Chapter 14 – Clawdia
CHAPTER 14
CLAWDIA
I crouched in the bushes, catching my breath while scanning the area. Portal magic was hard. Really hard. The adrenaline at knowing I had to face my past must have prevented me from feeling the full effects last time. That, or healing the shadow portal had done more damage than I knew. Either way, I panted as though I’d run a mile in a bush only a short distance from the hunter compound as my portal vanished in a flash of blue behind me.
First things first, I need to be a cat.
Stripping off my clothes, I shivered as the wind brushed my naked body, and I hurriedly packed my clothes into the plastic bag I brought with me. The sun was rising, so there was enough light to see a hole at the base of an enormous tree trunk in which I shoved the crinkling plastic bag full of clothes and covered it with surrounding rocks and leaves.
Taking a deep breath and doing a last check around, I used the last vestiges of energy to pull my human self inward and shift into my familiar fluffy form.
As I shook out my fur and stared happily at my paws stretching in the dirt, I instantly felt calmer and warmer.
Now, how to get into the building?
The metal walls of the compound reflected the early light of the day, making it look like a big shiny box, and my keen feline eyes picked up the distant figures of guards chatting as they stood outside a small door. It didn’t look like an entrance, since there was no access from a road or path. The grass clearing in front of it was only a few meters long before the grass met the forest and trees.
Maybe I can get these guards to help an innocent kitty cat?
Mischief stirred inside me as a plan formed, and I smiled to myself as I jumped up the tree and crawled across the branches toward the guards. I wasn’t the most inconspicuous of cats, but I was high enough and quiet enough for them not to spot me. When I could see them more clearly and hear their conversation, I settled on my tree branch to listen.
“He’s gone, then?” the taller man asked as he scanned the area, his stance rigid, as though danger lurked just beyond the tree line.
The slightly shorter man nodded as he leaned casually against the warehouse door and said, “Left in a hurry about a couple of hours ago.”
He wasn’t as serious as the other man, but he was still armed, and that made me hesitate in my plan. These men, hunters, knew about magic and might be suspicious enough to shoot a cat and ask questions later.
“Thank fuck for that,” the serious one muttered.
The long hair of the other guard whipped at him as the wind picked up, and he laughed. “You don’t like him. How unusual for you.”
“Fuck you.” His gaze moved from the area for the first time to glare at his colleague. “I like people.”
“Mickey, you like maybe three people. Me, my mom, and Dad.”
Mickey? It didn’t suit his serious nature. He looked more like a Michael.
Michael shrugged, but his lips twitched as his eyes turned back to the landscape. “Not my fault everyone is an arsehole.”
“I’m not listening to you rant about him for another hour.” The other man rolled his eyes and sighed. “I get it. You don’t understand where this guy has come from, and no one is letting you close enough to him to question why he has the authority he does and why we are capturing now instead of killing. Blah blah.” He waved his hands and stood up straight, staring at his friend. “But why should you be the one to ask him? We have leaders for that. They trust him, so we trust him. That’s all there is to it.”
Michael rubbed his short hair roughly and sighed, his seriousness disappearing for a moment. “It’s so easy for you, Jack.”
“Should be easy for you too, but you have a suspicious mind.” Jack’s eyebrows raised as he eyed his friend. He lowered his voice. “Probably because you can see the power beneath the masks. I’m not saying I don’t understand, but I think you just need to calm down with it.”
See the power beneath the masks? What does that mean?
Michael scrubbed his face. “There’s a lot of energy buzzing around these days. It’s making me irritable.”
He can feel magic? How? Why would he be a hunter? The vision of Fafnir in the hunter hall and Nisha’s words, rang clearly in my ear. There was a supernatural who didn’t know they were supernatural to be a sacrifice. To prove that the dragon only harmed supernaturals.
It can’t be him, can it? I couldn’t have found him so soon. And what should I do? Do I risk my plan to save him from his fate? Does he deserve it? He’s still a hunter, and would he do the same for me? Probably not.
Jack nodded. “We have a dungeon full, so I suppose it’s easy to see enemies everywhere. And did you see that dragon on the island? It was huge!”
Michael chuckled lightly. “You enjoy this too much.”
“Can’t help but admire something I’ve only read about.” Jack’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “You need to see the footage! I promise, your eyes will pop out of your head. The guys had to shoot it to get it to drop the titan.”
They rescued Zaide from Fafnir’s clutches? I couldn’t help but be a little relieved, even knowing my golden giant was suffering in their dungeon, but it was better than the dragon draining him. I hoped.
