Rogue Belador: Belador book 7 Read Free Page B

would do it.
    Lucien backed away.
    Mr. Build-A-Monster-Killing-Saw-From-Snow retreated?
    A little doggie thing bothered him? “What’s the matter, Lucien?” she asked.
    “I’m not getting near that thing.”
    Casper found this amusing too. “Why?”
    “It’s a witch’s familiar. I want nothing to do with it.”
    The cowboy asked, “How do you know that’s what it is?”
    “I just do,” Lucien said with finality, dismissing any future questions.
    “White witch or dark witch?” Evalle asked.
    “I don’t know that .”
    Evalle took in the little critter’s sad eyes. They reminded her of Feenix, her pet gargoyle, who was only two feet tall himself. She leaned over and called to it. “Come here, baby. Let’s get you back to your owner.”
    The critter stood up on its stubby, thick hind legs. It waddled forward.
    Huh.
    “Evalle, I don’t think you un—” Lucien started.
    That half-croaking, half-chirping, bullfrog noise started again. The fluffy critter stopped long enough to bare its fangs in Lucien’s direction.
    Lucien’s dark expression warned that he would answer any challenge.
    Evalle lifted a hand at the men. “Give me a minute.” She patted her knee and the little doggie thing walked upright all the way to her, then leaped unexpectedly into her arms.
    “Okay.” She caught the animal, careful to stay clear of the horn. Smiling, she looked at Lucien and Casper. “See? No problem. We’ll just take him, her, it to—”
    Lucien was shaking his head. “There is no we . It’s you.”
    She lost her smile and thought about baring her teeth. “I don’t have any idea how to find its owner tonight, and I can’t take this little guy home.”
    Casper suggested, “Give it to Sen and let him find it a home.”
    Lucien said, “Bad idea. The white witch council is having issues with VIPER. If that beast belongs to a white witch, handing it to Sen would light a powder keg of trouble.”
    Right.
    Lucien and Rowan, a powerful witch, were chummy, even though he claimed to hate witches of any type. Actually, from what Evalle had seen the last time those two were within spitting distance of each other, steamy would be a more accurate description than chummy.
    She told Lucien, “Then why don’t you take this critter to Rowan and let her figure out who owns it?”
    That seemed a perfect place to start looking for the owner, since Rowan led the white witch council.
    “No. That’s not my responsibility,” Lucien stated.
    The Castilian had always been a bit distant, but he’d never backed away from helping on any assignment in the past. Why now? Evalle shifted her heavy armful and said, “I thought you were friends with Rowan.”
    “We have an understanding, which includes me not dealing with her gaggle in any way. Besides, that creature being out on its own is a bad sign. Witches do not lose track of their familiars.”
    “Well, duh,” Evalle smarted off. “We know it was dognapped or whatever.”
    “No. There’s more to this, and I want no part of it.”
    What did he mean by ‘more to this’? She’d ask, but he had a not-budging look on his face. “Fine.” She turned to Casper. “Would you take this to Rowan?”
    “Sure.” He reached for the little unicorn mutt, but it bared its sharp fangs at him. Its jaw unhinged wide enough to snap off a person’s head.
    Casper snatched his hand back, then waved her off. “Nope, that one’s all yours, Sunshine.”
    “How am I supposed to take this to Rowan?”
    “I thought you drove Storm’s Land Cruiser tonight.”
    Oh, that’s right. I left my motorcycle at home. “I did bring his truck, but not to use for animal control,” she argued. Weak, but that was all she had.
    Casper shrugged. “Don’t know what to tell you.”
    Should she take it home and call Rowan in the morning? Evalle envisioned this little terror around Feenix, who could be an even bigger terror. Plus, Storm would have to deal with the whole screwed-up menagerie. Her life was