by Amie Gibbons
“A tease,” I finished when he didn’t. “Giving her hope, even just subconsciously, cuz she’s seeing you, knowing it’ll be yanked away.”
“Yes,” he said.
“I get it. Do you feel that way too? Like this is all a tease?”
“Yes.”
Scratching made me shut up, and Thomas opened his mouth.
I held up a hand.
We had company.
But nothing happened.
We kept walking, and I strained my ears for the sound.
It didn’t come again.
No one else had reacted, so it could’ve just been in my head.
But I doubted it.
We hit a set of stairs, and Carvi held up a fist.
His guards spread out around us, making a solid circle, and after a moment Carvi nodded.
“Shield’s up,” he said in a normal voice. “We can talk for a moment.”
“Did you hear that scratching a minute ago?” I asked.
Carvi stared hard at me. “Scratching?”
“Yes. It was like, kinda like cat feet on wood floors or something. Ya know, scratching.”
Carvi shook his head.
“I didn’t hear anything either,” Pyro said. “And my ears are pretty good. You sure it’s not some part of you being psychic?”
I looked at Carvi.
He shook his head. “They took her powers, Pyro. Not just depleted them, literally mined her brain and scooped that part of her out. It’s nothing in her that’s psychic.”
“There could be a residual bit,” Pryo said. “Just like there’s residual of her life force, which is why she’s still alive. It could be something like that.”
Carvi sighed. “Ariana, look up, see if you can sense your life force.”
I closed my eyes, drawing on the meditation techniques Grant had taught me.
If there was anything left, I couldn’t feel it.
“Sorry,” I said, opening my eyes. “Nothing.”
“The scratching sounded like cats?” Carvi asked.
“Yeah. Maybe mousers for the castle?”
Carvi shook his head. “The Fae hate cats.”
“Really? Why?”
“Cat scratches hurt them. Severely. It’s almost as bad as vamps with silver.”
“Well, why the blazes didn’t we bring any cats?”
“I called them,” Pyro said.
“Wait, what?” I asked.
“I called a friend of mine who’s a palace cat before I went down for the day, but he didn’t answer. I left a voicemail. They can do spells to travel between dimensions too.”
“I don’t understand anything that you just said,” I said. “You called a cat? Is this like a shifter or something.”
“No, palace cats,” Pyro said. “I thought he’d make it.”
Someone chuckled.
“We’re already here, y’all,” a new voice said.
“What the?” I said as at least five other voices said some variation, most much more vulgar.
And just like that, a mass of fur appeared in the hall behind us.
Swishes and clicks filled their air as guns were pulled and safeties turned off.
“Don’t shoot!” Pyro screamed, flying overhead and landing in front of me, tassels up like hands.
My mouth hung open.
Cuz there were around twenty to thirty house cats in a mass, all sizes and colors, the leader a thirty pound, if he was an ounce, black ball of fluff that had to be a Maine Coon if I had my cat breeds right.
Chapter EIGHTEEn
“I don’t even know how to process this,” Feather said.
I giggled.
Yep, me neither.
“Which one of y’all’s the psychic?” the lead cat asked in an accent straight outta New Orleans.
I raised a hand. “But they took my powers.”
“Ah,” he said before turning to Pyro. “You the carpet that texted me?”
“Pyro,” my carpet said, bowing,“your Majesty.”
“What are we missing?” one of the male guards asked. “What are you?”
“Palace cats,” Pyro and a few of the cats said.
“We’re descendants of the ancient Egyptian cats who were part gods,” the leader said. “We watch over humans just like the flying carpets and Fu dogs do. There’s a colony of us based in New Orleans and Pyro here gave us a shout. We were barely able to break through, but something was helping us. I’m assuming that’s your power, cher?”
I blinked, nodding when I realized he was talking to me.
His mouth didn’t really move with the words, more like opened and closed like any cat when he was meowing.
“Pyro?” I asked. “You knew about these guys?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t even think of them until about two hours before sunrise. I thought y’all wouldn’t make it!”
One of the smaller cats, a short haired ginger with smart green eyes, walked up to me, rubbing against my shins, and I kneeled down to pet her on reflex.
“Oh, yeah, right there,” she said as I scratched under her chin.
“We don’t have time for that, Ruby,” the leader said.
Ruby meowed, but ran back to the pack.
“What’s your name?” Carvi asked.
The giant cat winked and said, “Not in here. You think you’re talking to a week-old kitten? I’m older than most vamps. You can call me Smokey.”
One of the other cats snorted. “Better than your latest name. Your humans are ridiculous.”
Smokey flicked his tail.
Ignoring as only a cat could.
“We’re here to fight,” Smokey said. “If the Fae are invading, we’re going to stop them.”
I liked this cat.
And I was not a cat person.
“We’ll take all the help we can get,” I said. “You can call me Ari.”
Smokey nodded, a strange gesture from a cat, and he as his people wandered into our ranks.
Mixing our armies.
“We know they have Ari’s powers,” Carvi said. “And they have probably started using them, if you were able to get in so easily.”
