Page 64 of Waifs And Strays
I drew a deep breath and opened my mouth to swallow the fur. There had only been one occasion in my past when I’d used the fur from a feral cat to affect my transformation and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience, but I’d been young and foolish then and I hadn’t asked the cat for permission. I’d learned thatlesson and never repeated my error. With luck, this time would be different; after all, She Who Hisses had come to me voluntarily. Even so, I crossed my fingers; Nick needed me and I couldn’t spend the next six hours violently throwing up.
I dropped the fur into my mouth and swallowed. For one long moment nothing happened but then the goosebumps started – and hot damn they were intense. My whole body vibrated, buzzing as the magical electricity zipped through my bones and along my veins.
I sneezed three times in quick succession and grimaced at the burning sensation in the back of my eyeballs. A series of spasms ran through my muscles until finally my whole body started to levitate before tumbling and spinning in mid-air.
Relax, Kit, I told myself.Just relax. Although that would have been easier if it didn’t feel like I’d been zapped in the heart with a bolt of lightning.
I collapsed and my new black-furred body landed next to She Who Hisses. She opened one slitted eye then closed it again.
I allowed myself a few moments of recovery. Finally I raised myself up to my paws, stretched and limbered up for what was to come. As I arched my back and pushed my front legs forward, I heard footsteps behind me. I hastily completed my cat yoga and turned to blink at the incomer.
‘Hi, Puss.’
Thane’s deep Scottish brogue had a different quality to my feline ears, but it was unmistakably him. His bright red hair appeared as an odd shade of grey, although his green eyes were more vivid than usual.
She Who Hisses opened her eyes again and hissed at him, even though he’d been the one who let her escape from my house. I didn’t want her to run off so I padded away; fortunately Thane got the message and moved with me.
We stopped at the corner, leaving enough distance betweenus and the ring of potent wolfsbane so that it didn’t affect Thane. He crouched down so that his face was close to mine and lifted his hand. If he tried to stroke me, I’d bite his damned fingers off.
He smiled and lowered his hand. ‘Just kidding,’ he said. ‘Unless you want me to rub your belly?’
I stared at him. I’d hunt him down at the next full moon and try that when he was in wolf form if he got any closer. He smiled again, although it was a half-hearted effort. He was worried. Then again, so was I.
He got down to business. ‘I’ve looped around the building. There’s an open window on the second floor on the other side. If you approach it from the opposite rooftop, I think you can make the jump.’
I purred to show that I appreciated the information; it would save me considerable time.
We took off. When we rounded the block onto a busier street where some werewolves had been posted to keep watch on the rear of the Umbra building, I noted that Thane was garnering some strange glances. Maybe they hadn’t seen a cat hang out with a werewolf before, which was a shame. Their lives would have been far richer if they spent more time around felines.
A few of the wolves called greetings and questions, but at least they were no longer jeering at him. He acknowledged them with brief waves and nods but he didn’t pause. Neither did I; we were on a mission.
The building Thane had mentioned was down a narrow street only two metres away from the Umbra one, although it was considerably taller. As soon as we turned down the street and were forced to walk next to the long line of wolfsbane, Thane started to cough and his eyes reddened, so we picked up speed until we reached the door. Now I understood why he hadchosen to accompany me; it was a large heavy wooden structure that required a full-sized person to open and close it.
He reached out, turned the door knob and let me enter first. We seemed to be inside an office building; there was a businesslike atmosphere about the place, and several of the interior doors had name placards attached to them.
Voices drifted towards us. ‘There must be a hundred wolves out there. Maybe more.’
‘We should hand out business cards. From the look of things, they’re going to need legal advice fairly soon.’ Lawyers, probably independent practitioners who offered their services to a range of preternatural beings.
Thane paid them no attention as he strode to the wide staircase in the centre of the hallway. He took the steps two at a time so I picked up speed and darted past him; it wasn’t a race but I was keen to get inside the Umbra headquarters. He seemed to get the message and moved more quickly.
He paused when we reached the second floor. ‘Here?’ he asked. ‘Or would you rather jump from a higher vantage point?’
Higher. Definitely higher. I miaowed and continued upwards.
‘I don’t talk cat,’ he grunted.
Yeah, yeah. He’d understood me.
On the next floor, Thane glanced around then opened the door to one of the offices without bothering to knock. A harassed-looking woman wearing a suit was sitting at an expansive mahogany desk that was strewn with papers. She half-rose and gaped. ‘Who are you? What are you doing in here?’
‘Don’t worry, ma’am,’ Thane said. ‘We won’t be here for long.’
‘I’m going to call security!’
He ignored her in favour of placing both hands on her deskand yanking it away from the window. ‘Hey!’ she protested. ‘Stop that!’
Thane circled her and pulled up the sash window behind her. He pursed his lips. ‘It looks quite far,’ he said to me. ‘Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.’
