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With a determined nod, she s, plucked her favorite kitten from the abandoned litter, and carried the little ball of white and gray fluff back into her parlor Her parents had warned her froet attached to the aniht and sold, not kept and cosseted Love theo But she had been drawn froreen eyes and folded-over ears of the runty orphan
"Your name is Filbert," she said "And your job is to keepin her skirt and set to purring, and she ate her cheese, deteriven hiretted Despite what she’d said to Maisie, she was starting to take Reve’s warning to heart
Casper Sterling was definitely trouble
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Frannie’s drea purr of her first actual pet But when Filbert’s tiny claws dug into her neck, she woke up in a sweat Bolting upright, she knew so The wee cat was terrified, and it was easy enough to see why The curtains were on fire and belching s, and fear choked her when she realized how frantic the trapped animals must be She lurched out of bed and tossed the contents of her ewer at the flah She next yanked the curtains to the floor and tossed her thick blanket on top of the to stanch the flames But the blasted fire leaped to the carpet and licked at her stockinged feet, and she cast about for some other way to stanch the blaze before it ate up her entire life and legacy Although the outside of the building was stone and brick, there was plenty of wood inside Most of the things she valued were fla a blanket riddled with s holes
The kitten an to tear up from the smoke One sleeve over her nose, she threw open the closet door She put one hand on the back wall, considering, but she wasn’t enough of a coward to give up and take the easy way out No, she would have to fight The breath stopped in her chest when she realized there was nothing in the closet that didn’t have deep senti she chose would be a beloved memory lost forever Damn it all She yanked out herthat looked like a bear’s carcass, and threw it over the rug, grinding her foot over it Stubborn and quick, as if it had a mind of its own, the fire danced out fro frohtshirt’s pocket, and sla
"Casper? Wake up!" she yelled, banging a fist against his locked door, but all she heard within was a tired s as he rolled over
"There’s a fire, you dolt! Get up or die in your damned bed!"
Frannie heard his feet hit the floor, and that was enough She ran down the stairs, grateful that s up the narrow staircase But ould the fire have started in her room, of all places? It didn’t matter now If it spread, she would have to set the animals free They wouldn’t have much of a chance on the London streets, but maybe some of theh to find a ho their screa stors flapped, small birds fluttered, and the pups barked like mad She spun in the middle of her domain, her brain a snarl of sure out which creatures would have the best chance on the streets
With a deep breath, she flung open the front door of the shop and ran to the birdcages, opening the doors for the parakeets, canaries, and finches The tiny, stupid birds would fly fast and high, none of theh to look back A few of them flitted past, while most were too silly to find the door
"Idjits," she er birds
She opened the doors to the larger cages of the s It hurt her heart to watch thees as they were accustoent eyes, but she shooed the their natural instincts would kick in and keep the!" one called as it flapped into the night, and she stared at the parrot cages with growing anxiety The poor things were too brightly colored to blend in with their surroundings, and while the enerations froles in decades
She chose the biggest, meanest one first, but the oliveits beak, it muttered, "It looks like rain," and stepped back into the corner of its cage She left the door open and moved to the next one as she heard a thued to leap from the deep bin in which they slept and had landed badly She scooped it up and du the little fool hadn’t broken a leg The puppies wouldn’t last fivewith her in a grain sack Along with her kittens, of course, which would all fit in one basket No ot, even if it devoured the entire shop, she would save the pups and kittens