have to toughen her up if she wanted to roll with me. Sage was pissed at her and didn’t hold it in. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, because I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose your owner and have your whole life completely turned upside down with uncertainty. I was sure she could use a … friend.
Insert diabolical laugh here.
“I told you this would be a waste of our time, Talisman,” Sage chastised. “Let’s move along. Since we got a late start tonight, dawn will be breaking in a couple of hours and we need to be home before then so we don’t arouse any suspicion.”
Sage turned his back and flew to a branch high above the others so he could serve as lookout. Lola sat on the shoulder licking her tender feet, leaving me and Fawn alone for the first time.
“I know you know something, Fawn,” I whispered. “Please tell me if Amelia or Penelope are in any kind of danger. I promise I won’t rat you out to your dad.”
“Who’s the new girl?” Fawn asked, and then it hit me. I knew Fawn had a crush on me, but when Lola had asked to come along, I hadn’t been able to say no to her. Probably the first in a long line of indulgences I’d give in to where miss fancy pants was concerned.
“That’s Lola,” I answered. “Her mom died and the surviving relatives are allergic. Dr. Luke just dropped her off at the shelter before we left, so Sage and I didn’t want to leave her alone.” I hoped that explanation would fly because I really needed Fawn to be straight with me.
“Oh, I thought she was your girlfriend,” Fawn commented. “She’s really pretty.”
“I hadn’t really noticed,” I replied, hoping the lie had flown off my lips and into the deer’s ears without detection. I didn’t want to encourage her school girl infatuation but I didn’t want to offend her either. A relationship between a young deer and a cat that was hundreds of years her senior could never work, and in her heart, she had to know it.
“Do you have any idea about where Amelia could be?” I asked, not knowing how much time we had before her dad would come bursting through the brush like a runaway locomotive.
“I saw her yesterday at the library, Tali,” Fawn said. “She was carrying a book. A really big, scary book. Then she took the book to her car and put it in the trunk.”
“A scary book?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine anything at the Shadowkeep public library being that big or that scary. Knowing Amelia, she was just doing research for her job as the local article writer for the Shadowkeep Gazette. I knew she was trying to keep the residents of the small town informed about the local activities.
“Yes, scary,” Fawn said as she shivered. “A book about … witchcraft .”
Amelia had probably been looking out for Elias Stout and his lawyerly bullshit and not even realized that the animals might be watching her comings and goings. No one outside of the witch community even knew that animals could have special powers. Now, I had to talk Fawn down from the ledge. She knew something, but it wasn’t important to our search for Amelia. Unless, Damian or Bianca had seen Ami carrying around a book about the dark side.
“I bet she was just doing research, Fawn,” I explained. “Ami just told Penelope the other day that she was working on a fun article about love spells for the Valentine’s Day issue.”
“Oh,” Fawn replied. “That makes sense. After she got in her car, she drove away and I haven’t seen her since. Has anyone checked her apartment?”
“We’re going there now,” I said. “Penelope wanted to go there today but she was completely wrapped up in the adoption event at the shelter and it got too late for a visit. She thinks that Ami just dropped her phone or it’s dead. Ami can be pretty scatterbrained. It’s probably nothing.”
“Okay,” Fawn said. “I’m really glad you stopped by tonight, Tali. I’m sorry my dad was rude to you and Sage the other night. I