Page 57 of Wild Scottish Beauty

“What the heck? Calvin, you naughty boy.” I squatted and began gathering the items, placing the thimbles and buttons back in the box. Spying my scissors, I sighed. “You have to be careful. What if my scissors had landed on you?”

Granted, I guessIwould have to be careful. I hadn’t really thought about how to kitten proof a room, but now I looked around, wondering if there were other things that could pose a danger to the little man. The last thing I needed was to kill my kitten on day one of having him.

Something caught my eye, and I squinted down at the scissors in my palm. I’d been about to tuck them away in the box, meaning to take them to Sophie at some point to have a chat with her about the possibility of them being my power item—or whatever it was called—and the design caught my eye.

The pattern on the handle had changed.

Or something in the pattern had changed.

I’d always had a good eye for patterns, designs, and things of that nature. When I’d first picked up the scissors and had felt that pulse of energy against my palm, I’d takentime to study the design etched into the handle. Intricate Celtic knotwork and flowers had wrapped the handles, and while that design was still there, now, a singular tiny cat clambered on one of the vines.

“No way,” I breathed, bringing the scissors closer. I held them up to the light, turning them upside down to see if there was a cat, or anything else, hidden among the vines.

Nope.

One little cat tucked among the vines that had most definitely not been there the day before. I was certain I would have noticed it. I looked between the cat and to where Calvin played with the ribbon.

“Did you do this?”

Calvin rolled over, twining the ribbon around his little body, and blinked his greenish eyes at me. I waited for some image or inkling to pop into my head, but nothing came. Rolling my eyes, I scooped Calvin up, tucked the scissors in my purse, and brought the ribbon along for him to play with. While Ramsay had been kind enough to tell me to bring Calvin with me to the shop, I wondered just how well that would actually work out.

“You can’t knock his stuff over or he’s going to kick you out of the shop.” I pressed a kiss to the top of Calvin’s head, and we went downstairs to find Sophie and Hilda having a coffee in the lounge area.

“There’s my wee man. I’ve kept a bit of chicken out for him.”

Sir Buster growled at my arrival, and Calvin perked up in my arms.

“Can I put him down or will there be blood?” I surveyed the growling chihuahua.

“Put him down. He’s all bluster.”

I put Calvin down, who immediately scampered across the room, sending Sir Buster running beneath the table from where he let out a near constant growl of warning.

“That’s enough out of you,” Hilda told Sir Buster before giving Calvin a small plate of chicken. The growling intensified. “Now, Buster. You can share your chicken.”

“Coffee?” Sophie asked and I nodded.

“I need to go to the store at some point. I can’t rely on you for all my meals.”

“It’s no bother for me,” Hilda said, from where she was crouched by Calvin, “but I’m sure you’ll want to have some food in your apartment as well.”

“I can take you later,” Sophie promised me.

Sophie looked comfortable in a baggy UCLA sweatshirt and leggings, and it was hard for me to remind myself that she was seriously wealthy, and the owner of this castle. Handing me a cup of coffee, she curled back up on a small sofa and tucked her feet under a blanket. The sky outside was just beginning to lighten, and I glanced at it in surprise.

“Does it stay dark this late in the morning?”

“Yup. And summer it will stay light longer.”

“Really? That’s kind of cool.” I took the chair next to Sophie, and remembering Calvin’s antics earlier, I dug in my purse one-handed and gave Sophie the scissors.

“What are these? Oh, cool. They’re pretty, aren’t they? Did you find them in the storeroom or are they yours?”

“Um, both. If that’s okay with you?” I took a sip of my coffee and decided to just push forward with it, since, well I guess everything was on the table after the Kelpies had tried to murder us yesterday. “I found these in the storeroom,and for some reason I, like, instantly connected with them. I knew they were mine. Weird, maybe, but I could just feel it.”

“Oh! These are your weapon. That’s awesome.”

“When you say weapon…” I looked helplessly at Sophie. “Am I meant to stab someone with them?”

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