‘Fuck off.’ Slasher spoke quietly but there was no denying the steel in her tone. ‘Stay away from my house and stay away from my children. I don’t want thatthinganywhere near us.’
‘She’s not a thing,’ I bit out. ‘She’s a person.’
‘Come within ten feet of my property again and I’m calling the MET,’ Slasher hissed at Keres, who was standing at least twenty feet away. She whirled around and stomped up her path and into her house.
‘The MET won’t do anything,’ I called after her. ‘They don’t lock people up for simply existing!’
If Slasher heard my words, she didn’t respond and simply slammed her front door closed. It was ridiculous.
‘You’ve only made things worse,’ Keres said mildly. ‘She’s all riled up and scared now. You’ve not helped at all.’
Unfortunately, I knew that she was right.
Chapter
Five
We returned to our earlier silence. I didn’t know what Keres was thinking but, for my part, I was musing on different ways I could have approached Slasher to make her see that her reaction to the ban sith was unmerited. Thus far, I was coming up short.
As soon as my garden gate came into view, I spotted She Who Loves Sunbeams. My old darling was stretched out on the top of the wall and living up to her name. Dave, meanwhile, was standing in his garden with a mug of tea, scowling up at the blue cloudless sky as if its very existence offended him.
I glanced at Keres’ stoic face. Uh-oh. There was no way Dave would manage to keep his mouth shut about my latest house guest. This could get ugly.
Tiddles scampered ahead and vaulted over the gate into the garden. She Who Loves Sunbeams lifted up her head and yawned. Her nose twitched and she glanced at me, then her gaze landed on Keres. Her whiskers quivered and, in an instant, she was on all four paws and arching her back.
I stiffened. My old cat was laid back: she didn’t react to werewolves, she could rarely be bothered to bat a paw at passing wildlife, and she enjoyed a placid, carefree life. I had never seen her arch her back like this, and I had to do a double take to ensure I wasn’t seeing things. There was no doubting it: She Who Loves Sunbeams was terrified of Keres.
‘Wait here,’ I muttered to the ban sith and hurried forward. ‘Darling,’ I said, ‘there’s nothing to be afraid of.’
I wasn’t sure She Who Loves Sunbeams heard me. Her pupils were enlarged, wide black circles that indicated every ounce of the fear that was currently attacking her. I stroked her, trying to smooth her hackles but it didn’t work.
In the end, I scooped her up and carried her through the garden and into the house. Once Keres was settled in the empty flat upstairs, I’d let She Who Loves Sunbeams outside again. It seemed safest for everyone if she was contained, but I couldn’t deny how much her reaction worried me.
I dropped her onto her favourite cushion, repositioning it slightly so that a shaft of sunlight fell in from the window. She gave me a long, baleful look of reproach and curled up into a ball, still huffing.
‘I don’t understand,’ I said softly, trying not to allow my concern get the better of me. ‘You’ve been close to ban siths before and you understand what they’re about. You know they’re not to be feared, so why did you react to this one?’
She Who Loves Sunbeams buried her head in her paws and refused to look at me. I frowned at her for a moment then left her in peace. Perhaps she’d feel up to communicating more later.
I checked on the other cats, who were all asleep. I was beginning to suspect that their reaction to Keres would be similar. Next I cast around until I located Tiddles, who had already found her own spot underneath the kitchen table.‘Alright,’ I said. ‘What’s the deal with Keres? Why don’t you like her?’
Tiddles wasn’t feeling any more inclined to answer me than She Who Loves Sunbeams.
‘I know I didn’t listen to you before,’ I told her. ‘But I’m listening now.’
From Tiddles’ sigh, it was far too little too late. I gave up and left her alone. I would have to warn Keres again to stay as far away from the cats as possible. If She Who Loves Sunbeams reacted so badly, I couldn’t begin to imagine what She Without An Ear might do. She was a war-mongering moggy who rarely allowed an opportunity for a cat fight to pass her by.
I headed outside and my stomach dropped when I saw that Keres had engaged Dave in conversation. My grumpy neighbour would give her short shrift; if the likes of Arthur Dinsbury and Slasher hated Keres on sight, Dave would certainly be no different.
I prepared yet again to defend the ban sith as I strode towards them.
‘You know Barton Road?’ Keres was asking.
Dave nodded vigorously. ‘Know it? Once upon a time, I could have told you the names of every single resident on that street.’
My mouth dropped open.
‘Number thirty-two?’ Keres said, arching an eyebrow.
