Page 40 of Shadow Caster
He stepped into the hallway and canted his head to study me curiously. He was dressed in dark purple velvet trousers and a black shirt, and his hands were paw-like and hairy. Shit, was that a tail curling over his shoulder?
I locked gazes with his eerie slit-pupiled one. “What are you?”
He advanced, and I held my ground.
“Well, that’s a fine way to address your dorm master, isn’t it?” he drawled, circling me. His tail flicked about distractingly. “Yes, yes, you certainly have the scent of a shadow knight.”
Feyblood maybe? I’d never seen anything like him.
He canted his head. “And you won’t.”
“Wait? What? Did you just—”
“Read your mind? Yes. Yes, I did. An unfortunate side effect of you thinking too loudly. Tone it down.”
I had to think of something else, anything else but how much like a cat he looked. A cute kitty cat with … with a human face. Oh, God. This was too weird.
He blinked slowly at me. “I do not look like a cat. Cats look like me.”
“Okay, stop that.”
“You’re the one broadcasting your thoughts. You need to calm down. Rein in your confusion.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Good … very good. I can’t hear your thoughts at all now.” He smirked.
“You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“Undoubtedly.”
“Larkin?” Master Hyde stepped through the door. “Has Justice—” He caught sight of me hovering by the staircase. “Good, you’re here, and you’ve met Larkin, the dorm master. He runs the shadow wing, so if you need anything you can—”
“Find me in the turret room in the masters’ wing.” He did one final circle around me, and this time, his tail brushed the back of my neck, and then he was headed for the stairs.
“Too yummy, Archer, much too yummy.” He purred.
Master Hyde’s jaw tensed. “And a cadet.”
Larkin glanced over his shoulder. “I am the epitome of morality.” He dropped me a wink and then leapt forward onto all fours and bounded up the stairs.
I stared after him.
“Close your mouth, Justice,” Hyde snapped. “Ignore what I said earlier. If you need anything, you come to me.” He turned his broad back on me. “This way.”
Another damn staircase and another floor.
“What is he?”
“Larkin? An Otherworlder. He’s old. Not sure how old he is. He’s been part of the Watch forever.”
“He looks … feline.”
“And he hates it. So, don’t bring it up.”
“Too late.”
“Hurumph.” He pushed open a door at the end of a hallway. “Our quarters are through here.”
