Familiar Beginnings

by Alice Winters

  “Huh. Show this to me.”

  “I can’t! You broke it!”

  He huffs. “Must not have been very well made then.”

  “Well, I’m not sure what TV could withstand a fifteen-hundred-pound creature pouncing on it.”

  He looks offended. “I am not that fat!” he growls. “It’s all hair.” He shakes, leaving a dusting of shed hair all over the living room.

  I sigh. “I’m going back to bed.”

  “Miles,” he says, almost quietly.

  “What?”

  “Are you… mad I broke the TV?”

  “No, it’s alright. I’ll get a new one. You thought you were saving people.”

  He nods his massive head. “I did. But now I feel quite foolish. And peckish.”

  “Touch my chocolate and you’re dead,” Havoc growls before heading back to our room. I follow after him and realize that we only have an hour before we have to get up again. “This is your fault.”

  I look over at Havoc in surprise. “My fault? What? I telepathically told him to go break my shiny new TV?”

  “No, you invite the weirdest creatures into your life. It’s like they’re drawn to you.”

  “And funny enough, you’re the weirdest one,” I say as I pull my pants off. He grabs me and pushes me down onto the bed before pulling the blankets over us. They’ve already started to get cold.

  “I’m the only normal one. Now we have barely any time to sleep,” he grumbles as he holds me close.

  I press against his naked body and close my eyes as I enjoy his warmth. “I don’t have that many strange friends.”

  “Shh, honey. I hate being mean and telling you that you’re wrong, but you’re hugely wrong.”

  “Nope.”

  I doze for a bit, but I can’t seem to fall back to sleep since my mind keeps becoming preoccupied with Geoff and my childhood. It’s something that’s been happening more and more since Geoff’s return. He wasn’t exactly a kind master and had abused both Havoc and me. He’d also enslaved my magic, which makes me question if he still has power over me.

  “Want to get up?” Havoc mumbles as he opens his eyes.

  “Did I wake you?”

  “No, I’m kind of awake,” he says as he trails his fingers over my side. “You seem to be worried about something.” His hand lifts to my face and he pushes my hair back with a gentle touch.

  “Just what size TV I’ll buy next.”

  He shakes his head. “Massive. There, that problem is solved. What else is bothering you?”

  “How powerful Geoff will be.”

  “We already defeated him once.”

  “Yes, well now he has the ability to gain the powers of people whose hearts he eats. He’s insanely powerful.”

  “Power shmower. You’ve also grown a lot, Miles. You’re hundreds of years older than him, since he was dead for a few hundred years, and you now have a supremely handsome demon by your side.”

  “Iya?”

  His face scrunches up in disgust. “No. Me.”

  “Oh. Wait, you were by my side back then?”

  “Yeah, but I was only a tiny bit helping you in the beginning. I kind of didn’t care if you lived or not and would only help enough that you wouldn’t yell at me. You have to remember that to me, it was like you were enslaving me. I only grew to like you a little while later.”

  “True. Now you like it when I enslave you and tie you up.”

  Havoc gives me a toothy grin that flashes his white fangs. “I do, very much!”

  I lean forward and kiss his forehead. “I might get up and see what’s going on in the café or pick up the pieces of my TV. Are you going back to sleep?”

  “Nah, I’ll help.”

  We both get up and get dressed. Once we have the living room straightened up, we head downstairs into the café I run. From the bottom step, the area on the left is for the café and a small room up front is where I make charms or other things for patrons. Baron, who is a werewolf, deals with the stuff in the kitchen while his fiancé, Yoko, takes care of the customers and minor spells.

  Yoko is a pretty Japanese woman with long black hair and an ever-present smile. She’s a witch, and while witches and mages are vastly different, I’ve been able to teach her quite a few spells. That’s mostly because in my hundreds of years of life, I’ve learned and dabbled in more areas than the average mage.

  They’re busy at work this morning as I head for the counter to help out. Just as I reach it, my phone rings, and when I pull it out I see that it’s Detective Sam Diaz with homicide. This probably isn’t a good thing.

