Unbroken (The Reckoning, #2) by Karen McDonald & Mari LaRoche

Author:Karen McDonald & Mari LaRoche
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Karen McDonald
Published: 2021-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Persephone stared from one man to the other, Storm and Drake — what was it with the one-syllable names? — still stroking the cat. The small animal shivered, pressed against her leg. Her fur was matted, though the lunchmeat seemed to have helped; Seph could no longer feel well-defined ribs under her fingers.

She worried that the cat needed to see a vet, too, though the thought of necessary explanations boggled her mind.

The cat seemed to take comfort in the strokes she gave it. She was no more an animal than Seph was in tiger form, but it felt, to Seph, as if she needed the touch.

Storm kept pace with Drake as he approached where Persephone and the others waited. He was a little taller than Storm, but both were so well-built she didn't perceive how big they were until they were next to normal-sized people.

Drake’s eyes, pitiless and colorless, raked over her and stopped on the cat. He drew a long breath. "Yes, this is trouble. It seems I underestimated just how stupid motivated fools can be. I apologize for doubting you."

"Can she get past the wards?" The underlying tension in Storm’s voice made Seph’s nerves rattle.

"If I permit it." Drake shrugged lazily and turned his gaze to Persephone from the cat. "Ms. Snow, if you would be so kind as to set the cat on the ground, I would appreciate it."

The scrupulous politeness made her more nervous, but she didn’t know why. Just that her nerves screamed danger in this man’s presence. Persephone knelt in the grass next to the cat when she set it down. Despite her nerves urging her to back away. “It’ll be okay. I’m right here,” she murmured to the cat.

The cat’s green gaze fastened on Drake. The tip of her tail lashed.

Drake went to one knee and spoke down to the cat. "I hold this place in trust. By my oath, I cannot allow harm to come into it. You are potentially a very great harm. I need you in a form where we can communicate directly. Please transform to human."

Persephone was glad she wasn't the focus of his attention but also not happy that the cat was. She moved her hand in the grass next to the cat, and the cat patted it with a paw then turned away to quickly lick the same paw.

Drake tilted his head. The motion screamed predatory to Seph, and her heart hammered against her ribs.

"Does that mean you don't know how?" Drake’s tone was still exquisitely polite. The unseen sense of danger thickened in the air.

The cat stilled, gazing up at him.

Seph bit her lip. She broke the stare down by shifting the cat so Seph could look her in the face. “Do you need help? I can show you the way I do it...and I just learned. It can’t be too hard.”

The cat lowered her head to Seph and blinked.

After casting a quick glance at Drake and Storm, Seph held out her hands, and the little paws rested in one, the cat standing to do so.

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