Hired Luck

by Mel Todd

  "Well, thank you very much for not sinking those in too far," I said, still looking at the creature.

  "What?" I sensed Alixant change his focus to me, and I showed him the odd paws. They were more like small hands that curled up into paws and looked normal as soon as I released them, though they looked huge compared to his tiny body. "Huh. I might almost feel sorry for you if it can use them."

  I was busy stroking down his body, eliciting a purr as the silky fur went all the way down to a tail as long as he was, and oddly flexible. I hadn't spent much time with cats, or any pets really, but I didn't think their tails could wrap all the way around your finger twice. He was also obviously a he.

  The fur was thick and soft, reminding me more of the chinchilla I'd petted in the pet store a few times. The rumble of a purr vibrated down through his little body flowing into my legs like I held a small engine.

  "Feel sorry?" I managed to drag my eyes away from the cat, because even if the hands and tail weren't exactly cat-like, everything else, including the sharp-pointed teeth he exposed when he yawned, were.

  "Well, those look like opposable thumbs, and every familiar I've ever met is mischievous and smart. That tail looks prehensile. So, all in all, I think I might have to just start feeling sympathy for you."

  I frowned, confused, then looked back at Alixant. "What am I supposed to do with him? Do I turn him over to someone? I mean, they wouldn't hurt him or something?" Already I felt oddly attached to the little creature, but they'd never let me keep him.

  "What?" To my surprise he started to laugh. It started out a low chuckle, but then got louder and deeper. The taxi stopped and he shoved money at the driver, still laughing. He got out of the car and I followed, holding the tiny cat as he leaned against the wall of the OMO testing office, laughing so hard that tears were running down his face.

  I looked at him, petting the cat to purrs of approval while I wondered who I should call.

  Maybe he's having a mental breakdown?

  I just stood there, feeling awkward and out of sorts, once again lost with everything that had happened. After another minute he slowed down the laughs and straightened, wiping at his face, though another spurt started as he looked at me.

  "I don't understand. What is so funny?"

  He had another chuckle but took a big breath of air. I liked this man more than I'd liked the agent he was. This one almost might have been someone I enjoyed talking to. The anger and seriousness fled, leaving in its wake humor and intelligence. The change surprised me.

  "Cori, say hello to your familiar. He's yours now and no one would be stupid enough to try to take him from you. So have fun with a cat with opposable thumbs."

  Shocked, I stared at the bundle of fur I held. It looked up at me, all cute and fuzzy innocence, and repeated that one word in my mind. ~Mine.~

  The look on my face started Alixant laughing again as he led me into the OMO building where I was sure Doctor Rendol and Francine waited.

  He waved at Rachel as we went in, she just looked at us, her eyebrows so high I thought they might meet her hair line.

  "Get in, Cori. We need to know." I growled, but handed the tiny cat to him, ignoring the mews and I took the stupid test again, and again felt nothing. But I had new objects that called to me and some of my old ones were almost irresistible.

  Rachel escorted me to the next room, where I picked out more objects, then to the tattoo room where we walked into an argument.

  "I get that this is impossible. Why do you think we are here? Because it obviously happened, and your tests prove it." Alixant glared at Dr. Rendol, while once again I sat in the tattoo chair, but this time with a bristling cat in my arms.

  I didn't know if I wanted to strangle them because I was confused and scared or because they were scaring my familiar.

  "There isn't anything recorded like this. We've never had anyone have two emergences. I wish someone had been around to see her first emergence. It would explain a lot. We don't have enough information on trauma-based emergence to even guess but at no point has anyone ever emerged twice." The doctor was all but shouting at Alixant. The same guy who'd been at my first test, Dr. Lawrence Rendol. Fran was there too, but she kept looking at me with wide eyes that were almost worse than the stares I'd gotten on the bus the first few days.

  "Ever emerged twice, or ever reported to the OMO?" I asked in the lull of the shouting. They all turned and looked at me.

