D ays passed uneventfully for most of the people
in Vancouver. Oh there was always some kind
of drama happening on Davie and Denman Streets,
but that in itself was uneventful. Liam had immersed
himself in his studies at UBC, or that's the impression
he gave. He still found time to drop in and visit Shay
daily, if only for a minute or two. Because of Shay's
penchant for breaking through all the various and
sundry binding spells Liam, Aiden and his
grandmothers continued to come up with. Liam found
a few minutes of grounding the boy was essential for
his peace of mind and Shay's safety.
It was the time of year when sunshine and great
weather had the real estate market in a tizzy, so Aiden
was also kept busy maintaining his status as top
mortgage broker in the city. Which meant working
long hours every day of the week. It left Liam time to
interact with Aiden's friends that seemed like most
humans, gay or straight, to have interesting day-to-day
lives. Interesting that is to a Wahjee.
302 Magical Moonlight
Even had begun a relationship with an older man,
one who was rumored to be wealthy. Bob was busy
with his new business venture, and Daniel, well
Daniel continued to work for London Drugs, his status
elevated among the women now that it was known he
was gay. The men on the other hand stayed well away
from him.
In an attempt to complete a school project, Liam
was trying to reason with Ty and Killer. Aiden was at
work and Liam needed two more things for his class.
He was attempting to do a portrait of the animals but
they were not cooperating. "Ty I'm telling you for the
last time, sit still. You tell Killer that if he doesn't
behave I'm freezing him solid and I can do it."
"He's embarrassed." Ty grumbled. "You shaved
his fur off and made him look stupid." Ty had given
up the pretense that Liam didn't know what he was
saying.
"I wanted him to look like a classic standard
poodle."
Liam had to admit the dog did look rather
ridiculous, but the painting was a take off on one done
that he'd seen years ago in a museum. "Killer you
look okay, see here's a picture of another poodle. See
he's got the same hair cut." Liam tried to show Killer
a picture in a book about dogs.
But Killer refused to look. He was humiliated and
he just knew that his human was going to laugh at
him. He wasn't going to go outside ever again. Or at
least until his fur grew back. Ty had assured him his
fur would grow, but he didn't know that for sure.
ER Bryant 303
"It'll grow back Killer." Liam cajoled. "I really
need you to sit up properly."
An audible pop and Frances was in the studio
with Liam and the animals. "Shit Liam, you
humiliated him. He's never going to live this down.
What are all his doggy friends going to say?" Frances
snickered.
"Who invited you?" Liam asked. He looked at the
dog. "Killer doesn't have any doggy friends. He lives
in an apartment for fuck sake, where's he going to
meet someone."
"Maybe that's the problem. You need to
introduce him to a nice girl doggy." Frances looked
around. "How did you get Aiden to let you build a
studio in his precious apartment?"
"I didn't, this is a compacting spell enlarged.
When Aiden comes home it goes in my messenger
bag. Just a basic spell, nothing fancy." He shrugged.
"Aiden doesn't know."
"Yeah, right he doesn't know." Frances couldn't
find anywhere to sit so he sat on the floor. Killer
immediately came up to him and buried his head in
the crook of Frances' arm. "He's hiding." Frances
laughed.
"Dogs are stupid. If they can't see, they think they
can't be seen." Ty stretched and jumped up onto a
nearby bookcase. The magic of the studio meant
nothing to him. "But even I, as a Wah cat, have to
admit he looks uglier than usual."
"I'm not interested in your comments." Liam was
at the end of his rope. "I can't believe what a drama
304 Magical Moonlight
dog he is. And Ty isn't helping matters any. He keeps
telling Killer how bad he looks."
"I think you should just put his fur back." Frances
offered. "Paint the picture in your own style, furry
poodle and everything." He looked at Killer's tail,
complete with pom pom end that flicked once and
then tucked itself under the trembling dog's belly.
"I can't put his fur back. I didn't magic it off. I
actually took him to a dog groomer." Liam ducked his
head to avoid Frances' look of incredulity.
"Does Aiden know about this?" Frances asked.
"My man knows nothing." Ty snickered. He
rolled on his back and stretched the length of top
shelf, knocking something off and onto the floor that
bounced and rolled coming to a stop by Liam's foot.
Liam bent down and picked it up. "What is this?"
he asked.
"It is the amulet of Wah." Ty said jumping down
"It's been lost for centuries."
"Apparently it wasn't lost, just misplaced and I
doubt very much Aiden has lived here for centuries."
Liam turned the black jade amulet over in his hands.
The carving was amazing. He couldn't imagine how
the artist had managed to carve a single piece of jade
into something that was as filled with mystery as what
he held in his hand. It was a perfect sphere and inside
that sphere was another and another and another.
From what Liam could tell, each one had the same
engraving on it. He needed a magnifying glass, but the
last tiny sphere looked to have a tiny piece of
something that pulsed with light.
ER Bryant 305
"Can I see it?" Frances asked.
Liam thought for a moment. It had obviously
been hidden and hidden for a reason. He had no idea
why, but he did know that he couldn't let it touch
anyone other than himself, Aiden or Shay. Why he
knew this he wasn't sure. "I don't think so Frances.
