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I cupped her face and brushed her cheekbone. I could see her eyes getting tired, her blinks becoming slower. “Fate leads Daithi’s visions. If he is meant to know something, his vision will show him. I believe my gods sent him to rescue me, and I’m grateful to them and to Savida and Daithi for doing their work,” I explained.
She nuzzled into my hand but then turned to rest her head on my chest, and my hand fell down her neck to her collar. With her eyes closed, she mumbled, “The way you feel about Daithi and Savida is how I feel about Winnie. She gave me a new life and rescued me from my past. I’m so disappointed in her for doing this, but I love her and want to stop her, save her.”
“I understand that, Little Cat. I don’t blame you for continuing to care for her,” I assured her.
“I’m just sorry my savior hurt yours.”
“There was nothing you could do to prevent it, Little Cat. Fate has been meddling and Savida, it seems, was always entangled in the witches’ plot.”
“It’s not fair.” She yawned. “He’s hunted just because of his fire. It’s wrong.”
I nodded, not that she could see me. “It is. Just like hunting titans for slaves is wrong. The realms have never claimed to be kind, but we must capture as much of our own happiness as we can.”
She was clearly drifting off to sleep, her breaths deepening, evening out. Unable to help myself, I stared at her in wonder and gently stroked her hair.
Suddenly, her eyes flashed open, and she jolted to alertness. “Little Cat, what’s wrong?”
“Zaide, someone tried to kidnap me yesterday. They were taking me into a portal. People have been going missing. You don’t think …”
I finished her thought. “That the human realm is now faced with the same plague of slavers the titans had?” I had briefly thought about the possibility when we were in the car after her abduction and Charlie mentioned humans were going missing, but I was so focused on Clawdia, so glad she was well and with me, I thought little more about it.
“It’s more than possible.” I agreed, and my stomach dropped at the thought of what could have been. “I could have lost you to the same fate I suffered, that my siblings suffered.” I closed my eyes tightly as guilt and powerlessness overtook me for a moment.
“I’m here. I’m fine.” She sat up and placed her hands on my cheeks. When I opened my eyes, she stroked my face with a light, reassuring touch. “We should tell someone. Maybe Daithi knows how to stop them from coming here.”
I held her wrists and shook my head once. “It is late, Little Cat. There is nothing anyone can do until morning. We should say our prayers and get to bed.” She bit her lip, a sign she was holding words back from me again. “What is it?” I prompted.
She pouted. “I don’t want to go to bed.” But I heard the unsaid request, and it made my heart soar.
She doesn’t want to leave me yet. She enjoys being in my arms.
With a calm facade, I said, “Let us gather a blanket and sleep here instead. I will tell you tales until you fall into slumber.”
Lying on the sofa and wrapped in a thick quilt, Clawdia cuddled at my side, her body and legs sprawled half on top of me. I whispered a story about three titans who became gods until I, too, succumbed to the call of my dreams.
CHAPTER25
CHARLIE
The sun peeking through the cracks of the blinds was enough to wake me. I wandered through the room, scratching at my stomach unconsciously, wearing only my boxer shorts, and as I opened the door to the lounge and kitchenette, the sight of Clawdia and Zaide fast asleep and cuddled up on the sofa together greeted me.
Hot jealousy burned through me, and my fists clenched.
She was mine first.I wanted to yell and stomp my feet like a child. I didn’t because I was a grown-ass adult and life isn’t always fair.
It didn’t take a therapist to figure out why I was feeling so possessive. I might have unofficially shared Clawdicat with Winnie, but when she was with me, at my house, scratching my toilet rolls up, she was mine. The only thing that had ever been mine. She seemed as lonely as me and played hard to get with her affections. Her antics made me laugh and cry, and she was a great cuddler in the cold winter nights when we’d binge a Netflix series.
And now Zaide had her. She was his soul pair. He deserved her. No one would love and cherish like a man who’d had nothing. But I knew now that I wouldn’t get Clawdicat back, and I wouldn’t ever get a chance with Clawdia.
I sighed, jealousy and disappointment warring with the happiness I felt for my friend getting what he deserved. I was a mess of soppy, pathetic emotion. So, I did what I did best and compartmentalized. I said, “Not today, weird emotions,” and put them in a storage box in the back of my brain.
Ignoring the happy, sleeping couple, I padded into the bathroom, had a shit, showered, and shaved. I got changed and walked my jean-clad arse into the kitchenette for a cup of tea and some shitty Swedish cereal that we found in the nearest supermarket. After a spoon or two and a scroll through Facebook, I was less irritable.
I’m not me when I’m hungry.
I saw Zaide’s head peep up over the sofa. He spent the next three minutes trying to detach himself from Clawdia without waking her up.
“The bathroom is free,” I told him when he finally walked toward me.
