Page 4

FOUR

damien

D o normal people take their familiars to the library?” I asked Willow, following behind her as we walked the path to town.

I could have teleported us if I’d had full use of my magic. But then again, if I’d had full use of my magic, I wouldn’t have been here, walking behind the witch.

“No.”

Somehow, that wasn’t as annoying as it had been before. Especially now that I could actually talk to Willow. I had startled her yesterday, but she seemed to have gotten used to me talking now.

I’d been on this path before, but everything felt new walking beside her. The little bell on my collar jingled when I moved, something I’d been steadily ignoring for weeks.

“So… How exactly did you end up stuck as a cat?”

“I told you. A witch cursed me.”

“Mhm.” She bit her lip, a motion I’d noticed she seemed to do often when she was deep in thought. “And what did you do, exactly?”

“Who said I did anything?” I walked faster in front of her so I could jump up onto a short wall, sitting on it and staring at her.

Willow rolled her eyes, continuing to walk down the path. “No witch would curse an innocent man.”

“But I’m not a man, remember?”

It was her turn to come to a screeching halt. “Are you telling me someone found out you were a demon and then did this to you?” Her eyes looked almost… concerned. I didn’t deserve that.

“Something like that.” I couldn’t explain to her why I was in the human realm, why I’d been out where a witch could curse me in the first place, but when you boiled it down, that was what happened.

“And no one’s come looking for you? No one’s… worried about you?” Her eyes were glassy. And how strange was that? That this little witch was concerned for me?

I shook my head. No one would come looking. My half-brother wouldn’t give a second thought to my absence as long as I completed my task.

“Come on,” Willow said, scooping me up into her arms. Cuddling me like she had before work yesterday, even though she knew what I was now. “Library is just around the corner.”

“Why are you carrying me, little witch?” I muttered, tilting my head up to look at her. “I can walk just fine.”

“Shush, beastie. I don’t want them to think I’ve gone completely nuts.”

She scratched my head, and I let out an involuntary satisfied meow in response before settling into the hold.

I… didn’t hate it. Maybe it was because it was her? I had razor-sharp claws in this form, and yet I was perfectly content letting her carry me into the library, nuzzling my face into the crook of her elbow.

I didn’t perk my head up again until the smell of old books entered through my nostrils. The library was dark, densely filled with books. It almost felt like there was an other-worldly presence in here. I wondered how many witches had studied here, learned magic here.

“Willow!” A young man’s voice called out, and I felt the hair stand up on my back.

For whatever reason, I didn’t like other humans talking to my witch. Huh .

“Oh, hi, Simon,” Willow said, the warmth clear in her tone. I didn’t need to look at her to know a smile curled over her face.

“Who’s this?” The redheaded boy—who could have been no older than his early twenties—pushed up the glasses onto the bridge of his nose, looking at me.

I hissed, bearing my teeth at him.

“This is my new cat. I couldn’t leave him home,” she said, wincing. It surprised me at how easily the lie slipped from her lips.

Though maybe she didn’t trust me. I would understand why.

“I see.” Simon’s lips spread into a fine line as he looked at me, before turning his attention back to my human. “Is there anything you need help with today?”

“No. Just doing some research.” She looked down at me, and I chirped, the sound passing through my lips unintentionally. “I promise he’ll be on his best behavior.”

I meowed in response, narrowing my eyes. Yeah, as long as you don’t keep looking at her like that, young wizard.

“Damien,” she huffed, her voice low as we headed towards a table in the back. “You’re going to get me in trouble.”

Rows of books surrounded us on either side, keeping us out of eyeshot from the other patrons. And, hopefully, out of hearing range too.

I jumped out of her arms, landing in front of the table. “I didn’t like how he was looking at you.”

Willow deposited her bag onto a seat, draping her coat over the back. “He’s my friend. I’ve known him since I was a toddler. Goddess help me.” She rubbed at her temples. “Now, you stay here. I’m going to go see what I can find on curses.”

“You don’t want me to come?”

I found I didn’t like that, either. I wanted to stay by her side. Protect her. Even if I weighed ten pounds, I still had sharp claws. And pointy teeth.

If anyone threatened her…

“You don’t think it’s going to look weird if I wander around the library talking to my cat ?”

“Mm. Point taken.” Laying down, I curled my body up into a ball, resting my head on my paws so I could still watch her.

“Don’t hiss at anyone else,” she warned me before taking off in a blur of orange and brown. The hit of her sweet scent—like coffee and vanilla and something else— caught my nose.

There was something satisfying about that, just watching her. Every so often, she’d disappear from my line of sight, and then she’d return to our table, depositing another handful of books. I stayed quiet, just a few meows of acknowledgment. I couldn’t help but notice how her face lit up when she brushed her hand over my back, and the way her eyes sparkled when she rubbed that spot in between my ears.

I already hated the thought of leaving her. It was strange, the affection I felt for this human. This little witch. Despite having just met her, there was already a sense of familiarity and ease.

And not just because she was so delicate with me, even though she knew now that I wasn’t actually a cat.

Willow sat down with another pile in her hands and I perked up. “Anything good?”

“Shhh.” She looked around, her eyes widening before turning back to the book. “Don’t talk to me. It’s bad enough that I brought my cat to the library.”

“Not a cat.”

She reached over and scratched under my chin, that involuntary purr coming from my chest. Like she was proving to me I was exactly that. I’d been stuck in this form for too long.

I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t do that.”

