6Rime came back from letting their other cat guests depart. She took a seat across from Alfred and lifted her glass of ice water to her mouth to sip.
“Okay,” she said to Alfred. “You talk to the cats and I’ll watch to make sure nothing bad happens to you.”
Alfred stared down at the three cats who’d chosen to remain with him. At least Coach Rime hadn’t insisted he deal with all ten. She also hadn’t seemed to realize that three of those they’d sent on their way were actually teenage warlocks trying to get out of doing their homework. He dispatched those guys with warnings about telling their parents if they didn’t keep the information about his mysterious houseguest to themselves.
Now he faced the remaining cats and sighed. “Thank you for coming,” he said politely. He listened to their eq
