Page 15 of Fangs & Fur

My chest vibrates like a constant buzz, and my mouth feels like it’s filled with cotton. My hands crunch the soft material as I manage to pull a single eyelid open.

Warm light glows across the room, and a dark figure sits on the couch opposite me, hunched over with their elbows on their knees and their head in their hands.

I blink a few times, sucking in a deep breath, and the vibration on my chest intensifies. Looking down, I'm met with bright orange fur and Pumpkin’s happy face, his eyes blinking lazily at me.

I look back over at the figure; the light of the kitchen sets a halo around their dark hair.

“Xan…” I manage a rasp.

His head snaps up, and his silver eyes are filled with so much worry I wonder if someone’s died. His head snaps up, silver eyes locking onto mine, wide with alarm. The couch creaks as he shoots to his feet, crossing the room in seconds. One moment he’s across from me, the next he’s there—leaning over me, cupping the back of my neck as he helps me sit up. Pumpkin meows and presses his head against my sternum as he finds a comfortable spot on my lap.

“You fainted.” Xander sits beside me, his hand dropping to my back as he rubs circles mindlessly.

I expect to have my memories thrown at me, like a flash of electricity to course through my body or a tsunami of anxiety to wash over me. But everything that has happened tonight is still at the forefront of my mind.

I can still see the creature on its knees, its horrible eyeless face, and needle teeth. The shadow driver and Tyler’s eyes rolling into the back of his head, his voice streaming from his throat.

“Someone’s already holding a piece of you. If they break it, you’ll break too.”

I rub my throbbing temples, and Xander rushes to the kitchen, his movements seeming quicker than normal. Like I'm experiencing the world at five times the speed.

Xander returns with a glass of water and sits down next to me.

He rubs his thighs, looking particularly guilty. “I should explain.”

I chug a few mouthfuls of water, relishing the way it slips down my parched throat. “Ya think?”

Xander’s expression worsens, and he’s chewing the inside of his cheek, his jaw flexing under the skin. “Nyx is…” He sighs.

“A cat,” I fill in.

Xander’s eyes don't meet mine as he stares at the very spot the floor had opened up and swallowed the creature and Nyx.

“She’s a Hellcat. And my familiar.” He seems to hold his breath as he clenches his hands in his lap. “She’s from Hell, and she banishes cursed souls. Like the one tonight.”

I nod. Somehow, my mind prefers that explanation. As if that creature and the fire encasing the living room actually makes sense now that I've heard it from Xander’s lips. “So she’s like a magical demon cat. Who's your familiar?”

Xander slowly nods, watching me carefully.

“Is she okay?” I hear myself ask, still desperate to get every drop of information out of Xander.

He sighs, “She’s doing her job.”

I don’t reply; instead, I finish my glass of water and set it aside. After all these years of writing fantasy books with werewolves and vampires, I realize I should have been more freaked out by this knowledge.

Maybe it’s the fact that deep down, I truly wanted to believe these supernatural things existed. Well, maybe not the cursed souls crawling around my living room screaming bloody murder. But Hellcats I can get behind.

“But you… you have… had fangs?”

His brow furrows for a moment until his eyes meet mine. “Noah, Moonfell isn’t a normal town. It’s a place for supernatural beings to coincide without the external world impacting our ways of life.” Xander speaks carefully, as if terrified I'm about to shoot off this couch and disappear.

The living room is eerily silent; not even a single footstep echoes through the hallway. As if the entire house is watching us at this very moment.

“Our?” I catch. My hand finds Pumpkin, and I stroke his soft fur.

Xander sinks into himself, sliding away from me. The space between us is like a dagger slicing the air, and I hate it. His warmth immediately disappears, and I feel completely alone despite him only being a few feet away.

“The town is mainly made up of witches. They create the wards to hide the town from maps and to stop people from stumbling into it unnecessarily." Xander’s voice is nearly a whisper. “But somehow you found this place. You were accepted by their magic. It’s not unheard of; there are other humans who live here who are mated with—” Xander stops himself and lets out a pained sigh as if fighting internally with himself.