you there. Get behind me,” Isai said tersely as the cats slunk through the very thin crack.
The shadow cats were long and built like sleek panthers. By turns they were black or gray, and they moved with the fluid, stalking steps of a predator. These were no cuddly kittens. Ears back, they showed their teeth, wicked canines very much in evidence. Their eyes glowed somewhere between a ruby red and a strange amber, going back and forth just as the colors on their bodies moved from black to gray.
Julija broke into a smile, she couldn’t help it. She recognized the pair immediately from the scars on them. “Blue and Belle, I missed you.” She kept her voice happy and yet pitched very low.
Isai’s eyebrows shot up. “Bluebell? Like the flower.”
She narrowed her eyes and gave him a look to remind him she was in charge. It didn’t seem to work. He gave her a faint grin in answer, and just that expression warmed the sapphire in his eyes to a hot glow. She felt her stomach do that slow roll and she had to hastily turn her attention back to the shadow cats.
Both cats looked from Julija to Isai. She needed to keep their attention centered on her. She wanted to step more in front of Isai to shield him just in case either or both cats decided to attack, but she knew he wouldn’t allow it. Twice she tried to be subtle and just take one small step forward, but he moved with her as if he knew what she was thinking. She sent him an exasperated look over her shoulder.
“Seriously? You can see they’re friendly.”
When she turned back both cats were giving him a perfect view of their teeth. “Oh, stop it. He’s a friend. Behave yourselves. Come meet him instead of slinking around acting like you’re going to eat him.”
She crouched low, but as she did, her hand slid down Isai’s arm to his hand. She tried to be casual about it, as if she touched him every single day. Being so close to him was exhilarating. Her blood pulsed through her veins in a rush of heat. She felt so alive, a little scared, but very alive.
His fingers closed around her hand and she actually felt that connection deeper, somewhere in the region of her heart. He had a way of making her feel safe as well as cared for. She was used to doing things on her own, definitely used to facing danger alone. Isai made her feel as if he had her back and would fight for her if anything went wrong.
The female stepped closer, her neck stretched long so she could sniff at Isai’s hand, the one wrapped around hers. Her heartbeat accelerated. The male crouched in an attack position, ready to spring on Isai if he made one wrong move toward the female.
The two cats had to accept him. If they didn’t, if they attacked him, Julija knew she would have to kill them. There was no other choice. They couldn’t be left without direction when her brothers had made certain to make them killing machines needing blood to survive.
Belle, the female, touched her nose to Isai’s hand and then tentatively licked at him, tasting his skin. Julija’s heart was in her throat. There was no way that Belle wouldn’t scent Isai’s rich, pure Carpathian blood. He was an ancient and his blood was very powerful. That would call to both cats. This was the telling moment.
The cat pulled back abruptly and regarded him steadily with her ruby eyes. Julija kept watch on the male, but noted Belle’s eyes continued to change color rapidly, until, thankfully, they were more amber than red. The cat once again stretched her neck toward them, and this time she laid her head on Julija’s shoulder. Julija immediately scratched under her chin.
“Hey, baby. I missed you, too. You were the one who called the other cat back, weren’t you? I thought maybe I recognized your voice. You know they’re going to be very, very angry at you for running off and finding me.”
Belle pushed against her with her full weight, going from insubstantial to all sleek black fur and roped muscle. Julija ended up on her butt with the cat in her lap. She couldn’t help but laugh, ruffling the fur. It was rare for a shadow cat to feel safe enough to become wholly substantial. She’d always felt so sad for them in that horrid room