  "What?" Alixant said, but his face had a slowly dawning realization as I looked at him.

  "I'm already marked. I'm already registered. Why in the world would I come back and get retested? Do you ever retest anyone? Because believe me, I wouldn't be here if he hadn't dragged me back." I gave Alixant a sour look, which he ignored.

  The two testing officials went white. "What if—" the doctor broke off, his voice cracking. "What if you can re-emerge over your lifetime? Gain new skills. Access new branches."

  Fran sounded like she was so scared she could barely speak. "We can see from her she is strong in things she was pale in before. And now has not two strongs as a merlin, but four. Plus one because of her familiar. She has five strongs. No one has ever had that before. This could change everything." Her face was pale and hands were shaking.

  "I think you're right. This changes everything. This makes some of the more sensational stories over the years snap into reality. What if you can gain more power? Emerge again and be able to do things that no one would ever associate with you?" The doctor talked faster and faster as he became more agitated. "This could change everything. I need to call my supervisors. I think we should institute retesting at least once a decade, if not every few years. This changes everything." He was still talking as he yanked open the door and raced out it.

  "I don't think there are enough swear words in the English language to cover what I'm feeling right now," Alixant muttered, dropping into the chair Dr. Rendol had vacated. "This changes everything. All the files we have could be wrong. Everything could be wrong as to who could do what. Hell, is it restricted only to merlin rank or could it be open to anyone?" He rubbed his temples. "Could hedgies get multiples at their power level?"

  His question made my head jerk up and I thought about Kadia's experience at the bank. She tripped over nothing, cut herself and was out of it for a while. What if she hadn't just tripped, what if she'd had a second emergence. Nah, I was imagining things, right?

  Fran choked out words, "I'm starting to think this was something I never wanted to know about, Steven. But now that it’s here, I can't avoid it." Her fists were clench tight and for a minute I was worried she might throw up.

  Personally I still thought everyone was overreacting, but the more I thought about it maybe they were right.

  "You know, if the entertainment industry ever gets a hold of this the stories will explode."

  "Ugh. If that happens…" she sighed. "Our testing will spike. They will come out with new regs. Oh, I so don't want this to be true." She stared at the objects I'd grabbed this time. Three were different—they'd removed the ones I'd already been strong in. I didn't know how I felt.

  "Enough. Cori, your tattoo is getting updated. Talk to the artist." I sighed but figured from the glares they were both giving me I didn't have an option. It annoyed me because it had just almost healed and quit itching.

  Thirty minutes later I inspected the work in the mirror. Before I'd been strong in Relativity under Spirit and Time under Chaos, while I was pale in Soul, Psychic, and Earth. Now the pale Psychic had moved to strong, as had Earth and Soul. And I'd added Non-Organic, Transform, and Entropy as pale. I'd chosen purple and green, wanting to pull in more colors, and I didn't know if I liked the effect. It looked like a color wheel had exploded on my face with the burgundy and royal blue. But either way it caught attention, not that anyone would know what it meant.

  I spun, looking at Alixant and Fran, who were deep in conversation. "Hey." They paused and looked at me. "You get in trouble for altering your tatt
oos. Am I going to get questioned about this? Or get in trouble?"

  "Crap," Fran cussed as she headed out to the main room. "I'll get you a new ID and note the changes on the back."

  Alixant just stared at me.

  "What?" I protectively clutched the cat to me. He had fallen asleep and I didn't want anything to happen to him.

  "I've checked and rechecked. You don't have either a Curse or Luck attached to you." He said the words with the capitals, so I knew he was referring to the spells. "But you still attract the strange like a lodestone. What are you?"

  "Someone who wants to go home. I'm exhausted. I apparently have a pet that will need supplies and, I bet, food." I didn't mention that I didn't know what something that looked like a cat but wasn't a cat would need to eat. "I also need a new phone because mine is dead and the odds are Jo will be freaking out. And frankly, I'm over all this crap because I have no idea what I'm doing!" The last words were a yell and I realized I was shaking.

