Page 12 of Feline Good

“You were pretty intoxicated last night. I just wanted to make sure you were okay this morning, that’s all. Though... from the sounds you made while you were dreaming...well, I’d say you’re doing purrfectly fine, hmm?”

A blush colored her cheeks at the memory of her very vivid, very sexy dream.

“Perhaps, but it wasn’t necessary to stick around while I stripped and showered. Since when can you shift at will, anyway? From what you told me last night, because I possess the amulet, I tell you when to shift, and I most certainly don’t recall asking you to turn last night.”

Amir grumbled a response as he joined them in the kitchen. “No, you only initiate the first shift. Once we turn back to human, we can control the shift from that point forward.”

Maya nodded, holding off on any more questions until she had a cup of coffee in her system. As if she’d spoken the request aloud, Asher sat a steaming cup in front of her, along with two packets of sweetener. She rolled her eyes at the realization they most likely knew every intimate detail of her life, while she was in the dark when it came to them.

She doctored her coffee and decided to remedy that little issue. “So, tell me about yourselves. I’m sure your personalities differ from when you were cats.”

August had joined them in the kitchen by the time she finished her statement, and in sync, they turned to her, all with matching arched brows. August spoke first, despite the hesitance that colored his tone. “Are you okay? Last night you seemed ready to throw us out, and now you’re acting like Nancy Drew, all ready for more clues?”

Maya thought back to just how often she’d left the TV on upstairs for Tubbi to watch.

Shaking the thought loose, she purposefully waited until Amir took a sip of his coffee before answering, “Well, I’ve been seeing the future for twelve years, so I decided this really isn’t that far out of the realm of possibility as I first thought.”

Amir spit his coffee out, ruining the shirt she’d loaned him, and she couldn’t contain her gleeful cackle at the reaction. He turned a glare in her direction, but she shrugged it off.

“You’ve been doing what?” Asher barked the question at her from by the stove, until she arched a brow at him, and he apologized with a nod. After he repeated his query in a calmer tone, she decided to answer.

“Mom loved to weave, and it’s one of the fondest memories I have of her. She died when I was only 8, and it took me three years to work up the guts to attempt the loom. Several months later, once I had it down... I received my first vision. I only see things when I weave.”

They exchanged glances again as Asher deposited breakfast sausages onto the plates spread out. Maya chuckled to herself at the way he moved around the kitchen, cooking sausage, bacon, biscuits, and gravy. Quite a lot of food...and she almost commented on the heaping piles adorning three of the dishes, but she refrained. They hadn’t tasted human food in quite from time, so she’d cut them a break.

August sat beside her, facing her and resting his temple on a fist. “Asher always thought you just got stoned before you started weaving. You would just zone out for… sometimes hours. Was that when you would see visions?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t only the future though. I see the past sometimes too.”

Another questioning look was passed. “You did? What did you see?”

Maya cleared her throat as gory images flashed through her mind. “Ah…” How did one gently share what she was about to? “I saw my parents die.” She flitted her eyes around the room to avoid seeing their pity, but it was too late.

August’s eyes fluttered closed in sympathy as he grabbed one of her hands from around her coffee mug and held it tightly. His hand was warm around hers, distracting her from the pain of the memory with a flare of heat. The thoughts of her dream, warm skin and drugging kisses, flashed through her mind, and she quickly pulled her hand away.

“Hayaati, I am so sorry.” August’s soft voice trailed through the room, while Amir just growled. The sizzle of bacon in the background accompanied their pity while she searched her mind for something else to talk about.

Amir’s shirt caught her eye again, and she latched onto the potential subject change. “We should go find you guys some clothes today.”

A hard stare from him was met with an equally stubborn gold gaze as Maya refused to back down from the challenge. He conceded with, “Fine. If you would care to take us to First Bank, we need to get a key, and then we will go from there. But afterwards, we need to help you find the amulet. Those guys were here for a reason, so we need to protect it— and you, as soon as possible.”

The rest of breakfast was served quietly, and they ate in much the same fashion, until Asher spoke up. “You know, as strange as all of this seems, it makes sense if you think about it.”

Maya peeked up from where she’d been picking at her food. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you know Neith was the patroness of weavers. She actually wove time on her loom.”

August piped up, eager to add to the theory, “Yes! It makes sense that the first female Guardian is a weaver, just like Neith, the Goddess of Time, who started it all, literally. She was the creator of the world.”

No pressure or anything…

A flutter of unease wormed its way through Maya. “I’m still not sure about all of this. The whole chosen destiny thing…” Her brain seemed to be working slower than usual, because his words registered with her just then. “Wait, there’s never been a female Guardian before?”

With a shake of their heads, all three of them denied it as Asher voiced, “Nope. Not to our knowledge.”

Maya took a deep breath to steady her racing heart at the new information, swallowed another sip of coffee, and hit them with another question. “So what does that mean? For the amulet?”

Amir answered, a scowl furrowing his brows. “We have no idea. I’m guessing nothing? Although we can say, you’re the first Guardian to possess any sort of ability.”