Page 51 of Cats Never Fly

“WhenIextract the foreign object in your arm,” he said, like it should be obvious.

“Youfound something in there?”Ilooked at my arm.

“Perhapsa local anesthetic?”

“Yes.Thatwould be fine.”

“Stayas still as you can.Iwill need to act quickly before your body absorbs and nullifies the drug.”

Inodded.

Heinjected my arm with a clear liquid, then he grabbed a scalpel and sliced open my arm.Iwatched in horrified fascination as the doctor removed a tiny mechanical device from my arm.Itreminded me of the trackerVanhad given me the night before, except instead of being in a little pouch around my neck like the other one, this one had been stuck in my fucking arm.

Assholes.

Thedoctor dropped the offensive thing in an empty specimen bottle.Thebloodied device landed with a click.

“Yourarm should heal quickly now that it is out,” thedoctor assured me as he wiped the incision clean and placed a bandage over it.Ididn’t thinkIneeded the bandage, butXanderinsisted.

Whenwe opened the door, bothVanandSimonwere waiting in the hallway immediately outside the room.

“Hedidn’t want to go too far,” the hellhound said as he pointed atSimon.Simonignored the teasing, although his face darkened to a charming pink.Helooked lovely with a bit of color.

“Youwere in there a long time.Areyou okay?”Simonasked.Hisattention was fixated on the bandage.Whata sweet little kitty cat.Allprotective and such.

“I’mfine,”Iassured him.

“Thiswas in his arm.”Xanderhanded the bottle toVan.

“Thanksfor not destroying it when you extracted it,Doc.”Vanheld it up and examined it.AlthoughifIcould identify it,Iknew he could too.Hecocked his head to the side. “It’semitting a signal.I’msure of it.”Thehellhound’s smile would have been terrifying if he wasn’t on my side.Thiswas obviously a good lead.

Howhe knew about the signal,Ididn’t know.Couldhe hear something?Feelsomething?Seesomething?Icould have asked, butIdidn’t care.Ididn’t understand all the ins and outs of technology, only keeping up with the most popular trends.Trackingdevices weren’t a trendI’dever needed to know about, even if they were all around me at the moment.

“Okay,”Xandersaid with an easy smile, waving us away. “Youall need to leave soIcan see my next patient.”

Vantucked the little jar into one of his pockets, then guided us down the hallway to the garage again.

“Doyou think they’ve trackedOgdenhere already?”Simonglanced around as if expecting someone to jump out and grab me.

“It’simpossible to know,”Vansaid.

Simontrembled a little and his ears shifted into his cat’s ears.Theyswiveled, as if hunting for any sound that didn’t belong.Hewas barely hanging on to his human form.

“Butif they continue to follow the tracking device now, it’ll take them toOfficerHellhound,”Isaid, slipping my hand intoSimon’sand squeezing it.Ilooked atVan. “Youshould be prepared in case that happens.”

Awicked grin spread overVan’sface, and fire lit his eyes. “Oh,I’mprepared all right.I’dlike to see them try to take me down.”

Isighed and rolled my eyes. “Iwould have said the same thing a few days ago but look what happened.”

Vandipped his head in acknowledgement, butIgot the sense he thought he could take on my abductors and win.Ihoped that wasn’t hubris.

“Butif they come toWillowLake, they might still findOgden.”Simon’svoice was shaky.Long, thin whiskers were poking through his cheeks now. “Bynow everyone in town knows about him being here.”

AndIsuspected that was mostly because of his mother blabbing to everyone about how her baby had found his mate.Butsaying that wouldn’t help anything.

“Gage’spresence here should keep them back too,”Vansaid quietly, as if finally realizingSimonneeded somecomforting words.Hiseyes metSimon’sand held his gaze for a long moment, as if willing my kitty cat to feel the weight of his words.Hiscalm confidence was working, or at leastSimondidn’t seem to be struggling to stay in his human form anymore.

“Youthink so?”