Something to Curse About by Gayla Drummond Page B

store.”
    Terra sighed, accepting the card. “I won’t.”
    With a chuckle, he lowered his head to rub his cheek against hers, kissed her forehead, and headed for the door. I followed, but he gently shooed me back and shut the door in my face.
    Curses, foiled again .
    The teen fed and brushed me after putting away my new belongings, and then took me downstairs to the yard. A woman came out before I went in search of a private spot. Since she asked if Terra was ready to leave, I decided she must be Alanna.
    “Yeah. Do you think she’ll be all right out here while we’re gone?”
    “Should be. I’ll tell Jake to check on her a few times.”
    Terra knelt to hug me. “You be good and stay here. I’ll be back soon.”
    I wagged my tail, seeing an opportunity. As soon as they went inside, I hurried to take care of business and began searching for a way out of the yard. Sooner or later, Kate would do a locator spell. Since I knew where the garage was, I could find my way back to where I’d left my car. Finding Doggy Me with my car should give them a hint.
    The yard’s walls were cinder block, but the gate was wood, and there wasn’t anything but dirt under it. I couldn’t open it, but fifteen minutes later, I wiggled under it thanks to the hole I’d dug. After a good shake to rid my coat of the worst of the dirt, I took off at a run.
    Daytime traffic proved daunting. Vehicles were a lot bigger when you were a dog. I had a few narrow misses before reaching the highway, and paused to catch my breath before braving the underpass. The strip mall waited on the other side. I couldn’t see my car yet, and hoped it hadn’t been towed, or worse, stolen.
    “Hey!”
    I looked over my shoulder and found Terra hanging out a car window three vehicles back. Crap .
    Turning, I hurriedly looked both ways and took off across the access road as the light turned green. She yelled again, but I couldn’t make out the words over the sounds of engines revving. Thanks to the green light, I didn’t have to stop on the other side of the underpass, but kept going across the other access road and to the sidewalk around the strip mall’s parking lot.
    It was full of cars, so I halted to look around. Of all the things to forget, I couldn’t remember exactly where I’d left my car. Under one of the lights, but there were a couple dozen or so of them. I need to pay a lot more attention before I teleport .
    “There she is.”
    Aw, hell . Terra and company had followed, and were pulling into the closest entrance. I flattened my ears, aimed for the closest light pole, and plunged into the parking lot chaos. The sound of doors slamming followed me, as did Terra’s cries for me to stop.
    Guilt was quick to rise at her frightened tone, but if I could find my car before they caught me, she would recognize it, and call Logan. It wouldn’t necessarily let them figure out Doggy Me was actually Cordi, but beggars can’t be choosers.
    I do not recommend playing chase with determined shifters. The steady car and foot traffic was one of the reasons they didn’t quickly catch me. However, having three people chasing after me did provide enough incentive that I learned to jump. Mostly over Teague, who tended to dive for me each time he caught sight of me.
    The other reason they were having trouble? Terra wasn’t the only one phobic about dogs. Teague did finally manage to grab hold of my tail, but when I instinctively turned with my teeth bared, he let go and backed away with wide eyes.
    Alanna, a petite brunette with big blue eyes, called him a wuss as she shot past him, hot on my trail. I poured on the speed, only to slam on the brakes as Terra stepped out from between two parked cars. They had me sort of surrounded.
    I turned, intending to dart between cars before one of them was close enough to grab my collar, and froze, the tip of my nose not eight inches from the front bumper of my beloved chariot.
    “Bad dog!” Terra’s hand closed on my