Free Chasing Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) by Christina Moore Page B

morning stall cleaning, he was welcome to go into town to buy his own groceries. I planned to use the time to start an outline on my next book.
    “Darn, you mean I’m gonna have to start cooking for myself?” he joked.
    I laughed along with him, and before I knew it the meal was over. I noticed that he hadn’t eaten one of his pancakes, and though I suspected I knew why I asked him about it.
    “Oh, it’s Angel,” Mark replied. “Pickiest dog I ever met. She absolutely refuses to eat processed dog food—or any kind of dog food, for that matter. I have to feed her what I eat or she won’t eat at all.”
    Mark called out to Angel and she came into the kitchen with Moe and Cissy on her heels. He set his plate on the floor for her and I quickly scooped up the Chihuahuas so that there wouldn’t be a fight. I don’t think I needed to bother, though, as the shifter had the syrupy pancake gone in seconds. She looked up as if asking for more, a whine escaping her throat.
    Her brother scratched her between the ears after he bent to pick up the plate. “Sorry girl, that was the only one left. Ms. Caldwell’s a darn good cook. Next time I’ll save you some more.”
    I put my own dogs down as he put the plate in the sink. “How about next time I just make enough for three?”
    Mark looked at me, surprised. “That’s real nice of you, but you don’t have to do that. I just need to do that grocery shopping today so I can take care of my dog.”
    I nodded acquiescence and we made quick work of washing the dishes together, then we set out to get the farming work started. The morning went fast; though I was working at a human pace, the work was done twice as fast because there were twice as many people to get it done, even if I did have to stop now and then to explain things to Mark. All too soon he was backing his truck down the driveway to go shopping.
    I looked down at Angel. “Want to come inside and relax for a while?” I asked her, and she yelped heartily.
    Inside the house, I fetched the robe she had worn the night before for her to put on. She waited until I had returned to change form, and when she was Juliette again she thanked me as she wrapped the robe around herself and tied the belt.
    “I don’t suppose I could get something to eat as well?” she queried.
    I looked at her with my eyebrows raised, then shook my head as I gathered the same sandwich makings I had used the night before and put them on the table so she could serve herself. I got her a glass and the tea as well, and for myself I opened up the bottle of cow’s blood that was in the back of the refrigerator, heating myself a mug of it and noting that I was going to have to get another batch of blood from the deep freezer today.
    “Thanks,” Juliette said again. “Sorry to ask and all; I’d have raided Mark’s fridge if there was anything in it.”
    A thought occurred to me then, as I sat at the table with my steaming mug of cow’s blood. “If Mark doesn’t know you’re Angel, what does he think Juliette is doing all day? Where does your father think you are?”
    She smiled around the mouthful she had just taken, chewing and swallowing before she replied. “I’ve been in England for the past year.”
    My eyebrows winged up again. “Really?” I queried. “Doing what?”
    “I graduated from Kent State with a degree in marketing, so that gave me a good base for my cover,” Juliette told me, “which is that I’m currently an assistant buyer for Harrod’s.”
    I smiled. “Imagine the money you’d be making if that were true. I’ve shopped at Harrod’s before—wonderful clothes, expensive prices.”
    “Are you one of those vampires that hoards all kinds of money over the years?” she asked.
    “I have a nest egg, you could say,” I admitted. “Mostly I live off the proceeds from the farm, as well as my other economic venture.”
    Juliette frowned. “What ‘other economic venture’ would that be?”
    I shrugged nonchalantly