Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) - Melissa F. Olson Page 0,78

to make sure the herd is all right.”

“They’re fine,” Simon told me. “Between Lily’s crazy story and you being so out of it, I drove back over there. There’s a big-ass hole in your garage door, but nobody else was there.” He paused to push his glasses up on his nose. “Anyway, I went into the house through the garage door to see if he’d gotten inside. Nothing was disturbed, as far as I could tell, but I didn’t see the cats and dogs. I found them in the bedroom.” He grimaced apologetically. “I’m sorry about just going into your bedroom like that.”

I waved it off like I was blocking a punch. “Were they okay? Were they alive?”

“They’re alive,” he reported. “They were under your bed.”

I stared. “What, all of them?”

Simon nodded. “I counted. They were terrified, but I didn’t see any injuries. I thought it best to leave them where they were.”

I let out a deep breath of relief. “We should still get them out of the house. That thing knows they’re important to me.”

Quinn, who had been leaning against a sideboard, straightened up. “So we’ll go get them right now,” he said reasonably.

I bit my lip. “You really think we can take the time?”

He shrugged. “Sure. It’s a good idea to keep moving anyway, if Blue Man Group is looking for you.” I tried really hard not to smile at that one, but I kind of failed. “And we all know you’re not going to be able to think straight until you know they’re safe,” he added.

I was touched that Quinn wanted to help, but we both knew he was the wrong person to deal with the animals—they had an instinctive fear and hatred of vampires, and although a couple of them had eventually learned to tolerate Quinn, it wasn’t the right time to push that, not when they were already scared.

Ordinarily I would have called Jake, made up a story, and asked him to take the animals to his vet clinic, where there was room for all of them for a couple of nights. But I couldn’t risk that the thing—I really needed a better name for him, because “my father” made me nauseous—wouldn’t come back while Jake was still there.

So after some discussion, we decided that Lily and I would go get the animals and drop them off with Jake, while Simon did some online research and Quinn went “to get something to eat.”

As Lily and I walked into the cabin a little later, I was awed by the silence that had fallen over the house. It was never this still and quiet. Even when all the dogs were outside at the same time, there were always cats sneaking and skittering around, starting little squabbles with each other. The blue man may not have come inside, but it still felt like someone had broken my home.

I made straight for my bedroom, flipped the light switch, and crouched down to look under my bed. I very nearly burst into tears when I saw all four dogs huddled under there, staring at me with wide, anxious eyes. Chip and Cody came wiggling out right away, climbing over and over me, tongues lapping frantically until I had to laugh. “I’m sorry, guys,” I murmured, petting them.

None of the others wanted to come out from hiding. I tried cajoling, treats, and a stern tone, but they were too panicked. I hated to force them when they were like this, but they were at risk if they stayed where Emil might come looking. So in the end Lily and I had to simply pull the bed away from the wall and scoop them up.

Quinn had lent me the Jeep, which had more room in the back than Simon’s car or my busted Subaru, but it still took a while to get them all secured. It didn’t help that I only had two carrying cases for all those cats. The cranky iguana was the only one seemingly unaffected by my father’s appearance, which made me wonder if whatever the animals sensed about him had to do with proximity. Mushu lived in the back bedroom, far away from the front door where the blue man had been prowling.

When we finally closed the Jeep’s back doors, everyone was very unhappy, and Lily and I both had scratches up and down our arms. She waited outside the passenger door—“so your dogs don’t climb all over me, no offense”—while I went back into the house to