Hope(less) (Judgement of the Six #1)

Crisis averted, we hurried home attempting to beat the rising sun.

I didn’t talk, but instead concentrated on scanning, pushing to see further than ever before. It drained me. My legs grew heavier with each step. I tried not to let it show. While I scanned, so did Clay. His eyes missed nothing and he constantly scented the air.

The sun cleared the surrounding rooftops, its bright rays lighting the sidewalk. My hurried walk degraded to a plodding step somewhere along the way, taking us much longer to get home. No further sign of that weird light reappeared during the rest of the walk.

Watching my shuffling feet while retracing our steps to the back door, I didn’t see Rachel standing on the porch. Her abrupt, “There you are!” startled me. My hand flew to Clay’s thick mane at the same time my heart skipped a beat. The scare distracted me from my second sight, and it snapped closed at my loss of focus. I struggled to reopen it, but a sudden pain in my head stopped my attempt. I’d done too much.

“Nice morning for a walk,” she commented moving toward us to pet Clay.

I unclenched my fingers from his fur not wanting her to notice my death grip. She fingered one of his ears, which he shook off, causing her to laugh and bend to kiss the top of his head. He endured the kiss, but rolled his eyes at me. Some of my tension melted at their antics. He appeared more relaxed too.

She tugged the leash from my loose grasp and said, “I made a call this morning and can get him into the vet for his shots. I figured after the way he acted last night, we should have him current, just in case.”

It took a moment for what she said to click. I dropped my stunned gaze to Clay. He calmly met my eyes not giving any indication what he thought of her announcement. I didn’t know what to say to Rachel.

She looked at me with concern and said, “You okay, Gabby?”

No. Not okay. What had started as a nice thank you breakfast for Clay had turned into a dog fight. And now, she wanted to take him to the vet? He didn’t deserve that. After the attack, would he concede to leaving me? Wait. Could a vet figure out he wasn’t really a dog? I tried to contain my panic.

“Uh, I didn’t budget for it,” I blurted hoping at the very least to put the visit off until I talked to Sam about the risks.

“Don’t worry.” Rachel untangled his leash and attempted lead him toward the garage. “I can cover it for now and you can pay me back.”

“Let’s all go,” popped out of my mouth before I thought about it. What good would that do? Did I think I could block the vet basketball style from touching Clay? Rachel would definitely know something was up then.

“No offense Gabby, but you look like hell. I think you’d be better off with some quiet time. Don’t worry we’ll be fine.” She tried pulling him toward the garage again, but he didn’t move with her. Instead, he nudged me toward the back door almost knocking me off balance.

Rachel tugged on his leash scolding him, but he ignored her staying focused on me. “Would you mind giving him your standard pep talk? I don’t know why he just listens to you. I’m the one that feeds him treats.” She handed the leash over to me. I rubbed my forehead not knowing what he wanted me to do.

Bending to give him a hug, I breathed, “Is it safe for you?” He snorted, which I took as a yes. Did he want me to stay here then? “I’m so sorry about this. I’ll need to call Sam and let him know what happened.”

I straightened, looking him in the eye while smoothing the fur on his head. “It’s your choice.” I dropped the leash and stepped back.

He gave me a long look and then sighed as Rachel moved to open the car door. He followed her.

“The control you have over him is weird, but cool,” Rachel commented holding the door while he jumped into the back seat.

Control? I didn’t have any control over him. He only listened when I threatened to kick him out of my room or leave him behind. “Yeah. Just don’t be gone too long. He’ll get upset,” I warned her.

“The vet’s just a few minutes from here. We should be back soon.”

I couldn’t believe we were actually doing this. She climbed behind the wheel, rolling down her window before closing the door. What did a vet usually check for? Shots… Age… Neuter… Crap, crap, crap!

“Just don’t have him neutered!” I panicked on his behalf. “Or anything that involves blood or blood work. It’s expensive and I promised him he’d keep his jewels.” Oh how I wished those words back when he started laughing hard. I really needed to start filtering what I said.

The engine roared to life. Rachel swiveled to check on Clay then suggested, “Maybe we should have the vet check his lungs. It sounds like he’s coughing.”