Mister hisses louder.
I think Kayn may be losing his mind. He is quite old, after all.
“He’s just a cat.” I move around him and lean down toward Mister,brushing my hand across his head straight to his tail. “There’s no way that Xeraphine wouldn’t have…” My words trail off as the cat’s head lifts, its piercing slit eyes narrowing into a line before disappearing. “Known…”
“Kairhyse.”The moment his mouth opens and my name filters through, Sydni shrieks. His melodic voice, with an accent that is what my parents sounded like but much,much, thicker, nearly makes me fall back onto my ass. I physically have to lean forward onto my knees to prevent myself from doing so.
He tilts his head, his tail wagging from left to right.“I do apologize for startling you, it took quite a long time for me to retrace your steps.”
Looking between his eyes, I’m searching for the world I fell from. I’ve never heard of a Familiar before, nor have I had a cat talk to me. Shifters don’t speak in their animal forms, and having Brice speak while a wolf was strange enough.
“My name is Aphyllius, but I have come to like Mister. Your friend is right, I am a Familiar to my master, Xeraphine.”
“Master?” Sydni says breathlessly. “What the frick is happening?!”
Shaking my head to break free from the shock I’m in, I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you’ll have to forgive me but, what the fuck… Why didn’t my little demon know about you?”
“It is complicated, as is everything in that girl’s life.”He stands on all fours and begins moving toward the house. When I look up, everyone, including Ismael who looks scared out of his mind, is staring at me.
As if I have fucking answers.
I mouth, “I have no idea.”
“Come, I’ll explain.”I can’t believe a cat just beckoned me.“Now that Xera has been summoned to the Beyond, things have become far more complicated.”
Once we are situated back inside the house, I watch as Mister jumps from the floor, up onto the kitchen island. His movements are fluid, and I’m wondering if I had just not paid attention before. It’s like he’s walking seamlessly through water, slow but methodical. Maybe all cats are graceful, and I’m overthinking this.
“How do you know that Xera is in the Beyond?” Sydni asks. I can hear Kayn letting out a knowing chuckle.
“Us Familiar can connect with our master’s Amoro’s, known as the Common Sight. Unfortunately, the disconnect between Xera and her Demon has kept me from doing so. It was only until a few days ago, I was able to see through her. Unsure what happened, but she now is fully in control of who, and what, she is.”
I swallow and look to Kayn, the knowing expression on his face tells me I’ve not lost my mind. That, and, Mister is telling the truth. “Familiarscan see into their master’s mind, body, and soul—everything from sight to smells to sounds. They become a part of them when they choose to.”
“Exactly.”There’s a brief pause, and a million thoughts, both concerned and angry ones, flood through my head.“You mortals are so easily readable.”He chuckles mid-sentence.“Let me just make this easy. I’ll tell you my story and then allow you to ask questions.”He sounds older, like an ancient being speaking through pages of a history book.
“First,” I cut in before he can get started. “Tell me why you didn’t tell her about what you were.”
He sighs.“She is a complex being, and I knew that telling her what I am would end in her casting me out. She trusted no one, Sydni being the oddity, until you of course.”He bows his head in my direction.“She’d seen me plenty of times before we made our way to Sidence, but to her, I was just a stray feline. So when I chose to stay with her, why would she think anything more than I was just another black cat looking for attention? We’re a dime a dozen.”
I want to know why he decided to move into her life when she arrived in Sidence, but equally so the rest of the story.
My gaze quickly finds Sydni, who is staring, wide-eyed and mouth agape, as she sits onto the couch. Brice and Niyla look equally as baffled. It’s Kayn that doesn’t seem bothered or concerned.
He grins at me. “Luce had one. She was quite chipper, definitely nothing like this guy.”
“Does every Demon have a Familiar?”
My friend nods. “Never thought to ask where hers was. They can be any animal. Luce’s was a white lioness; can’t just go to the grocery store with one of those.”
Mister ‘ahems’us.“Let us not trail off. If I had told Xeraphine what I was, she would not have taken too kindly to it,”he says through what I’d classify as a groan. It’s like a growl, but tiny and nearly a purr.
“Enlighten me. I’m a bit ignorant to her kind, and yours, apparently.”
“I shall start from the beginning, then. Us Familiar are created for our Demons as a presence amongst eternity. No creature truly can live forever, as you mortals are still susceptible to death, she is cursed to live forever no matter how many deaths she succumbs to. It is why we exist.”He does a quick sweep of everyone in the room, maybe checking to make sure we are paying attention, but who knows.“Succubae Amoro’s are awakened at birth, but Xeraphine’s needed persuasion. I do truly believe that if not for her mother kidnapping her at eighteen and forcing it to emerge, she would have lived a Mundane life.”
Silence fills the room. Is he suggesting she wouldn’t have turned to a Succubus? That my little demon could truly have had a normal life if notfor that damned woman?
“I wish I had been there for her, but wishing is for children and fairytales.”
