When the going gets rough,
the tough send in their cat…

Brigid Donovan is going through a nasty divorce. The idea to buy and restore her family’s old mansion won’t leave her alone. A visit to the property shows more damage than she’d been braced for, yet despite all the cracks and decay … the house calls to her.

On a crazy whim, she signs on the dotted line, following her destiny down a path which will change her broken life forever.
Only, the broken-down mansion comes with a 25-pound Ragdoll cat—a cat she’s sure she’s met before as a kid, but that’s impossible, isn’t it?

Brigid is going to find that there’s more to the cat, and herself, then meets the eye. Which is good because when a magical foe with a grudge comes calling, Brigid is going to need all the help she can get…

Bridgid Coleman is going to buy her childhood home. It’s been on the market for a while and on first look has really been neglected. One thing she knew for sure is the structure itself is sound and she was going to restore it to its former glory.

She let the realtor drone on and on while she drifted to thoughts of growing up here. She even opens a door to the attic that the realtor didn’t have on her list of features. She doesn’t hesitate and they return to the realtor office to sign the papers.

Returning to her hotel she’s settling in for the night when she gets a mysterious pizza delivery. Figuring it was the realtor since her best friend Megan is the only one who knows she’s here denies sending it, she enjoys it and forgets about it.

There’s much to do before she can even move in, so the first thing she does is start calling contractors. She’d need someone to start soon. Craig Whelan arranges for his son Luke to come out to take a look. He’s just the first of many who will have to evaluate the structure. As she is about to open the door a cat brushes up against her leg, he looks just like her childhood cat, but that would be impossible, must be a descendant.

As she walks through going over her plans in her head, the cat accompanies her, he even lets her know when Luke arrives before he even knocks.

Her next visitor is most disturbing, and definitely not invited.

I was stunned into silence. What was she doing here? My mouth was open, so I closed it with a click of my teeth. 

She was humming, and a shiver followed by goosebumps washed over me.

“What do you want?” I asked, coldly, hand still on the door. Only burning curiosity kept me from slamming it in her homely face.

She smiled. Her bright red lipstick emphasized her sneer. I’d never found her attractive, but something about her had men panting, including my soon-to-be-ex-husband. She had a heart-shaped face, mousy brown hair, hazel eyes, and a mouth that was too wide for her narrow chin. Her eyes were wide and large. Maybe that was the draw. She could do “helpless fawn” effortlessly. She did have a great figure, and her belly had snapped right back to flat after she had Evan’s baby. She knew how to dress herself as well. Tight, low cut, lycra dresses that hugged her tiny waist and focused the eyes on her impressive cleavage. I hoped her thong chafed.

Really, I should thank her. I’d been in an emotionally abusive relationship for so long, I’d become a timid shadow of myself. I should be grateful Evan slipped and his penis fell into her. Because finding out about his skanky, pregnant, secretary sidepiece was the final straw that not only broke the camel’s back but gave me the push I needed to get out. 

I plastered on a fake smile to match hers. I raised my eyebrows when it took her a moment to answer.

“Stay away from Evan,” she hissed. Then, she went back to humming her song. Frankly, she couldn’t carry a tune. Her song was flat.

I was confused. I was staying away. The divorce was in the final stages, and I’d just bought a house two states away. Not my fault Evan had tried to get me to come back.

“What?”

“Stay away, or I’ll make you pay.”

I laughed. “Are you nuts on top of being a home-wrecking whore?” I might have said that out loud, but I for sure thought it. 

Her expression didn’t change, so I probably just thought it.

“You’re safe. You can have him,” I said and went to shut the door. 

She sneered and shoved the door open. I had two inches and twenty pounds on her, and she moved me with the door. I gasped in shock.

She hummed a few more notes. It was weird. 

“You aren’t listening. You stay away from him, you stay away from his business, and his money,” she spat out.

That was too far. She could have Evan—he was no prize—but I’d built that business, and half of everything was mine. Both legally and ethically. Frankly, more than half was mine, since my money had been invested to start it, and my ideas had been the start of everything. 

I wedged my foot behind the door so she couldn’t push it open further. “I’ll take what’s mine. You can have the rest with my blessing,” I said magnanimously with a sweep of my arm. “Now, get off my porch, or I’m calling the cops. I’ll have them charge you with trespassing and harassment.”

I pulled out my phone, swiped it open, and punched in 911. She backed up, frowning. She actually looked a little confused. I slammed the door. Good riddance. I couldn’t believe she’d followed me out of state for this stupid spat. How insecure must she be? Plus, how had she found me? I just barely signed the papers. I doubted the paperwork had even been filed yet. Knowing Evan, he probably had a tracking device on my car. I heard her wheels kick up gravel as she raced down the driveway. I shook my head and tucked my phone back into the pocket of my jeans.

When I turned, the cat was waiting, a look of concern on his grumpy face. I patted him again. I’d have to get some cat food if he was going to hang around. Once I was sure Vanessa was off the driveway and gone, I let the cat out, locked up, and headed back to my hotel.
Dolbeare, Jilleen. Splintercat: A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Urban Fantasy Prequel Novelette (Splintered Magic). Kindle Locations (215-240). Ice Raven Publications. Kindle Edition.

We learn a lot more about Vanessa and her goal here. There is also when Brigid has to come to terms with the cat speaking to her and learns that he is a splintercat.

We actually discover far more than Brigid will remember going forward in this series. You’ll have to read it to find out what all that is.

5 Contented Purrs for Jilleen!

Jilleen Dolbeare

Jilleen Dolbeare is the author of the Splintered Magic Series—A PWF series about a woman finding her magic, and the Shadow Winged Chronicles, an urban fantasy series about a shape-shifting bush pilot in Alaska.

She loves riding horses, warm ocean beaches, and long walks in the mountains, none of which she can do in the Arctic, so she writes. Her activities are riding her four-wheeler on cold ocean beaches (often frozen or covered with ice), and long walks to and from work when it’s 40 below—in the dark. She does keep her stakes sharp for those vamps that show up during the 67 days of night.

Jilleen lives with her husband and two hungry cats in Barrow, Alaska where she also discovered her love and admiration of the Inupiaq people and their folklore.