The Falcon Prince
growled.
    “No, no, Momma’s little girl must be on her best behavior if she’s going bye-bye this weekend.”
    Sukie didn’t look as if she really cared. She was also minus the pink bows Ria had clipped on her ears last week. Ria figured they hadn’t lasted the whole day. She was, however, wearing her pink neckerchief.
    The dog was cute. Adorable, in fact. She just had a lousy disposition. Ria had tried to get the pooch into training early, but Ms. Miller didn’t want Sukie upset. So, each time she brought the crabby canine in, there was a tug-of-war on who would win. Mostly, Ria thought Sukie came out ahead.
    “Take good care of my baby,” Ms. Miller said before handing Ria the leash.
    Sukie snapped at Ria’s feet, but Ria was ready and jumped out of the way. She smiled at the dog. First round—me. She sighed deeply. But there would be many more to come before she finished with little Sukie.
    “I’ll take good care of her, Ms. Miller.”
    “I know you will, dear. And I’ll stop by after I finish shopping.”
    “Take your time.”
    Ms. Miller left. Ria looked at Sukie. “You’re going to be good this time, right?”
    Sukie curled her lip back and gave Ria the evil eye—and she did it very well.
    Why did Ria get into this line of work, anyway? Oh, yeah, she’d mistakenly thought she had a way with animals. Had that been dumb or what?
    She slipped on the gloves and picked up Sukie. The mangy mutt growled as Ria put her in the tub of water. The dog latched on to one of the gloved fingers, but Ria had purposefully left her finger out of that one. She’d learned. Sukie seemed satisfied to attack it, rather than her.
    “Your mommy spoils you way too much,” she told the dog.
    The dog loved the water, getting soaped down, and washed. If a dog could have a rapt look, this one did. Sukie let go of the glove and stretched forward so Ria could reach that one particular spot.
    “That’s a good Sukie,” she spoke softly.
    Grrr.
    “Sorry. Forgot.” Sukie didn’t like anyone talking to her when she was getting her bath.
    The bell on her shop door jingled. Her next appointment wasn’t due yet, but she did take walk-ins. Or maybe Jeanie had forgotten something.
    “I’m in the back,” she called out, squirting more soap on Sukie.
    Sukie gave her the evil eye again.
    “I’m running a business and I do have other customers besides you.”
    She looked toward the curtains as Kristor walked inside the grooming area. Great. He was the last person she wanted to see. But she couldn’t stop the flutter of excitement that rippled through her.
    “You’re still in town,” she said.
    “Just until I can convince you to leave with me.”
    They were back on that. Then she remembered they were the only two people in the store. He could murder her and…She studied him. No, if he’d been going to kill her, he’d had his chance, and hadn’t taken it.
    He was still a nut.
    Sukie suddenly latched on to a finger of the glove that actually contained a finger. Ria jumped.
    “Sukie!” The pooch hadn’t hurt, only startled her. The gloves were too thick for the dog to cause much damage.
    “Are you okay?” Kristor stepped closer.
    Sukie growled.
    “Shhh!” He held up a hand. Sukie hunkered down and looked away.
    Sukie backing off? That was a first. “How did you do that? Are you a dog whisperer or something? I mean, Sukie can be very aggressive.”
    “Once you connect with your guide, you’ll be more in touch with other animals.” He stepped up and began to rinse the soap from Sukie.
    Ria held her breath, waiting for Sukie to take a chunk out of his hand. But after only a few seconds, she relaxed. This wasn’t fair. First, he wins over the townspeople, and now Demon Dog. He’d cast some sort of magic spell over the mutt.
    “If you didn’t talk all that crazy stuff about taking off for another planet, it would be nice having you around.”
    He looked up.
    “That didn’t come out exactly the way I meant. It’s

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