Page 9 of The Soulless Witch

“Hello, Mistress.” His voice was low and warm, almost human, just like I remembered. The edges of his lips pulled to reveal a row of flashing teeth in what looked like a smile—if cats could smile, that was. “I came as soon as I felt you. You look well.”

“Always the flatterer!” I chuckled as I extended an inviting hand. Nym prowled closer, nudging his head against my fingers while letting out a pleased sound. Rising on his hind legs until his face was right in front of mine, he stared into my eyes before licking my face with his coarse tongue.

“I missed you too, Nym,” I said as he nestled his face in my hair, a low purr making his body vibrate. I could never forget the time when we first met—a nightmare and a half in his true form, he was scary enough to make other monsters tremble. Yet even as I prepared to blast him back to hell, he just lay at my feet and said he would protect me. I had refused, of course. Even I wasn’t crazy enough to claim an infernal creature with an unknown origin as my familiar, but he wouldn’t stop following me. And after he saved my life two dozen times, I caved in.

He had adopted this form since it was easier to stay by my side without causing panic, and the more time he spent in it, the more he acted like a cat. Not that I complained; I definitely liked cats more than dogs. “What did you do while I was gone?”

“Same old, same old,” Nym muttered, curling in my lap and twisting his head so he could look at me. “The more the humans progress, the more insufferable they become. They think themselves invincible, yet they are so fragile. It’s laughable. I like to scare them sometimes, give them a healthy dose of fear, but they don’t even get that easily scared anymore with their… horror movies and books and shows. It’s a different world.”

I snorted, running my hand over his back. His warmth was soothing against my bare legs, but my behind was getting numb, and I could feel the backlash of using up my magic, making me groggy. Nym kept talking, but I tuned him out until silence spread through the quiet yard.

The sky bled into light purple, pink and yellow creeping up as the sun started its ascent. We watched it peek over the rooftops of the neighboring houses, its light slowly engulfing us both.

“I went to your gravesite,” Nym said. “I hoped to catch you there when I felt you wake up, but you were gone.” I opened my mouth to ask him if he saw the medallion, but he continued before I could do so. “There were a lot of hunters, Mistress. They had orders to capture, not kill you. I think they are looking for a way to break your cycle—or maybe they found one already.” I nodded, too tired to argue. They had been doing that ever since I could remember, and they had never succeeded. Even I had tried ending this miserable rebirth circle, but no known spell could undo a deal with a demon. And to my endless frustration, I never found the twisted soul who did this to me. The other demons I tried to make deals with said that without my soul, I had nothing to bargain with, and if I wanted to change my deal, I had to take it up withmydemon. The problem was, I couldn’t even remember his name after all this time.

“It wasn’t just them,” Nym continued. “I sensed witches, although they just watched the hunters dig. Then a werewolf came—”

“A werewolf?” I laughed, raising an eyebrow. “Did he look like he wanted to help me or put me back into the earth?”

“It was a werewolf,” Nym spat, his fur standing on its end in indignation. I had a vague memory that my dislike of dogs had started around the time Nym switched to his cat form, but it wasn’t like it was unwarranted. Werewolves had killed him several times. “They like witches about as much as they like silver. He definitely didn’t look friendly, and he was pissed when he found out you weren’t there.”

“I don’t remember pissing off any werewolves in the past hundred years,” I mused, scratching my head in an attempt to juggle my still foggy memories. “Those who pissed me off are all dead, so who was he?”

Nym shrugged his small shoulders, a movement that looked extremely unsettling on a cat. His eyes narrowed as if he had more to tell, but he was holding back. I raised an eyebrow until he sighed, putting his head on his paws and looking away.

“Roman was there too,” he said so quietly that I barely caught the words. “He looked like he always does.”

“He is a vampire. What do you expect?” I murmured, feeling my heart stagger at the mention of his name.

“He killed the hunters,” Nym said pointedly, closing his eyes. My brain was still trying to wrap around the idea that he was here, close enough to get to my gravesite when he could have been anywhere in the entire world when Nym added. “He told the werewolf he’ll find you first.”

“Of course he did,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. Maybe sticking around wasn’t such a good idea after all. Once I was strong enough, I would need to move on to some other location. While Knoxville looked like a nice, quiet city in the middle of the country, the ley lines that passed through this land were so full of old magic and natural energy that they drew all kinds of creatures to this place.

They drew me too. That and the werewolf pack I had come to deal with.

I couldn’t fight hunters, witches, supernaturals, and humans at the same time. I wasn’t that powerful, especially without my medallion.

I was just about to ask Nym to tell me about his life in the last eighty years when the screen door opened with a creak. A sleepy Julia appeared on the threshold, rubbing her eyes. She was wearing a bathrobe over her pajamas, her hair messy and deflated from sleep.

“Celeste?” she said, eyebrows knitting together. “What are you doing out here so early? I thought I heard a cat meowing and I…” Her eyes fell to my lap and she trailed off. “You shouldn’t be touching strays! Or feeding them! You don’t know where—”

“That’s not a stray,” I interjected, putting my hand on Nym’s back when I felt him bristle. “That’s Nym. He is mine. He will be staying here with me, and you should definitely feed him.”

Julia blinked as if contemplating my words. I hadn’t made it an order or used the charm on them yet, but they should have been inclined to agree with everything I said unless they had really strong feelings about it.

“Um, okay, no problem, but Buddy…he doesn’t like cats. I’m afraid Nym might not be safe—”

“Nym can take care of himself.” I smiled, running my fingers over my familiar’s back while he settled down. “And Buddy will learn to coexist if he knows what’s good for him. So will Nym. Isn’t that right, Nym?”

“Meow,” Nym replied, staring at me with exasperation. Julia’s concern lingered, but in the end, she just nodded. She was probably more worried about Nym than Buddy since, in cat form, my familiar was at least five times smaller than the hairy beast inside the house.

“Well, then.” Julia pushed the mosquito net, turning to leave. “I’m making breakfast and coffee is brewing. Would you like some?”

My stomach growled in agreement, and Julia smiled, slipping inside. I put Nym on the patio before dusting myself off. His eyes followed me as I headed toward the door, but he just stretched before settling on my spot. The sun danced over his midnight skin while he yawned and curled up.

“Nym,” I said, and he opened one eye to look at me. “I’m glad to have you back.” Another unnerving smile pulled on his lips, revealing his sharp teeth as he closed his eyes and purred. “Also,” I continued and he tensed, but didn’t look up this time, “don’t eat the dog. Try to play nice. The kid likes it.”

“I’ll do my best,” Nym said with a dramatic sigh and I scoffed, stepping inside the house while the smell of coffee and waffles beckoned me into the kitchen.

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