It's kind of personal." His voice was a whisper. "If
you are my watcher, you'd know this."
Frances was still. Killer backed up until he was a
foot away from the man. Ty jumped down and stood
beside the dog. Their eyes never left the man sitting
on the floor. A rumbled growl began deep in the back
of Killer's throat belaying the foofy nature of his
haircut. Ty stood on the end of his toes, his back
arched, his fur fully extended on all parts of his body.
Frances looked at the two animals and then at Liam.
"I've been looking for the amulet for a long time
Liam. Give it to me." His voice held a challenge in it,
bravado that he didn't feel under the circumstances.
"Why Frances, I thought you were my friend, my
cousin, my watcher." Liam shook his head. "I've
allowed you access to this loft."
Frances tried to move but Killer's sudden urge to
smile with all his teeth showing, combined with his
growl, kept the man still. He might have had a stupid
haircut, but he was still a formable sized dog and he
wasn't happy. "Nothing personal Liam, but that
amulet has a lot of power attached to it. The one who
holds it can rule the world if they want to. My friends
figured it would show up sooner or later, what with
the stories that have been told about you."
306 Magical Moonlight
"It's just an amulet. A nice carving of black jade."
But Liam knew his words were empty. He could feel
the power pulsing through his body from the carved
black sphere. "What friends, what stories?" he asked
more as a distraction than to know the answer.
"If that's all it is, you can give it to me." Frances
held out his hand only to have Ty rake his claws over
the palm. Frances looked at the streaks of blood.
"Fucking Wah cat." He mumbled. He reached out
again, only this time with the mumbling of a spell on
his breath, but before he could complete the sound,
Killer launched himself at Frances, the man's throat in
his mouth cutting off any words. His growls could
turn anyone's blood to ice. The dog weighed almost
seventy pounds. He wasn't a dog to fool around with.
"Hey, the dog is fast." Ty looked at his large
friend with admiration. "Now rip out the prey's
throat." He commanded.
'I don't think so." Liam said quickly, glaring at
the cat. "No throat ripping in the loft."
"Take him up to the roof and then rip out his
throat. We can drag him by his throat." Ty grinned
with glee at the thought. "Let him run for a few feet
and then jump on him."
"No playing with the bad guy either." Liam said.
He folded up his studio and tucked it into his bag,
leaving them all in the center of the loft. Aiden was
due home at any moment. He also put a sealing spell
on Frances' mouth. He didn't need any surprises.
ER Bryant 307
Taking out his cell phone, Liam dialed. "Hey
Mom, what's new?" he asked when his mother
answered the phone.
"Liam, I was thinking about you." Morgan smiled
as she talked. "I was wondering when you and Aiden
could come to dinner."
"Yeah, well I'm kind of busy right now." He
looked at the amulet in his hand. "What do you know
about a black jade amulet?"
"Amulet?" Morgan said, her voice suddenly
shaky.
"Yeah." Liam sighed. "And no lies, I can tell you
know something."
"Just that it's been lost for centuries, or kept well
hidden." She sighed. "It belonged to the first king of
Wahjee, that's when we had kings. You know royalty
has been gone from Wahjee society for a long time.
The amulet was handed down, father to son, but there
were rumors that the black forces of evil had seeped
into the Royal family. Because the amulet contained
considerable power, it was stolen by someone close to
the family, perhaps even a family member, who had a
pure soul and couldn't bear to have the heirloom
descend into darkness." She paused. "Why do you
ask?"
"No reason, the subject just came up." Liam
didn't like to lie to his mother, but something told him
to say nothing about the thing in his hand. "Uh, mom,
about Frances. Are you sure he's my cousin?"
"Of course I'm sure. He's my sister Leanne's
son."
308 Magical Moonlight
"Well, I think he went kind of strange. He's here
right now, but he's kind of psycho. I'm going to have
to do something drastic."
"Liam, you know that the High Council won't
allow you to do anything to him. He's family after all,
and he has been assigned as your watcher from the
beginning. It's against Wahjee code to harm one's
watcher."
"Apparently it's okay for the watcher to try and
fry my ass though." Liam's voice was bitter. "Sorry
mom, but I have enough to worry about with the
Chambers group without worrying about my damn
family. Frances' ass is grass as far as I'm concerned."
"Liam, don't you dare do anything that will put
you in front of the High Council. You know Cecil is
just waiting for a chance to take you down."
"Yeah, well Cecil can bite me." Liam glared at
Frances who was trying to wiggle out from under
Killer. Killer hadn't bitten down on the throat he had
in his jaw, but he didn't release it either, saliva
dripped to the floor. Ty kept hitting Frances with his
paw, one lethal looking claw extended. He liked the
way the man jumped.
He said his goodbyes to his mother and closed the
phone. "I can't have you cluttering up the place. Killer
would like to actually kill you. Ty is all for it and
frankly, I'm leaning that way myself. But I suspect I'd
lose my white light status if I did." Paced up and down
a few times listening to both Killer and Frances whine.
