Page 98 of Traitor Witch

"Meet Titan." Val's self-satisfied smirk just makes what's coming all the sweeter. "I decided we needed a ship's dog to deal with a certain pest."

His tone makes it clear that the pest he's talking about is Opal.

I glower at him.

"If Opal makes him submit, you take us to Idos."

He doesn't even blink. "Done."

I hear Nos's chuckle behind me.

Titan gets to his feet and examines the innocent-looking cat now sitting three feet away from him.

The instant Titan growls, Opal shifts. Going from house-cat to tigress in a matter of seconds.

Her growl is louder.

The mastiff bolts, heading for the space behind the stairs like his tail's on fire.

"What the fuck is that thing?" Val roars, chasing after his new dog with a scathing look at me.

Opal shrinks back to normal, makes a tiny mew of satisfaction, then pads over to Elsie, demanding the strokes the Solar was just giving to Titan.

"Where's your familiar?" I ask Elsie, only now noticing her lack of one.

Normally, all witches are chosen by their kittens at thirteen. White cats for Solars and black for Lunars.

That Opal is a grey tabby is an anomaly, but I've never questioned the Goddess's judgement.

"The mages started slaughtering cats for being bad luck." Elise shrugs but her fists are clenched. "There weren't any left by the time of my thirteenth summer solstice ceremony."

"Maybe on Idos..." I trail off.

I've never heard of a bonding happening so late.

"Yeah, maybe." She trails off, abandoning Opal in favour of helping Val coax a terrified Titan out of his hiding place.

When the mastiff emerges, Val glares at me. "Why did no one mention that the cat is a shifter?"

Suddenly all of the other men have somewhere else to be and it's just me, smirking at the bondmage.

"If I may, Captain, I'd like your permission to perform a blessing for the journey," Elsie pipes up.

Ugh. Solars.

I may vomit.

Val just looks suspicious. "How much?"

Elsie frowns. "The Sun Goddess frowns on charging for her services."

Of course, his eyes go straight back to me, accusation lingering in their depths.

I clench my teeth. "I'll be in my cabin. Tell me when we reach Idos."

Hopefully, Elsie won't have given away everything by then.

Chapter Twenty-Six