Suddenly Sorceress by Erica Lucke Dean Read Free Book Online Page A

him.
    “Karma, do not bite that rat!” I scolded then turned my attention to the gray rodent. “As for you, Matt, you’ve brought this on yourself. I don’t know how you managed to flood the bathroom—” I froze when I heard the doorbell, my finger mid-wag. Frantic knocking followed the peal. “Oh, this is perfect. Just wonderful!” I muttered. “You see what you’ve both done? Mrs. Camp has probably sent animal control. I wouldn’t be surprised if they scooped you both up!”
    I shook a finger at the two of them, my fiancé and my pet, locked in the age-old dance between cat and mouse, and I felt my hold on reality slipping ever so slightly. Another bang on the door startled me. Karma grabbed Matt in his teeth and scooted under the kitchen table, where he must have bit down harder because the rat squealed again.
    “Karma, no!” I bellowed. “Let. Him. Go!” I crawled under the table, wincing as my bare skin brushed the cold tile, and grasped the cat by the scruff of his neck. I wrestled the rat out of his teeth with as much care as I could muster. As soon as I freed Matt, Karma fled the room. “I’ll deal with you later,” I yelled at his retreating tail. I turned back to the twitching rodent. His heart fluttered madly, and his cool nose pressed against my palm. “If you don’t behave yourself, I might not turn you back.” I tried to sound confident, as if I had everything under control. Of course, I didn’t know how to turn him back. I wondered if he knew that. Could the animal in him smell the truth?
    The pounding continued at the front door, alternating with the relentless bell ringing as if someone had leaned directly on the button. I still wore nothing more than a worried expression, so I couldn’t answer it. But more than bothersome, it was worrisome. Someone seemed intent on getting inside.
    “Who the hell could that be?” I muttered. Matt squirmed, trying to work himself free. “What am I going to do with you?”
    That’s when he bit me. His tiny, razor-sharp front teeth sank into my left hand, between my thumb and wrist, hard enough to draw blood. In the same instant the bead of blood bubbled up, so did a bead of anger, just as red and viscous. With a gasp, I dropped him. As I watched him fall in slow motion, the blue heat flowed through me again.
    Call it a crime of passion; I never saw it coming. I lashed out—or maybe I lashed in, because not a single word passed my lips. Okay, maybe I let loose a few choice words, but I didn’t count those. Inside my head, I screamed curses at him. That’s all it took. Stunned and nursing my wound, my thoughts were muddled.
    It took several seconds for Matt to hit the floor, twisting as he fell. By the time he landed, he wasn’t a rat anymore. He’d morphed into a ginormous, mostly black, diamond-patterned snake with a long gray streak down his side. A python? I couldn’t have flown out of the kitchen faster, or screamed louder, if my hair had caught on fire. After screeching to a halt in the front hallway, I grabbed a tan overcoat from the closet and pulled it around me as I opened the door.
    “What have you done with him?” the petite blonde barked as she looked past me. “Where is he?”
    “Candy? What are you doing here?” Using my injured hand, I gripped the raincoat tighter, peering around her to see if she was alone.
    “I’m looking for Matt. What have you done with him? I heard screaming.”
    “Screaming? I… I didn’t hear screaming.” I shrank into the depths of the coat.
    “I know he’s here, Ivie. His car’s here. We have tickets for Las Vegas this afternoon, and I haven’t heard from him since last night. He was supposed to come get his things then head back to my apartment. You can’t keep me from my fiancé.” She shoved her nose into the air, giant crocodile tears spilling over her kohl-rimmed eyes and creating streaks of black down her face.
    “Oh, you mean my snake of a fiancé? I’m sure he’s managed to