The Magical Christmas Cat

"In woowoo stuff?" she asked. "No."

Woowoo was one of his least-favorite words. "I could try to convince you, but I suspect we don't have enough time for that, not tonight."

"Nope. I'd be a hard sell." She did smile a little, which assured him that while she was not a believer, she wasn't afraid of him, either. Sadly, she would be a believer before all was said and done, but by then it would be too late.

Shortly after that awkward moment, he said good night and accepted a huge piece of chocolate cake she insisted he carry home. Death by Chocolate, she called it. Normally, he might find that an amusing name for a dessert, but at the moment there was nothing at all amusing about death.

While Zane did not claim to have any psychic ability of his own, he felt as if eyes were watching him as he crossed the street. Curious neighbors? A jealous would-be suitor? Or a servant of II Colletore who was watching over the latest sacrifice?

Ruby was so tired she didn't have any trouble falling asleep. After placing the anonymous gift on the bookcase in the living room and double-checking all the doors and windows, she crawled into bed, pulled the blanket to her shoulders, and almost instantly dropped into a deep sleep.

Aiyana ran, cutting into the deepest part of the forest to make her escape. Her long black braid whipped as she ran.

Her bare feet had been battered against the harshest part of the path, and already her legs were scratched. They bled, a little, they stung horribly. She did not slow down.

When she had found the pretty rock in the creek, she had thought it a gift from the earth, and she had treasured it, hiding it among those few things she called her own, taking it out and stroking it when she could not sleep. The stone was shaped like an animal and had the face of a small panther. Many nights she had passed studying that face, feeling as if it were alive. Now she knew that the stone was not a gift but a curse. A terrible curse. It had come for her soul. Helaku had told her so, right before he'd unleashed the darkness.

She grabbed the protective totem she wore around her neck and squeezed tight, and as she did so she heard the movement behind her. Footsteps crashing through the forest she called home came closer and closer, stealing the last of her hope. She looked up to the full and brilliant moon, which she could see through an opening in the limbs above. The moon was too large, an omen that all was not as it should be. She had always thought the moon was her friend, but tonight it was not. It shone down upon her, offering no place to hide.

Helaku grabbed her from behind and threw her to the ground. He held the cursed stone on the palm of his hand as he pressed her body to the ground with his foot.

Aiyana gripped the totem that lay against her chest. It would protect her from darkness, as it was meant to do.

Helaku reached down and pried her fingers apart. He forcibly took the totem from her, throwing it aside to land on the littered forest floor, where it would do her no good at all.

"II Gatto Nero has chosen you," Helaku said. "Your soul will feed him well."

"Why, Helaku?" she asked. "Why do you do this to me?"

The old man who had been her father's friend for all of Aiyana's too-short life did not answer. Instead, he looked to the moon and began to speak in a language she did not understand. From the green stone in his hand a dark shape rose.

Aiyana screamed, realizing that the darkness was coming for her. That blackness would take her spirit, it would take all that she was, and she would be no more.

It hurt. . ..

Ruby sat up sharply. There was a pain in her chest, a deep pain just like the one that had made a young girl scream for help that had not come. She glanced at the bedside clock. One fifteen in the morning, and she was wide-awake and terrified of returning to sleep.

Drugs. She needed drugs to knock her out, so she would not dream.

Unfortunately, she had no such drugs, and besides, that might make matters worse. What if another dream came and she couldn't wake up? She shuddered and rolled over to face the window.

The moon was not quite full, but it was getting there. Just a couple more days. Both of her disturbing dreams had included a full moon. Was it a warning of some kind? Was something going to happen during the full moon?

All was silent, so she could not mistake the soft sound that captured her attention. A deep purr resonated from the very walls, as if a large, satisfied cat hid within them. A large, satisfied black cat?

No, just a cat. One of Hester's kitties must've crawled under the house and gotten stuck. Great.

Ruby rolled over, intent on grabbing her bathrobe and a flashlight so she could check under the house for a stray cat. She didn't get far before her plans changed.

The jade cat was sitting on her bedside table, in front of the clock. It had not been there two minutes ago, she was certain of it.

