Fangs and Fur- Beta Read Along
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2025 by LA Magill. All distribution rights reserved for the exclusive use of Wicked Women LLC.
Morning sunlight streamed through the kitchen windows as Dili prepared to break her fast, but she took no comfort from its warmth. Toad still hadn’t come home. He wouldn’t speak into her mind, either. She frowned, concern beginning to gnaw at her despite her rational mind insisting he’d return soon.
“You better not have gotten into Mrs. Finch’s chickens again,” Dili muttered.
The woman had guns, and was known to shoot first and apologize later when it came to her prize-winning chickens. Not even the foxes tried her coop.
Toad, on the other hand, did. Or rather, Dili was pretty sure he did. Both stubborn and proud, the familiar thought himself terribly clever and found the challenge far too tempting. He never admitted it to Dili, but one time she’d surprised him half-way down the road, smugly trotting his way home, still boasting a few suspicious feathers clinging to his whiskers.
Dili left her bedroom window cracked before she had to leave for work, along with a heaping pile of salmon snacks in Toad’s bowl in the kitchen. She raced down the hill to the clinic, but composed herself rather than bursting through the door.
The witch walked in wearing a calm and cool expression, and she instantly noticed the smell of coffee in the air. Vanessa turned toward her quickly.
“You’re just in time. Fresh pot,” she said.
“I’m not in the mood this morning, thanks,” Dili said. “How are you?”
Vanessa paused. “Better than expected?”
Despite the words, she didn’t sound sure. Any other day, Dili would have pushed her friend a bit more. Instead, she just nodded, then asked:
“I haven’t seen Toad since yesterday morning. By chance, did he stay the night with you?”
“N-no. Toad didn’t come home last night? Even with all that rain?” Vanessa asked.
Dili shook her head.
Vanessa put her hand on the witch’s shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “We have the Perez family first thing, but then Mrs. Jackson and the Lamsams have basic follow-ups back to back before lunch. I can cover those. Take a couple hours so you can look around.”
“You’re sure?” Dili asked.
“Definitely,” Vanessa said. “Especially if you have more synthetic blood this morning?”
Dili gave her as much of the potion as there was cold storage available. The Perez family consisted of five children all under the age of eight, which kept Dili quite occupied for an hour and a half, but the moment they left, her mind fixated on Toad’s possible whereabouts.
The witch walked around town visiting some of her familiar’s favorite haunts, though no one had seen him. Not even Mrs. Finch.
By the end of day, Dili was telling herself to give it a few more days before believing the worst.
By the end of supper, she was nursing her third glass of wine and a bowl of hibiscus ice cream.
The wine glass slipped from Dili’s fingers when she heard yowling out back. It didn’t shatter, but burgundy liquid splashed across the floor like blood. She froze, forgotten ice cream dripping off her spoon onto the coffee table.
“Toad!”
Her heart leapt into her throat as she rushed toward the back door. The familiar never announced himself like that. He slipped in through the window she’d left open, or sometimes the chimney, when he felt dramatic. He never, ever yowled like a common house cat.
“Toad?” Dili called, fumbling with the lock. “Is that you?”
Another plaintive yowl answered her, and though strange behavior for her familiar, relief washed over the witch, quickly followed by irritation.
“You better have a good explanation for disappearing,” she said as she yanked the back door open.
Toad stood in the middle of the garden, facing away from her, tail held high. Odd, but Dili didn’t think too much of it as she rushed over to scoop him up in her arms.
The familiar darted away from her outstretched hands and scampered off into the shadows. Dili gaped after him in consternation.
“Toad! It’s been two days! Is something wrong?”
Dili tried to reach for him again, but the black cat ducked away from her hands and out of her reach. The witch, dismayed and increasingly frustrated, stood up and placed her hands on her hips.
“Seriously?”
Toad leapt up onto the back garden wall without so much as glancing back at his witch. His tail swished back and forth, clearly annoyed, but Dili could not fathom why.
“So you’re just not going to say anything?” Dili asked.
Toad flicked one ear back at her, but that was all the acknowledgement she received. The witch glared at his back, sensing she wasn’t going to get any answers out of him.
“Fine! Suit yourself!”
The witch stomped back inside, thoroughly annoyed, but also relieved. She had no idea what she’d done to deserve such cold treatment from her familiar, but she certainly was glad he’d come home seemingly unscathed.
Dili left the back door open and returned to the kitchen. She gobbled up the last of her melting ice cream with pent-up agitation. She scrubbed the floor where she’d spilled her wine with vigor. She packed away the restorative potion she’d whipped together before drowning her sorrows; the vials clinked loudly as she thrust them on their shelves without care.
Toad still hadn’t come inside by the time she finished her chores, so she went again to the open back door. She peered past the glow of the lantern to see her familiar still sat on the back garden wall, swishing his tail back and forth. Just as she’d left him.
Underneath her exasperation, she really was glad he’d come home, even if he was acting so rudely. She let out a long sigh and leaned against the door frame.
“I don’t know what it is I’ve done that’s upset you, but whatever it is… I’m sorry. Please come inside when you’re ready to talk.”
Just as she turned her back to head up to bed, she felt Toad butt his head against her legs. She didn’t think twice about how quickly he’d made it across the garden, just glad that he’d listened. She stared down at the black cat, who was wrapping his tail around her legs.
“That’s all I get?” she muttered. “I don’t suppose you’ll at least tell me where you’ve been?”
Toad remained silent and pressed against her calf with all his weight.
Dili sighed again. “Fine, keep your secrets. Just… please don’t disappear again?”
A cool breath across the back of her neck startled Dili, sending a shiver down her spine. Suddenly, a deep voice she’d never heard before whispered into her ear.
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere.”
Next chapter coming Friday, August 15.