Pet Psychic Mysteries Boxset Books 5-8 (Magic Market Mysteries Book 2) by Erin Johnson (reading diary .TXT) 📗

The princess shot him a look. “I said you could only come if you were going to be helpful.”

Iggy crossed his little flaming arms. “So it’d be more helpful if I was all for this suicide mission of yours?” He widened his eyes. “Then by all means, waltz right into the shifter lair armed only with a vial of untested potion. No way this plan could fail.”

Peter stiffened next to me. Great—at this rate, he’d probably handcuff me to him and refuse to let me go.

Horace, hands stuffed in the pockets of his black jeans, shrugged. “We wouldn't need to fight off all the shifters. We could change form, blend in with the other animals, and escape.”

Peter let out a choked sound and gripped my hand tighter. “Not Jolene—she’s lost her powers, remember?”

The prince squared his shoulders. “We won’t abandon you, Jolene.” He looked between Peter and me, his expression grave. “I give you my word.”

Horace raised his brows. “No promises here.”

The princess shot him an exasperated look.

Iggy spoke up from the lantern in her hand, peeking through the shutters. “Jolene hasn’t lost all her powers—it’s not like she’s totally defenseless.”

I nodded. “Thanks.” It was nice to have some support.

The little flame huffed, embers floating from his mouth. “Yeah, I mean, she could talk to the horde of shifter animals descending upon you all if things went south, right? Like, ‘Hey, tiger man, please don’t eat our faces off!’”

Princess Imogen shook her head at him. “So helpful.”

Peter sucked in a breath, as if he was about to put the flame in his place, but I leaned close and whispered, “He’s kidding.”

My boyfriend turned his pale face to me, lips pressed tight together, and gave a slight nod. I nodded back and forced a tight smile. “It’ll be okay.”

Daisy growled. Lie.

What little color Peter had drained from his face.

I flashed my eyes at her, then turned to face Peter. “Okay, I don’t know for certain it will, and I’m pretty scared, too.” I shot Daisy a flat look. “How about that?”

She wagged her tail and whined. True.

“But I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think we had a good chance of it working. I’ve got some powerful folks on my side.” Though one of them might be a bloodthirsty ancient being who could smell my body odor from a mile away, and another was a wanted criminal in every kingdom.

I turned to said wanted criminal. “Horace—did you know Ludolf shifted into a heron?”

He shook his head. “No.” A wry smile tugged at the corner of his full lips. “And I know everything.”

Iggy scoffed. “And they say evil geniuses aren’t humble.”

I looked back up at Peter’s drawn face. “See? This is our best chance.” I stepped closer. “Now wish me luck. The sooner we get going, the sooner we get this over with.”

“I don’t like this.” His eyes brimmed with tears. “But I know it’s our best shot, and I believe in you. Good luck, Jolene.” He leaned his forehead against mine and whispered, “I love you.”

Daisy’s tail wagged. True.

My own eyes stung with tears. “I love you, too.” Man, I hoped this wasn’t the last time I got to say that to him. Ever since I’d been cursed and lost my fiancé, my career, all my money—I’d been in survival mode. Now that my life was filling up again, with love, excitement, purpose, and friends, I stood to lose it all. And I wasn’t going to let that happen—not again, and certainly not because of Ludolf Caterwaul.

I rose on my toes and kissed Peter, full and deep, while Iggy let out a wolf whistle. After I reluctantly pulled away and sank back down onto my heels, a pink flush rose to Peter’s cheeks.

I grinned. “Good to see you have some color back.” Before Daisy could react, I reached down and scratched her head. I’d expected her to pull away, but she let me pet her and even looked up and gave me the tiniest lick on my hand. She whined. Good luck. You’re kind of a disaster—you need it.

I grinned at her and woofed. Thanks, you mangy mutt.

I sucked in a breath, tightened my hand around the vial of potion, and nodded at the others. “Alright—let’s do this.”

36

Ludolf Caterwaul

No one spoke as we trudged through the sewers. The only sounds were our splashing feet, the chirping rats scurrying along the edges, and the drip of water echoing through the round tunnels. Francis winged overhead in bat form, and the prince, princess, and Horace took on the forms of Neo, Sacha, and Viktor. I clutched the vial of potion tightly in my hand, looking down at it every few minutes, as if it might spontaneously disappear.

My nerves made my steps stiff and jerky, and I held my shoulders tight, jaw clenched. As much as I reminded myself to breathe, I didn’t think I would again until this was all over. Every flicker of a torch, every echo of sound, and I was convinced someone had been alerted to our presence and Ludolf’s army of guards was about to descend on us.

But despite my fears, we made it through to the older part of the sewers where the bricks crumbled and the tunnels grew narrower, the ceiling so low that Horace, in Sacha’s enormous form, had to duck his bald head. When the reddish glow that always shone from the potion lair bounced off the walls ahead, my legs nearly buckled. We’d arrived.

The prince, in Neo’s form, took the lead position, while wiry Imogen/Viktor and brutish Horace/Sacha closed in tight on either side of me. We walked silently on, then ducked through the crumbling entrance into the round potions room. Glass bottles and decanters lined the stone shelves of the round room, a cauldron bubbled as always over the fire in the walk-in hearth, and the three ancient witches hunched over their work at the tall, cluttered tables.

They glanced