  “Hello?”

  “Miles, it’s Sam. We have a… situation and would like to call you in and get your input, if you don’t mind.”

  “What kind of situation?” It could be a “Hey, we have an unidentified familiar here” or a “There’s a dark mage coming to murder you” kind of situation. Here’s to hoping for that lost familiar.

  “Crime scene, four deceased, but it’s the… setup that’s stumping us. We even had our nonhumans analysts look at the scene, and they’re not getting anything. We thought maybe you or Havoc would have a better idea.”

  “Send me the address, we’ll be right over.”

  I hang up with Sam, tell Yoko and Baron what we’re up to, and head out the door with fresh pastries thankfully made by Baron and not Yoko.

  “You know… for how annoying Baron is, he sure can make good food,” Havoc says as he devours his first pastry. Baron even specially made it coated in chocolate because he knows how much Havoc loves chocolate.

  “Remind me again why you don’t like Baron?” I ask as we walk out to the car.

  He seems to think about the overly kind, sweet-as-a-teddy-bear werewolf as he chews. “Just looking at him annoys me.”

  “You’re such an asshole.” I can’t help but grin as I say this.

  “Did you forget that he stabbed you?” he asks as he adjusts his feathered cloak. His relationship with that odd thing still perplexes me. I’m not sure if he likes it because of it being coated in feathers and he’s a raven, or if he thinks it’s going to come back into style someday, but he hardly leaves the house without it.

  “He was possessed,” I say as I get into my dark blue sports car.

  He shrugs, not seeming to care at all that Baron didn’t have a choice in the matter. “Torture is too kind for him.”

  “You’re so dramatic and evil.”

  “He would be kind of cool to have as a pet, though. Can you make a dog collar for him that won’t let him shift back? I’d look pretty badass with a pet werewolf.”

  “Absolutely not, but I bet he’d happily trot anywhere with you as a wolf just for your attention. He really likes you.”

  Havoc cringes. “Ew.”

  I sigh and turn out onto the road as I hand my phone to Havoc. “Keep an eye on the GPS for me.”

  “Will do. What if I replaced him with a different werewolf? They all smell the same; you probably wouldn’t even notice.”

  “That’s an amazing idea! Why didn’t I think of that? I always identify him by his smell!”

  “I’m so glad my mate approves,” he says, and I realize that I need to assure him that I don’t approve of him trading off Baron.

  And only one thing will make him keep from doing it. “No more pastries then.”

  He hesitates, the last bite of his chocolate Danish aimed at his mouth. “Fine. He may live a short, tiny time longer.”

  I drive to the location Sam gave me and pull over on the side of the road. It’s a small motel just off the main highway, but it’s immediately apparent which room is the one we’re headed to. There’s tape keeping people back, but nosy folks are hovering around it, looking for a way to get inside. I park next to a police car and get out before heading to the tape with Havoc by my side. The man keeping people back immediately turns to us as if I look suspicious at all with the demon hovering next to me.

  Havoc gives him a wicked grin and pushes
out his aura that makes the poor man shrink and contemplate running. I doubt the man was even planning on stopping us from entering, seeing as I’m the boss of the district and control much of what happens around here. I definitely don’t control it alone, though.

  “Havoc, stop,” I say, but before I can do anything else, Sam walks up.

  “They’re here with me,” Sam says as he pushes the tape up and I slip under it. “Is Havoc harassing people again?”

  “That’s his favorite pastime,” I explain as I follow Sam up to the motel room door. As soon as we pass through it, we bump into Lieutenant Johnson, who is also invested in Geoff’s case. They initially came to me hoping for help reading a letter found on a dead body. Since then, we’ve helped each other out on multiple cases.

  “Hey,” Johnson says with a strained smile. “Let’s hope you two know something.”

  He leads me past the small kitchenette and that’s when I see it.

  In the middle of the room is a large magic circle with candles wrapped around it. Sitting around the edge are four bodies, still upright, but they appear to have been dead for years. The way their dried skin stretches over their bones makes them look almost mummified.

