The Raven and the Wraith Book 2 (Completed!)

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 46

The Raven and the Wraith 2 Chapter 46

I lived to a higher sense of duty? I wondered if my definition of duty was far away from hers.

"So just like the panther, you're here to kill me if I make a mistake."

The silver cat perked her ears up. "The panther? You met him? He watches, and he cares for, the great Web. I watch over the Werecats that travel along the Web. I correct any of mine who would wander from the One Path."

I didn't exactly like the idea of being "corrected", but decided now wasn't the ideal time to contest that. She daintily stepped off my chest, and I felt a slight tingle run through me. All of my senses dulled immediately after, and it felt like my clothes suddenly got much looser.

I looked down at myself as I stood up, seeing I had changed back. I was no longer half human, half cat. There was a peculiar blend of familiarity to the way my own limbs felt, and a sense of new loss, as I could tell I no longer had that unnatural strength. That unnatural strength and heightened senses that I now realized had actually quickly felt perfectly natural, perfectly normal. I truly was Werecat.

My power had truly caught up to me.

"So are you going to find the one who made your Werecat fall? You gonna "correct" them?"

She gave me a level look. "No. We are."

I shrugged. "Fine. Where do we start?"

I was doing my best to sound casual and relaxed, but I saw her whiskers twitch in amusement at my too-fast shrug, and the way my voice squeaked a bit. I realized I was unlikely to ever sneak anything past this strange, wise, magical being.

"You held the ring. You looked into its depths. You tell me where we should start."

I thought of the image I saw in the ring. That wretched image of me in battle with a Werecat, a Kahlraugh, and Talia. They were images so laced with despair that they had instantly transported me back to Possum Hollow. To the place I had so casually wandered into four years ago. After I had left the Council. After I had left Genevieve.

To the place I had gone to die.

"It's depths are full of pain. But no clues. I have no idea where to start."

My voice was hoarse, rasping past a crushing tightness. Lending truth against the lie. She perked up her ears at that, and her tail swished gently at her feet as she watched me.

Long moments passed in silence.

I could take it no longer. "What!? Why sit and stare at me like some toad? Are you waiting for me to break out into a midsummer dance or something?"

"Or break out with the truth, instead."

I ran my hand through my hair, closing my eyes as I took a deep breath.

"Maybe I'll just do the dance after all." I mumbled.

"You know where we must go."

I scowled at her. Of course I knew, but I still didn't like the fact she knew it, also.

"Did you say you spy on people? How long have you been spying on me?"

Her ears swiveled outwards, looking like devil horns, and her tail began to swish about in sharp, abrupt motion.

"Spying?"

Despite the warnings of her body language, despite the dark tone behind her single question, I charged ahead. I knew it was unwise, but at the moment I couldn't care enough to stop.

"Yup. Watching people without their consent or knowledge is called spying. Which is precisely what you say you do. So how long have you been spying on me?"

"I am your Queen. All Werecats answer to me." Her voice, flashing cold in my mind, was the sound of perfect authority, perfect poise, and unyielding willpower. It nearly made my knees buckle.

I held up my hands as I staggered back from the sheer pressure of her presence, from her raw, primal power crashing into me, pressing me down.

"Ok, ok!" I rasped, gritting my teeth as I fought to stay on my feet.

She stepped closer, and I sagged down to my knees as her presence rose ever higher.

"I am your Queen! You will not disrespect me!"

My mind was filled with images of cutting fangs and claws, of fiery, emerald eyes lit by an ancient, boundless ferocity, and I felt like I was falling. It was terror unlike anything I had ever felt before. I fell onto my hands and knees before her, my head sagging down.

"You are my Queen! I will obey!"

The storm of her power in my mind abruptly disappeared. There was only a quiet calm in the air. I held very still, waiting. Then, I heard someone uncomfortably clear their throat nearby.

"Um. Are you worshipping a cat?"

I lifted my head, seeing a boy about my age standing at the edge of the clearing we were in. He was looking at the small, beautiful house cat sitting in front of me, calmly licking its front paw. A Werecat doing a disgustingly perfect job of looking like a regular, innocent house cat.

"That's not a regular cat!" I snapped, irritated at how embarrassed I was at what this all must have looked like.

The Werecat looked over at the boy, then let out a plaintive meow. An extremely normal sounding meow, no less. I gaped at her.

"Not funny! Tell him who you are!"

She ignored me. The boy was looking at me with more and more concern.

"She's a Werecat! In fact, not just any Werecat, she's their Queen!"

"She's "their" Queen?" Her voice in my head was full of amusement, but also undertones of warning.

"And my Queen, too!" I blurted, then realized the boy couldn't have heard her voice.

"Ok. She can be your Queen. Whatever makes you happy." The boy said dubiously.