Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

At the end of Sawyer's story, two things happened: the night ended, and not much more was revealed to either of us other than something hinky was going on. Apparently Grandmother had cast the same memory-locking curse on Sawyer as she had on me, and that meant only one thing.

I'd committed the Hawthorne cardinal sin of bonding a familiar.

Sort of. There wasn't the traditional bond I should feel with him. Neither of us could communicate telepathically, we couldn't share large amounts of magic, I couldn't see through his eyes. And yet, there was something irrevocable between us. We decided to take the win and move forward instead of losing ourselves in the what-ifs of the past.

The tabby tomcat knew more about the outside world than I did, about the hobgoblin raids, the disappearances of magical folk, and how to resuscitate the Hawthorne hearth ember. Well, that last tidbit of information he'd gotten from Ame, but he trusted her completely, so that made me willing to give the elusive caliby a chance.

"Go to the farmhouse by the apple orchard to recharge the ember."

I'd tsked when Sawyer had recited Ame's words. What farmhouse? What apple orchard? Such like a cat to be elusive with information.

Well, it was a good thing I had a fieldtrip planned for today, and it was an even better thing that Sawyer knew the way there. The ember had been weak before I'd even gotten my literal hands on it, but it had freed so much of my curse. If we could revive it to its full strength, there was a possibility I could free myself from my curse today . Ossian would be thrilled!

"Hurry now," I told the tomcat presently, retrieving the moonstone collar from where I'd flung it. "Breakfast is shortly after dawn and we're going to need every daylight hour we can get to go that far and get back in time before dark." My magic might be unlocked enough to fuel the Rabbit Step Spell, but I could probably only do it once and not for very long.

Sawyer wrinkled his nose at the sight of the collar but dutifully lowered his head. Both of us understood—somehow—that it would make him dumb but that our physical touch could revive him. It was essential that he wear it, for if he was ever discovered, it might be his saving grace. First, because a moonstone collar proved a cat was simply a cat and not a glamoured fairy or something more nefarious, and second, because it had my name on it. As mate to the fae king, I was sure to be granted some leniency there.

Biting my lower lip, I slipped the collar over his head, running my fingers under the gold wire to flatten his fur beneath it. He blinked amber eyes up at me and said, "I don't feel any different."

The breath I'd held trapped in my throat exited in a rush. "That's good! You didn't seem ‘dumb' to me when you first showed up wearing it, so maybe Grandmother's curse hadn't been as thorough as we thought. Whatever we have between us must've protected you. Still is." I stole a moment for a reassuring scratch behind his ears then glanced out the window at the lightening sky. "Okay, now in you go."

Sawyer's ears flattened as I opened my foraging bag. "Déjà vu says I didn't enjoy this before. Something about having a sticky bottom."

"It doesn't have a sticky bottom," I argued, a little offended. "I spelled it to remain clean and to keep everything fresh like the… moonflower pods." I clutched my head, swaying slightly on my feet.

"Another flashback?" the cat asked gently. They'd been coming in droves since we first touched. Sawyer pouted. "Seems you're getting more than me."

"I am older than you, you know. Got more of them rattling away up there."

"Do you want to tell Ossian? I'm not thrilled about his anti-cat decrees, but he sounds like he really cares about you. Maybe—"

"No!" I slapped a hand over my mouth, startled at my own vehemence. Swallowing, I dropped my hand. "No, he already treats me like I'm made of glass. This would only add to his overprotectiveness. He'll think it'll make me vulnerable and he'll want to fix it. Then it's good-bye courtyard, good-bye friends, and hello solitary confinement. Or worse, training with his assistance." I shuddered at the memory of those striking copper tentacles. "Absolutely not. You, and these resurfacing memories, are our little secret. I'll… just hide it better. Or something."

"Or something," Sawyer echoed. "What about the owl? It's obviously his minion."

The owl had been hit pretty hard on the head. It hadn't even twitched when I'd gently scooped it up and laid it in the overstuffed chair by the eastern window. I figured it would be warmer there than on the floor, and with it braced against the back of the chair, it wouldn't roll off and hurt itself when it woke. Whenever that was.

"I'll tell Ossian its services are no longer required. But, just in case, we'll keep you in the bag until we're sure it's gone tonight."

Nodding, the cat finally wormed himself into the foraging bag. He batted this and that out of the way and made himself comfortable. "Okay, seal it up, but leave me an air hole. I'm not usually claustrophobic, but sneaking around in the walls and ceiling has made me a little more antsy."

I zippered the bag until a hole the size of two half dollars remained. If I braced my hand on the base of the strap where it met the bag, I could stick my pinky and ring fingers inside and touch his head. Even gently pinch one of his triangular ears between them. The contact was reassuring, for both of us, and the cat hummed with happiness.

"Keep it down," I whispered from the corner of my mouth as I strode down the hallway of the east wing to the foyer. Sawyer's purrs emanating from the gap in the bag seemed to echo against the arched ceiling and were only getting louder. Or maybe it was my own paranoia amplifying their effects.

"I haven't had anyone scratch behind my ears in forever," he moaned.

I stilled my fingers then, but Sawyer only scooched around, trying to scratch himself.

"Quit moving. It looks like two ferrets cage fighting in there."

"But I have itches! Plaster dust is worse than burdock burs," he complained.

"And why were you in walls anyway? Were you pretending to be a mouse?"

He wormed around until one amber eye stared up at me through the hole like I was an idiot. "Of course not. We were hunting the mice in the tunnels, not pretending to be them. We had to get them all before I made contact—couldn't have them running off to tell the fae king that we were there, now could we? It had already taken us weeks to figure out how to get into the castle and into the east wing without being seen, and Ame wasn't going to let all that work go to waste because a mouse ratted us out."

All beasts obeyed their king, and mice above all others would be the first to go running to Ossian that there were cats in the castle. "How'd you even get inside without being seen?"

"We used your chimney," he said proudly. "The mortar was crumbling higher up, so we wiggled a brick out and then the hunt was on."

Well thank the Green Mother I hadn't been able to successfully light the fireplace! I could have set the entire ceiling and roof on fire! It would've caught all the air in the tunnels and—

I paused just outside the great hall double doors and yanked the foraging bag up to my face so I could hiss, "You said there were tunnels? In the walls?"

"Loads," Sawyer replied. "And peepholes too. Far more in the east wing than anywhere else, which is so weird since it's only you in there."

"Do you want Cernunnos to find out? He's got eyes and ears everywhere no doubt."

The honey badger had been right! But why was Ossian spying on me? Was he spying or just making sure I was okay?

"H-he's just being cautious," I murmured. When I tried to convince myself of a reason why he was being so cautious in his own castle that had the same amount of wards around it as Hawthorne Manor, I came up empty.

"Are we getting anything to eat before we sneak out?" Sawyer whispered, startling me from my unsettling thoughts. "I'm starving."

"Yeah." My voice wavered. "Stay quiet now. Ossian's not the only one in the great hall." I gulped, feeling the old fear come back. "There's a bear in there too."