"Okay, I've made my decision. Frances, I need to
place you where I can keep an eye on you. But I'm not
ER Bryant 309
allowed to remove you from this realm. Soooo, I've
decided that I need a cousin in a cage." He conjured
up an elaborate looking Victorian birdcage. "It's not
too comfy, but the other alternative is that box over
there and I might forget to feed you if I put you in
there. This way I can make sure you're up high
enough that Killer can't get you but accessible enough
for Ty to keep you under control." He zapped Frances
into the cage. "Oh, and don't bother trying anything.
The cage has a force field around it. No magic can
come out, but trust me, I can put lots in."
Killer looked around for the prey that had been in
his mouth. He whined and began to look everywhere,
under the sofa, the table, and chairs. "Stupid dog." Ty
grumbled. He reached into the cage to bat Frances, but
the man ran to the other side. Ty ran around and
reached in again. "Hey, this is going to be fun."
"Sorry cat," Liam laughed. "Though I should let
you play with him for a few minutes." Liam stood on
one of the kitchen stools and hung the cage from an
overhead beam. He'd no sooner finished than Aiden
walked into the loft.
"Honey I'm home." He said, tossing his brief case
onto the sofa.
"I can see that." Liam said kissing Aiden
thoroughly.
"What's wrong with the dog, his fur fell out."
Aiden looked carefully at Killer. "For fuck sake Liam,
isn't it bad enough he's a poodle. I mean we could
pretend he was something else, a mutt or something,
310 Magical Moonlight
but not when his hair is cut like some freak clown
dog."
"It'll grow back." Liam began.
"What's he doing?" Aiden asked. "He's looking
for something, maybe he's looking for the asshole
who shaved his fur off."
Ty had jumped onto Aiden's shoulder, leaning
into his master, rubbing his chin on Aiden's neck.
"Merow" he said and then snickered.
"Did the cat snicker?" Aiden pulled him off his
shoulder. "Am I in some kind of bizarro world?
Maybe I should go out and come back in." It was then
the birdcage caught his eyes. "Fuck no Liam, I don't
want another pet. And I detest caged birds." He
walked over to the cage. "Oh, it's Frances. Frances?"
"Uh about that." Liam said. "Let's fuck." Usually
Aiden could be distracted.
"That would be a NO." Aiden looked from the
caged Frances to Liam and back again. "I went to
work and actually had a decent day. I come home and
what do I find?"
"There's an explanation." Liam began, running
his hand over Aiden's chest. He'd unbuttoned his
shirt.
"I'm sure there is." Aiden drawled as he removed
Liam's hand. "You can start with mini Frances. And
make that damn dog stop snooping around, he's
driving me crazy."
"He's kind of looking for Frances. He had been
planning on doing him some damage."
ER Bryant 311
"NO TY, DON'T." Liam hollered. Ty had
jumped from the kitchen island to the cage and was
now clinging to the wildly swinging cage. Frances
was screaming for help and hanging on to the opposite
side.
Aiden lifted the cat off the cage. "Ty, don't play
with the bird." He turned to Liam. "You're right, we
need to fuck first and talk later. Because if we talk
first, I might want to put you in with Frances. This
way I get to have some pleasure out of the evening."
He grabbed Liam and threw him over his shoulder,
planning to carry him to the bedroom.
Ty watched from his perch back on the kitchen
counter. He had all night; he'd just watch his prey for
a while.
Killer continued to look for his prey, finally going
to the roof, maybe the prey had slipped out the dog
door.
Aiden threw Liam on the bed. Liam grinned, he
had time enough to think of something good, Aiden
was in for the ride of his life.
"Young one, do not interfere with Prince Liam."
Ty jumped, his fur instantly bottle brushed.
Liam's turquoise toy had once again become the High
King of the Wah cats.
"Sir, I wasn't expecting you." Ty bowed. He was
beginning to lose his fear of the High King.
"I am here when the Prince is here." The regal cat
stood up and stretched, his arched back almost
reaching the ceiling from his perch on the rafters. He
walked over to the hanging birdcage and looked
312 Magical Moonlight
down. "Frances is a disgrace to his family." The
words were muttered and sounded more like a series
of chirps.
"Liam and my master are in the small room
breeding. They do that a lot." Ty shrugged as well as a
cat could. "I think it's kind of strange, but whenever
my master is upset with Liam, they breed."
"Are you cat's talking?" Frances asked as he
looked from the orange tabby to the strange turquoise
and white stuffed cat. He couldn't puzzle out why
Mac Ruaidhri would keep a toy on the rafters.
The Regis reached down and flicked the chain
holding the birdcage, sending it rocking. "That will
keep him busy." He snickered as he and Ty watched
the tiny man figure roll from side to side.
Ty grinned in appreciation. "The tiny Wahjee
wanted Liam's amulet. He was too stupid to see that
the amulet belonged to the Prince." His head cocked.
"But I thought it was in the Mac Ruaidhri clan, this
black toy."
"And is not the Prince part of King Mac Ruaidhri
in every way?"
Ty figured the question was rhetorical and didn't
answer.
