The Egg (Return of the Ancients Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

chenille mops attached to the fronts, so when the babies crawled around, they would actually polish your floor.
    I wandered into the kitchen and found Tigger right where I expected him to be, splayed out on the yellow tiles and snoring in front of the refrigerator. I crouched next to the old brindle bloodhound and fondly ruffled the fat rolls around his neck.
    He kept snoring.
    A loud humph of a sigh came from behind me. It sounded supremely annoyed, and I knew it could only belong to that muscle-bound brute of a Doberman, Ajax. I straightened and glanced over at the dog standing behind me. He was gorgeous, really, all black and shiny with long, wicked ears.
    “Hi, Ajax,” I greeted him in a neutral tone.
    He stared back at me with a blank expression.
    We weren’t enemies anymore. But we weren’t exactly best buds, either.
    Heaving a sigh of my own, I inspected my work-clothing and suddenly wanted to change. But I’d only taken a step towards my room before I hesitated. That Tulpa had appeared again at the coffee shop, and it clearly still had an appetite for me. Would it show up in my room? I shot a sideways glance at Ajax, wondering if I could convince him to escort me.
    I know he saw me and that he’d followed my thoughts. With a loud yawn of pure boredom, he abruptly sat down and stretched out his long legs, as if he were settling in for the night.
    “Come on, Ajax,” I grumbled, drawing my brows into a deep scowl. Why did the dog have to make everything so complicated? “Can’t you just be nice for once? You’re such a brat!”
    He actually grinned at that, his dog lips peeling back to reveal his shiny white teeth. I really don’t know why he took that as a compliment.
    There was a thump on the floor, and I glanced down to see that Tigger had awakened. Heaving himself laboriously to his feet, he gave his tail a vigorous wag as he stared at the refrigerator door.
    It gave me an idea. Could I bribe Ajax with a hot dog? It was worth a try. Removing a couple of hot dogs, I tossed one to Tigger—who inhaled it with one gulp—and then dangled the other in Ajax’s direction.
    “Want one, too?” I coaxed in a friendly voice. “It’s niiiiicce and juuuuicy.”
    He sent me an “Are you utterly insane?” -look and turned his nose away as if he were a lofty prince and I’d just offered him the most revolting peasant morsel he’d ever seen.
    I rolled my eyes and tossed his unwanted hot dog to Tigger. He cooperated by immediately downing the evidence. I think he knew as well as I did that Betty would be mad—well as mad as Betty ever got—if she caught me sneaking in a few extra treats. She was still trying to get him to lose weight.
    “Do you want something else?” I asked Ajax, turning back to peer into the refrigerator.
    Picking up a slice of cheese, I held it out for his approval.
    Slowly, he turned his head the other way, somehow managing to look even more insulted.
    I tried a boiled egg.
    Same response.
    Frowning, I resorted to holding out for his inspection each and every food item in the fridge. He deemed to look at a few. Some lean turkey lunchmeat actually got a sniff before he adopted his utterly disgusted expression and turned away yet again.
    “What kind of dog are you?” I asked, outraged, shoving the containers back onto the shelf. “Are you reading the fat content to see how it would affect your lean, trim figure?”
    His dark, almond-shaped eyes narrowed, and he lifted a lip, showing me a tooth of displeasure.
    “Oh, I’m not scared of you anymore,” I snapped, glaring at him.
    He returned my annoyed look with one of his own. Scowling, I slammed the refrigerator door shut, causing a heaping box of used tennis balls on top to shift. One of the balls rolled off the fridge and bounced with a thud.
    Ajax leapt to his feet and pounced. His actions were more like a kitten’s than a dog’s—a big, mean, nasty-tempered kitten.
    I reached for the ball, but Ajax, of course, beat me to