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The cat brushed her legs and nuzzled under her dress. She shoved the material down and just caught herself from popping his nose. The beast looked up at her and then sat down. All of a sudden, all her fears drained away. She dropped to her knees before it. You don t want to hurt me at all, do you? She reached a tentative hand toward it. The animal brushed its head into her palm, and she began to stroke him, scratch behind his ears, and then kissed his nose. I can t believe I m treating you like my mother s cat familiar. I must be crazy. I m not a cat person, but I like you better than Sil. No, that s not short for Sylvester. Mom named the thing Silvia if you can believe it as if we don t have enough S names in our household. She stopped speaking, realizing she sounded like an idiot. The panther had no clue what she was talking about, and there was still no guarantee that it wouldn t turn on her. But she couldn t detect a threat. Besides that, now that she was less afraid, all the defensive spells that had fled her mind when the cat first appeared came flooding back. She d string him up by his toes with barely a word if he turned violent. So what are you doing around here, darling? Did you escape the circus? Does Jon know about you? She moved closer to peer into the animal s eyes. Did you eat Jon? She laughed at that absurdity. She stood up. Never mind. Come on. You can help me find him. To her surprise, the animal walked at her side. When Serenity was about to make a right turn through the trees, the cat crossed her path and nudged her to the left. She gave into it, knowing she d never win with the direction they chose. Within five minutes, the trees thinned, and Jon s house came into view. Wow, you led me home. You re amazing, boy. Home. The word echoed in her mind, almost like someone had spoken it with joy, thrilled that she had called Jon s house her home. What should I do? Where s Jon? He wouldn t have left me by the lake to come back home alone. And I can t just go inside and wait for him. Something could have happened. Maybe I should go look for him. She spun to head back into the trees, but the panther blocked her path. Move, boy. I have to find him. The panther looked her dead in the eyes and spoke to her mind. It s fine, Serenity. Go inside and wait. She blinked. He couldn t have& She didn t hear& Serenity came from a long line of witches, a bloodline kept pure to preserve the level of power they possessed. That line had never been broken until her mother fell for a regular human man and had been disowned because of it. Still, with that history, Serenity had seen a lot of strange things some she could conjure herself but she d never met a panther such as this. It was as if& as if& he was human. She remembered the night before when it rained and she d seen the panther then. She d heard Jon s voice tell her to go back in the house. Not come back as he pretended to be in the house. The voice had said go back or started to. This time as well, the voice in her head had sounded like her lover. J-Jon? she asked. There was no answer in her mind, and the animal didn t move. Serenity moved to go around it, but again, it blocked her path. She backed away and turned to go inside the house. When she was at the door with her hand on the knob, he called to her. Serenity. She gasped. Too afraid to face him, she froze in place, unable move forward or go back. The rustle of grass met her ears, and then she felt him near, his breath on her hair. Don t be afraid. I won t hurt you. I wanted you to know. Probably should have chosen a better way to break it to you. I don t understand. She shivered, and he reached around her to open the door and conduct her inside. When she was seated at the kitchen table staring at her fingers, Jon moved about the room preparing tea to warm her. From somewhere, she found the courage to speak again. So you re not human at all. No. You re a shape shifter? Yes, that s one of the terms I ve heard. metamorph, mesomorph, changeling, were Were-? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |