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“This might be a bit cold,” Naomi warned, and my head tingled as she poured the jar on my hair.
“So, how does a familiar become human?” Karin asked, her chin resting on her fist, her elbow firmly planted on the table as stared at me from the opposite side.
With my hair being played with and my recent commitment to being stronger, I didn’t allow the odd sense I had about Karin to stop me from opening up to these women.
I missed the companionship of women. I missed Winnie. While she’d never be replaced, I wanted a relationship like the one we used to have. Friendship. Sisterhood.
With another swig of my wine, my tongue and mind fizzing happily, I told them my story. They all laughed when I told them how Charlie’s scream made me realize I could be both human and a cat. And gasped as I told them Mr. Jenkins was Fafnir. And giggled as I told them about Charlie and Zaide and Baelen.
“Three men,” Naomi sighed and closed her eyes as if to imagine it.
Natasha chuckled as she put the scissors down on the table. “Naomi, ‘I moan’ is escaping.”
“What?” I asked.
“Naomi spelled backward is ‘I moan,’ so we like to say ‘I moan’ is her other self. The naughty side,” Natasha explained.
Naomi smiled over the rim of her glass. “And Natasha backward is ‘ah satan’ so her bad side is the devil himself.”
I laughed as the steam of the straighteners warmed my scalp. “That’s so fun.”
“Not as much fun as you are having with three men. I want details.” Naomi winked and nudged me as a blush colored my cheeks.
Karin rolled her eyes. “I’m sure an old-fashioned lady like Clawdia isn’t going to want to talk about the details of her intimate life.”
I frowned at the term “old fashioned” but agreed. I didn’t want to talk about sex. Even if it was incredible and life-altering and perfect.
I don’t want to make them jealous. Or for them to look at my men knowingly. They are mine.
The possessiveness in my thoughts surprised me. But I’d never had anything I really wanted to keep before, so it made sense that I was protective.
“Anyway, it’s time to do your makeup,” Karin said and began searching through the piles of things.
“I don’t think I want a lot,” I told her.
“No. You certainly don’t need it.” She gave me an impish grin. “But it’s so fun to play with.”
I smiled. “I used to watch Winnie put on her makeup all the time. She’d do such bright colors on her eyelids. It was like art. I used to ask so many questions about what she was doing, but she never got impatient with me.”
“You miss her.” Naomi gave me a sympathetic smile.
“I didn’t get to mourn her. I woke up in a cave, and she was gone and I was with Charlie and … the dragon … and Baelen.” I cleared my throat and took another big drink of the wine.
“You’ve been through a lot. But you’re safe here. You can grieve.” Natasha patted my arm as she turned off the straighteners and sat next to me.
“I wish she weren’t dead. She didn’t deserve that,” I whispered as tears filled my eyes yet again.
Darn emotions. I didn’t have this issue as a cat.
“No one deserves a betrayal like that,” Naomi agreed somberly.
Karin leaned forward in her chair, her lips pursed as she patted my face with a sponge. “You said Mary cut her throat with a knife.”
Naomi gasped and glared at her cousin. “Karin! That’s so insensitive.”
I frowned at the sudden shift in conversation but nodded. “She did.”
“But why did she do that when she could have killed you to kill Winnie? Or killed Winnie before you all arrived?” Karin asked. She picked up a small brush and patted a brown color with it before stroking it over my eyelids.