  The cat looked up at me, with a plaintive meow. ~Hungry~ registered in my mind and I wanted to cry at the knowledge someone was now dependent on me. I barely felt like I could handle being responsible for myself. But I knew crying wouldn't do anything. I took a deep breath and straightened my back.

  "So. I would like my bag back, a new phone, a ride to the grocery store, and then I'd like to go home."

  He looked at me for a very long time and I was about to spit out a “Fine” and storm out of there when he nodded. "Yes. I'll see you Tuesday. You have the rest of the weekend off. Come on."

  Two hours later I sat at home, the cat eating tuna fish that the lady at the pet store assured me all cat-like familiars liked. Fran had gotten me the new ID with remarks on the back. As Alixant had dropped me off, he said he'd add the familiar note to my file. It meant I'd get a supplement until my schooling was done to afford to feed him. Their diets were a bit more expensive than normal cats in that they rarely would eat the normal cat food, preferring actual food.

  I picked up my new phone, glad I'd added all my numbers to my cloud account. It had popped in as soon as I'd added my email account. And at least ten text messages had popped in from Jo when I'd powered it on. The last one bordering on hysterical worry.

  *I swear to all the merlins, Cori, you don't fucking respond I'm calling mami and papi and you can deal with them.*

  I laughed a little. I hadn't meant to worry her, but I also hadn't had much control over anything in my life lately.

  *Hey. I'm home. I'm okay. I'll explain when I see you.*

  The response was instant. *Thank magic. I'm almost there.*

  I smiled and sat, watching the kitten. If his paws were anything to go by, he would be huge but for now he looked like a cute ball of fluff. I just didn't know if I was ready to take care of another being. I guess I'd find out. At least the talking in my head would help. It had to make this easier.

  The doorknob turning had me looking up before Jo all but flew into the room. "Cori," she exclaimed as she headed straight in, dropping her bag and keys on the table without taking her eyes off me. Jo pulled me up and scanned me with her eyes, then lingered on my altered tat.

  "I'm fine. No injuries."

  She blew out a sigh, but her eyes didn't leave my face. "That's new." Her voice cautious.

  I groaned and sat down. "You'll never believe everything that has happened. I was there and I'm still not sure I believe it."

  "Think we’re going to need drinks for this?" It was half a question and half a statement.

  "Oh yeah. That would be nice," I agreed.

  She turned and came to a sudden halt. From where she was facing, I could tell she'd just seen the cat. I couldn't see him with Jo there, but I knew what she was looking at.

  "We seem to have acquired a kitten?" Her voice slow and hesitant.

  I let out a shaky breath. "Actually, I seem to have acquired a familiar." Just saying the words felt odd and scary. Kids dreamed and told stories about being a magician and having a familiar. I never had, though I'd found them fascinating. The two I'd met, Dahli and Elsba had captivated me. But one choosing me? I didn't know anything.

  That idea set off a spurt of panic. I needed information. What did I know about familiars?

  "Yes, drinks are needed." Her voice sounded as shocked as I felt. She headed for the kitchen and I started looking for books to order on familiars.

  Chapter 31

  Fight the power, don't hire mages, hire normal people. They will work harder for you and do it without invoking unnatural abilities. ~ Freedom from Magic

  I didn't feel up to public transportation Tuesday, so I splurged on a rideshare to work and brought the kitten with me. I had tried to leave him at home, but cries of ~No~ in my head were too pitiful. So I brought him.

  Sunday, Jo had gone back to the con. I'd stayed home, totally exhausted. I played with the kitten but both of us did little but sleep for the next two days. Jo seemed to have fun but was back in the school grind today. I seemed to have a fog over my brain, but it had started to lift.

  I hadn't come up with a name for the kitten. It seemed wrong somehow to just name him, but I also wasn't sure how intelligent he was.

  I really need those books to get here. I hate not having any idea what I should do.

