this time and be a success story instead of the black sheep.
Two trips through the river of time and I would be living the life I had always imagined.
A soft thump at the end of my bed startled me. I glanced down to see Puck’s large green eyes of staring up at me.
“Hey girl,” I said, reaching down to scratch between her ears. “Where have you been?”
“We need to talk,” the cat said. “You’re in great danger.”
Chapter 9
“Believe everything a man’s ex says about him.”
-Notable quotable from Grammy B
“Excuse me?”
It was a stupid thing to say to a cat. But I wasn’t sure that I had heard her correctly. Or maybe I was asleep and all the other weirdness had seeped into my dreamscape.
“I said you’re in danger.” Her tail twitched and her eyes glowed in the dim light of the room. “I’ve been trying to warn you all day, but this house is like Grand Central before a parade.”
“Sorry?” I shifted, unsure what I was apologizing for. It was one of those knee-jerk habits that I was still trying to break. “Who am I in danger from?”
“Robin Goodfellow.” The cat batted at the air with claws extended. “I know he’s been lurking around you. I can smell his stink all over you and your house. He’s wily though. Have you struck a bargain with him yet?”
My lips parted. “How do you know about the bargain?”
“Because I was once foolish and desperate enough to bargain with him.” She arched her back and hissed, “As you can see, it didn’t end well.”
My eyes went wide. “Robin turned you into a cat?”
“He turned me into a puck,” Puck grumbled. “The cat is just the easiest shape to use so I blend in. I’m essentially a house spirit. Have been for the last two hundred and fifty years.”
My lips parted. “You’re telling me that you’re over two and a half centuries old?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes. Longevity can be one of the side effects when you bargain with the fae. Answer my question, Joey. Did you strike a bargain with Robin Goodfellow?”
I swallowed and nodded.
She spit a series of curses and then hopped off my bed and began to pace. “And what were the terms?”
My lips parted but no sound came out. She was so insistent, so forceful and full of conviction that I had almost answered without thought. “Why should I tell you anything about my private business?”
“I let you take me to the vet, didn’t I?” she asked in return.
My jaw dropped. “You let me?”
“Your nana thought I had fleas.” She sniffed indignantly. “Or ear mites. What I have is a two hundred and fifty-year-old case of I don’t want to be a pawn anymore,” she huffed.
“Okay. So, what can I do to help?”
She blinked at me. Her big cat eyes wide with very human expression. “You want to help me?”
“Well, sure.”
“The best way to help is to not bargain with the fae. Since we can’t unring that bell the only way to go is forward. Have you begun redeeming your favors? Whatever it was that you bargained with Robin for, can you get out of it?”
She must have meant my trips through time. “Um, no, actually I haven’t redeemed any of my favors. He’s still teaching me the basics.”
Puck sighed in relief. “Okay, good. There’s still time then.”
“Time for what?” I shook my head. “I don’t understand what it is you want me to do?”
She sat down and stared at me. “I was the first woman in this land, before it was called America, the very first to offer him a bargain. In doing so, I became his anchor into this world. You know that magic and technology do not mix, yes?”
When I nodded, she continued, “For Robin, or any of the fae really, to stay on this side of the mortal plane, they require an anchor. Also known as a familiar. A presence that can see both sides and allow his magic to flourish here. That was the price of the magic he worked for me. I became his living anchor, a mortal female turned immortal. I’ve been looking for a way to stop him ever since.”
I blew out a breath. “You’ve spent the last two and a half centuries trying to what…?”
“To stop him.” She began bathing her tail.
“Right, and how do I fit into this scheme?”
She paused in her washing. “If Robin has no one to bargain with, it will loosen his hold on the mortal plane and