Promises to Keep - By Amelia Atwater-Rhodes Page 0,35
The cat didn’t have a sense of what a witch was, and didn’t care, but it was willing to tolerate his catness as long as he maintained proper deference.
When Jay inquired what the household was like, he received a mixed bundle of images.
The person who normally gave it food was also somewhat feline. The cat had tried to talk to her, but Pet’s cat wasn’t allowed to talk back. She was only allowed to act human, feed the cat, and order the other slaves to clean up and provide playtime.
There was one slave who normally provided the most playtime, but the cat had not seen him in a while, since the food-giving slave with a cat hidden inside had disappeared.
The cat thought of Brina as two people. One was a love giver. One was evil. The cat could normally tell quickly which was which, and when that Brina was around, the cat ran outside.
Outside? Jay asked, wondering if there was another exit.
The cat showed him to its cat door, installed in place of one of the panes of a downstairs window. It was too small for a person, but Lynx might be able to fit through if he came looking for Jay.
Do you know where the playtime slave is? Jay asked.
Upstairs, the cat replied, showing him to a grand staircase. At the top of the stairs was a landing, and then a locked door.
Key? Jay asked, trying the doorknob. He was pretty sure the lock here was mundane, not mystical.
The cat didn’t understand the concept of a key, only of doors opening or closing.
Who normally opens the door?
Images of Brina and Pet answered him.
If I were a key, where would I be? Jay wondered, making the cat twitch its ears.
First you’re a cat, and now you want to be this key thing?
He had learned from past experience that trying to explain a figure of speech to a cat was a lost cause, so instead he proposed, I have a hunting game. If we succeed, I think we may be able to find the playtime slave. There is an object that the food slave would have used whenever she opened the door.
Cat did not help much in the search, instead spending most of the time pouncing at Jay, putting occasional teeth marks in his pants.
Beyond a well-stocked kitchen and dining room, there was a parlor with elegant furniture the cat shied away from. It evoked memories of severe reactions from the master of the house—Lord Daryl, Jay believed. He tried to explain to Cat that Daryl was dead, and received a haughty response that could best be translated as Duh.
He tried to clarify that Daryl was dead in a way that meant he wouldn’t be walking around anymore, as opposed to dead in the way of a vampire, but the cat bit him hard on the leg to close the subject and then decided to fix the problem by climbing the stairs, standing up with its front paws against the door, and yowling, screaming, at the top of its lungs, Open this door!
We need the key, Jay tried to explain.
What is this key thing you’re obsessed about? it snapped back. Leave the key. I don’t care about the key. Tell them to open the door! They don’t listen to me.
Tell them to open the door? Jay asked, feeling more than a little stupid.
Yes! the cat said, adding an angry hiss.
Jay climbed the stairs once more and knocked on the slick wooden door. At first, he received no response, which in some ways made him feel better. Maybe the door did open on this side, and he hadn’t been incredibly stupid. At the cat’s demands, he tried a second time, and was rewarded by rustling on the other side, followed by the snick of a lock being turned, followed by …
Need.
His eyes saw a human being, but his empathy showed nothing but a raw, hungry emptiness. Jay nearly fell backward as he was struck by the intensity of hunger, thirst, and exhaustion.
The cat stood on its back legs in order to bump its head against the playtime slave’s hand, but the human stumbled and nearly fell at the pressure. He was trying to stay standing, because he wasn’t supposed to fall down, but he was so very tired.
Cat, playtime slave needs food and water, Jay said.
Needs to play!
Later! Jay snapped back, making the cat hiss at him again.
Stupid slave.
The cat stalked off.
“Hello,” Jay said. “Is anyone else up here waiting for something