Queen of Wands-eARC Read Online Free PDF Page B

allowed…”
    “I have a doctor’s excuse,” Barb said, pulling out a sheet of paper. “Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, you have to allow companion animals. My cat is registered as a psychological companion animal. I’m aware that that makes me crazy, but I’m covered under Federal law.”
    The response was automatic and rote. Living with a familiar was a pain, but Barb blessed the otherwise incredibly stupid court orders that had expanded the ADA far beyond its original intent. Designed to force companies to make their places wheelchair accessible, the Ninth Circuit, using its usual logic, had decreed that “companion animals” including yappy dogs that were “psychologically necessary” to crazy ladies, were covered by the statute.
    Barb was willing to be considered crazy if it meant she didn’t have to put up with the headaches she got when Lazarus was more than a few dozen meters from her.
    “Yes, ma’am,” the manager said through gritted teeth.
    “I promise he won’t go peeing on the furniture,” Barb said. “Laz. Stay. See?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” the manager repeated, walking away.
    “Familiars,” Sharice said. “Can’t live with them…”
    “We’ve been spotted,” Barb said, craning her neck around. She wasn’t staring at any of the small demons, but she definitely felt eyes on her. Of course, it might have been some of the patrons. Despite her age, she could easily have been one of the waitresses.
    “I feel it, too,” Sharice said. “Not sure…”
    “Now what is that?” Barb asked, blinking. Now she was staring, even though there wasn’t a demon on the girl’s shoulder.
    The waitress was bending over, talking to a customer. Pretty. Very pretty. She looked much like Barb had when she was in her early twenties. Long legs, blond hair, tight derriere and solid double-D chest. On closer examination, though, Barb was fairly sure that was in part fake. But the sense of being watched, even though the girl wasn’t looking at them, was coming from her.
    “Aura,” Sharice said, quietly. “Read her aura.”
    The girl’s aura wasn’t black but it was darned close. It was a red so deep as to be almost indistinguishable.
    “So…I repeat. What is that ?”
    “ That is a drakni Mother, a drakia,” Sharice said. “That girl is the reason that there are all these drakni here. They’re all vanity demons, by the way. Well, almost all. Now, look around. Do you see some of the girls who should have drakni but don’t seem to?”
    “Yes,” Barb said. “And their auras are dark, too. Not as dark…”
    “Their drakni have settled all the way in,” Sharice said, then paused as their waitress approached the table. “There are a few who don’t have them. Call them girls who don’t have that particular hook. Stronger-willed, not self-critical and vain at the same time. But they’re rare in a place like this.”
    “Welcome to Rubs,” the girl said perkily. “Our Happy Hour specials are…”
    “I’d like a Coca-Cola and a plate of hot wings,” Sharice said when the girl was finished with the recitation.
    Barb had been trying and failing to not notice the drakni on the girl’s shoulder. It was tiny, no bigger than a small rabbit, and seemed barely attached. But she found herself studying it, and then it noticed. It hissed at her, and she had the hardest time in the world not hissing back. Lazarus had no such reservations, letting out a soft warning yowl from the cat-bag.
    “Uhm, ma’am, your cat…” the girl said.
    “It’s okay,” Barb said, mentally sighing. She focused on the demon and then Displayed, releasing the mental hold on her own aura and showing just a portion of her true power.
    The drakni nearly hopped out of its skin and cowered down, blinking its huge eyes in a way that was vaguely appealing, like a puppy that had been shouted at.
    “Down, Laz,” Barb added as the cat released a meow that sounded vaguely like a snicker. “I’ll take the grouper