There was no Addison or bacon. The gods of magic must have been cracking up. I crouched under the desk with my ears pinned back, teeth bared, and growled with all my might.

“Did you do this to me?” I barked.

I could hear the smirk in his voice. “Remember that lovely antique fur scarf you came across here? MY fur scarf, which was here because Addison was trying to sell it for me? I will describe what it looked like: it was warm golden brown, the same color as you, to be precise; quite old and soft as a cloud, or it was until you brazenly took it from Addison and used up all the magic on a silly dare. Upon which it fell apart!”

“It turned me into a dog!” I barked.

“Yes,” he said, “that is what it was designed to do.”

“I didn’t know it was going to do that,” I whined. “I was just trying to impress the guy who dared me.”

“That didn’t work out so well, did it?” he said. “You still haven’t learned to keep your hands off magical items.”

I thumped my tail. “I didn’t know it was yours. Haven’t I been punished enough? Addison didn’t even change me back for three weeks.”

“Keeping you that way for three weeks was his decision. I thought you needed to do more reflection on your more recent misdeeds,” Mister Gentry said, “such as your aiding and abetting the miscreants who stole Purrberus’s tooth.”

“I can’t believe this!” I howled.

“Neither could I when you wouldn’t give me the pendant,” he said.

The clanging of the grandfather clock striking five o’clock sent Purrberus leaping atop the desk. I was too scared to do anything except cower and whine.

Just then the Chimbrelis began a new round of heehaws. Mister Gentry leaped out of the chair, his robes fluttering behind him.

“Oooooh, may I answer it?” he said in a voice full of sarcastic wonder. “I’ve never used a Chimbrelis before.”

I was so excited that Rufus was calling back that I howled. Purrberus joined in with her demented yowling.

But what if Mister Gentry did something dangerous? With any luck he wouldn’t be able to figure out how to answer it.

“Settle down, you two. Hellooooooo?” he said.

Too late. Stupid joke book passwords meant nothing to him.

“Demon lord!” I heard Rufus’s furious voice. “What are you doing there?”

There was a huge thump next to the desk, then a curious “meow?” The grandfather clock’s mechanisms began to bwongbwongbwong as if a giant paw was batting at it.

I started barking again although nobody was taking me seriously when I did.

If Purrberus ruined the clock, Addison would be livid. It had been made by his sixth great grandfather who fought in one of the historic old wizard wars.

“Why hello, necromancer,” said Mister Gentry. “Good to see you again. Have you cleaned up your basement yet?”

“Coralie?” I heard Rufus yell. “Where’s Coralie?”

“I’m under the desk!” I barked myself hoarse but he had no idea what I was saying.

“How should I know where that twerp went off to?” Mister Gentry said. “I’m not her babysitter. Why are you calling here anyway?”

“The better question is what are you doing there?” said Rufus. “I thought I was done with you and your three headed freak.”

“I don’t have to take that kind of abuse from someone whose own undead pets fled from him at the first chance,” said the demon lord, “not to mention the little cricket-legged fellow.”

I wish I could have seen Rufus’s reaction to those remarks. I kept barking but they paid no attention.

An enormous gonging crash came from across the room. The clock. Purrberus hissed and I heard some of Addison’s framed achievements shatter as they hit the floor.

“You did me a favor by taking them,” Rufus said. “What’s all that noise?”

“It’s more than what you did for me,” said Mister Gentry. “Purrberus, stop that, please.”

“You wouldn’t have found the pendant if I hadn’t captured it from Coralie. What business do you have in Addison’s office using his Chimbrelis?” Rufus said.

“My business is none of yours,” said Mister Gentry in a tone that threatened to peel the wallpaper off. “And I would have found my pendant one way or another. I’ve heard about all I can stand from you. Begone, necromancer!”

There was a high pitched sizzling whine, then an explosion like a firework, the ones that flash brightly and then BANG. I hated that noise above all others. My ears rung like crazy. I whimpered and trembled under the desk.

“Now you won’t be interfering in my affairs anymore,” he said. “Where was I? Ah yes, the bone to pick with Coralie. I’m still a bit miffed at the hostile treatment I received at the hands of your gloves, so to speak.”

“I’m sorry but that wasn’t my fault. The gloves did it. They didn’t want you touching them,” I barked.

“I gathered that.” Mister Gentry settled back into Addison’s brown plaid chair. I had a clear view of some dust bunnies under there and his scaly, clawed feet. The marble must have rolled way in, hidden by the shadows.

“They aren’t mine, they’re Addison’s. He’s the one who did the magic on them.”

“Yes, he is so very talented,” he said. “Quite a prodigy.”

