“There’s nojust about it. Familiars are incredibly important. We witches do what we have to in order to keep you happy.”
I raised an eyebrow in question.
“So could I be the next Lady Gaga?”
“That would take some talent. You may not have been born that way, but I can sure make it happen.” Merlin paused and flexed his paws. “Is that what you want?”
“No, it was just a hypothetical,” I rushed to explain.
“Careful then, because wishes that size only come around once. There’s a lot of small stuff I can do on the regular, but truly life-changing alterations are a one-time deal.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I promised, still not quite believing all this.
“As you should.” Merlin appeared to be satisfied now. “Come. Let’s begin.”
7
“Where are we going?” I asked as I chased my cat through the house.
Instead of answering, though, he ran through the pet flap and outside.
Hurriedly, I pushed my feet into a pair of cheap flip-flops I kept by the door, then swung the door open in just enough time to see him jump into the birdbath and splash around. I knew Maine Coons liked water, but it was still strange to see him enjoying himself in this way. Back where I came from, cats were cats—they hated water and they definitely did not talk.
“I saw you the other day,” I said as I approached cautiously. “Yesterday,” I amended.
Wow, that felt like a week ago at least.
Merlin stopped splashing and glanced over his shoulder at me.“Yes. And what did you see?”
“You f-fl-flew,” I sputtered, wrapping my arms around myself in a hug. “After a bird you wanted to eat.”
Merlin sighed.“First thing’s first, I did not want to eat him. That guy owed me money.”
I blinked hard.“Money?”
“Yes, money.” He smiled now. “Secondly, I wanted you to see me. It was a test.”
“Test?” A chill ran through me, even though the Georgia morning was already bright and warm.
Merlin rolled his eyes.“Stop repeating everything I say as a question.” He stared me down, waiting for whatever it was he needed from me.
I gulped and nodded, still stuck on the fact my cat used money and that a neighborhood bird owed him some.
“I had to see how you reacted to your first glimpse of magic. Some humans can’t quite handle it.”
“And I did? Handled it, I mean?”
My cat looked me up and down then smirked.“You’re still standing. That’s a good start.”
“What could have happened?” I demanded, quite angry that he would knowingly put me in danger.
“You could have lost your mind,” he said flatly. “Many do. That’s why one must always exercise extreme caution when selecting and testing a familiar.”
“So you mentally break people?” It took everything I had not to yell that. Still, we were outside in the middle of a neighborhood street. If someone happened by and saw me not only talking to—but arguing with—my cat, the crazy train would be at my door by noon, ready to lock me up and throwaway the key.
My cat remained calm, casual, as if he were discussing meaningless trivia and not the very real facts of our lives.“Yes, not everyone can handle the existence of magic. A sad truth.” Merlin straightened and puffed his fluffy chest out. “Anyway, glad you’re still with me.”
“Do I have a choice?”
He chuckled.“No.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“Come closer,” my cat urged, and I immediately did as told.
“What’s this? What are were doing?” I asked, feeling awkward as we stood in the middle of my yard and continued to converse in broad daylight. Seriously, why couldn’t we have done whatever this was inside?
“How to be a familiar, lesson one!” he declared with pride, then moved to the edge of the birdbath, balancing somewhat precariously. “Protect the cauldron at all costs.”
“That’s a birdbath,” I pointed out.
He raised his arm high, then face-pawed.“It’s a cauldron. The source of my power and my connection to the larger magical community. Without it, I am a witch at large. Not a proper witch at all.”
I looked from the birdbath to him and back again.
Merlin sighed.“Lesson two, believe everything I say without question. For example, this is a cauldron. In the olden days, witches used giant black pots. But in the modern era, we use other commonplace items that are easy for a witch to access but go largely unnoticed by others. Observe.”
He walked to the center of the small fountain and dipped his paw in. Instantly the thin layer of water began to glow a pale green, not unlike the color of Merlin’s large eyes.
“Whoa,” I said, the air whooshing right out of me in surprise.
Merlin tapped the water again, and it returned to its normal state.“This is why we cats choose to adopt humans. There is no guaranteed safe place on the streets. We need the guise of domesticity to protect our secrets. And also the shade of night. Naturally, we would prefer to keep away during the day, but it’s easier to hide our true ways when most of you humans are tucked away in your beds.”
I nodded along. Everything he was telling me made sense, now that I thought about it. Everything except…
“What do you need money for?” I asked, still stuck on his revelation about that poor robin who owed him money.
“You’re still stuck on your own world. In mine, we…MEOW!”
“Huh?” I spun my head to see where he was looking and caught sight of a neighbor powerwalking by.
She smiled and waved a hello, and I could swear I recognized her from somewhere. I just didn’t know where.
But then just as quickly as she’d approached, she passed out of view.
I turned back to my cat, whose tail flicked wildly as it hung down from the stone bath.“Watch out for that one,” he growled.
“What? Why? She seemed friendly enough.”
He sneered unkindly as he stared in the direction the woman had gone.“Remember lesson number two?”
“Trust everything you say?”
“Yes. That was Virginia. She’s the familiar for a very troublesome witch who lives on the other side of town. Luna,” he bit out.
“Did she come to spy on us?”
Merlin jumped down from the bath.“I wouldn’t put it past her. Luckily, the cauldron is protected from other magical practitioners and their familiars. Come. Let’s return inside where we cannot be watched by those who would do us harm.”
Harm? It seemed I’d only survived the first of many trials when it came to joining my cat in his magical world, which left one question playing on loop in my mind:WHY ME?
8
“We’re going to Luna’s,” Merlin announced as soon as I’d shut the door firmly behind us. Of course, I didn’t like this one bit.
“What? Why?” I moaned.
Unfortunately, Merlin remained steadfast in his demands.“If she’s spying on us, that means she herself probably has something to hide.”
“We’re going to break and enter based on a probably? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m already a suspect in a murder investigation!” I exploded, and I had to admit it felt good to yell after working so hard to keep it together outside.
“Lesson number two,” he reminded me yet again, and I could already tell that this would be my least favorite of all the lessons, no matter what came next.
I huffed and crossed my arms. He couldn’t make me do something I didn’t want to do… Could he?
Merlin softened a bit.“Look, I know this is all new to you, but you have to trust me. I will protect you. And right now, protecting you means making sure Luna doesn’t try something while I’m working to get my new familiar on board. We’re both incredibly vulnerable right now, which means we must be vigilant.”
He paused to suck in a deep breath here, then resumed in an even more somber tone.“You think human prison is scary? It doesn’t hold a candle to the living horror that is a magical prison. If Luna exposes us, then we’ll both go there with no hope of ever getting out. You get taken to human prison, I can break you out in a blink and help you create a new identity. Trust me, this Harold guy’s murder is the least of our problems right now.”