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What an absolute shit show that was. We were down one demon and one cat-turned-human familiar, and I was pretty sure the friendship of the remaining two otherworlders was about to implode.
After the car carrying the witches and Clawdia left, the magical cage we were in disappeared. None of the other tourists milling about seemed to have noticed the commotion, which was one bit of luck I appreciated.
We got into the car hoping to chase them but, of course, couldn’t find them. After using so much magic, Daithi was drained. Angry and frustrated, he stared out the window.
Zaide looked at me with his heartbroken eyes and said, “I think I know already, but what does ‘topped herself’ mean?”
I whispered softly and honestly, “It means she killed herself.”
And that was fucking devastating. That Clawdia was so desperate or depressed in a time when mental health wasn’t a thing that she took her own life, only to become a familiar 100 years in the future. I was heartbroken for her and suddenly understood all the panic attacks, the sensory overload, the self-hatred. I could tell Zaide understood, too.
Now I was full of regret.
Why the fuck didn’t I apologize about last night?
It had been a long day of traveling. I was tired, and having gotten so close to her while she was ill, looking after her, made me want her to stay human even if I lost my furry companion.
But now I knew how complicated being human was for her.
I didn’t get to hear the full story. I’d barely talked to her about her life at all before they had stolen her from us. Was it being stolen if you chose to leave? She might have walked away, but with all the confusion, maybe she didn’t have the emotional capacity to make the best decision and she was, in fact, coerced and stolen.
Fucking witches.
We drove back to the apartment in a silence as cold as Frosty’s snowy balls.
When we stepped into the living room, I addressed the argument that was about to start. “Look, I know some serious shit just went down, but let’s just remember we are all friends, and we need to work together if we want to get Clawdia and Savida’s fire back. Okay?”
Zaide whirled on his feet. His white braid whipped around him, and his scars pulsated with his anger. Spittle hit my skin as he roared, “It is not okay, Charlie. My soul pair is gone. Taken by the witches because she feared death by Daithi’s hands.”
I took a deep breath and checked my body. I was pretty sure I hadn’t shit myself. If anything was going to do it, it would be a titan screaming at me.
He pointed a finger at Daithi, who stood casually against the breakfast bar as though he hadn’t said it was an acceptable loss to kill Clawdia along with Winnie.
Daithi, uncharacteristically, rolled his eyes. “I was calling the witch’s bluff. I would not kill your soul pair. Even if she has been sabotaging us in order to get back to her witch.”
“That was taking it too far,” I told him. Watching Clawdia drop to the ground, gasping for breath, was horrible. My heart lurched, and I’d wanted to save her, protect her.
But it was the grieving faei who was the perpetrator, and I didn’t think he would go that far. I glared. If Mary hadn’t cast her spell and trapped us, he might have killed them both.
Neither Zaide nor Daithi paid me any attention as they prowled toward each other like cats with their hackles raised. Their fight was with each other, and it had been brewing since Savida disappeared.
“She has not been sabotaging us,” Zaide insisted. “She might have wanted to be a cat again and to be with her witch, but she wouldn’t have—”
Daithi hissed, “You cannot know that for sure; you have only just met her, and you cannot judge her true character.”
“She is my soul pair. She is the other half of my soul, and it is not a dishonorable one,” Zaide roared, and the glass of water on the table quaked, tiny ripples moved across the surface. Like the sign of a T-Rex coming inJurassic Park. Only it wasn’t a T-Rex; it was a far more pissed-off titan.
The quiet that descended was a welcome one, and I hoped the argument had ended. But of course, Daithi had to open his fucking mouth and ruin it. “Maybe she is not dishonorable. Maybe she is. What I can tell you is that, with all her hysterics and drama, she is as useless as wet wood. I suppose in that, you are both well suited.”
Oooooo, burn.
I cursed the little voice in my head that was thriving on the chaos and eating popcorn like it was a spectator sport. Zaide didn’t deserve that.
Zaide gasped, and I saw the hurt puncture his confidence. His shoulders slumped. The problem with arguing with a friend is that they know where to hit you with their words, and the betrayal of that can be worse than any physical jab. “Neither of us is useless. She told us where Winnie was. I—”
“Yes, you saved her from a threat. Well done. That is the first useful thing you’ve done in years. But you rescuedher. You have not put nearly the same amount of effort into rescuing Savida.” Daithi continued his assault. “My love is lying fireless, Zaide. Have you forgotten Savida already? Your mind is so taken up with thoughts of your soul pair that perhaps you don’t remember your friend. I will be the first to tell him of your treachery when he is reunited with his fire.”
Zaide scoffed. “I hope he can hear you right now. It would disgust him. You’re hateful.”