  “What the hell?” Havoc mutters as he steps closer to examine one.

  They’re all holding hands, and stranger yet, in the middle of them sits a cat.

  Not a dead cat. Just an unusually red-colored cat who is currently licking its paw as everyone stares at it.

  “It hasn’t left the circle yet,” Sam whispers, like talking too loudly could disrupt it.

  I take a small step toward it, but it doesn’t even glance up. “Anyone tried touching it?”

  “Yes, and it bit them, nearly tore their finger right off,” Johnson says.

  “That little tiny cat did?” Havoc asks as he points. “Someone let that tiny cat get the best of them?” The cat stands up, stretches, and yawns, showing off what looks like a hundred tiny needle teeth that really don’t belong on a cat. “Oh…”

  “Yeah.” Sam shudders.

  “Want me to kill it?” Havoc asks.

  I turn to him in disbelief. “No! You don’t just start killing things! We just talked about this!”

  Everyone in the room warily looks at Havoc before moving to the far side beside Sam and Johnson.

  “Do you know what any of this is?” Sam asks curiously. “Especially that thing?”

  I walk over to the circle, and even though the monster has resumed grooming itself, I can tell it’s watching me. I kneel down between a mummified man and woman and look at the circle. It’s smudged but still readable… if I knew how to read it.

  “Did you get a sample of the blood used to create the circle?” I ask.

  “Yes, we sent it back to the lab hoping that’d help us.”

  “I’m assuming whatever spell they did mummified the casters,” Havoc says. “I mean, there’s no way they just… carried them in like this, right?”

  I scrutinize the man. “I think the spell did this… but did they do it wrong? Were they summoning this creature? What is this creature?”

  Its black tongue draws slowly over its bright red fur. Its ears are black-tipped with tufts of hair sticking out of the tops. But golden eyes watch me closely as I near the bodies to examine them.

  “Make sure that thing knows that if it even looks at you funny, you will blow it into little kitty chunks,” Havoc says as he points a finger at it.

  It slowly, creepily, shifts its eyes over to Havoc and suddenly the claws on the paw it’s licking extend. They have to be over an inch long each and appear razor sharp.

  “Interesting. It understands human language,” I say.

  “That’s not fucking interesting. That’s terrifying! There’s something wrong with that thing!” Havoc says as he jabs a finger at it.

  Seeing as Havoc can shift into a raven, he’s never been overly fond of cats. But this thing is no cat, although I have nothing better to call it.

  “Are you stuck in the circle?” I ask the creature.

  It shifts its eyes over to me and switches to a new paw to groom.

  Either I’m wrong and it doesn’t understand what I’m saying, or it’s being a dick.

  My vote is dick because nothing I ever interact with can just be sweet and cuddly and helpful.

  “Everyone step back. I’m going to touch the circle and try to feel what kind of magic created it,” I say.

  Everyone immediately steps back and a few leave as I reach out while watching the cat and set my hand against the edge of the circle. The circle is thundering with magic. Once a magic circle has been used, they usually lose their magic or the magic goes back to the caster. Instead, this one is almost bubbling with life. And it feels dark. Black magic, probably. Is this the doing of Geoff? Could he really be this close to me?

  The thought makes me feel ill. He could already be ten steps ahead of me just waiting for his moment to strike.

  Havoc sets a gentle hand on my shoulder and squeezes it tightly. “You alright?”

  I look up and smile at him. “I’m fine. So the circle has a lot of magic still flowing through it, which is very strange when the spell seems to have been completed. But I still don’t know what the spell was. I have my doubts it was for bringing out this cat, but maybe it was. I’m going to try and cut the magic off to it, in case they’re using it for some other reason.”

  “Is that safe?” Johnson asks.

  “It’ll be safer than if they’re syphoning off it. We could kill the link now.”

  Sam nods, like he understands, but points to the cat that is now working on its tail. “What about that… thing?”

  “The cat?”

  Sam makes a strange noise. “That’s not a cat.”

