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

We headed out of the sanctuary’s office with Daisy beside us.

He leaned close so that his warm breath tickled my neck and lowered his voice. “I can be pretty tough. Don’t make me use my handcuffs.”

I let my jaw drop and sucked in a mock gasp.

His eyes widened, and he waved his hands as a deep flush spread up his neck. “Sorry. I was just kidding. I was trying to be saucy, and it just came out wrong, but I would never—”

I chuckled, and his shoulders slumped. “You were kidding.”

“Duh.” I winked. “Careful. I might enjoy it if you busted out those restraints.”

He stopped dead for a beat before catching back up with me and Daisy, his whole face red. Sands, I really enjoyed teasing this man. I slipped my hand into his and grinned up at him. He rolled his eyes but smiled back and nudged me with his shoulder. Working cases wasn’t so bad when you got to do it holding hands with your boyfriend.

13

Stolen Wombat

Peter, Daisy, and I threaded our way across the swaying drawbridge path, past enclosures with enormous ferns, suspended bubbles of water, and even what appeared to be a miniature volcano. Odd hoots and animal calls followed us, and I frowned at not being able to make out what they were saying. Were these creatures so rare my abilities didn’t extend to them, or were my powers on the fritz?

We soon exited the enclosed part of the sanctuary and headed outside. We left the giant stone mansion behind us and trekked through thrashing grasses down a narrow gravel path. Wispy clouds blew quickly across the half moon, and bats squeaked as they dove overhead.

I wrapped my arms around myself and rubbed. Peter glanced over and noticed my shivers. He withdrew his wand, murmured a spell, and a moment later a warm blanket of magic enveloped me, dissolving my goose bumps. I glanced up and shot him a grateful smile.

“Handsome and good with the magic." I slid closer to him and waggled my brows.

"Yeah." He shrugged, hands in his pockets. "I'm a keeper."

Peter slid an arm around my shoulders, and we walked on together, Daisy bounding ahead. I could just make out the shimmer of magic enclosing some of the outdoor cages. Every now and then a hot huff of breath or a heavy footstep reminded me that the dark grounds were teeming with magical animals and monsters.

We cleared a small hill and spotted Daisy, bushy tail wagging excitedly. She tapped her paws in front of a couple of silhouetted cops who stood against a tall wall. Peter squeezed my shoulder, then let his arm drop to his side, and we picked up the pace until we joined them.

A tall, thin young officer bent forward and scratched Daisy behind her ears, while the other cop leaned against the vine-covered stone wall, his eyes glued to the middle-aged woman sitting on the ground.

I arched a brow as the young cop cooed over Daisy, scratching her head and telling her what a good girl she was. So this guy could get away with it, but Daisy would barely deign to let me bring her a treat? I saw how it was.

Peter greeted the other cops, then nodded at the woman on the ground. "Miss Brown."

"Ah, so this is the Libbie Brown I've been hearing so much about." I lifted my hand in a little wave, and the woman glanced up and shot me a quizzical look, her knees hugged to her chest. The grasses blew all around her, the wind tossing her long dark curls across her face. She glanced behind her toward the cop leaning against the wall. A zipped leather backpack sat beside his feet.

"You here to take my Cassie away from me?" She glared up at me.

I held up my palms in surrender. "Nope. Just your run-of-the-mill, everyday pet psychic. I leave the Cassie stealing to the pros." I thumbed at the officer playing with Daisy, then frowned. “Who’s Cassie?”

The cop against the wall lowered the booted foot he’d been pressing against the stones and scoffed. "More like what is Cassie."

I threw my head back to the sky. "Ah." I tipped my chin back down and leveled Libby with a grin. "The wombat."

As if on cue, the backpack rustled and squeaked.

“See?” Libby let out a growl of frustration and lifted a dark, tattooed palm that told me she was from the Fire Kingdom. "She's hungry, and she misses me."

I squeezed an eye shut and raised a finger. "Actually, her leg’s falling asleep." I remembered a moment later, as four sets of wide eyes landed on me, that I was supposed to be a pet psychic, not a pet translator. I pressed my fingers to my temples and squeezed my eyes shut, as if concentrating. "At least that's what the ether is telling me." I peeled them open and glanced at Peter to see if I'd covered adequately. He was biting back a grin.

"No way!" Libbie’s face lit up, her white teeth bright against her dark skin. "You really are a pet psychic?" She threw an arm toward the backpack. "That's great! You can just ask Cassie who she’d rather live with, and we’ll get this whole thing sorted out."

I squeezed an eye shut and tipped my head side to side. "Not sure that's quite how the law works…."

"Actually, we're here to ask you a few questions." Peter stepped closer.

Libby let out an exaggerated groan and rolled her eyes. "You lot have already asked me a thousand questions! Ugh.”

I arched a brow and leaned into one hip. "Maybe you'd rather answer the questions up at the station?" It was hard not to grin. I’d been dying to use that line since I’d become a consultant for the police. I caught Peter's lips twitching toward a smile out of the corner of my eye.

Libbie sighed through her nose, but sobered and shoved to her feet. She dusted off her jeans, then stuffed her