  One of the things I'd ordered was a cat carrier. He was too small to run around but carrying him in my arms seemed silly. Luckily, I'd found one that let the cat ride on my chest in kind of a reverse backpack. It might look silly, but it had the advantage of leaving my hands free. That too would arrive Wednesday. For now, I just held him carefully, and stressed the entire ride.

  Siab and Chris were there when I walked in.

  "Oh, is that your new familiar?" Siab asked as I entered, getting up from her little lab station and coming over. Once again, she made the suit look almost chic, with the sharp cut and the daring see-through top under it.

  "Yeah." I knelt in the middle of the office and let him down. He stretched and began to investigate the office, his long tail a red snake that followed him.

  "What's his name?"

  "I haven't thought of one yet. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of having a pet." I watched him, envying the grace as he moved around the office, and saw Chris's bemused expression.

  "Um, Cori?" I turned to look at Siab who also had a funny expression on her face.

  "Yes?" I started to look down to make sure I hadn't spilled coffee on myself.

  "You know that they have their own names and you don't really own them, not as much as you think. The law pretty much regards them as eternal children. Your responsibility, but with the understanding they can make their own choices."

  "Oh," I muttered. I knew I should have spent the time researching but everything had seemed like too much effort. I swallowed, sure my face had flushed. "I just ask him?"

  "I think so. I mean, I don't have a familiar, obviously. But the people I know that do have them say they already have names and personalities. But he is very young. Is he eating?"

  "Yes. Though that food budget is going to kill me," I muttered. But I didn't really mind.

  "Then ask. The worst he can say is nothing or tell you to choose."

  The cat and I hadn't really talked much. I'd been tired, he'd been tired. He'd eaten and slept more than I had. This was the first real activity I'd seen from him. Either way, I felt ridiculous, but I cleared my throat.

  "What is your name?"

  The cat wasn't paying any attention to me, batting at something under Niall's desk. I was about to go pick him up and let him know I was talking to him, as I had no idea how the telepathy worked. I needed to read that book as soon as I got it.

  ~Carelian.~ That same rough male rumbling voice in my head. It felt so odd, but so right it caused a shiver down my spine.

  "That's your name? Carelian?" I didn't get any response other than a mental purr of affirmation.

  "Interesting name. I don't think it’s a word in any language I can think of,"
Siab noted. "But he is adorable."

  I watched the butt wiggle as he attacked a bug that had the audacity to wander into the area. Already I wanted to make sure he was okay. I didn't have a chance to follow up on that feeling as Alixant walked into the office followed by Niall. Alixant had a scowl on his face that made him look more like the gargoyles on the churches than an agent.

  "I hope you know how many problems you created," he growled, eyes locked on me, then flicking to Carelian.

  "What did I do?" I went on the defensive, my arms across my chest and staring at him still standing in the middle of the office area.

  "Your little emergence destroyed any evidence we might have had and gave the perp time to get away. So we have nothing." He all but snarled the words at me.

  I snarled back. "Well, so sorry a weird rare thing happened to me. But since I'm pretty damn sure it saved all those people, I’m not very sorry."

  "And just how many more people are going to die because we didn't catch him now?"

  "I don't know but you probably wouldn't have caught him anyhow. You've got nothing to go on."

  "Actually, we might have a few things." Siab interrupted our glare fest and I turned to look at her, almost tripping over Carelian who at sat my feet, tail whipping as he stared at us. How did he get there where it seemed like he had been under Niall's desk not a second ago?

  "What?" Alixant sat down at the table, while Chris grabbed his laptop and got ready at the conference table.

  "Your familiar?" Niall whispered at my shoulder and it took everything I had not to jump. I hadn't noticed him come up behind me. I turned around to look at him and nodded slowly, somehow expecting an attack. He just looked at the cat for a long moment, something like longing in his gaze, and nodded. "Neat." Before I could even figure out how to respond, he'd settled down at the table with a notebook.