Page 7 of Catastrophe

“The Ombra portal is active?” Elizabeth asked, her voice pitched high.

“Yes.”

While she contemplated this news, I turned my attention back to my soul mate, who was now kicking rubble over Karin’s hand. I shook my head, surprised at her fierce anger and equally impressed at her determination. Whatever her grievance with Karin, it must have been great for her to act so.

If only Clawdia could tell me what happened.

“Clawdia hasn’t shifted since the portal reactivated?” Elizabeth stated.

“No.” I looked over at her. “But her connection to Charlie broke before we healed the portal.”

“When he turned?” she asked.

But I shook my head. “I don’t think him reclaiming his birth power would break the bond. And if it was broken, shouldn’t Clawdia be dead?”

“It’s a mystery for certain.” She rubbed her head and sighed. “I need to find my phone.”

“It’s under the rubble?” I asked. I didn’t need to know why she needed it. I assumed it was to get help for this very messy situation.

“I think it’s back at the cabin.”

I started walking in the direction without a second thought. Elizabeth called after me. “What about Karin? We need to bury her.”

“I think Clawdia has done a good enough job of burying her,” I replied, trusting my soul mate’s treatment of the dead.

Fur flashed in front of me as Clawdia dashed ahead, then paused for me to greet her. She stretched so her front paws reached up my legs, and I picked her up. Her purrs were loud and comforting against my chest as she rubbed her head against the stubble on my chin.

Elizabeth didn’t push to bury Karin and quickly caught up with me, guiding us the rest of the way to her small cabin. She gasped as she saw the empty ruins of the other cabins and trembled when she saw that, just like all the others, her temporary home had not been spared from the hunter’s search and destruction.

“Why would they do this?” she asked in horror as she searched the wreckage and upended furniture for clothes scattered across the room.

I set Clawdia down and began righting items. “I assume they were looking for people hiding and anything they could use against you.”

Elizabeth snapped up rod-straight from where she’d been bent over picking up a shirt. “The library.”

“Gone.” At her gasp, I clarified, “The words from the books. They’ve disappeared.”

Her shoulders fell as she sighed her relief. “Thank the Goddess.”

Clawdia meowed and nudged the phone she found out from under the bed. Elizabeth patted her head as she scooped up the device. “Thank you, Clawdia.”

Elizabeth immediately pressed on the screen a few times before holding it to her ear and saying, “Gemma, where are you? … Yes, I’m fine, but things here are worse than you know.” She paced and ran a hand through her tangled hair while I continued to clean up around the cabin and listened. “When I have more time to explain, I will call everyone, but for the moment, I need you to go to the Ombra portal and guard it … Yes, it’s back. I can’t explain right now … Yes, as soon as you can, please. Love you. Bye.”

After plugging in her phone, she caught my questioning gaze and said, “My daughter.”

Clawdia meowed and then huffed and folded her front legs under body, a glare on her face. She apparently wanted to say something but forgot she was still feline. My lips quirked at her show of frustration.

“You think the shadows will invade the human realm through the natural portal?” I asked Elizabeth as she bent to pick up scattered clothes.

“I certainly hope they do not.” She raised her eyebrow and sighed before continuing, “This is the same precautionary measure we take with all natural portals, but we don’t know how this will affect the shadow magic that has been free-floating in this realm and Clawdia is still a familiar.” She tilted her head toward the fluffy cat licking a considerable amount of dirt from her paw and listening to our conversation from the bedside table.

“Yes,” I agreed but didn’t understand the relevance.

“Which suggests the shadow magic used in the creation and tethering of familiars has not returned to its motherland from beings currently in existence.”

“Pardon?” I asked calmly, but cold trickled through me at the implication.

“Any shadow people that were trapped in this realm wouldn’t have their magic taken back since it would kill them. Therefore, it suggests that Clawdia and the other familiars in existence also haven’t lost that magic. They were essentially born with it through the spell.”

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