Feral Magic by Robin D. Owens Page B

date.  When she put in new batteries, it looked ready.  She grimaced and stuck it in the outside pocket of her purse.  After taking the fastest shower on record, she dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved blouse, then put on her hiking boots.
    Dak and Favel awaited her, Dak murmuring soft alien words to the infant.  Whatever he said seemed to have put the baby in a happy frame of mind...along with the strip of jerky he gnawed on.
    Brandy led the way out of the house and locked the door, then took a minute to gaze at the man and child. She wanted to keep that picture of them against the lush greenness of her yard as a memory.  A good memory.
    Tom-Tom sat staring through a wide crack in the wooden slats of the back gate.  Gypsy lounged on the catnip plant.
    Turning his head to glower at them, Tom-Tom said, Is the big thing leaving now?
    Gypsy aimed a glare at Dak.  Are you REALLY going and not coming back?
    "Yes," Brandy said aloud.  The more she verbalized the reality of their departure – the more she really felt it – the better off she'd be. Grateful for the experience of having the shapeshifters in her life, but not missing them or the shakeup they'd given her.
    Tom-Tom hissed.  There were PEOPLE who smelled of bad weapons at the back gate!  They drove up and down the street with one of those different cars that We don’t like. Those that make terrible noises and flash awful lights.
    "The city guards," Dak said.
    "Yes, checking out the neighborhood."  She grimaced.  "I've never had them at my door before.  Guess they just drove by, but they could have come in if they feared for my safety."
    Dak patted Favel's back.  "We appeared harmless and innocent of any wrongdoing."
    He'd said that to lighten the moment, she knew, and she laughed.  "Hardly harmless, but maybe a little innocent.  Favel, at least."  Glancing at Tom-Tom who hadn't moved, she said, "Scoot."
    "Your cats do not treat you with enough respect."  Dak hissed at Tom-Tom and he bolted.
    "We get on well enough," she said, opening the gate and going to the car she'd left in the alley the day before.  She opened the door, slid the taser under her seat – just in case of a white tiger .  How strange was that?  She put her purse in the back seat, checking on the unopened second can of wasp-spray.  She was armed well enough, too.
    Glancing back at her cats, she said usual mantra-like words, "I love you.  I'll be back soon."  She swallowed.  She would return alone.  "Before afternoon."
    Dak strapped Favel and himself in, and they were off.
    When they pulled up to the first light, the cop car drove up beside them and the female officer stared at them.  Brandy began to sweat.
    "We are fine," Dak murmured.  "I am in my human form.  Favel is in his human form.  No weapons are showing."
    Not even the taser under her seat.
    Someone honked behind her and she realized the light had turned green.  Getting a grip on her nerves, she headed out of town, west toward the mountains.  Following the brightening ruby glow of a dimensional portal tracer.

Chapter Eleven
     
     
    Brandy took I-70 into the mountains; the route seemed nearly a straight shot up the highway...and the other appearance of the portal had been by a highway.  Was the thing attracted to high-speed lanes of asphalt?  The busyness of the roads?  She didn't know, and it would be something to ponder for the rest of her life.
    The day was gorgeous and the heat abated as they moved into the foothills, then up the brown rock canyons.  Dry yellow grass highlighted the deep green of conifers.  As they neared the town of Idaho Springs, the sensor jewel became nearly blinding, dimmed a bit as she went through town.
    "You have passed the portal."
    "Great," she huffed.  "I only have a front-wheel drive, city car.  We might need a four-wheeler.  Should have kept the jeep," she muttered.  She concentrated on backtracking, found a county road leading in the right direction.  One she'd never