“Meaning they’re already breaking into our world?” I asked.
Carvi nodded.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
“I’m following your magic, but it’s not an exact art,” Carvi said. “Once we get up there, we’re going to start running into Fae.”
“That’s where we come in,” said one of the palace cats, a kitten made of white fluff, the size of my hand.
Thomas kneeled down and picked the snowball up, and she started purring, rubbing against his cheek.
“I found my human,” she said. “This one’s mine.”
He purred back at her, stroking her head with a gentle finger, eyes glowing with tears.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m a ghost. I’m only corporeal in here.”
She made a distressed sound as he put her down.
“But…” she looked between Smokey and Thomas. “But they said I’d know my human when I saw him. You’re him.”
Thomas’s mouth worked, and I could tell he was moments from bursting into tears.
“I know how you feel,” AB said, picking up the kitten. “I know exactly how you feel. He’s felt like my human for eight years.”
The cat stared her in the eyes. “Then I’ll take you. If your human died, you need someone to take care of you.”
AB sobbed, sniffing hard as she nodded.
Not correcting the little piece of fluff.
And her and Thomas didn’t look at each other.
Carvi had been talking this whole time, explaining things to the cats actually paying attention.
“I think we can get you there faster,” Smokey said. “Faster than following her magic, since Fae halls can get pretty twisty. We can lead you the most efficient way. Everyone ready? Weapons. Snowball, stop hitting on the humans. You can pick one later.”
I snorted. So her name, or at least nickname, r
eally was Snowball.
Little on the nose, but hey.
“Got one,” Snowball said, jumping outta AB’s hands and landing on her feet like it wasn’t a drop of about ten times her height.
Cats.
“Weapons and spells at the ready,” Carvi said. “And look out for bombs. I told the other leaders to hold off while we’re in here, but if they see Fae spilling through, I bet they’ll start throwing bombs, and I couldn’t blame them if they did.”
“Um,” I said, raising my hand, “what do we do if a bomb flies through?”
“We’ll shield.”
“How do we know the Fae won’t put up shields?”
“We don’t.” Carvi was sounding seriously pissed off now. “We were hoping they’d be caught off guard or not paying attention to what was coming through if they were charging forward, and the bombs would get them then. So, be on the lookout for friendly fire. Any other stupid questions?”
I scowled at him.
There was no reason to get nasty.
Then again, this was probably the last place in any dimension Carvi wanted to be.
It could’ve been putting strain on him just like it had on me.
“Charge,” Carvi said, the word harsh and quiet.
It was the kinda word you should be shouting at a time like this.
We marched up the stairs in a mixed mass.
“Pyro?” I whispered.
He flew up next to me, and I climbed on his back, floating up the stairs.
“How do you know we can trust them?” I whispered.
“I’ve worked with them before,” he whispered back.
“When?”
He chuckled. “Sorry, Mom, you don’t know everything.”
My mouth fell open. “You… I should know what you’ve been up to. Did you put yourself in danger?”
“Come on, Ari,” he said, soundin’ for all the world like a petulant teen whining at his mama, “I know what I’m doing. And I have magic. A few of them were up in Nashville a while back and asked for my help. I didn’t take any unnecessary risks.”
“Uh-huh,” I said.
“They’re good people,” he said.
“Ya know we can hear you, right?” Smokey asked, launching off the stair a few ahead of us and landing on Pyro’s back.
I squeaked in surprise.
“Cats have wonderful hearing,” he said, staring me down.
I blinked first.
Not even a vamp would be able to win a staring contest with a cat.
“Oh,” I said. “Sorry, it’s just… we don’t know y’all.”
“I do,” Pryo said. “Ari, I’m vouching for them, okay?”
I sighed. “It seems like convenient timing.”
“It is,” Smokey said as we cleared the top of the stairs. “Pyro called us in because he needed backup with convenient timing.”
“Okay, good point,” I said.
Yells filled the air, and Smokey puffed up in front of me, whirling and launching off Pyro’s back too fast for me to react.
He sailed through the air over the heads of a few of the guards and slammed into the face of a Fae who looked like he’d been patrolling the hallways, or guarding something.
The Fae screamed as Smokey sliced up his face, leaving red, puffy lines like the worst allergic reaction.
The Fae bucked and foamed at the mouth as Smokey jumped off, licking blood off his paws.
Carvi made a noise of approval as the Fae stopped seizing, and his head slumped to the side, dead eyes staring back at us.
“Wow,” I said. “Y’all weren’t exaggerating.”
“Nope,” Pyro said. “Normal cats hurt them, can kill them if they do enough damage, but magic Egyptian palace cats? One scratch will down a Fae once the proteins reach the heart.”
“So, just like silver in a vamp,” I said. “Like I said, you really weren’t exaggerating.”
We kept going, leaving the dead Fae.
But I did glance back.
At least a few of the cats stopped to take bites outta the Fae’s face.
I flinched.
The sad thing was, cats did that to their owners when they died in the house.
I’d never been a big fan of cats myself.
