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And with another flash of pain, I was a cat.
“You did it!” Zaide crooned, and he untangled me from my human clothes and stroked my glorious fur. “You are a wonder, Clawdia.”
I meowed, agreeing.
“Now you just need to practice turning back.” I bit his finger, and he chuckled. “Yes, I will give you time to rest first.”
* * *
The front doorbeeped open in the late afternoon, and Charlie walked in. He collapsed on the sofa and lay his head on my lap. Instinctively, I stroked his forehead and hair.
I took in his handsome face, his eyes pinched closed. “How did it go?” I asked softly.
“Big news. I’ve got a cousin.” I heard the confusion he felt in his voice, the contradicting emotions that were battering him, as well as the stress of saving Savida.
Still speaking softly, I said, “That is big news. How do you feel about it?” I continued to stroke his hair, letting him know I was there for him. Despite having a soul pair in Zaide, I still liked Charlie. I found him attractive, and I cared for him. More so now that this had shown a less grumpy side to him.
I was battling my own contradicting emotions and knew how draining it could be.
He sighed. “I think we need to save Savida and get us to a remote beach before I process my feelings. Preferably with a cold beer in hand.”
Zaide and Daithi emerged from different rooms, having heard that Charlie had arrived, and came to join us in the living area. Charlie opened his eyes and watched as they sank into other chairs. He glared at Zaide and pointed. “What the fuck is that?”
Zaide was taken aback and looked down himself, searching for whatever had affronted Charlie. “I don’t know what you are referring to, Charlie.”
“You’re wearing a red t-shirt.” We all stared at him in confusion.
“Yes,” Zaide drawled. “Is that wrong?”
“Zaide, you don’t wear red when going to the boss battle. Anyone who has watchedStar Trekknows that.”
Zaide frowned. “I haven’t watchedStar Trek.”
“Zaide, take off the shirt. It’s tempting fate too much. We’ve had enough bad luck without that.” Charlie sighed. “It’s not your color anyway. Red and gold makes me think of a phoenix or a dragon.”
“I don’t have any other clean ones,” Zaide pouted.
Charlie rolled his eyes. “Do the sniff test. I’m sure one of them won’t kill us.”
I frowned. “Charlie, that’s disgusting.”
“Ah, there’s the 100-year-old lady I’ve been waiting to meet.”
I glared at him and saw Daithi twitching out of the corner of my eye. He had been patiently letting us banter, but he was ready to burst with the need to know what Charlie had learned. “You are stalling. Tell us what happened,” I said.
He sighed and sat up, explaining everything Lydia had told him and then how he met his cousin, Simon.
“So basically, we need to get our shit together, make a plan, and find Savida’s fire before they start the ceremony,” he finished.
Daithi shook his head. “You said they were setting up this afternoon, so there is no chance of going early and being undetected.”
I added, “And Debbie has set Winnie and Mary on us. They are going to be ready for us. They know what you all are. If Winnie doesn’t fulfill her sworn promise to Debbie by stopping us all when she sees us, she dies, and so do I.”
Charlie nodded, then stood and clapped his hands. “Okay, so the plan is everyone goes. Clawdia will tell us how close or far Winnie is, and with her, is Mary. Hopefully, we can just scoot past them. If she can’t see us, she can’t find us and stop us. Loophole. Daithi will have us disguised. We all run in the direction of the ceremony since they’ll have to have the fires close, ready for the ceremony. Daithi will distract the witches while we cause hell, grab fires, and run.”
We were quiet, knowing the plan had a lot of flaws, variables, and difficulties. But it was the only chance we had. We were all going to take this last chance to save the demon, who was light and happiness. To save the person who’d placed me on his head and played with me. Who was outraged when I was hurt and betrayed by Winnie. Savida didn’t know me as a human, but he was still my friend.
“We won’t save that many demons,” Zaide muttered into the quiet.
