He glanced at the little witch on the bed, at the way a hint of drool made its way onto her pillow. “No.”
“Are you sure that’s not the bond talking?”
“Yes.” Felix’s voice was strained, clipped. It was a fair question, but it still made him want to throttle him for asking.
Ciro made a low whistling noise. “Touchy.”
Felix ignored him. There was no way she had anything to do with this—someone else was pulling the strings. Were there other shifters on the island? Were they bound to witches like him? Whether it was the goddess or someone else entirely, he intended to find out who was behind this. It was already personal, but this was a war against the shifters. They needed to solve the fucking riddle so he could question the goddess. It sounded insane. It also sounded like the most solid lead he’d had all week, which said a lot about his week.
Felix stiffened as the little witch stirred, rolling over so her back—her very nice back—was to him.
The dry drag of a cigarette came through the line. “Someone on that island knows something; you need to find out if there are others and how the fuck they’re making them disappear.”
“I’ll investigate.”
“Be careful. Eimi would murder me if something happened to you. She’s already been hounding at my door every goddamn hour for an update.”
The corner of his mouth pulled up. The small cat shifter was his rambunctious sister, hisactualsister. “Tell her I’m fine, but for the love of god, don’t tell her where I am.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t, she would storm the island herself.”
The line went dead, and some of the tension unspooled in his chest. It was good to hear from someone familiar. It grounded him in the insanity that had been the past few days, and Ciro, as insufferable as he was, had been it. Felix rubbed his temples.What a shit show.There were too many variables, too many questions.
Felix decided to be logical, just like he would in any mission. He approached it the way he approached everything—methodically, before the frustration could eat him alive. Theonly lead he had was a fucking talking tree, which was laughable on so many levels. But it was a start.
She still slept soundly, and he decided that now would be the best time to try to find some answers. He crossed to the window, unlatched it, and shifted. The sandstone bricks offered enough ledge to navigate him down without breaking anything. He bled into the shadows of an oak tree, his magic near invisible, and slipped past the enforcers who were conversing amongst themselves.
“Transfer students are coming tomorrow,” a red-haired enforcer said.
“Really? Where from?”
“Lloer, Abermôr, Talgarth”
“Lucky bastards. I didn’t get to go anywhere until I graduated.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m meant to meet them at the ferry tomorrow to escort them.”
Interesting.
No time to stay and chit-chat, Felix had places to be. He peeled away from the tree, sticking to the shadows and?—
“Hey!”
Fuck.
Felix froze, one paw hovering above the ground. He turned his head slowly to see the auburn-haired enforcer jogging toward him, his fox familiar running after him. He didn’t move. Running away would likely be suspicious, as familiars only had one mode, and that was blindingly obedient to witches. The other enforcer’s hand moved to his rifle, a subtle movement, but one Felix definitely noted. He only had one option.
“What are you doing here, little kitty?” the enforcer said.Barf.The indignity. He crouched to Felix’s level while the fox circled him with obvious curiosity. “Bit late for a midnight stroll,don’t you think?” He grabbed hold of Felix’s collar and read the nameplate.
“You’re Avery’s new familiar, aren’t you?”
Fuck.
He had no choice but to do the most degrading thing he had ever done in his life.
He meowed. Pitifully.
The enforcer’s expression immediately softened. “Poor little guy, must have gotten lost.”
