem go away. Maybe if he talked to the guy, he could convince him not to mention it to his parents.

“There you are!” The blond was leaning against the wall next to the door, enjoying the sun. “Great sandwich, by the way.”

“I’ll pass it on.” Joel stepped back as the guy moved closer. “What did you want to talk about?” He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, trying not to look as nervous as he felt.

“Anything,” the guy said, smiling. “But I’ll start with an introduction. Hi, I’m Thomas Rollins.” He held out his hand.

Joel stared at him. Thomas Rollins. He remembered the name from looking into the local shifter council. This guy was the Keeper of the Peace.

There hadn’t been any pictures of the council or the Keeper on the website that Joel had found, but he’d assumed that they would all be in their forties or older. This man looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties.

He was also still holding out his hand.

Joel shook it, hoping he didn’t notice Joel’s sweaty palms. “Nice to meet you.”

It made sense that a Keeper of the Peace was aware of some runaway from Barnhill. His parents or the shifter council from Barnhill had probably sent his name and photo to Keepers of the Peace in the area to keep an eye out for him. Still, even if this guy knew who Joel was, he still wasn’t going to confirm it by giving him his full name.

Maybe he could play dumb and pretend he wasn’t Joel Davies. He hadn’t worn a name tag on his apron, since Claire had decided it wouldn’t be necessary.

“Nice to meet you too.” Thomas frowned slightly as he released Joel’s hand.

“Anything else you wanted to talk about?” Joel put a polite smile on his face and decided he would act like he’d never even heard of Barnhill if Thomas wanted to bring it up. His heart was racing, and part of him wanted to excuse himself and go back inside. But if he did, he’d never know how much Thomas knew.

“Oh, plenty of things, like what your favorite movie is, or your favorite food, or your favorite, uh, anything really…” Thomas trailed off and Joel was surprised to see his cheeks flush as he coughed. “But I can’t stay here too long, I’ve got to go and mingle soon.”

His answer only confused Joel more. Why would a Keeper want to know his favorite movie? Was he flirting? Maybe he didn’t know about Barnhill after all. The fist around his stomach started to loosen and it felt easier to breathe. “My boss wants me back soon too.”

“Of course she does.” Thomas nodded in understanding. “Then I guess what I’d really like to talk about is wolves.”

Joel stared at him, the fist around his stomach tighter than before. He knew. Thomas knew. “Wolves?” he managed, hoping he sounded surprised or confused. Anything but worried. “Why?”

“I think you know why.” Thomas raised his eyebrows significantly. He gestured at the hall and the people walking around, chatting to each other. “You know what this event is for, right?”

He didn’t really. He just knew it had something to do with the local shifter council, but he wasn’t going to tell Thomas that. “Sure, it’s for a charity.” His voice was trembling, dammit. He had to convince Thomas he didn’t know anything about shifters or wolves.

Thomas was quiet for a moment as he looked at Joel. “How long have you been in Lewiston?”

“My whole life,” he lied. If Thomas wanted to check if the timelines added up, Joel wasn’t going to help him do that. “Born and raised!”

“No, you weren’t.” Thomas’ voice was firm.

How did he know—oh no.

He should’ve remembered, but he’d been too worried and nervous, and he hadn’t been around shifters in years. Dragon shifters were amazing at reading people, so good that some shifters thought they were telepathic. Of course Thomas knew Joel was lying. Great, his plan to play dumb wouldn’t work. What was he supposed to do now?

“I’d like you to be honest with me.”

Thomas sounded so friendly, so kind, but Joel shook his head. He didn’t want to go back to Barnhill. He couldn’t. He had a life here, a job, friends, colleagues… He wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from him, no matter how nice they were being.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas moved closer, putting a hand on Joel’s arm and sounding genuinely worried.

Part of him wanted to tell Thomas everything. How his own family had treated him. How he’d been ignored and ostracized in his home town. How no one had cared about him as a teenager. He wanted to tell Thomas things he hadn’t told anyone, absolutely convinced that Thomas would understand, even help him.

But he wouldn’t. He was a shifter, a Keeper of the Peace. He wouldn’t take Joel’s side.

Joel stepped back, shrugging the hand off his arm and feeling unsettled. “I’m fine here,” he insisted. That was true, at least.

“But what’s wrong?” Thomas’ eyes were concerned as he looked at Joel.

He wished Thomas didn’t sound so worried. If he had sounded angry or demanding, Joel could’ve handled that. He was used to that from shifters. He wasn’t used to someone looking at him like Thomas was, as if nothing else in the world mattered. But Thomas couldn’t care about him, not like that.

He had to get out of here. He needed a clear mind to think about how he was going to deal with this, and he couldn’t think while Thomas was looking at him like that. “Nothing, leave me alone!”

Thomas’ mouth fell open, looking shocked as Joel hurried back inside. “I just wanted to—”

Joel didn’t hear what he wanted, not over the noise of people chatting in the central hall. He headed for the men’s toilets, locking a cubicle behind him and leaning against the wall. If he went back to Claire right now, she would want to know why he was upset, and he wasn’t sure if he could handle her concern without breaking down. He closed his eyes, focusing on breathing in and breathing out.

Once he had his breathing under control, he replayed the conversation with Thomas in his mind. He hadn’t said his name, and hadn’t said anything to confirm he knew about shifters. Thomas had asked how long he’d lived in Lewiston and when Joel had lied, Thomas had just asked him to be honest with him. He hadn’t thrown the truth in Joel’s face. Maybe Thomas only suspected Joel was the runaway from Barnhill, but wasn’t certain. After all, if he knew for sure who Joel was, why ask what was wrong? 

That still niggled away at Joel. Why had Thomas asked him what was wrong?

The cynical side of him thought it was a ploy to get him to open up so Thomas could confirm his identity, but another part of him clung to the hope that Thomas’ concern had been genuine.

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