Under A Voodoo Moon (Darkin World Book 4)

Chapter Seven

The muscles in Gideon's jaw clenched when the human male mentioned Trystan's name. Remi's ex-boyfriend was pulling out all the stops to try and win her back. He hoped she wouldn't fall for such blatant, tasteless tactics.

It was little relief when Gideon saw Remi close the door. The look on her face was anything but joyful when she turned and walked toward him. As he stepped to the side of the window, out of view, hope that she wasn't falling for Trystan's antics rose within him.

Poking his nose around the window's edge, Greedy Gideon wanted to view Remi's expression as she read the text he heard come across her phone. On the heels of the "song-o-gram," it wasn't hard to guess from whom it came. Crouching as her gaze flicked in his direction, he wondered if he'd been seen.

Breath held, Gideon waited to find out if he'd been discovered. Soft movements heading toward his hiding place extinguished all hope he hadn't. On hands and knees, he crawled low beneath the window.

"Damballah!" Remi cried, stopping Gideon in his tracks. "You nearly gave me a heart attack," she continued in a breathless tone.

Panic rising, Gideon eyed the folding staircase. It was still too far away to rush toward. The little seer would find him lurking outside her window.

Remi's footsteps came closer. They stopped at the window. Before he could overthink the move, Gideon called the other soul within forth. In the blink of an eye, he became a wolf.

"Mais!" Remi gasped, her voice muffled by the pane of glass between them. Then she wondered aloud, "You? How did ya get all the way up here?" How did he find me? an inner voice asked. It'd been months since last she'd seen him.

Shaking her head at the black-faced silver wolf, Remi set Damballah down. Reaching for the window, she paused. What was she thinking? Here she was, seriously contemplating letting a wild animal into her small apartment.

Gaze leaving her outstretched hand, Remi looked at the animal on her fire escape. It was freezing out, and the wolf was shivering. Her heart stuttered at the pathetic sight. But, an inner voice argued, he isn't some tame pet. It would be pure madness to let a humungous, non-housetrained wild beast into her tiny home.

Just then, Remi's memaw's words flitted across her mind. "Maîtresse Ayizan says to trust the black-faced wolf." One hand came up to grasp the gris-gris. Sucking in a deep breath, she let go of the small, leather satchel as she decided to trust in her great-grandmother's loa.

Another shiver followed with a low whine met Remi's ears through the pane of glass. Heart melting at the pathetic sight and sound, she unlatched the window. With a gentle push, it opened to the elements.

Just then, another text chimed. Taking advantage of Remi's distraction, Damballah streaked past and out the window. Before she could even shout his name, the wolf's mouth closed around the black cat's scruff.

"No," Remi forcefully whispered. She was likely seconds away from watching the wolf devour her beloved pet. "Don't you dare eat my cat," she warned, torn between trying to wrestle her kitten from the jaws of death or smacking the wolf on its massive head. The last thing she wanted to do was startle the wild beast and have him "accidentally" gulp down her kitty.

That massive black-and-silver head, dripping with a stunned Damballah, filled her window. The side of the wolf's snout nudged Remi aside. Then, he leaped through. Her insane cat remained calm, docile the whole time. When he was dropped onto her parquet floors, Damballah even started to purr and rub against the wolf's legs.

"Oh," Remi uttered as she turned to shut the window. Maybe the wolf had never intended to snack on her cat.

Eyeing the wild beast in her living room, Remi went toward her phone. The cat with a screw loose kept on purring and rubbing against the wolf that was easily ten times Damballah's size. Picking up her cell, her gaze flicked from the mismatched pair to the text. It was from Trystan.