  I glance over at the golden eyes staring straight into my soul. “Looks like a sweet little kitty,” I say.

  Havoc makes a funny noise. “I’m with the entire universe on this one. That ain’t no damn cat. It’s a monster,” Havoc says and the creature hisses at him. It’s almost like its jaw opens up wider than an animal’s should and I’m left staring into the maw of something that will probably eat us alive.

  “Looks pretty cute to me.” I’m enjoying their annoyance at this point.

  “Miles, I’m going to order you a brain examination when we’re done here,” Johnson says. “Now what are you going to do when the circle breaks and that… cat gets loose?”

  “See if he wants a piece of kibble, I guess?”

  Havoc waves his arms at me. “Does everyone see what I have to deal with? All of you think I’m the crazy one. Well, here’s proof.”

  I grin at him since he’s honestly being a bit dramatic. “A bunch of grown men scared of a little kitty.”

  “You know what?” Havoc asks thoughtfully. “That cat kind of looks like something.” He scrutinizes it for a second while thinking. “Oh, it’s on the tip of my tongue… blood. That’s what the cat looks like. The fur looks like it’s rolled in the blood of its victims.”

  “I’ve never seen such a scared group of people!”

  I look over at the creature and see it staring me right in the eyes. It’s creepy as fuck, but of course I can’t tell anyone this. I’m more than positive it’s going to eat all of us and I’m going to be forced to turn it to kitty dust. “I’m breaking the spell now,” I say as everyone who’d been lingering takes a step back while I let my magic snake out of my body and wrap around the magic being used to keep the circle open. When it snaps, the other magic dissipates as mine feels the circle over, trying to figure out what it is.

  And that is the very moment that the cat grins at me. Literally grins with its mouth filled full of fangs.

  And disappears.

  I sit up abruptly.

  “Where’d the cat go?” I ask in horror.

  “Oh, I thought it was just a cute little cat,” Havoc says.

  “Quiet! Everyone!” Sam says.

  And that’s when I hear purring. Literal purring.<
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  And panic explodes. Everyone who’s still in the room runs from it, pushing and shoving as they struggle to get through the door, and there’s Havoc, yanking me right into the mess. “I’ll protect you!” he shouts.

  “I don’t need protection!” Yet for some reason, I’m running with the rest of them.

  Once outside, Johnson slams the door shut and looks around before dusting his hands off like it was a job well done. “Alright, then. That was a good job today, folks!”

  “You’re just going to… what? Burn the place down?” I ask.

  “I can’t say it didn’t cross my mind,” he admits.

  I look out at the crowd of people who are all very curious why we came running out like maniacs. I catch the eye of a young man who is watching us closely. It’s not because he looks different or is acting different, but he feels different. What kind of magic is that?

  I step toward him, but Johnson slides in front of me. “Okay. So we need to finish up here. How do we know where that thing is now that you just set it loose to wipe out the city?”

  I shrug, not seeing why it’s now my fault. “It’s just a little cat.”

  Havoc holds up a hand to quiet all the chatter. “Alright, we need to send one person inside to see if the cat is still in there. I vote Sam. He’s most expendable… I mean dependable.”

  Sam cocks his head. “I used to like you.”

  “I’ll go in!”

  We all turn just in time to see Iya, a demon I’d summoned to protect Sam after he’d been targeted, duck under the protective tape. Since he’s a minotaur, he’s a bull from his chest to his head, while the rest of his body is much more human. When he ducks under the tape, it catches on a horn so when he stands up, it tears the tape from the barriers.

  “It has me! It has me!” he shouts as he starts running and turning, winding the tape up all over his body. “It’s killing me.”

  “Oh my god,” Johnson whispers. “Sam, what did I tell you about bringing him to crime scenes?”

  “He was in the car but probably came out after he heard the commotion,” Sam says as he rushes over to help Iya. “Iya, it’s okay, it’s just tape.”

  Iya immediately stops and beams at Sam who I’m pretty sure he’s in love with. “Oh! How foolish of me! I thought the monster got me!”