Starlight Web (Moonshadow Bay #1) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,87

your kitten looked at, just give me a call. First exam is on the house.”

“Good man,” Clyde said, beaming. “I knew I’d find these little ones the right home today.”

We exchanged contact info, then—carefully carrying the kittens—Killian and I headed back to the car. Once we were safely inside, I tucked the kittens into the box again, which Clyde had given us, still containing the blanket, and they immediately curled up and fell asleep, draped over one another. I handed the box to Killian so he could hold it while I drove.

“Happy?” Killian asked.

I nodded. “Very. Let’s go.”

We stopped at a pet store where I sent Killian in to choose a litter box, food, toys, and a cat tree. As I sat there, staring at the dozing kittens, I was truly happy.

Chapter Nineteen

Killian helped me set up everything, then headed over to his house. “I’ll be back with my medical bag. I’ll have to ask one of the other vets to run the bloodwork to make certain they don’t have feline leukemia or anything else, since I don’t have my labs set up. They won’t get their first shots until we get the results back, but we’ll get them sorted out.”

While he was gone, I corralled the kittens into the downstairs powder room. Since I hadn’t expected to come home with cats, I hadn’t cat-proofed the house yet. I groaned as I thought of my Yule tree. What they could do to it…

“All right, let’s take a look at these two,” Killian said on his return. “Let me sex them first.” He tipped the tortie upside down. “Yep, she’s a girl—almost all calicos and torties are. The male torties often have serious health issues. Now, what about you?” He picked up the tuxedo kitten and turned it over, looking at its hindquarters.

“Rude,” I said, laughing.

“Hey, I’ve got a reason to play peeping tom. Okay, we have a little boy here. Which means you’ll need to get them fixed before she goes into heat.” He pulled out his stethoscope and listened to their hearts and lungs, then tapped on their tummies. After that, he looked at their butts again. “As I thought, worms. Almost all kittens have them.” He pulled out a tube of medicine and squirted some down their throats. “We’ll give them another dose tomorrow, but that should do it. Now, what about fleas?” He combed through their coats. “No fleas. Probably due to the time of year. That’s a good thing. Now, why don’t you go make us some coffee while I draw the blood. You may hear them protesting, but they’ll be fine.”

Already in love with them, I went to the kitchen where I decided to make soup. After I started the coffee, I chopped up some celery, carrots, red potatoes, some fresh herbs and an onion, scooping them into the pressure cooker—which was also an air fryer and slow cooker. I added two large turkey thighs and some chicken bouillon paste. I covered it with the lid and then set the pressure on high for one hour. I thought about making homemade rolls, but decided a loaf of hot French bread would do just fine.

A few moments later, Killian came out from the bathroom. “Well, as far as I can tell, except for the worms, they’re bouncy little fluffballs. They’re probably about six weeks old, which is really too young to have left their mother, but if they were strays, there’s not much Clyde could do about it. I’m going to run the blood samples over to Evans Vet Clinic and ask him to send it to the lab for me. Meanwhile, do you want anything while I’m out?”

I nodded. “Something to anchor the tree to the ceiling? I know what kittens can do to trees. I’m making turkey soup for dinner.”

He laughed. “We’ll rig something up when I get back.”

As he swept out the door, carrying the vials of blood, I headed back into the bathroom. The kittens stared up at me as though I were a giant, so I knelt beside them. The little girl promptly raced into my arms, leaning against me and purring.

“Oh, you sweetheart,” I whispered. “I’ll take care of you.”

Please…keep us.

I froze and slowly eased the kitten off my shoulder where she was snuggling, holding her up. “Was that you, Esmara, playing a joke on me?”

That wasn’t me, Esmara’s voice came. You needed a familiar and now you have one. I also know how much you love cats. The little