The mention of Zaide distracted me enough that I didn’t notice when a bird hopped closer to me. I certainly noticed when it bit my tail, clearly after some of my lovely fur for a nest. I couldn’t stop the pained yelp that escaped me and turned fast—too fast—to swot at it. But I lost my balance and fell from my tree branch.
I clawed my way onto the tree to prevent hitting the ground entirely, but I made too much noise, and it didn’t go unnoticed. I turned my head to see both guards, hands on their weapons, staring in my direction, but they hadn’t quite spotted me.
“What was that?” Jack whispered.
“Sounded like an animal,” Michael replied quietly, but he moved toward me, and I panicked.
I scrambled down the tree and, although it pained me to do it, rolled around in the mud to dirty my glorious coat. And as footsteps crunched toward me, I turned to face him and hissed.
“Oh. It’s a cat.” He stopped suddenly, surprised, and then bent and offered a hand. “Here, kitty. Are you hurt?”
“What are you doing? It could scratch your eyes out … or give you fleas.” He moved toward us.
Michael whipped his hand back in a stop motion toward the other guard, and I flinched and hissed. It wasn’t an act; he genuinely startled me. “Don’t leave the door unguarded.”
“You think it might be a distraction?” Jack whipped his head around back to the door and quickly stepped back to his spot. He hissed, “Then why are you over there with the cat?”
“I think it might be hurt.” He shuffled closer to me, and although I hissed again, it was weak, less angry, and more frightened. The perfect combination to make his brows pinch in concern and his body stiffen. “It’s not her fault someone hurt her.”
“Her?” Jack’s brow quirked.
He smiled at me and said, “She’s too pretty to be a boy cat.”
Flirt. But the feline inside me approved, and I relaxed and lay down.
“Leave it and get back over here,” Jack called.
Michael snapped his head in Jack’s direction and moved his hand away from me. “Why? Can you see something?”
Jack chuckled. “No, I just can’t bear seeing you simp over a cat.”
“I thought you said I needed to spend more time with females.” Michael’s smile widened, and he scooched a little closer until his fingers brushed my head.
It was only then that I realized I might have made a mistake. If this man could sense supernaturals, then maybe he could sense I wasn’t the innocent feline I was pretending to be. But as his fingers wrapped around the skin at the back of my neck, I tensed and panicked before wriggling and trying to claw his hand as he lifted me up.
His assuring words and shushing weren’t calming until he held me in his arm, tight against his chest, while his other hand brushed over the bite on my tail. I yelped again.
“Women. I told you to fuck women,” Jack replied and frowned as we approached him. “What are you doing?”
“We’re off duty in ten minutes, and then I’m bringing her in to check her out.”
I gave a pitiful meow as I fluttered my lashes in Jack’s direction. I was aiming for sympathy, but it backfired. “It’s meowing, so I think it’ll survive out here without you interfering. Even if it wasn’t a distraction, you still can’t bring it into the compound.”
“Why? I’d know if she was something magical. Shifters aren’t so small, and a familiar can’t do anything anyway.”
I tried not to tense and alert him, but I felt like my blood froze in my veins and my thoughts turned into chaos. He knows. Or does he? Wouldn’t he throw me out if he knew I was a familiar? Or is he just sure I couldn’t do any harm? Considering how vigilant and serious he was guarding the door, I wasn’t sure he’d allow an unknown into their den. But maybe he loves cats?
“You’re sure that’s a good idea? No one else has any pets.”
Michael hand stroked my head, and I couldn’t help but lean into it. “Maybe I’ll be the first. We’re here for the foreseeable, aren’t we?”
“What’s gotten into you?” Jack snapped. “This is the wrong pussy to go gaga over.”
“I just want to make sure she’s not hurt, and then I’ll take her to a shelter. Okay?”
“Fine. But I had nothing to do with this. This is all you.” Jack smirked and looked back at the unmoving trees.
“They won’t believe that.” Michael shrugged. “But you’re free to tell whatever lies you want.”
“Fuck you.”
The door opened, and the men stepped aside as two more hunters came out into the early morning.
“Quiet night, boys?” one asked and then spotted me in Michael’s arm. “What the fuck is that?”
“You’ve never seen a cat before, Brian? They don’t exist by you?”
“Fuck you. I just want to know why it’s in your arms. Where did it come from?”
“She was in the trees, but I think she’s hurt, so I’m going to check her over and then take her to a shelter. Is that okay with you?”
