A Defender Rises (Magic City Chronicles Book 1) by TR Cameron & Martha Carr & Michael Anderle

Author:TR Cameron & Martha Carr & Michael Anderle [Cameron, TR & Carr, Martha & Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781649714008
Publisher: Lmbpn Publishing
Published: 2021-01-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Ruby retraced her path back to the house she shared with her roommates and exchanged greetings with the others. Demetrius caught her on the second-floor landing, near the stairs to the attic. He looked around, as if to be sure no one was listening, and leaned in to whisper, “There have been sounds coming from your room.”

She put on what she hoped was a suitably apologetic expression. “I must have left the television on. That was stupid.”

He moved his head back to a normal conversational distance. “Yeah, it didn’t sound like television. More like walking around.”

Oh, hell. Idryll, you dumbass. “Okay. I guess I have to confess. I, uh, took in a stray.”

He grinned. “Well, well, well. My roommate is wilder than I thought.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Not that kind of stray. Although she is quite attractive.”

Demetrius fanned himself with one hand. “She. My, you are a liberated woman, aren’t you?”

She slapped him lightly on the arm. “Oh-em-gee. Come upstairs, before you start spilling gossip all over the place.”

He put a palm on his chest. “Are you suggesting I could be part of…a thruple?”

Ruby frowned. “What the hell are you talking about, Demetrius?”

“Ah, there’s the innocent Ruby we all adore.” He followed her up the stairs toward the attic. “A thruple. Three people as a ‘couple.’ You know, polyamory stuff.”

“Sure, okay, whatever. No, I’m not inviting you to be a couple, thruple, quadruple, any kind of uple.” She stomped a little to ensure Idryll heard her approach, although she couldn’t imagine a situation where the tiger-woman wouldn’t be aware of it. Exactly what I’ll find when I open the door is open to question, depending on how annoying she wants to be. No point taking on problems that haven’t happened yet. That’s what Keshalla always says. Of course, her mentor never had to deal with a sassy shapeshifter, as far as Ruby knew.

She opened the door, and her new life-partner was there in Bengal form, sitting primly and staring at them as they entered. Demetrius knelt to pet her, and Idryll accepted it with an attitude of “I deserve this.” That’s the cat side of her coming out. Ruby snorted inwardly. “So, there you go. The mystery.”

Demetrius observed, “She’s very well kept, for a stray.” The look in Idryll’s eyes as she tracked Ruby’s walk to sit on the bed promised trouble later.

“Sometimes you get lucky.” Other times, you get Idryll. “We more or less bonded immediately, so now we’re stuck with each other.”

He stood. “Well, that does explain the noises, although I have to say, it sounded more like walking than a cat. She must have been jumping around or something.”

“Could be. I think she likes to chase dust motes, and there are always some of those in an attic.” His phone rang, and he pulled it out of a pocket and looked down at it, then answered it and headed down the stairs with a wave. Idryll banged into the door to close it and was immediately in her most human-like form again.

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