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

filling our plates. It was interesting that none of our other tribe ladies were currently eating. While it relieved me to not have to deal with their drama again, if they had not eaten yet they would probably appear before we finished. With none of us allowed to leave, it was the buffet, or room service, for lunch.

We had just settled in when a lady came up behind me. "So you're the young woman that inherited Azure?"

I turned around to face her. "Yes. I'm Hailey. And you are?"

"Sue," she said, holding out her hand.

I shook it as Azure transmitted to me, "She leads Tribe Avoiuli, covering the Austin area."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said in my most formal tone. "This is Skylar and Shadow, and my friend Aubrey."

"Nice to meet y'all."

Sue took the open seat at our table. "Tona and I had a bit of a rivalry, you might say."

"Sounds about right," I said. "She was always a competitive person. Never liked to lose and believed it was vital to always do her best. Taught me to do the same."

I said the last as a challenge. If Sue thought she could come over here and speak ill of Aunt Tona, she was in for a rude awakening. Everything I learned about setting goals and accomplishing them came from Aunt Tona.

"That's great to hear," Sue said in a voice that implied it was anything but. "I noticed Azure was off his game this year and assumed it was because of Tona's passing."

"Off my game?! This woman. She has no idea what she's talking about," Azure transmitted. "She's just trying to start drama as usual."

I looked at my plate and took a slow breath in and out to calm my frustration.

"I know this was my first competition," I said, "but I think Azure did just fine."

"Looked as good as last year to me," Skylar said.

Aubrey gave Sue the dirtiest look that calmed my nerves and made it hard not to giggle during the conversation. I adored how protective she was.

"Scoring a second-place trophy is nothing to scoff at for your first year," Sue said. "But of course, it's all up to the judges to decide."

"What's your cat's breed?" Aubrey asked, trying to deflect the tension building at the table.

I looked back at my food. Would it be rude if I just started eating? My stomach was not okay with the teasing taking place.

"Simon is an Abyssinian," Sue said in the most pretentious voice I had heard all weekend—that was saying something.

Many competitors spoke in a tone that would make royalty cringe, any time they were speaking about cat stuff. How Aunt Tona enjoyed this, I would never know.

"Sweet," Aubrey said, pulling out her phone to take notes. "Do you mind if I take a photo of him?"

"Not at all," Sue said. "Simon, smile for the camera."

He sat up straight in a regal pose and meowed.

"That's so adorable," Aubrey said, looking at Skylar and me for confirmation.

"Totally," Skylar said, and I nodded in agreement.

We glanced at each other and Skylar's face told me she was sympathetic to the lie we were spinning. I returned her grimace and looked back at my plate.

Once again, I was faced with the truth of my new life. There was no way to tell Aubrey that Azure was actually a dragon and understood every word of our conversation. All weekend I kept having to push the feeling of guilt to the back of my mind. I felt so bad for all the regular cat owners who were here competing against dragons. The whole thing felt shameful.

"I for one have fully enjoyed my first competition," I lied. "It's been a real treat to help Azure shine."

"Don't push it," Azure transmitted.

I took an innocent drink of my coffee and smiled, ignoring Azure's statement. Sue did not need to know that my words were dripping with sarcasm.

Skylar and Aubrey gave me looks of concern, but Sue stayed oblivious and said, "That's so great to hear. Always a delight to see the next generation taking up the sport."

Now it is a sport? This lady was too much!

"Absolutely," I said. "The competition is hard, but that just serves to bring out the best in Azure. But of course, if he brings home a participation ribbon, that will be fine too. It's just important that he did his best."

Sue gave a smile as if saying, "I was smart to accept the inevitable." I smiled back, hoping she realized her words were not getting to me in the slightest.

"Though it's such a shame about the trophies," I added. "I've really enjoyed getting to know the other ladies here, and I feel so bad that they aren't going to get their prizes."

"It's appalling that someone would do this," Sue said.

"Childish is what it is," Aubrey said. "What kind of person steals trophies? And why? I hope they get charges brought against them.

She let out a sigh and picked up her water. I assumed she was attempting to stop herself from saying more, Sue was technically a suspect. But Aubrey's passion for the case was getting the better of her.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Sue said. "This morning I told Nathan as much. If they don't prosecute, I'm going to request the show be put under new management. That door should have been locked. Thousands of dollars just lying around for anyone to steal. Have they even accounted for everything in that room yet? With the lack of organization they have, I'm guessing they didn't even have a master list. It's just appalling."

The sounds of the restaurant filled the silence left after her rant. Little did she know, they touched none of the other prizes. Her overreaction was a bit much. No way someone this mad about the incident could be the one to actually commit the crime. Unless she was a Hollywood-worthy actress. After a few minutes of no one speaking, I figured I needed to break the silence and attempt to change