Chapter Forty-Five

Demetria

Demetria made her way toward Kerry's house with every intention of trying to talk to her cat. She'd never had a reason to try before, and her magic was rusty, but if she planned to save herself she had to try.

She knew Cynthia could show up at any time, and in case Kitty had something bad to say about her, she'd asked Kerry to keep her occupied. She assumed he was going over tactics to take down someone with magic, even though they planned to work on it in the morning.

Demetria didn't care what he did to keep Cynthia occupied; she just needed a few moments to reach inside Kitty's mind. She walked into the house, and the feeling of being watched settled over her. Perhaps it was the stupid bird that made her feel that way. She walked into Cynthia's room, where the bird was asleep. Demetria didn't want to reach out to it, seeing it was Ike's and he had enchanted it, but it may be an option if Kitty didn't have anything useful to say.

Demetria grabbed the cat food from the cabinet and poured Kitty's bowl up halfway. Shaking it, she waited for him to show up. Without a doubt, he would show up to eat; he always did.

Minutes went by and Demetria couldn't find him. Biting her lip, she walked outside to the porch and shook his bowl. A few birds flew from the bushes beside her, but Kitty didn't come running. "Kitty!" Demetria called.

Nothing.

She walked toward the woods and rattled the food in his bowl again.

"Kitty!"

Meow.

Demetria turned and glanced toward a huge magnolia tree, where Kitty sat lazily on the bottom branch. "There you are. I know you heard me, you lazy cat," she said, walking over and taking him from his spot.

He curled into her and rested snugly until she took him into the house and closed the door. Demetria placed him on Kerry's bed and sat beside him. The bird from the room over started chanting. "Cat. Cat. Cat."

Demetria cringed. The knowledge of that bird creeped her out. Demetria turned to face Kitty, who seemed uncharacteristically still, looking at her.

"Hey, Kitty. Can you hear me?" she asked, rubbing his back in a soothing way.

Kitty blinked.

Demetria knew she was rusty, but she didn't think she was that out of it. "Kitty, can you hear me?" she asked again.

She closed her eyes and tried her best to reach into Kitty's mind and pull out any thoughts the cat might have. Nothing. Was the cat's mind blocked? How could it be? Demetria sighed, and her gaze flickered toward the doorway. The bird was quiet, which didn't sit right with her. Demetria left Kitty sitting on the bed and walked into Cynthia's room.

The bird was awake now, staring at the doorway as if she expected her to come inside. "Okay, lyrebird," she said, sitting on the edge of Cynthia's bed, facing her. "Can you hear me?"

Since the lyrebird could repeat things, she decided to reach out with her mind, hoping the bird's brain wasn't chaotic.

"Hello," Demetria said. The bird's mind opened, and Demetria felt all of her fears of never seeing Ike again. The things that Ike made her do. "Do you know Kitty?" she asked.

The lyrebird squawked and became irate, shaking its feathers and growing angrier. Demetria caught sight of flashes of jumbled memories in the bird's mind, but none of them made any sense.

Demetria tried to calm the bird down, but everything she knew how to say spilled from her mouth. "Cat. Ike." An evil laugh. "Help me. Help. Cat. Cat. Cat."

Demetria shut her mind and stood up with her palms out. "Calm down," she said, but the bird only grew crazier. Demetria sighed, when out of nowhere, Kitty attacked the bird through the holes in the cage. "Hey!" Demetria said, grabbing Kitty and tossing him onto Cynthia's bed.

He hissed at Demetria and scurried out of the room. What in the …

The front door shut, and footsteps grew toward the room. Cynthia stalled in the doorway. "Oh, is everything okay?" she asked.

Demetria glanced at the bird, who had surprisingly calmed down. "Yeah. I tried to reach out to speak to the bird, and she became crazy. Obviously, it wasn't a good idea."

Cynthia smiled. "What were you hoping to learn from the bird?"

Demetria shrugged. "Nothing. I don't know. I thought maybe she would know something about Ike."

Cynthia nodded. "Has Claire learned anything from the diary?"

"Just that Sabrina felt someone was following her, but she didn't know who or what."

"Maybe if she keeps reading?" she suggested.

"Perhaps," Demetria said, hearing the front door shut and then Kerry rush inside. She gave him a deadpan look, and he mouthed, "Sorry" to her.

"I need a little late-night snack. Anyone want some popcorn?" Demetria asked.

Cynthia passed, but Kerry nodded. Demetria left Cynthia in the room with the lyrebird and met Kerry in the kitchen. "Sorry, she slipped away when I was showing a few wolves some techniques," he said. "Did she see you?"

Demetria grabbed the box of popcorn and popped it into the microwave. "Yeah, but she thinks I was just talking to the lyrebird."

"Weren't you?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "Kitty's mind was blank."

Kerry snorted. "Sounds about right." Demetria shoved his shoulder. "I knew that cat had something wrong with it."

"It's not normal," she said. "He's an animal, but animals have thoughts, ya know. It's as if he is blocking them. Or someone blocked them. But why? I've had Kitty for years. He's my favorite cat. It's like the bird is scared of him."

Kerry frowned. "Where did you find him?"

Demetria pulled the popcorn out of the microwave by the edge of the bag, pulling it apart and watching the steam rise up. "He showed up one day. I don't know."

Kerry leaned against the counter. "Don't you think that is strange?"

She tossed a piece into her mouth. "No, plenty of cats show up at my house. I'm in the middle of nowhere."

Kerry shrugged. "Maybe the lyrebird is just scared of the cat because it's a cat. Aren't birds scared of cats?"

"Yeah," she said, offering him some. "I guess our next thing to try is to find out why Cynthia was locked up in the lycan kingdom. How are we going to find that out?"

"We could ask her," he suggested.

Demetria snorted. "Right, because she will definitely tell us the truth. It's clear to me now."

"What is?" he asked, snagging another handful of popcorn.

"You're clearly the muscle in this relationship, and I’m the brains."

Kerry tossed the popcorn at her face, and she gawked at him. "I'll show you muscle," he said, tossing her over his shoulder.

Demetria laughed. Though she still felt someone watching them, she wanted to enjoy the time she had with Kerry—because the full moon grew a day closer, and they weren't any closer to figuring out if Cynthia could be trusted.