Chapter 4

Zane hadn't been able to sleep, but had hours ago settled in front of his computer to study a file of Brotherhood documents. Over the past several years he had read it all, and now he was looking again to see if he might've missed something. There had to be a way to stop II Colletore without sacrificing Ruby.

According to their carefully kept records, the victims were always female and young. Those who had been properly identified had been between the ages of fifteen and thirty-two. There had been no male sacrifices, but that didn't mean a male sacrifice would not be accepted. If he had to get Ruby to a safe place and take on the demon himself, he would. Was there a safe place? Was there anywhere in the world those who served the demon would not find her?

He wasn't surprised when the phone rang. After hearing about Ruby's dream, he'd suspected there would be more. Somehow, the demon had already begun tormenting her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, not bothering with a greeting.

For a moment, she didn't answer, then she breathed a "No," that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He ran.

Again, all the lights in Ruby's house were on. She lit up the dark street when she opened the front door long before Zane leapt onto her front porch. She was pale, and even from a distance he could see that she shook. Her hair was mussed, and it was so short that meant it stood on end. That style should've been amusing, but was not. She was terrified.

"Tell me you hear it," she said in a hoarse, sleep-roughened voice.

Zane listened carefully. "I don't hear anything."

Ruby laughed sharply, then clapped a hand over her mouth.

Zane closed the door behind him and instinctively gathered her into his arms. She fell there easily, accepting of his comfort. She continued to shake, but the trembling soon eased.

"Better?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "It's stopped," she said, relief evident in her voice.

"What's stopped, Ruby?" he asked. "Tell me."

"Sounds from the walls and the floor. Cat sounds.

Purring, with the occasional mewing." She pulled her head away from his chest and looked him in the eye.

"Tell me the truth," she said.

"If I can."

"I didn't change my mind and bring that damned jade cat home with me Sunday night, did I?"

"No, you didn't." He could at least be a little bit honest with her. "It came here on its own," she whispered.

"I believe so."

"It moved again, from the living room to my bedside table, then from the garbage can to the coffee table. Explain that!"

"I can't," he said, running his hands through her hair to smooth a particularly wayward strand. And to comfort her, too, he supposed.

"I think I'm losing my mind," she said. Though she no longer clung tightly to him, she did not let go.

"I doubt that. Did you have another dream?" She nodded.

"Want to tell me about it?"

The shake of her head that followed that question was fierce. "Not yet. Aren't you cold?" she asked, wrinkling her brow slightly.

"No." Zane glanced down, just now remembering that all he wore were faded flannel sleep pants. No shirt. No shoes.

"I woke you up again," she said, then she offered him a poor attempt at a smile. It didn't last.

"I wasn't asleep," he said. "I was working on my computer."

"Woowoo stuff?" she asked.

"Woowoo stuff."

Ruby let her head fall against his chest again. "I haven't heard the purring sound since you walked through the door. I don't understand what's going on, but will you stay? Please?"

After half an hour of sitting on the couch watching an old movie with Zane, it was almost possible for Ruby to convince herself that she hadn't heard anything.

She'd been the one to put the jade cat on her bedside table. She had never thrown it in the trash can, only to have it reappear in the living room, front and center on the coffee table.

But only almost. She had heard the purring. She had thrown the blasted thing in the garbage, but it had refused to stay.

Having Zane sitting in her living room shirtless and warm was a nice distraction, and for a moment she allowed herself the luxury of thinking about something other than her fragile mental state. The no-white-sugar, no-white-flour thing had its benefits, apparently. Beneath those loose T-shirts he always wore, Zane Benedict was fine. More than fine, he was muscled, cut, strong and well shaped. Oh, the ridges and sharp angles were tempting. She wanted to reach out and run her hands along those muscles, she wanted to test them all with her fingertips, to see if he was as warm and hard as he looked.

The fact that she didn't want to be left alone had nothing to do with her attraction. Yeah, right.

She did, eventually, tell him about the newest dream. He seemed concerned, he listened intently and nodded and wrapped his arm around her when her voice trembled. Once he even leaned down and kissed the top of her head, an impulsive move that seemed to take him by surprise as much as it did her.

When she was finished, he said, "Tell me about the totem. Did this girl really think it could protect her?"

"Yes, and the man who brought the dark thing to her, he snatched the totem away from her before releasing . . . whatever it was." She shuddered.