Page 34 of Castings & Curses

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Corwin said as he stretched to his feet.

Natalie let out a yelp of surprise, then glared at him. “What are you still doing here?”

He grinned at her. “Waiting for an opportunity to speak with you in private.”

“We have nothing to talk about. Now go away, wolf-boy.”

He groaned. “Come on, Natalie. Just let me explain.”

She sniffed in derision. “Explain what? Why you’re such a jerk? No one cares, least of all me.” With that, she stormed inside the coven house and slammed the door behind her.

“Damn.”

CHAPTER3

“This match is doomed,”Tivali said. “Are you sure they’re mates, Bygul?”

“You heard the wolf. Evenhethinks they’re mates.”

“But this is going to beimpossible,” Soraya wailed. “The witchhateshim.”

“So does Moonbeam,” Muezza pointed out. “Did anyone else notice something familiar about the way she treated the wolf?”

Bygul let out a snort. “She did slap his cheek the same way she smacked that gator’s snout.”

“I just don’t see how we’re going to get them to fall in love,” Tivali said, “especially if he’s going to go around threatening her familiar.”

“Poor Moonbeam.” Soraya licked a paw, then rubbed her ear with it. “I can’t believe how mean he was to her.”

“Oh, yeah,” Muezza said dryly. “Moonbeamwas the victim.”

“Are you implying somehow that the wolf was the victim instead?” Soraya demanded.

“I’m not implying it. I’m saying it outright.” Muezza lifted his leg and began a thorough cleaning of his backside, a sure sign that he was done with the conversation.

Bygul sighed. Not that Soraya would ever take the hint, of course.

“You’re mean, too,” Soraya said. “Poor Moonbeam was only defending her witch.”

“Yes.” Muezza lifted his head to sneer at Soraya. “I’m sure the witch is supremely grateful since she’s so helpless and all.” He buried his head back between his legs and that was the end of that conversation.

Mostly because Soraya didn’t seem to have a comeback for that bit of truth and settled for glaring instead.

Bygul took advantage of the momentary silence to try and get them back on track. “The point is we’re going to have to get creative if we want this match to succeed. So who has some ideas to share?”

* * *

For the secondnight in a row, Corwin got very little sleep and what sleep he did get was haunted by dreams of being smothered in his sleep by a giant cat.

When he woke, he discovered it wasn’t a dream at all.

There really was a cat and she was sitting on his face!

He gasped for breath, inhaled a bunch of fur and started coughing.

Shoving the cat to the side—what had Jared been feeding the cats anyway—Corwin opened his eyes and saw to his horror that the cat he’d just unceremoniously shoved off his face was not ChesterorHocus Purrcus as he’d assumed.

Instead, it wasNatalie’sdemon-cat.

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