Chapter 17

Travis got to his feet and wiped the crumbs off his pants. He shook his hands out to get them ready to channel more magick.

“Okay, well.” He flexed his fingers. “I should get back to work. Thank you both for a lovely lunch. Kids?” All three of them, faces now smeared with blackberry, glanced up at him with smiles. “Don’t use up all his nine lives.”

This got him several giggles and Niko more petting despite the tiny growl he replied to Travis with. Travis winked before making his way toward the crops he’d been working in earlier. He only made it a few yards before he had company in the form of a little cat that scurried between his feet as he walked.

“Nikolai,” Travis greeted with a nod toward him. “Does this mean we’re friends again?”

Niko meowed, loudly, first bounding ahead and then rubbing up against Travis’s ankles, nearly making him trip in the process.

“Is that a yes?” he asked. “Or are you just sucking up to me because you want to go and play?”