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Rustling came from below, and I glanced down at the ginger cat with three legs rubbing herself against a nearby shrub. She must have lost one of her front legs at birth or in a fight, but it didn’t stop her from attacking lizards and bugs. The first time she’d appeared, she’d been skin and bones, so I’d fed her every night, and now she was plump and healthy. Luckily, she wasn’t noisy and never grabbed the gargoyle’s attention.
“Hello, princess. Look what I have for you. Yummy fish.” I jiggled my hair. I figured it was easier to capture her this way then go down there and chase her without the gargoyle noticing. Plus, with my injured foot, I wasn’t sure I had it in me to climb down the tower.
The cat lifted her head and sniffed the air, then pounced on the snack. I jerked my locks upward, but she missed, as I’d pulled up too fast.
Take your time.
I lowered the bait once more. She prowled closer, crouched low in hunting mode. Perfect.
A quick shake of the morsel.
The cat leaped after her meal, and I lifted my hair. She captured the treat with a claw, getting caught in the fabric, and I held my breath.
Yes.
I wrenched my hair up, one arm after the next, drawing her up to the tower. But halfway up, she bucked and fell into the bushes.
“No!”
She stood there amid the bushes, chewing on something. The fish. I’d never tried getting the cat in the tower before because I’d had no reason to, so maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d hoped.
“You dirty scoundrel.” With a sigh, I drew my hair up and tied another piece of fish to the end, then dropped the tresses out the window again. She’d eat all night if I continued to feed her.
Once again, I shook the offering. She attacked the swinging meal, and right when she jumped for it, I towed her up fast. That time, she panicked, but her claws were caught, entangled in my hair. She kicked and thrashed, twisting herself around my tresses like a fishnet capturing a mermaid.
“Don’t struggle. I won’t hurt you.” In haste, I pulled her toward me. She fought and growled. I beamed with excitement because part one of my plan was falling into place. Now I just prayed to the heavens the rest worked out as easily.
“Come on, princess. I have something delicious for you to drink if you come inside.”
You sound creepy when you say it like that.
“Oh, keep quiet.”
The feline hissed, and I drew her through the window without hesitation. Her claw swiped the air, catching me on the arm, and I flinched, dropping her. She sat there, stomach flat to the floor, her eyes round discs peering out from the tangle of my golden hair. Blood bubbled on my arm and already the flesh itched.
In haste, I shut the wooden shutters. The room glowed from the candles I’d lit up across the fireplace mantel.
The furball screeched and tossed about in my hair. I leaned closer to release her from the tangled mess, but she burst free and spun to face me. Her ears peeled back and her lips curled over her fangs. Her menacing yowl echoed through the tower.
“Okay, look, sorry for taking you, but it’s just a temporary thing. All right, I’m lying, as I’m not sure how this will go, but I need your help. Please. And in exchange, I will feed you and you can live here. I’ll build a ladder so you have a spot to stay when it rains.” I clutched at straws, guilt pulsing through me for drawing a poor cat into my problems, but we weren’t that dissimilar. Both alone, imperfect, and desperate for survival.
“I won’t harm you. How about I get you some food?” I shifted toward the kitchen, but she recoiled against the chair holding the bowl of herbal water. At that exact moment, the bowl rocked forward, and the contents splashed toward the cat, who glanced up with her mouth open, mid-meow.
The concoction hit her face and fell into her gaping mouth. I lunged toward it, arms stretched outward, catching the bowl with half the spell remaining. “Shit!”
The cat darted under the bed, and my heart beat rapidly.
Drink it now too, or you’ll waste the opportunity.
I gulped the water. Grittiness assaulted my tongue and tiny bits got stuck in my teeth. But I swallowed the briny, soil-tasting drink, and held back the gagging reflex.
Smacking my chest, I spat out a chunk that clung to my throat. A tiny piece of…What is that? Please don’t let it be a bone.I inspected the thin stem near the candle and heaved a sigh of relief. Only a twig. I stumbled onto the chair, my foot pinching with pain, and my stomach gurgling.
From beneath the bed came popping and noisy sniffing… not sounds a tiny feline should have made.
“Are you okay under there?”
A piercing ache stabbed me in the gut, and I clasped my arms around my middle. Panic swirled in my chest. I’d drank the spell without a second thought. What if I’d done the incantation wrong? My scalp itched, and I tore at my head, unable to stop as the insatiability had me gritting my teeth.
“Hell!”
The orange furball scrambled out from under the bed, screeching as she crazily scratched herself. She clawed behind an ear with such vigor, she fell onto her side, and I realized “Princess” wasn’t a girl at all. Geez, he had huge, round… I gawked and looked away. Not that it mattered when we resembled chimpanzees doing the itchy dance.
She…Hemeowed and glared at me with that look of what-have-you-done-to-me?
“Sorry, this is new for me too.” I raked my nails across the back of my head, relief lasting mere seconds. Heat bubbled in my chest, and I sweated like a beast, so I flipped open the window shutters. The cool breeze did little to help, but when a tingle started at my spine and climbed upward, I froze.
I exchanged glances with the ginger cat when golden sparks danced across his back. And at once, a lightning bolt zapped in from the heavens and struck us both in the chests.
Thrown to the ground, I writhed and screamed as my vision darkened. What the fuck was the spell doing?