“Don’t need my permission. Enjoy your beauty sleep. You need it.”
“Hope your shift is more entertaining than ours.”
“I might get a pet myself.”
“G’night,” the other called as we went inside.
I congratulated myself on successfully executing the first part of my plan, but as Michael carried me through the boring gray halls of the hunter compound, I had to wonder what I should do now. I still didn’t know where they were keeping the witches and Zaide. I didn’t know if Mary was here for her to recognize me, and I didn’t know if I was going to help this man survive whatever the hunters had in store for him.
While I tried to concentrate on remembering the way through the corridors, there was no decoration, all the doors looked exactly the same and didn’t have any labels on them, and they all seemed evenly spaced too so as we walked through multiple nondescript corridors, I knew it was useless to try. I wouldn’t recognize a thing on my own.
Which means I’ll need his help. But how can I get him not to immediately kill me?
Eventually, we reached a tiny room with a double bed pressed against the wall. He set me down, then sat on the bed next to me and began taking his boots off. I took a moment to look around. There wasn’t a thing out of place—no clothes on the floor, nothing littering the chair or desk in the corner and only a lamp on the bedside table. It was completely without personality, which didn’t help me in forming my opinion on him.
“I’m going to have a shower before bed. Stay here,” he told me and headed through a door opposite the bed. I froze and waited until I heard water running before I shifted.
My heart racing, I stepped off the bed and immediately began looking through his drawers for a weapon of some sort. I needed something I could protect myself with in case this was a trick. But after rifling through pairs of underwear, clothing, and the odd wire, I opened the last drawer ready to be defeated, but then I pulled out pink fluffy handcuffs. I side-eyed the bathroom door, trying not to imagine what they might have been used for, and just as I was about to put them away, I paused.
They weren’t a weapon, but they could prevent him from hurting me. And then what, Clawdia? You’re going to talk him into abandoning his cause? He’ll just agree to help you free your soul pair?
But as the sound of the water turned off, I panicked and threw the handcuffs back in the drawer, closed it, jumped back on the bed, and shifted before Michael opened the door in a cloud of steam with only a towel around his waist. I looked away to lick my paw. It felt disloyal if I noticed how muscular and fit he was as he pulled out underwear from the drawers I’d just raided. When he moved his towel from his waist to rub his hair, I closed my eyes, refusing to peek at his naked body as he dressed.
The mattress gave under his weight, and I opened my eyes to see him staring back at me.
“I’ve never seen a cat with purple eyes before,” he muttered, and I looked away, partly because an actual cat wouldn’t keep eye contact. He didn’t need other reasons to think I was different. “Let me look at your tail.”
He picked me up before I could escape and began running his hands over my tail to the tender area. I was healing, but I was tired, and it was slower than it usually would be. And lucky too, because I was sure this astute hunter wouldn’t miss it.
I let out a small hiss as he pressed on the wound the evil bird inflicted, and his voice was soft as he said, “I’m sorry, pretty girl. It’s not bleeding, though, so that’s good. What happened, huh?”
I meowed pitifully.
“I won’t keep messing with it, but if it still hurts when I wake up, I’ll take you to a vet before I take you to a shelter. Okay?”
He placed me on the floor, tossed the covers back, and crawled into bed. I frowned. He’d lost points for putting me on the floor instead of sharing his bed. I glared at his back. Is he actually going to sleep? Does he really believe I’m just a cat?
If he doesn’t know I’m a familiar, then maybe I don’t need to rescue him from the hunters, and since I don’t know who the supernatural is, I can’t feel bad about abandoning them to their unfortunate fate.
When Michael didn’t move for a solid five minutes, I folded my paws under my body, assuming the loaf position, and allowed myself to relax. I am tired. I’ve used so much magic. A little nap before I handcuff a hunter to his bed will be good for me.
Before I knew it, I was asleep and arriving in another dreamscape. I almost groaned. I just wanted to turn off for a moment and actually rest, but it seemed someone else had different plans for me.
But this dreamscape wasn’t Nisha’s living room. It was Tartarus, the same place where I first met Baelen. The green grass and the bench, the flowers. As I turned around, I spotted my golden giant standing with his back to me as he looked up at the night’s sky.
“Zaide!” I called and ran toward him, my heart beating out of my chest. All the fear and worry for him turned to relief at the sight of him. He turned in time to catch me against his chest, and I stroked it repeatedly, assuring myself he was really here and safe. “Oh my lord, I’m so glad to see you.”