Then again, these ones were going to war with us, so I had to like them.
But that was still gross.
Snowball rode on AB’s shoulder, chattering her ear off.
Thomas walked by them, gun at the ready.
Protecting the two females who’d apparently fallen for him at first sight.
We never did figure out why Thomas’s mom went nuts with Thomas growing in her if it wasn’t his magic.
Maybe it had been. Maybe having a magic baby grow inside you was so different than some magic sperm getting soaked up that it really would have that effect on a null.
Meaning, even if AB and Thomas had worked things out and been together, she’d never have been able to give him a kid.
Why was I shipping them in my head?
Thomas could have made up with AB at any time way back when and tried a relationship, or tried when they’d been friends last year. She hadn’t been subtle about her crush. But he hadn’t wanted her.
Why did I care?
Cuz, an evil voice in my head said, you’re thinking of you and Grant by proxy.
I flinched.
That would explain a lot.
Snowball jumped to Thomas’s shoulder, and other cats took up around humans, the smaller ones jumping up to hitch rides.
Claiming humans to protect?
Smokey jumped back up on Pyro with me.
None of them took up next to Carvi.
“Why aren’t any of your people protecting Carvi?” I asked Smokey as he kneaded Pyro’s back.
“He doesn’t want any of us,” Smokey said. “He’s not a cat person.”
“Neither am I,” I said.
“Yeah, but he’s making it stick. You’re open to a protector, but honestly, you’ve got a great one here.”
“Yep,” Pyro said.
“I’m mostly up here for the vantage point,” Smokey said. “We see a Fae, this is a great launching pad.”
“Just like December,” Pyro said.
“And green champagne,” Smokey said.
“Huh?” I asked when I found my voice again.
“Inside joke,” the two said as one.
What the quack had I missed?
Someone screamed, high and shrill, and my head jerked up just in time to see the cats launch forward.
There was a group of Fae in the hallway, all with hands up, probably doing magic I couldn’t see.
The cats swarmed them, scratching and screaming as they attacked.
The hairs on the back of my neck and on my arms rose with the sounds.
They sounded like children screaming.
I never knew cats screaming sounded like little kids. I’d heard people say as much, but hadn’t really believed them, cuz how could cats sound human?
No, it was true.
And it made my blood run cold.
By the time the furs of fury flowed back to us, the Fae were down, faces swollen and bleeding with the deep scratches, clothing shredded, bits of faces chewed off.
And two of the kitties laying in pools of blood.
I made a small noise at the fallen fur babies, and Pyro reached up with a tassel to pat my arm.
“They knew what they were getting into,” he said. “It’s okay.”
“Nothin’ about this is okay,” I said with a gulp.
Smokey jumped back up onto Pyro’s back and walked over to me, holding up a paw.
“Blood of the enemy for my lady?” he asked in a strangely formal tone.
“Um,” I gurgled. “No, thank you?”
He blinked one of those slow cat blinks at me. “You do drink blood. I can smell it.”
“Vamp blood,” I said as the crowd formed below us and we continued on.
“And?” he asked
.
“That’s different.”
“No, it isn’t.”
He said it so matter of factly, I almost believed him.
“No, really, it tastes different and gives humans powers and stuff.”
“You run on blood,” the cat said like I was kinda slow. “You may not be a vampire, I can feel your heartbeat, but you ain’t human. And whatever you are, it drinks blood. Try it.”
He said it like a general used to his orders being followed.
What the quack were these creatures?
“Carvi?” I asked in a stage whisper. “The cat thinks I’m some kinda vamp hybrid. Is that from all the blood I’ve had from y’all?”
“No,” Carvi said.
A little too fast for me to believe him.
“It’s not something outside of you,” Smokey said. “Seriously, have some. You need your strength. You’re fading.”
I shook my head and the cat rolled his eyes and jumped off.
I couldn’t drink Fae blood.
The idea made me want to puke.
Then again, wasn’t that what normal people would say about me drinking vamp blood?
Smokey jumped back on after another minute or so.
And dropped a finger in front of me.
“You need your strength,” he insisted. “Suck the blood out of the finger.”
My mouth fell open.
“I can’t,” I said. “I’ll puke.”
“Is she always this difficult?” Smokey asked past me.
“Yes,” Carvi said.
“Eat it or get it off me,” Pyro said. “It’s leaking on me.”
Smokey batted it off and it hit Thomas in the arm.
Thomas jerked and stumbled to the side into AB.
She caught him and helped him straighten up, forgetting to walk as she stared up at him.
Poor AB.
Suddenly I was very mad at Carvi for bringing her along.
She wasn’t made for this.
She wasn’t magic.
So what exactly was he thinking, bringing her here?
Then again, someone could ask the same of me, since I’d brought her the first time.
AB and Thomas scurried to keep with the crowd as the cats who’d taken up around them headbutted them and walked around them to get them moving again.
Snowball was back on AB’s shoulder and licked the side of her head.
This was so weird.
On a level I couldn’t even comprehend.
And my nose and eyes were starting to itch from all the cats.
