LITMIR.BIZ

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dumb junkyard dog looked right at him—a smile on his face that looked so much like Buck’s—and released the arrow.

      Tully cringed when he heard the arrow hit its target, another cry echoing out as it fell to the ground.

      Jamie stopped in her tracks and turned around, her eyes locking on the large bird no more than five feet from Luther.

      When she only stood there, staring, Tully assumed she was in shock. Until she moved. No. She didn’t go after Luther, although Tully would have loved to have seen that. Instead Jamie went after Seneca—who was going after Luther.

      Jamie reached for her friend, but the little witch dashed around Jamie’s arms and ran right up to Luther. She didn’t say anything, but she did punch him. Right in the chin since she couldn’t reach his face. Luther growled, his hand wrapping around Sen’s throat, lifting her off the ground.

      Mac, Kenny, and Emma moved to each other’s side and Mac raised her hands, flames and lightning dancing at her fingertips. But before she could unleash anything, before she could wipe Luther out where he stood, Jamie made her move. Yet it wasn’t the one Tully expected.

      Because he really hadn’t expected her to press her .380 to the back of Luther’s head. The safety off, her finger firm on the trigger.

      “We’re all going to calm down now,” she said softly, her gun to Luther’s head but her eyes on her coven. “We’re all going to take a deep breath and we’re all going to calm down.”

      Mac’s fingers curled into fists and the flames and lightning disappeared into her hands.

      “You’re going to put my friend down now,” she said to Luther. And he did, releasing Seneca immediately. She stumbled a bit when her feet hit the ground, but she quickly turned toward Jamie’s falcon, kneeling beside it.

      Luther was a hell of a shot, Tully would give him that. The arrow had gone right through that bird.

      Keeping his voice even and controlled, Tully said to Luther, “Targets are real specific in Smithville, Luther Ray. Arrows aren’t supposed to be used on anything but the bull’s-eyes down at the other end of this range. You wanna hunt, then you shift and do it proper.”

      “Just wanted to test my skill out, big brother,” Luther said with more than a little bit of sneering to his words. “Nothin’ personal about it.”

      “Good,” a small, tear-filled voice said and Seneca looked over at Luther. “And this isn’t personal either.”

      The petite woman drew her arms back then shoved them forward, a roar to rival any lioness bellowing out of her lungs, and Luther’s body went airborn, flipping back and into the concrete wall of one of the storage units. The other two idiots made a move toward Seneca and Jamie aimed her weapon at the closest one. “Don’t even…” she warned simply. They didn’t, stopping in their tracks, their eyes on her gun.

      Seneca, growling like the most adorable kitten, stood and advanced on Luther.

      Without turning her gaze away from Tully’s kin, Jamie barked, “Kenny.”

      “Got her.” The dark-haired female grabbed hold of Seneca by wrapping her arms around the witch’s waist and lifting her off her feet. Kenny carried her friend back to the hotel, Seneca cussing the whole way.

      Jamie briefly glanced at Tully and motioned to the bird lying on the ground. “Tully?”

      He knelt down and looked at it. He’d be the first to admit he didn’t know anything about birds except which tasted good with barbeque sauce and which tasted better with lemon and butter, but he did know when something was alive and when it was dead.

      “She’s still breathing, but we need to get her to a vet.”

      Jamie nodded before glancing over at Bear.

      “Y’all go,” the grizzly said. “I’ll take care of things here.”

      “You need my gun?”

      And Tully didn’t even have to look to know that Bear was smiling. “Darlin’…that’s the last thing I need.”

      Chapter Seven

      “That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,” Tully finally said to her after an hour of sitting in silence in the Colton City Veterinary Clinic waiting room, about forty-five minutes or so away from Smithville. He’d seemed surprised the bird had lasted the trip but Jamie wasn’t.

      “I’m sorry about that,” she said.

      “Sorry about what? Y’all didn’t do anything wrong. It was them.”

      “It’s not like they knew or could even comprehend the relationship I have with Rico. You can’t really blame them. They thought they were just shootin’ a bird.”

      “Exactly. That’s the problem. We have a cooperative relationship with birds. Mostly crows but they’re real loyal to their own. If we start shootin’ them out of the sky, they will turn on us in a heartbeat.”

      “I didn’t realize.”

      “Your bird shit on my head and lived to squawk about it. That wasn’t a clue?”

      “Now see? I thought you let that go because you liked me so much.”

      He leaned in until his shoulder pressed against hers. “She shit on my head.”

      Laughing for the first time in a while, Jamie nodded. “I got it. I’m clear.”

      “All right then.”

      The vet walked out of the back, smiling at them. “Well, much to my surprise, it looks as if your bird is going to make it.”

      Jamie widened her eyes and opened her mouth a little to give the impression this information really shocked her. “Are you sure?”

      “I am!” the vet said. “Now, she is going to need a lot of care over the next few days.”

      “Of course.”

      “And I really should check, but do you have a falconers’ license?”

      Jamie didn’t even know there was such a thing. “Well,” she decided to go with at least a partial truth, “she showed up one day and didn’t really leave. I didn’t know I needed a license.”

      “Actually, one of you should have it. But I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. Just something to think about if you take her to another vet. They may ask a lot more questions.”

      “No problem.”

      “Okay.” The vet smiled. “We’ll have her ready for you in a bit and we’ll give you the medications you’ll need to care for her.”

      “That’s great! Thank you!” Once the doctor walked out of the waiting room, Jamie let that painful fake smile drop. “I can’t believe I have to pay all that money for crap that bird doesn’t even need.”

      “And why doesn’t she need it?”

      “Seneca. She’s our resident healer. As soon as that arrow hit Rico, she unleashed a spell to heal her. Which also explains why she went off on…what’s his name?”

      “Luther.”

      “Yeah. Luther. There are side effects when you use all that magick, that fast, with no prep. For her it’s rage.” Jamie shook her head. “I need a falconer’s license. Are they kidding?”

      Tully laughed but it died away as Jamie heard the tinkle sound of the bell at the front when the door opened and hit it. She looked up and watched the large, hulking man walk across the room toward them. He stopped in front of them and nodded at Tully before focusing on Jamie.

      “Miss Jamie,” he said, holding his hand out. “The name’s Buck Smith, and I wanted to apologize about what happened earlier today.”

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