“There’s only one way to find out,” Mesmer said. “Stay!” His eyes speared me, and he sent me a look that said he meant business.
I nodded, wide eyed. Of course I wasn’t going near the huge cat! What was I, crazy?
Mesmer slowly walked toward the cat, his rock body the only thing that kept me from being terrified he’d become kitty chow. If the catdidattack, I was pretty confident Mesmer would be fine. I didn’t even think a tiger’s claws could scratch him. His rock skin could literally repel bullets.
He got a few feet away and stopped. I could tell he was talking to the cat in a low, soothing tone, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
“That’s not a normal cat,” Rhys whispered, grabbing my hand. “There’s a magical aura coming off of it.”
I squeezed his hand. “Could it be a shifter?” Tiger shifters were a thing, right? And if they were, I really wanted to meet one.
He shook his head. “Different aura. I think,” he paused. “I think it’s a witch’s familiar.”
I was close enough to the cat to see when it made eye contact with me, ignoring Mesmer. My insides tried to make a break for it to my outsides, and my whole body flushed warmly. Like the cozy warmth I felt in front of a fire with the soft sound of a rainstorm outside. Oh. My. Gosh.
“I think, could it bemyfamiliar?”
“But you’re an empath!” Rhys protested. “Empaths don’t get familiars. You’re not a witch, wizard, or mage.”
“Umm.” I cleared my suddenly dry throat. “Draven said I might have more to my bloodline? He knew I was an empath, but he didn’t know if I would have another source of paranormal, because we don’t know who my parents are. I could get my empath abilities from one side of the family, and something different from the other side, or even the same side, for that matter. Genetics can be a confusing mess.”
Rhys scanned me from head to toe, obviously looking for clues to what other sort of supernatural I could be, but I had no patience for this. Not when I might get my very own tiger! I wanted to get closer. I tried to drop Rhys’s hand and catch up with Mesmer, but Rhys refused to let go, obviously trying to protect me. I ended up dragging him through the sand, towing him toward the tiger. Mesmer was still speaking to the cat in low tones when I came level with him.
He held a rock arm out, preventing me from getting closer, and gave me the stink eye for not listening and staying put where he’d left me. I shrugged sheepishly, and his face softened. Aww, the big guy always forgave me. Even when I made it difficult for him to protect me. I patted his hand and squeezed his bicep as I poked my head around his huge body and looked at the kitty cat.
The tiger was black and white, but not like the white tigers I’d seen before. This one looked like it had a black body with white stripes. Even then, it looked like his black fur was sprinkled liberally with white fur. His ears (or hers?) were black but tipped with white. His huge paws were black with tufts of white in patches sprinkled in, and his tail was all black. The markings on his face were beautiful. Right above his eyebrows were white stripes that ran up in zigzags. And other than the tufts of whiskers which had some white on them, the rest of his face was black. His eyes were a medium amber color. He was gorgeous!
“I don’t think he means you harm, Miss Mia. He seems very calm to me, and very intelligent.” Mesmer glanced at me. “I get the feeling he was waiting for you.”
“Umm.” Deep breaths. In. Out. “Ok.” I nodded. I stayed behind Mesmer at first as I tried to speak to the huge animal. My body trembled, both from excitement, (tiger!) and fear.
“Hey kitty. Are you looking for someone?” I asked, my voice as high and squeaky as a chipmunk. If I was trying to prove how brave I was, I was failing epicly.
I suddenly felt a warm body flatten themselves against my back and I shrieked in surprise. Rhys and Mesmer were on either side of me. That meant someone I didn’t know was behind me, holding me close to them.
“It’s just me,” said a voice that made my stomach flutter.
Draven.
Wait, Draven!
I turned to push him away, back toward the villa. “Draven, the sun is up! You can’t be out here!”
He stilled my pushing hands with his own. “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “I’m old enough now that only full sun can do anything to me. It shocks me a bit like an electric charge. Anything less, and it just feels like a soft scraping against my skin.”
“Shocks you?” That didn’t sound pleasant.
He cupped his hand over my elbow and nodded. “Sticking your tongue to a 9 volt battery is the closest I can describe it, except all over your skin, and stronger.”
I shivered. Eww. That would be a heeby-jeeby feeling.
Draven nodded at the big cat. “I sense this guy belongs to you, Miss Durran. Mesmer and I will be here if we’re wrong, but I’d like you to get closer so we can know for sure. If he is, it’s an enormous indicator as to the depths of your talents. Only the very gifted mages and witches need a familiar to help ground them. We may not know what else you are yet, but if he’s yours, we’ll know that you’ll likely be very powerful.”
I took all of that in, but still saw one glaring problem with his suggestion. I folded my arms over my chest and scowled at him. “You know tigers hunt by snapping down on the carotid artery, right? I’d be dead in moments.”
Draven flashed me a wicked smile. “I’m faster than I look.”
Ignoring the flutters in my stomach from his smile, I grumbled at him, but did as he suggested. I kneeled down in front of the tiger, and the rest of the guys backed up to give us some space.
