Page 65 of Wedding the Werepanther

“He certainly squawks a lot.” Mrs. Greely squints at us. “Too bad he’s not one of the parrots who can talk.”

“Yeah, too bad,” I lie, a swell of relief rushing through me. Thank god, I don’t have to worry about letting Dewdrop play on the green.

She continues walking her dog across the grass, headed toward the busy sidewalk where people line up in front of Cake My Day to grab treats before the bakery closes.

I pump a fist in the air. “The town’s protection spell worked!”

“You know, it might have been okay. A parrot would have been a really good cover,” Violeta says. “My tia has one that knows over a hundred words.”

“But that wouldn’t explain the other animals,” Skye says. “Because Princess Buttercup demands her own crystal, and there’s no way to explain a talking cat.”

“Crisis totally averted.” I nod.

The walking tulips race out of a clump of rhododendrons, followed by the rolling pumpkins and flying hearts.

The dragonet launches from my shoulder to dive into the center of the flying hearts. “Hello! I’m Dewdrop. Will you be my new friends?”

Soon we’re surrounded by a swirling mix of my animated creatures and the familiars, who’re barking, bleating, and meowing.

After a few minutes, I call my familiar over. When he lands on my shoulder, I point to the walking tulips, wondering exactly how strong this new translation crystal is. “Can you understand them? Do they talk?”

He tips his head to the side and listens, then says, “No. They don’t talk, but they feel a little bit like you.”

“That’s because I made them come to life, like Victoria.”

Finn trots over to us and yips up at Dewdrop.

“He wants to show me the safe place the fae king made for us!”

“Go on, then.” I give the dragonet a pat.

They race across the green, the rest of the familiars following, along with the tulips, pumpkins, and hearts. They disappear into one of the larger stands of rhododendrons, which Severin bespelled as a safe place to hide from the non-magical children who sometimes try to catch the “kitties” or “hedgehogs” they see when they look at the tulips and pumpkins.

Hannah plops onto the grass. “It’s such a lovely evening. Let’s have the meeting out here.”

I shoot her a smile of thanks, knowing she’s also doing it so I won’t worry too much about Dewdrop.

We sit in a loose circle, and Autumn says, “I wish we all had our cupcakes and cocktails.” Magic shivers through the air, the food and drinks appearing in our hands.

“Mmm.” I take a big bite, the chocolate cereal crunchies the perfect complement to the soft vanilla cupcake.

The animals and creatures dash back out of the bushes and run circles around us, Dewdrop chattering the whole time, repeating what every familiar says so they can all understand each other. Pretty soon, they’re playing a fairly complicated game of four-way telephone that makes it clear Finn and Princess Buttercup both think they’re the leader of the group.

Hannah steps in to try to referee. “How about no one’s the leader?”

“How can you say that when you’re a leader?” Finn says via Dewdrop. “You’re mayor of Ferndale Falls and queen of theshadow fae. Therefore, as your familiar, it’s only right that I’m a leader, too.”

“I willnevertake orders from a canine,” Princess Buttercup says. “Everyone knows cats are superior.”

“This is boring.” Babybelle bounces forward and headbutts first the fox and then the cat. “Let’s play!” Then she takes off across the green, the others giving chase as all the witches chuckle.

“Hoo, boy.” Autumn hooks a thumb toward the familiars. “That is going to be a lot.”

“They’ll sort it out,” Hannah says.

“You know.” Skye shoots me a knowing smile. “Luke told me that translation spell cost Shadow a lot of gold.”

“He’s certainly determined to win you over.” Jasmine winks at me.