“That’s what I thought.” I took the opportunity to forward the images to my cell, and I heard a distant ping announcing its success. “Ah. My phone lives on.”
“It fell out of your jeans when I removed your…” Ears bright red, he rubbed the sting from them. “I had to see how extensive your injuries were before I could repair them.”
“I understand.” His flush seemed to be spreading into my cheeks. “I trust you not to take advantage.”
Trust must have been the magic word. The sound of it snapped his gaze back to mine, and a desperate hope transformed his navy eyes to blackened pools of endless longing before he tucked away his emotions.
I had told the truth. I trusted him.
I trusted Linus Lawson.
That faith in him might damn me, but… He had saved me. He kept saving me.
He was not the man I’d thought he would be. He was not his mother’s creature. I had seen his dizzying array of masks, one for every occasion, and I had peeked beneath them.
He wasn’t a stranger to me any longer. He was Linus. He was…my friend.
“I put it on the counter in the kitchen.” He jerked his chin toward the living room. “I can fetch it if you like.”
“Is that wise with Meiko padding around?” I was only half joking when I asked, “She won’t accidentally knock it into the garbage disposal, will she?”
His mouth opened, but then he turned his head. “Paws off her phone, Meiko.”
A pissy yowl echoed up to us. I wondered if the notification had captured her attention, and if we had headed her off before she could act. “We haven’t covered dual familiars in our lessons. When were you going to tell me about her?
He tipped his head back. “Never?”
“Taking on a second familiar, a sentient one, that has to be rare.”
“It is,” he agreed. “Both the act and her breed.”
“You didn’t think I would ever come here to see her?”
He angled his face toward me. “Was I wrong?”
“Odds were slim before you started tutoring me, yeah, but I like to think we’ll keep in touch after this.”
His eyes drifted closed. “I like to think that too.”
Taking a moment, I studied his profile and pronounced him exhausted. “How did you come by her?”
“A student of mine lost his childhood familiar to cancer. His girlfriend, a vampire, procured what promised to be a rare and powerful replacement.” Laughter moved through his shoulders. “Imagine her surprise when she visited his dorm and found a naked woman curled around him while he slept.”
Incoherent noises fell out of my mouth. “Meiko told me she shows people what they expect.”
“Meiko lies. It’s a hobby of hers.” He linked his hands at his navel. “Her kind tend toward mischief, and she enjoys a vicious sense of humor. Her favorite pastime is watching sparks fly, and she knows a beautiful, naked woman in bed with a man in a committed relationship will do the trick every time.”
From where I sat, she was lucky no one had snatched a knot in her tail yet. “So why manifest in your bed when I arrived?”
“To embarrass you? To annoy me?” He cracked open his eyes. “The possibilities are endless.”
Shock and awe made sense unless he’d told her to expect us. In that case, she knew he was bringing a guest home with him. More than a guest, she had anticipated me. That meant her exhibition was calculated to gauge my reaction. She wanted to see if I would pass or fail her test. After years of watching him draw me, she must have wondered if I was equally drawn to him.
“The benefits must outweigh the burdens,” I decided. “She performs an important function for you?”
Otherwise, another owl or other familiar would have sufficed. Even I would prefer Julius 2.0 to a Meiko.
“Yes” was all he said, and his tone ended that line of questioning.
“What happened with your student?” I was not going to ask the obvious question. It was none of my business if he snuggled up to Catwoman each night he spent in the city. Served me right for comparing him to Batman. “Better yet—why did you keep her?”
“The student, who was mortified, called security. The guards escorted Meiko out to the quad, where she shifted and fled. I got called in after numerous complaints about both the cat and the woman.” He looked tired just recalling the incidents. “She was bred to be a familiar, though it’s against the law to bind a sentient creature that way. She had no pride to take her in, no education, and no means of supporting herself. I didn’t know what to do with her, and she was so traumatized from the familiar bond breaking she remained a cat for the first two years after I brought her home.” He frowned. “At the time, it didn’t seem odd keeping her as a pet. She let me forget she was more than a house cat.”
“And then one day she was a beautiful naked woman again.” Evil as it was to bait him, I couldn’t help myself when he blushed that way. “Can’t put one of those out on the street, either.”
“I can’t win this argument, can I?”
“Nope.” All his talk of familiars did make me curious. “How does Julius feel about her?”
“Julius was not impressed with her and chose to live in the atrium at Strophalos rather than share the loft. I gave Meiko away six or seven times during those early years to peers I felt could handle her brand of magic and provide her with a comfortable home.” He wiggled his fingers at me. “The problem with a shapeshifting cat are thumbs.”
“She came back each time.”
“I don’t know why she stays. I’m rarely home. She’s alone all day.”
“What I’m hearing is free room and board in the safest building in the city under the protection of the man responsible for keeping it that way.” Poor Linus. I would have thought him above manipulation tactics considering who raised him, but…gorgeous nudist. “She’s playing you, and she’s going to keep on until you change the locks.”
“I can hear you two,” a shrill voice called up to us.
“No one cares, Meiko,” I yelled back before pegging Linus with a look. “More than anything else, this tells me there’s no woman in your life.”
“I am female,” Meiko growled. “I am in his life.”
“Still don’t care,” I hollered then got back to Linus. “No woman would put up with that.”
“You could have asked me if I was involved with someone.” His auburn lashes kissed his cheeks as he closed his eyes. “If you were curious.”
“I didn’t mean—” I pulled the covers up to my chin. “That’s not—”
“You’re such a little liar,” Meiko spat, her tone growing as coarse as a cat’s tongue.
“Meiko.” A sigh moved through him. “No.”
“I am not a dog to be given orders,” she hissed.
Glass shattered, a concussive blast, and loud purring revved her engine. No doubt a vase had met its doom, smashed against the concrete floor after she accidentally swished her tail too hard or licked her paw the wrong way while sitting next to it.
Briefly, I wondered if I could barricade the narrow staircase for the night. “Are you sure it’s safe for you to sleep down there?”
“She won’t hurt me.” He massaged his hands. “She’ll tire herself out soon.”
Plink. Crack. Smash.
Those weren’t the sounds of a cat giving up on revenge. “Do you want to hang out with me until she winds down?”
Eyes opening, he held out his arms. “Toss me a pillow?”
“Not until I examine you. You’re still rubbing your fingers like they ache.” I shoved upright and ordered him to take a seat beside me. Once I gathered his hands in my lap, I got a good look at what my sigil had done to him. His palms were blistered, his elegant fingers raw and swollen. From wrist to fingertip, his hands appeared sunburnt. “Why didn’t you treat this? Or ask Dr. Schmidt for ointment?”
“I did treat them,” he said quietly.
“How much worse?” Stomach plummeting into my toes, I caught him by the chin when he didn’t answer. “How. Much. Worse?”
Inky tendrils filled the spaces between his pupils and irises, flooding his eyes until blackness pooled from corner to corner. “To the bone,” he said at last, his gaze fixed on me. “I was charred to the bone.”