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

the hotel would like all cat show attendees checking out today to vacate the rooms no later than three thirty, thanks for the notice."

I rolled my eyes at the time frame. At least we were able to get a shower in, but it would have been nice to find out earlier.

"I assume they thought the case would be solved by now," Azure transmitted, interrupting my whiny thoughts.

"I'm sure you're right, as usual, mister logical," I transmitted. "I just wanted to grumble a bit, okay?"

"Then keep it to yourself," he transmitted.

I stuck my tongue out to him mentally and started the process of packing our luggage. It was mostly Azure's items strewn about the room, but that was expected. The only times we were in the room this weekend was when we were sleeping or preparing to be judged. After I packed away everything, I laid on the bed and pet Azure's fluffy black coat. Even after months of living with him as a dragon, it still boggled my mind that his cat form was so believable. From petting to cuddling him in my arms, he was a cat through and through when glamoured.

"If you were to die in cat form," I transmitted. "Would you automatically release the glamour? Our would it hold to those that weren't protectors?"

"Why? What are you plotting?"

"Nothing," I transmitted with an innocent smile as I continued to pet him. "Just curious."

"Right, I believe you," he transmitted. "It is unlikely that a dragon would be in a situation that could cause their death while in cat form."

"Don't make me ask Shadow," I transmitted. "Elaborate mister."

As I said this, I walked over to the bed and scratched his ribs, causing him to stretch out from the pleasure. I sat down to continue showering him with pampering rubs in hopes it would loosen his tongue a bit.

"I see your antics, but I still don't understand why all this is important to you," he transmitted then paused to enjoy the fact that I was scratching behind his ears now. After I moved back to petting his back he continued, "If you think about random ways that a cat could die, the most likely scenario would be by a car, right?"

"Sure, I guess I'll agree with that."

"Thank you for suspending your disbelief for a second, in this hypothetical situation you requested me to create. I realize cats are more likely to die in airplane accidents, but I digress." He rolled his eyes and continued before I could respond. "In the event that we happen to get run over by a car, our glamour would hold, as the car wouldn't kill us. While we look and feel like cats, our body is still full-dragon, so our scales would protect our vital organs. After the car left the scene, we'd be able to shake off the shock of just being hit by a car and go about our day."

"Fascinating," I transmitted. "But that still doesn't answer my question. What if, say, someone chopped off your head while you were in cat form?"

"Morbid idea," he transmitted.

"No, it's just the only thing I could think of that your dragon self wouldn't be able to be safe from. I assumed a bullet or poison would have the same effect as the car."

"Touche," he transmitted, and let out an enormous yawn. "In the event that they detached our cat head from our cat body, our magic would make a last-ditch effort to preserve our glamour and solidify us in cat form. If our tribe was able to recover our body, they would be able to get us underground where an elder could reverse the glamour and give us the proper burial."

"Hmm," I transmitted. "Figured it was something like that."

I shrugged and stood up from the bed to continue packing.

"Then why did you even ask?!" he transmitted in a huff. "This is why talking out all the trivial aspects of dragon life is pointless. It's usually the most logical theory."

"Still fun to discuss though and hear it straight from you. I don't get why you are so against discussing dragon stuff."

Instead of answering, he grumbled and curled back up into a tight ball. I walked over to him and scratched behind his ears and under his chin coaxing him out of his grump.

"I'm not trying to make you mad, just curious is all."

"I know," he transmitted. "It's just too fresh still. I've already had all these conversations with an eager protector. Having to do it all again brings back too many memories."

"I get that," I transmitted. "But what else would you have me do? Should I just pretend like I don't want to know, just treat you like a cat and ignore the fact that there is an entire world out there waiting for me to discover it? If that's what you want, then you should just permanently be a cat, and stop requiring protectors to attend meetings. The other dragons can fly to the cafe in their bat form. Because—"

"You've made your point," he transmitted.

"Have I?" I transmitted. "For as much as I love your cat form, I want to learn even more about your dragon life."

"I know this isn't the first time that I told you I would work on being less closed off," Azure transmitted. "And I know that I am failing at giving you the proper protector training. I just need time to work through my grief."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't take the time you need to grieve but have you ever thought about reaching out to your tribe mates for advice?" I transmitted as I sat back down on the bed. "Or, if you don't want to smudge the leader line, what about another tribe leader?"

"The tribe leaders don't discuss emotions."

"Maybe they should," I transmitted. "Someone once told me that a tribe is only as strong as its leader. If you need help, ask for it. Be the change you want to see in the tribe system."

Azure crawled into my lap and snuggled