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“Clawds? Clawds!” Winnie picked me up, and I heard her whispering, “Oh fuck. Oh shit. What have I done?” She lay me down on what I assumed to be the sofa. “Okay, okay, it’s going to be okay. Oh god, Clawds. I’m so sorry.”
Breathing became difficult, and I cried out,Why, Winnie? I can’t move. Please, help me, I can’t move. I can’t see. I can’t breathe. Help.
I heard her sob. “I’m so sorry. You don’t need to apologize. This is all my fault. I’m going to make it better.” Her magic pushed against me, and my tail twitched, my eyes blinked, and my lungs filled. Relief flooded me, but I still couldn’t move.
There was a sudden bang as the front door slammed open. Winnie and I both jumped, and she haphazardly wiped tears from under her eyes.
Mary fought her way into the house, panting and dragging something behind her. My eyes took in her bedraggled appearance. Her hair was matted with mud, and huge sections of her usually slicked-back ponytail were now hanging around her face. Her makeup seemed to have melted away, leaving her face a red, blotchy mess. Her clothing had also been ripped. The black pleated skirt was torn in a zig zag slit up the side and revealed the silk underskirt. Her vest top looked undamaged but, like her hair and face, was covered in mud.
“Next time, you get to retrieve the demon,” Mary growled at Winnie and continued heaving and pulling something toward the garden.
Demon? I thought dazedly. She retrieved a demon? My brain clapped, and two thoughts became entwined, and I knew exactly what was happening. As she heaved past me, I saw what she had caught in a large magical net—Savida.
He was struggling. Black wings flapping, his enormous body rolling and pulling and squirming. I almost felt sorry for Mary, who was being battered as she tried to pull him along. His eyes met mine for a moment, and he stilled, his face confused. He mouthed my name, and I meowed pitifully. I could only flick my tail, even as I tried my hardest to move, willed my body to work, pushed my energy to my paws, and pulled magic from my witch.
Winnie didn’t notice. She was questioning Mary. “You look awful. What happened?”
“Your tracking spell worked, even without his name. He was in the men’s wear section, holding a bunch of clothes. When Charlie and the other one called, I captured him and wrapped us in an invisibility spell. I had him spelled to sleep, but it wore off too early, so the last ten minutes back were a struggle. It was lucky we thought to bring the extra magic, because I didn’t have enough magic reserves for four spells at once.”
“I’m so sorry. I should have gone instead.”
“We needed you here to deal with your familiar. She can’t get help this way.”
I managed a small hiss.You are not the person I thought you were.Winnie magicked my bacon so I wouldn’t see or know what she and Mary planned and get help. She knew how I would feel about this. She heard the venom in my thoughts and winced, her eyes filling with tears.
My anger bubbled under my skin, forcing my fur to stand on end. I wasn’t concerned about Winnie’s feelings. Only her betrayal. And that pain was feeding into my energy. My paw twitched at the thought of biting and scratching Mary. The evil witch.
Mary stopped to open the back door and stared at Winnie. “Have you been crying?”
“No.” Winnie looked away swiftly, but Mary grabbed her face and squeezed her cheeks between her finger and thumb.
“Winnie, I can see your face. What the fuck are you crying about? Have you seen the state of me? Have you seen what I’ve been through to get this far? You haven’t got anything to cry about, and you can’t back out now, so don’t even think about it.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s nothing. I’m fine.” She wasn’t looking her in the eye.
“You can’t use the ‘I’m fine’ trick. I’m female too. If you’re crying over that damned cat—”
Winnie interrupted on a sob. “She won’t forgive me for this, Mary. We shouldn’t have done this.”
No, you shouldn’t have.
Savida interrupted, suddenly sucking in a breath and screaming, “Let me go. Let me out, you evil Lagworms!”
“Thanks, Win. You distracted me enough that my fucking silent spell broke.” She pulled the net out into the garden, with Winnie following, wringing her hands. I tried to follow. I pushed with all my power, and my paws moved. With only determination and a broken heart, I crawled toward the garden.
“You will pay for your crimes! When my friends find me, you will be sorry!” I heard Savida yell.
Mary spat viciously. “Shut up. No one is coming for you. They won’t find you.”
“Not find me? I’m in the garden next to Charlie’s. He will find me.”
Mary laughed. “It will already be too late for you by then. We’ll have taken your fire and left.”
“My fire? Why would a human need my fire? You have a soul of your own.”
“You don’t need to know the answer to that.”
I was regaining my energy, my body responding to my commands but not quickly enough to jump next door and hope that someone could save Savida. As I pulled myself onto the patio, I took in the scene in front of me.
