Page 26 of Love the Way You Lion
I haven’t seen her that happy since—well, since before the winter.
“You do not understand. Broody Taurus is never a good thing. Until her? Yeesh.”
“I know what a moody kitty’s like and trust me, the foundations rock.”
“I’m familiar with the ground shaking. What can I say? We’ve got us a pair.”
I scratch my chin. “Well, I do. If you do, I must have missed something.”
She blinks and then bursts out laughing. “Shit, I am tired—that slid right past me on the first lap.”
“I’m being a smartass.”
“That’s not the most intelligent area of your body.”
Scowling, I growl. “I’m smart from toe-up, thank you very much. Sheesh, tell a bird you love her and she has a license to question your intelligence.”
“I can attest to the smart mouth, but, baby, you’re matching wits with a master now. You may as well toe up. As a consolation prize, though, I’ll tell you I love you again.”
“Ooh, I like that prize.” I pull her down for a kiss.
Lifting her head, she grins. “I love you, but I’m going to need a nap. Today’s taken the wind right out of me.”
“You can do me up all improper later, love. Rest now.”
“That sounds good, baby.” She yawns and wraps around me as I carry her to the couch. I might have to think about a bloody bed in here.
Who would have thought?
The Cat Distracts Herself
DELILAH
Islump into the battered leather chair, a sigh escaping me as the door clicks shut behind Sari. The whole tête-à-tête was exhausting—the kind that leaves your soul feeling frayed at the edges. She had been all apologies at first, her words dripping with a sweetness that felt more like syrup laced with arsenic than genuine remorse.
But that didn’t last—she didn’t call me there for apologies.
The pandering followed, each sentence carefully constructed to remind me of old times, our friendship, the adventures we’d weathered side by side. But beneath those honeyed phrases lay veiled passive-aggressive jibes, tiny barbs meant to prick my conscience, to awaken some dormant sense of duty that would compel me to change my mind.
“Deli, I only said I wasn’t going on the quest because of you,”she had said, her voice quivering with a cocktail of anger and desperation.“You know this is important to me, and now I’m going to resent you for holding me back.”
Her words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. I could only stare at her, incredulous. Was she trying to paint me as the villain in her twisted narrative? The one who’d strap her down and keep her from her precious, ill-advised mission?
“I think you’ve gone off your rocker this time, Sari,”I murmured, almost to myself, the fatigue from our argument settling deep in my bones. Her eyes had flashed, a storm brewing within them, but she simply turned on her heel and left without another word.
Now, alone with my thoughts, I can’t help but wonder if there’s any coming back from this. If the Sari I knew—the one who would laugh until tears streamed down her face, who would throw herself into danger to save a stray kitten—was still in there somewhere, or if obsession has truly consumed her.
Pacing the length of my living room, I feel like each step is a silent refusal of Sari’s manipulations. The idea that she can push me into something so abhorrent is laughable, if it weren’t so damn serious. I pause at the window, gazing out at nothing in particular, and murmur to myself, “To quote a rocker, I’ll do a lot of shit for people I love, but I won’t do that.” My reflection in the glass doesn’t waver.
I wantnothingto do with this hare-brained plot—not one damn thing.
My hands ball into fists as I replay the accusations thrown at me again. In Sari’s skewed vision, my steadfast refusal paints me as an awful friend. She claims my struggle to cope with Wilde’s death and her mad quest to bring him back from the grave means I don’t value our bond—or the love we supposedly share.
“Preventing her from being happy,” I scoff, the words bitter on my tongue. As if happiness can be plucked from the depths of necromancy.
Congratulations on keeping up with Deli-ashians, babe.
Sarcasm drips from my thoughts as I consider how Sari and her deceased mate have been a cloud over my life for a year now. I stop abruptly, shaking my head. No more of this ‘one answer, no gray area’ bullshit. I refuse to let her dictate the terms of our friendship or my morality.