“He’s had a lot of education,” I said. “He’s the smartest person I know.”

He plunked his feet on top of the desk. “What a wholesome sentiment. How did he come to have them?”

I would never get away with fibbing about what I knew, and sighed. “They belonged to another one of Addison’s ancestors. She went on expeditions as a researcher. In the Soliesin Desert region.”

“Exciting. I was not aware he came from such an accomplished family,” Mister Gentry said. “These must be her books in this glass case. Ancient Dwellers of the Soliesin by Edwina Addison Hugh, and so forth.”

“Yes, she wrote them.” Obviously.

The sound of splintering wood came from the direction of the clock’s former home.

“I have no interest in human pottery or coins,” he said, his voice filled with scorn. “What else can you tell me about your magical gloves? Purrberus, enough!”

“Just that Addison did some magic on them. He told me he made them fully magic and monster proof.”

Mister Gentry casually went through Addison’s desk drawers, sifting through his papers and such. “Eddie thinks I am a monster, tsk tsk. Did they have any magic to begin with?”

“They were just regular leather gloves,” I said.

Edwina said in her writings that she considered the gloves lucky, though they didn’t have any enchantments on them until Addison decided to custom-magic them for me.

“They started off as ordinary gloves?” he said in what I took to be an amused tone. “Tell me how he did it.”

How long was he planning on interrogating me for? “I don’t know. He doesn’t let me watch any of his magic.”

“Fair enough,” Mister Gentry chuckled. “I want them.”

My fur stood on end. “It’s impossible for me to give them to you,” I whined.

“You are misinformed,” he said. “Go get them.”

I was still too scared to move, and scared me was in danger of biting a demon lord. I probably wouldn’t live long enough to regret it. “Why do you want them if you can’t touch them without getting shocked?”

He laughed. “You assume that is still the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Coralie,” he said as though talking to a complete idiot. “There is always a workaround. Addison should have taught you that.”

“That can’t be true,” I said.

“Unfortunately for you, it is,” he said. “And the longer you delay getting them for me, the longer you stay a dog. Now go fetch.”

“Please don’t make me get them,” I whined. “Why are you doing this to me?”

An avalanche of books crashed to the floor along with the bookcase.

“The longer you delay, the more time Purrberus has to destroy Addison’s lovely office,” said Mister Gentry.

“But they aren’t mine,” I said. “Addison would never forgive me.”

“Oh Coralie,” the demon lord said in a syrupy sweet voice, “I just remembered you didn’t get any bacon.”

“You don’t have any. That was a lie,” I barked.

The savory, smoky scent of bacon filled the air.

“It looks real to me,” said Mister Gentry, waving a salty, crispy strip in front of my face.

Drool hung from the corner of my mouth. My tail thumped. I went to grab it with my mouth but he snatched it away.

“Dogs who want bacon must first cooperate with demon lords who are looking for something special at E. Addison’s,” said Mister Gentry.

“Of course there’s a catch!”

“Everything is negotiable,” he chuckled. “Hasn’t he taught you that?”

I whined because I didn’t have a better answer. Distorted gongs and sad twangs came from Purrberus clawing at the clock’s metal insides. The bacon smell grew stronger.

“You already got the pendant,” I said. “Why can’t you just go away?”

“Your inhospitable attitude would break my heart if I had one. But I am willing to forgive you in light of your recent experiences.”

“Can’t I just have one piece of bacon?” I said. What was he babbling about? My stomach was growling again.

“You didn’t say the magic word. I haven’t heard you say it once.”

I sighed. “Please?”

“Please, what?” said Mister Gentry. His voice dripped with fake sweetness.

“Please, can I have a piece of bacon?” My tail wagged with hope but I’d forgotten he couldn’t see me under there.

“I don’t know, CAN you?” he laughed.

“MAY I please have a piece of bacon?” My tail wagged harder, though I badly wanted to bite him.

“You may,” he said, “but only if you get the gloves. Then, I will give you all the bacon you want, and I will turn you back into a human.”

A human! I’d almost forgotten myself in my excitement over the bacon.

More frames crashed to the floor. The demon kitten purred.

“Do you promise?” I said.

Mister Gentry’s soft, mocking laughter infuriated me. All I wanted were things to get back to normal. And the demons out of my house.

I also wanted the bacon.

Purrberus crunched through broken glass.

“The gloves, Coralie,” said Mister Gentry. “Please go get them so I don’t have to leave Purrberus unattended. You are free to blame it all on me when Addison finds out.”

Fine. He would see when they shocked him back to the Netherworld. There was not much left to lose. I launched myself out from under the desk.