Happy Day After St. Paddy’s Day. Sticking with the Irish theme, I introduced a new character…well, sort of. I’ll explain later. In the meantime, I was awarded an honorable mention in last week’s Thursday Threads flash fiction challenge. The “Let me take care of [it/you/them/that].”prompt is sort of fun this week becuase it’s multiple choice. Here’s the prompt: *“Let me take care of [it/you/them/that].”* I chose the “it” entry. Also, today’s snippet has more than the alloted 250 words in the challenge. I cut some for the contest, put them back for this. Once again, I’m not quite sure where in the timeline this scene falls though it is a bit after Aisline and Ariel have met and spent some time together.

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The orange cat lay still, a touch of blood staining its muzzle. Aisling stood over it, eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t mean to scare it.” Her voice quavered over the words. “Then that car… It just…out of nowhere…”

Ariel touched her shoulder. “Come away, love.”

“No, I can’t just…leave—” A sob swallowed the rest of her words.

“Let me take care of it.”

“You didn’t even like it!” There was heat in her voice now.

How did he explain about the cat? Carla edged up beside them. Did the witch know? He couldn’t decide. She put her arm around Aisling’s waist and eased her back from the street.

“Come with me, Aisling. He’s right. Let him take care of it.” She gave him a telling look behind Aisling’s back. She knew.

“But…”

Ariel whipped out a silken handkerchief, sank to one knee and covered the cat with the soft material. “I’ll be gentle, Aisling. I promise.”

Carla, speaking in hushed tones, ushered Aisling back to the big house. Ariel watched the place warily. He didn’t believe in sentient dwellings but this place might convince him that he was wrong. Once the two women disappeared inside, he sat back on his heels.

“And just what are you up to, you big faker?”

One green eye peeked out from underneath the handkerchief. “You couldn’t let her weep over my broken body?” The cat sat up.

“Why are you spying on her?”

“I’m a pooka. I don’t need a reason.” The fae twitched its tail, uncomfortable beneath the Seelie fae’s gaze. “Fine. She’s special. We need to keep her safe.”

“From who?”

“Everyone.”

Ariel agreed. “We will.”
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Okay, now I can reveal the new character, who isn’t totally new–just in a new form. I didn’t want to spill the little surprise as to who…or what…the character is. And that’s also where the Irish comes in–pookas are Irish critters. Those of you familiar with the series might remember the pooka who appeared in Caleb’s book, THE DEVIL’S CUT. This is the same critter, though in a different form. See, I used Loki as a “model” for the cat Sade bumps into in GHOSTS AND THE ANCIENT STONES. I’d planned on using Pete as a model in another book. Then he unexpectedly crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Still grieving–and yes, I still miss him terribly–I put the idea in a mental drawer. I doodled around with different ideas for last week’s snippet and then, I just knew where Pete belonged. Anyway, he’ll pop up again in this book. Maybe this was the missing piece I needed to get the story put together. We’ll see.

Anyway, If you are interested, I’ve linked the two books mentioned. Just click on the titles. In the meantime, I’m hoping for more new words this.