His thread was a dark orange, and I gasped, “You’re hurt. Are you okay? What am I saying? Of course you aren’t okay. Just hold on for me please, I’m here. I’m going to get us out of here.” Before he could get a word in edgewise or stop me, I began healing him, pouring energy into his thread.
He pulled my hands off him, his expression dumbfounded. “What—What do you mean? You’re here? They’ve captured you?”
“No, I’m not captured. I’m here to save you.” His brows relaxed slightly, and he pulled me into his arms. I stroked his hair and nuzzled into his neck as I wrapped my legs around his waist, holding him so tight it would take the gods themselves to part us. I whispered, “I won’t leave you to be hurt.”
“You shouldn’t be near the hunters. Nor should you have healed me. You should be safe, away from me.” He pressed his lips firmly against my head. “But I’m relieved to see you here. Feeling our bond so empty has been torture.”
I squeezed him again before unwrapping my legs, and he set me down. “Maybe it’s working again now. I’m inside the wards at the compound. Maybe that’s why we can dreamwalk.”
“Perhaps. Either way, I thank the gods for being able to see you again. I don’t want to be separated from my little cat ever again.”
“Once I get you out, I’ll have Baelen find us some enchanted chain so we can’t ever be parted again.”
“I look forward to it.” He stroked my hair back as he whispered, “Where’s Baelen? Is Charlie truly a dragon?”
A figure emerged from the mist behind Zaide, distracting me from the question. A figure with blazing red eyes.
“Baelen,” I gasped and pulled Zaide to greet our soul mate.
I captured him in a tight squeeze, Zaide at my back pressing me even closer to our soul mate, his arms around us, locking us all together. My heart felt full. I took a moment to breathe in the scent of Baelen as he rumbled, “Zaide. Clawdia. I’m so glad to see you both safe.”
Baelen caressed my hip while pressing his other hand against Zaide’s thigh lightly. He soon pulled it away when Zaide stiffened and asked incredulously. “You aren’t with her? She’s with the hunters alone?”
“She portaled away from Elizabeth in the middle of the night, which is the last thing I heard.” Baelen glared at me, and I looked guiltily away. “Until now, I didn’t know where she was.” He gripped my chin and moved my face to meet his furious gaze. “You thought it was a good idea to face the hunters alone? To rescue Zaide without our help? You didn’t think to tell Charlie and me where you went?”
“Clawdia, you promised you wouldn’t leave again.” Zaide’s sad eyes felt like a dagger to my heart. “You promised. Why do you keep putting yourself in danger?”
“You will need to be punished,” Baelen announced.
“Punished?” I gasped. “I know I worried you, but I had to come. If I waited for you and Charlie, then we would put each other in more danger, especially since Charlie’s brand-new to shifting. I am the stealthiest.”
Zaide interrupted, “So, Charlie was the dragon on the island? Not Fafnir?”
“Yes,” Baelen replied and then sighed, “And you may have a point about Charlie. He is rather temperamental right now.”
“Fuck you very much,” Charlie’s voice called from the mists, and we all turned to see him stride toward us.
“Charlie!” I called, overjoyed.
He laughed and ran over, arms wide open, to join our embrace. “Group hug.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as my bonds suddenly felt warm and bright in my soul. I held back as sob as I said, “I missed you all.”
“You didn’t have to leave, you div.” He flicked my forehead before kissing the spot he’d just hurt. He smiled as he said, “But I get why you are. I know the damage an innocent cat can cause, so give them hell, Clawdicat, and get our golden giant out of that place.” His faith in me made the tears I’d been holding back spill over, and I nodded with a shaky smile. “Aw, don’t cry, Clawdicat.”
“I’m just so glad I can feel our bond again. I thought you were dead,” I wailed.
My men squeezed me tighter, and kisses were placed all over my head, neck, and shoulders. With my eyes squeezed shut, I couldn’t tell whose lips were whose, nor whose hands roamed my body. I just enjoyed the feeling of having all my favorite people in the world surrounding me once again.
“You go, I go,” Charlie replied, “But nothing happened. We’re both fine. I’m a little scalier, but we’re all fine.”
Baelen sighed as he asked, “You’re just going to forgive her? Just like that? Did I not hear you threaten to ring her neck when you next saw her?”
“Did I say that?” Charlie asked with a cheeky smile. He cupped my face and squished my cheeks before turning us to Baelen. “Are you really going to look at those big eyes and tell me you want to stay angry?”