Pet Psychic Mysteries Boxset Books 5-8 (Magic Market Mysteries Book 2) by Erin Johnson (simple ebook reader .txt) 📕

you think you don’t know any shifters in the palace or in the government or in the fancy parties you go to, huh?”

Prince Harry blinked rapidly, then swallowed.

“Ooh!” Iggy burned bright. “She’s got you there!”

The prince looked to the princess, who pressed her lips together. “Uh—she makes some pretty good points.”

Rhonda the Seer munched on a piece of licorice she’d apparently found in one of my cupboards. “I like her!” She winked at Mrs. Kim, then pointed at my mostly empty cabinet. “By the way, there’s a cockroach in here.”

I nodded. “That’s Gary.”

The seer froze for a moment, then ripped off another hunk of licorice and shrugged.

A smile tugged at the corner of the prince’s mouth. “Mrs. Kim, you’ve got a lot of opinions.”

And shockingly, a lot of her points were pretty valid.

“How about, in a few days, you come up to the palace and tell us more about your concerns? I’d like to hear about ways the palace could make life better for our citizens here in the Darkmoon.”

Mrs. Kim gave the prince a long, hard look. Finally, she sniffed. “Yeah, okay. If you make it out of whatever scrape you’ve gotten yourself into with this one”—she threw a hand my way—“I’ll come share all my good ideas with you.” She pointed at me. “Remember—Darkmoonies stick together.”

I grinned and nodded, and Mrs. Kim pushed through the beaded curtain and tromped downstairs, the slap of her sandals on the steps growing fainter.

“And they never say die!” Princess Imogen grinned at all of us. “Come on—like the Goonies? Goonies always stick together, and they never say—” She waved it off as we all looked at her, dumbfounded. “Oh, forget it. I need some human friends—no one gets how funny I am.”

“Oh, Imogen,” her little flame said kindly. “I’m not sure it’d make any difference.”

“Uh!” She gaped at him, and Iggy devolved into cackles.

17

The Clinic

As eager as I was to see for myself that my friends were alright, I didn’t look forward to the lecture from Will that I was sure was waiting for me. As I led the royal group through dark alleys, I smirked. Then again, having the prince and princess with me might shock him into silence. I chuckled as I pictured my big bear of a friend. As if.

We soon reached Will’s back alley veterinarian clinic. I rapped on the metal door, and the eyepiece slid open. Heidi’s dark eyes blinked at me, smiling. “Jolene! You’d better get inside, the craziest thing hap—” Her gaze slid to the group waiting behind me. Her eyes grew wide, and she sucked in a gasp. “Sea snakes!”

Locks clicked and then the door was flung open, sickly fluorescent light spilling out onto the broken cobblestones. The waiting room inside teemed with animals, the trapped shifters from my apartment. Heidi, the sloth on her hip like a baby, peeked around the door and waved us inside. “Get in! Hurry!” Then she seemed to catch herself. “I mean—please hurry, your highnesses.” As we scurried past, she did her best to dip into a curtsy, wobbling and almost tipping over onto the sloth.

As soon as we’d all made it inside, Heidi slammed the door shut. Will, clad as always in his white lab coat, pushed through the swinging door to the exam room. I caught sight of the llama curled up on the elevated metal table, the monkey and the lemurs perched on the back counter.

“Jolene!” Will did not sound happy. His already enormous eyes bugged out of his head as he stalked toward me, shaking a long finger. “First you rob me of my assistant so she can babysit, then you put her life in danger with your escapades? Do you know what would’ve happened if your landlady hadn’t bought her time to skedaddle on out of there? Huh, Jolene? Heidi would be dead! Dead!”

He didn’t even pause long enough to suck in a breath before glancing around the room. “Oh my goddess!” He folded in half into the lowest bow I’d ever seen—and this from a man who had to duck through doorways. “Your highnesses, welcome.” He was still bent in half as his eyes slid to me. He bared his teeth and hissed, “Why didn’t you stop me?!”

I snorted. “Oh, now you yelling at me in front of the royals is my fault, too?”

He hissed, “Keep—your—voice—down.”

I smirked and leaned against the tall front desk that Heidi normally sat behind. A mouse scurried across it and nibbled at the corner of a piece of paper. I cleared my voice and spoke loud enough that everyone could hear. “Will! Am I embarrassing you in front of our special guests? Oof!” He stomped on my foot.

“These are my new boots!” I collapsed in pain onto Heidi’s stool. She, meanwhile, tried to shoo the peacock and the lion off the waiting room chairs while simultaneously curtsying and offering the prince and princess and their friends seats. I’d have chuckled—if my toes weren’t still throbbing so badly. I shot Will a dark look, and he returned it.

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for sand’s sake, stand up already.”

Will glared at me but straightened and tugged at the lapels of his lab coat. “Uh, welcome to my humble abode. Mi casa es su casa.” He winced but kept his strained smile on his face.

I gave him a double thumbs-up and mouthed, “Classy.”

The prince, princess, and their friends seemed stunned by the number and variety of animals—well, trapped shifters—that swamped the small clinic. They gaped at the packed room.

The princess spoke first. “Thank you. And I’m glad to see everyone’s safe.” She turned to Heidi, who immediately dipped into a curtsy—again.

Prince Harry lifted both palms and looked between Will and Heidi. “Thank you both for such… er… enthusiastic welcomes, but please, no more curtsying or bowing—we don’t need any special treatment.”

Iggy, the little flame, scoffed. “Speak for yourself.”

“Everyone’s alright, though?”

Heidi grinned and nodded. “Yeah, these dudes showed up at the door and tried to bang their way in,