Pawprints in the Clouds — Dara Girard

Paul Gibbons didn't particularly like cats.He especially didn't like cats bearing gifts.So when a striped grey showed up on his doorstep with a grisly one, he wanted to throw it away.Reeling from his own loss, he didn't want to accept anything from anyone or anything. The last thing he wanted to do was help.Until the cat asked for a favor he couldn't ignore.The third fantasy short story in the  Pawprints series.