"What do we do?" Shosha cried. Her fur had fluffed out, and I couldn't find her head. She had moved into Luna's arms and was now trying to burrow into Luna's jacket. She pulled it open, and Shosha disappeared, but I could still hear her. "Where can we go?"
Reginald moved to block some of the wind and leaned close to Colin. "I am pure magic. I am too much of a beacon to her. Send me on somewhere away from you!"
Colin touched the penguin, and he disappeared. Neko felt his heart thump, hoping the penguin had found somewhere safe. He wasn't safe with them—no one was.
"Where do we go?" Neko asked and feared he sounded too much like Shosha.
"Into the storm!" Colin shouted.
They were all so surprised that we followed without thinking. A few steps later, I realized we were in the monster's heart. Colin grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and then held me close while Luna and Dorian moved closer.
Dorian even grabbed Colin by the shoulders and shook him. "Are you crazy!"
Colin pulled away and held me closer. "Too much magic. She can't find us here. That is why the storm is still heading toward the town. It is the only logical direction for us to go."
"You are spending too much time with the cat." Dorian looked at me as though he thought I would argue. "Where do we go now? We don't want to be standing here when the storm passes."
There were few choices and not much time to decide. I left it to the others and snuggled in closer to Colin. The rain had not lessened, but the lightning and thunder had died down. The wind, however, had become chaotic.
Why?
"Head to the town!" Neko shouted. "Hurry!"
"Neko!" Colin exclaimed.
"She can't find us. That's the chaotic wind. She already checked the direction of the town --"
They were already moving back into the heart of the storm. Although Neko hated it, he believed this was the only safe direction. The others agreed, or they wouldn't be plowing through this gale and using very little magic.
Colin had made a small magic chain that hooked them together. Neko caught the links with claws and clamped on as tightly as he could. Shosha did the same -- he could feel her through the magic.
Oddly, he missed Reginald. Maybe having such a strange suited him after all. They hadn't been together long, and Neko still had no idea what a spirit animal should do. However, to be fair, he couldn't say he understood the work of a magical cat, either.
Those were not questions for now. Neko added it to a long list of 'later' subjects that he had been collecting and just did his best to hold on to the chain and keep track of the others.
They had almost reached the edge of the storm when something drew the clouds off to the left and away from them. They were at the edge of a small town and, amid the locals, within a few steps.
"I have never seen a storm act like that!" a woman said nearby. "I was just going to jump in the car and drive as fast as I dared."
"A wise human," Colin mumbled. "But what did pull the storm away?"
There was a question Neko hadn't thought to ask yet. He watched the storm continue to turn and retreat, heading toward some barren hills a few miles away. None dared to use magic to discover what might be happening.
Better, he thought, to just get away while they could. But how? They couldn't use magic to conjure a car. They might have to find a place to stay and just hold out until they were certain Maude had lost interest in the area.
She was a stubborn witch. They might be stuck for a long time.
Something brightened, and Neko looked upward with shock, but it was not the sky. A bubble of blue light rose from the hills, split into countless smaller bubbles, and threw themselves at the clouds.
"I'm out of here," the woman said and hurried away.
She was not the only one. Few remained to watch the second blast of blue light. By then, the new magic had torn the storm to shreds, and the magic that had controlled it dissipated along with the clouds.
Neko would have liked it better if he had known where Maude had gone or even who their new allies might be. That had been powerful magic to toss around, but Neko had felt nothing like it before. Neko knew enough about magical beings to realize that even if one had helped them, it didn't mean they were on the same side.
The fae must have thought the same thing. Neither had used any magic to get them somewhere else or to look for friends or foes. They remained watchful, though. Luna, however, looked around the area and then pointed down a busy street behind them.
"I see the sign for a hotel down there," she said as she squinted. "If we stay here, maybe we can get a room."
"Yes," Neko agreed. "I am soaked. But what if they don't allow animals?"
"I think it best if they don't see most of us," Colin replied, walking away. "I can find nothing of Maude nearby, so we would be wise to take cover while we have the chance."
Colin arranged for a plush room while the rest of us stayed behind Dorian's invisibility spell. We were fine until the manager began sneezing. She looked suspiciously at Colin and his two pieces of conjured luggage."
"Cat?" she asked and sneezed.
"No. But I visited friends who had a few cats."
"That's it. Stupid allergy. Have a good stay."
Neko hoped for one night's sleep. He ignored the distant flash of lightning.
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