Purrfect Roast: A Dragon Cozy Mystery by Verena DeLuca (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📗

right in the perfect section when it came to weight and size. Benefits of being a cat-dragon.

Azure was practically giddy at the prospect of receiving his salmon treat. He kept rubbing his body against my legs in a figure-eight pattern. As were most of the unleashed cats in line.

Having never owned a cat before, it delighted me to see that Azure's weird cat quirks were common amongst the species. The glamour each dragon used fully embodied the breed they were displaying including temperament.

Aubrey rattled on, while surveying the room for new cat breeds to admire. Now that she was in much closer proximity to them, she could make out differences in characteristics—though she did not know many breed names yet. She was like a kid in a candy store.

I took a drink of my coffee and shuffled forward with the line.

It would weird me out if she became a cat lady and ended up wanting to join our tribe. How would I let her down softly? Hopefully Azure already developed contingency plans for that sort of thing. This could not be the first time a protector had a best friend that was not one.

"And what is his name?" John asked from behind the food table.

"Azure," I said. "Azure can you say please may I have a salmon treat?"

"I'll end you, woman," he transmitted.

"You're the one that wants the treats."

"Meow," Azure said. "Meow, meow."

He sat up straight as if being judged for gold. I giggled at how adorable he became when presented with food. From his sleek black coat and fluffy tail wrapping around his feet, to his eyes dilating into large black discs, and an adorable pout, it was too much to take in.

"What a well-trained boy." John handed me the small plastic cup of treats.

"Thank you."

As I turned to step away from the table, tribe Borama caught my attention. One of the eight members was speaking with a salesperson at the end of the table while the rest mingled behind her. Azure mentioned they were from the southwest region of Texas. With them being the group of ladies laughing about the missing trophies, they were on the top of my list of suspects, with big bold letters: ARROGANT.

"Stop spacing out!" Azure transmitted.

Instead of leaving the table, I moved forward in line to speak to a salesperson. Now would be as good of time as any to fake interest in purchasing, if it meant getting a lead. Could it be as easy as talking to one tribe? Never happened that way in the books, but it was at least worth a shot.

"Those are the ladies that were laughing," I whispered as the girls came up behind me.

I set the cup down on the platform for Azure to help himself to his treats. Skylar followed my lead for Shadow. I hoped it would keep him busy long enough for me to think of how best to approach Isabel.

"Oh yeah," Skylar said. "Isabel is great fun. Walks around like she owns the place and has a bit of a mean side. You think they did it?"

"Why else would they have laughed?" Aubrey asked.

"My thoughts exactly! How should we approach them?"

We tried not to be obvious as we watched their tribe mingle between the sales table and the closest of two circular displays in the middle of the room. A few of the ladies examined the variety of food trays and containers.

The display closer to the treat line held a big box to submit contact information for a shot at winning a complete set of bowls and storage containers, along with a year's supply of food. Azure had already insisted on me entering to win him all the salmon he could eat.

Aubrey headed over to the supplies without a word. Hopefully, she had a plan, because she stood out like an unroasted bean. Not only did she not have a cat with her, but she was also approaching women with bat pinned nametags, without one herself.

She walked right up to the table without a hint of caution, snuggled in next to Isabel, and picked up the closest dish to examine it.

We giggled at the startled look on Isabel's face. She was clearly not used to people stepping into her bubble.

"Are you here for the competition?" Isabel asked, with an air of snobbery. She might as well of said, "Who the tea do you think you are?"

"My friend has a cat in the show." Aubrey continued to show no signs of care regarding Isabel's tone and demeanor.

"Who's your friend?"

"I am," I said, stepping over to flank Aubrey.

So much for flying under the radar and letting her handle it. But staying back and watching the interaction gave me too much anxiety. Someone needed to bring Isabel down a peg. Did she have the trophy room to match the attitude? I doubted it.

Isabel looked at me, and then to Azure, and her demeanor instantly changed. "How do you think you'll do?" she asked with a smile.

Must be her dragon that gives her the ego boost. I internally rolled my eyes, like there was anything to be boasting about with dragon ownership. It was not like we could fly them or anything. Just moody cats with wings.

"I heard that," Azure transmitted.

"Good," I transmitted back. He was the epitome of mood.

I pretended to be interested in the products on the table to help my next line feel more nonchalant. It might fail, but it was better than looking Isabel in the eye. My only tones were deadpan and sarcastic.

"Well enough," I said. "Real shame about the trophies going missing though."

"Eh," Isabel said. "I'm not too concerned."

"It's not like they are valuable," Carmen said over Isabel's shoulder. "Just aluminum vases. Nothing to lose sleep over."

"Guess that's true," Aubrey said.

"Anything like this ever happened before?" I asked. "It's my first year."

"Nah," she said. "If stuff like this happened more often, we would bring our families. It was hilarious. Did you see the look on Linda's face?"

A few of the surrounding