Page 56 of Last Call at the Doghouse

He held her hand as they walked down Main Street; she stayed close. As much as he wanted to tell her again that he loved her, he didn’t. That wouldn’t make things any better for either of them.

At the other end of the street, the band started up. They played just about everything but were most comfortable with southern rock. Springers in their vicinity smiled and headed in that direction. Armi was following suit when Mitch stopped and tugged on her hand, holding her back.

He pulled her into an alcove by the door to a closed boutique. Colorful dresses were on display in the shop windows, so they were surrounded by bright colors. That seemed wrong. They should be surrounded by gray. Dull, uninviting gray.

“I want to come with you,” he whispered.

“What? That’s not possible, and even it if is, no!”

“I let Laura head down the road on her own, instead of going with her as she’d asked. If I’d been driving, if I’d been with her…”

“Don’t do this to yourself,” Armi whispered. “What happened to your wife wasn’t your fault, and this is not at all the same situation.”

Wasn’t it? How could he allow this to happen, how could he stand back and do nothing? “I barely survived losing Laura. I won’t survive losing you. It sounds like you just…” The image that popped into his head was one out of a nightmare. “Dissolve. You become something else. If I’m holding into you, maybe I can come with you. We can ask Helen and her cronies…”

“No,” she said again, whispering this time. “You have a long life ahead of you. I’m just a brief bump in the road, an obligation or a Mystic Springs fling that was never meant to last. Go back to Colorado, or go somewhere entirely new.”

“No way in hell. If I can’t go with you, I’ll stay right here and look up at the sky every day and every night hoping for a glimpse of you. I’ll go through every book in that damn library, I’ll hound Helen night and day until I find a way to bring you back.”

She kissed him. He tasted tears on her lips.

When the kiss ended she said, “I don’t know much, but I do know I need to do this alone.”

“That’s…” Before he could say bullshit, a brown wren flew into the alcove. It came so close wings brushed his cheek. He swatted it away and it left the small space, but when Mitch looked into the street, he saw the little brown wren was not alone.

CHAPTER 19

For a moment the birds almost blocked out the afternoon sun. Armi pressed her face into Mitch’s chest, hiding, instinctively protecting herself as a few more birds swooped into their alcove. His arms wrapped around her and he spun to present his back to the street, sheltering her.

The sound of fluttering wings was something out of a nightmare, but there was no actual attack, no beaks or talons trying to draw blood. Still, Mitch did his best to keep her safe in case that changed.

Safe. Who was she kidding? There was no safe place in the world for her. Every feeling of contentment until now, every sense of safety, had been an illusion. Everything in her uneventful life had been leading her to this moment. Was she up to the challenge or would she wuss out?

She tried to draw away from Mitch; he wouldn’t allow it. In a whisper she told him, “It’s all right. I can handle it.”

She didn’t believe either of those statements, but she had to do her best. What was the saying? Fake it until you make it.

Armi pulled away from Mitch and he let her go. He did so reluctantly, but he did release her. She walked around him, stepping into the open. The number of swarming birds was alarming; there were many more in and above the street than had attacked the truck. Ten times more. A hundred times… The people who’d been on the street moments earlier had all found safe places to hide. They were inside buildings or hunkered down by doorways.

Mitch refused to hide in the alcove once she moved way. He remained beside her, even though she told him three times to get to safety. His response had been vulgar and left no room for argument.

When they stood in the middle of the street, Armi lifted her head and screamed, “Go away!”

That didn’t work. A cardinal swooped in and pecked at Mitch’s shoulder; a wren scratched Armi’s scalp then flew away, taking a hunk of hair with it.

Silver hair.

She was supposed to have powers of some sort. Where the hell were they? What the hell were they? These birds descended upon Mystic Springs because she was here, they were drawn to her. There had to be a way for her to stop the attack. She concentrated on willing the birds away. That didn’t work. She added in a wild hand gesture that did nothing at all, though she did smack a little brown wren with the back of that hand.

What about the fire Carlton had seen in her eyes? Armi made herself look up; she tried to conjure fire to roast the invaders.

Nothing.

A wave of motion caught her eye. Something had disturbed the birds. She hadn’t tried anything new, but now they moved in an undulating motion that took many of them up and out. After enough of them had moved up, Armi saw why.

Silas Hollister, Mystic Springs’ critter guy, walked boldly down the center of the street. Without fear, he waved his hands at one side of the street and then the other, and when he did the birds changed direction. When she’d tried that it hadn’t worked, but Silas had a power she did not possess. His bloodhound Judge stayed beside him. Judge jumped now and then, as if he were trying to catch and eat a bird or two. They ran from him, too.

The flock rose higher. The birds retreated, then finally broke and scattered.