“Then let me focus.” Willow turned back to her pile of books, grabbing a new one out. “I’m trying to help you, after all.”

Although I hated to admit it, she was right, and I sat there and watched her work while wishing I could be more useful. I lacked any real understanding of how witchcraft functioned beyond what I learned in the demon realm. Crystals, herbs, candles, potions—that much I knew. Not how their magic worked. Not the things that might actually make a difference here.

“Did you find something?” I asked, peeking over at the book she’d buried her nose into.

She shook her head. “I don’t know yet.” Looking down at my paws, she sighed. “I’d ask you to help, but…”

“No opposable thumbs,” I agreed. “It’s probably the worst part of being stuck in this form for the last month. That and being stuck in the shelter with only that horrible kibble for food.” I scrunched up my nose, making a disgusted face. I hated that stuff.

She froze. “What?”

I cocked my head to the side.

“A month? You…” Her eyes grew wide. “Gods. Fuck. That’s… awful. I’m sorry.”

Doing my best cat-equivalent of a shrug, I curled back up on the desk, watching her read a book labeled The Little Book of Curses and Maledictions for Everyday Use. She’d already set Witchcraft: Hexes and Curses and Magic Spells To Curse Your Enemies to the side. There was a pile of books in her discard pile, too, with similar names, that she must have deemed useless, barely taking the time to flick through them.

Something about the names made me want to chuckle. The titles were so on the nose. What else did I expect from a town of witches?

It could have been worse, I reminded myself, if she hadn’t rescued me.

Because at least now I had a chance. My few experimentations with my magic in the shelter hadn’t proved fruitful—except for finding Willow.

Is this better? I said into her mind.

She jolted upright. “How did you—” Willow blinked. “Did you just say something?”

Yes. I kept my eyes focused on her, watching as her green eyes grew rounder.

“But… your lips didn’t move.” Her voice was a hushed whisper as she leaned down closer to my fuzzy body. “Can you hear what I’m thinking, too?”

I snorted. No .

She looked relieved that I couldn’t hear into her thoughts, and I wondered what she was hiding underneath her warm smile. What thoughts were so private that she wanted to keep them only to herself?

Besides, the only demons that had that ability were ones who had found their mates. That mind-link between a bonded pair. I wasn’t one of the lucky ones who had.

“The problem is,” she declared, slamming her book shut, “that I don’t know what curse was placed on you. And that’s crucial to the undoing of it. Which means…”

Willow took a deep breath. Stood up and paced around the table, deep in thought. The muttering under her breath only intensified as she seemed to work through whatever problem she was having.

“Unless I… No.” She pinched in between her brows. “I’m going to have to brute force it. If I untangle the threads…”

You… What? How?

“You really don’t know a lot about witches, do you?”

Probably as much as you know about demons, I thought sarcastically.

“Fair point.” She sighed. “A lot of these books say the same things. There are a few different methods we could try. But I don’t think you’re going to like them.”

Try me. I’d do just about anything to get out of this form. To stretch my actual legs again.

She flipped back open a book, pointing at the passage on the page. “ Simple Curse Breaking Spells ,” Willow read off. “One. Let a source of living water carry it away .” She raised an eyebrow, and I shook my head.

“I’d rather not.”

“Two. Take a purifying bath with a blend of salt and?—”

“I think it’s safe to say anything involving water will also involve my claws.” I hissed out, retracting them as if in demonstration. “The longer I stay in this form, the more catlike my reflexes become. It’s… involuntary.”

Willow nodded. “I can try this spell, but for best success, I would need to know who cursed you. Then I could bind them and stop the curse at its source.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“What?”

“Going after the witch who cursed me.”

What if you get hurt? I didn’t like the idea of her risking herself for me.

“I—” Willow’s cheeks pinked. “Well, I’d be okay. I can handle myself.”

Oh. I hadn’t realized I’d projected that last thought into her mind.

She cleared her throat. “Besides, I don’t have to find her necessarily, just… know her presence? Even if you just show me your memory, I think that would help.”

I hesitated. If she saw the memory, she’d know too much.

The witch who’d cursed me… Fuck. She’d been a seer. I was looking for a powerful one, and yet… I’d almost fucked everything up.

I was just lucky the curse she’d cast on me hadn’t fully worked. If I’d fully become a cat, losing all access to myself and my powers, I would have lost my mind. I would have been stuck in this form for all of eternity.

“So let’s try the spell. What do we need?” I’d do anything to keep her away from that memory.

She scanned the list. “I think I have almost everything—except a belonging of yours. And some black salt. But we need to do it on the full moon, too.”

“When’s the full moon?”

Willow gulped. “Tomorrow.”

Which meant if it failed—I could be stuck as a cat for a whole extra month. Still, it was worth it.

“Let’s do it.”

My little witch nodded, scooping up the few books she’d selected into her arms. “Let me just check these out with Simon, and then we’ll run into town to get the other things for the spell. Do you think you could get something of yours?”

I paused. Something of mine? I barely had anything to my name. Was anything truly mine ? Not my title, nor my position. Even the clothes on my back weren’t my own.

But there was something. I just had to go get it. “Leave it to me, little witch.”

She gave me a sad smile, and I instantly wanted to make it better. To soothe her fears.

I couldn’t do that as a cat. Couldn’t take her beautiful face into my hands and promise her everything would be okay, not yet.

But after she fixed me, I could.

And that was the thought that sent me scurrying in search of the only thing that belonged to me. Something no one else had a claim on.

Something I’d hoped to one day need, but not for this.