Redeemed (House of Night #12)(49)

I hugged Nala as an ice cube made its way down my spine. “What is going on out here?”

“That is what I was wondering.”

Aurox’s voice startled me into squeezing Nal too hard, and with a pissed-off grunt, she wriggled from my arms and padded to join the other cats around the tree.

“Did you make these cats come out here?”

“Me?” I shook my head at him. “Of course not. And if you knew anything about cats you’d know that you can’t make them go anywhere.”

“I do not know very much about cats,” he said.

“Well, all I did was follow the terrible yowl. Actually, it woke me up. I thought it was Nala, but she seems to be okay.”

“Yowl? What yowl? All I heard was you talking to the cats.”

I frowned at him and opened my mouth to explain the obvious—that something had brought me out here and that something was up with the cats, and also up with him. I mean, he didn’t have to sound so cold and rude whenever he bothered to talk to me, but the cat interrupted me.

“Wroooowwwwwwwww!” The pathetic yowl seemed to go on forever.

“It’s coming from up there, in the tree.” I shielded my eyes and squinted up into the nest of broken branches.

“There!” Aurox pointed. “I see it!”

I followed his finger and saw it, too. Way, way up, in the topmost branches, clung a really big cat. It was a long-haired orange and white tabby. Not the color of Nala’s bright orange. This cat was a softer color, like the orange had been diluted with cream. It looked familiar, and I squinted, trying to figure out whose cat it was, when I got a glimpse of his eyes. They were a startling greenish-yellow color, bright with intelligence.

“Holy crap! That’s Skylar! Neferet’s cat,” I said.

“Neferet’s cat? But why would he be here? He should be with her.”

“Wroooowwwwwwwww!” Skylar shrieked his yowl as the wind made the branches shudder beneath him and he scrambled to claw into his shifting perch.

“He’s going to fall,” Aurox said, moving so quickly that cats scattered in his wake.

“Hey, be careful. Skylar is a known biter. Seriously, Aurox. Cats pretty much reflect the fledgling or vampyre they choose, and we all know Neferet is—”

“Zo, I can’t just let him fall!”

And that shut me up. Not only did he sound like Heath, but he was doing a very stupid, very sweet, very Heath-like thing. Of course he was probably going to mess up as badly as Heath would have, but there didn’t seem to be much I could do about it except to wait to clean up the mess. And think. Hmm …

“Hey!” I called as he scrambled up the tree, monkey-like. “I’ve never heard of this, but maybe if a cat’s vampyre goes bad, it, well, commits suicide or something. He might be up there because Neferet is batshit crazy and he can’t deal with it.”

“I’m not going to let anyone commit suicide on my watch, not a fledgling or vampyre or annoying human—or even a cat. Known biter or not.”

“Okay, well, I hope Nyx is with you.”

“As do I.”

“Wroooowwwwwwwww!” Skylar shrieked as Aurox grabbed onto the group of branches that held him, adding a nasty-sounding, low-voiced growl while he scrambled backward.

“Try to talk to him. Kitty-kitty him nicely.”

“Kitty-kitty him? What is that?”

“Oh, boy. He’s doomed,” I told Nala. She sneezed and seemed to agree with me. The other cats were all staring up at Skylar, like they were there to witness something. I had no clue what to tell Aurox. “Um, well, try talking to him. I remember that he’s super smart.”

“All right. I will try.” Aurox hefted himself up so that he was sitting almost even with Skylar. I heard him clear his throat, and then in a completely normal, conversational voice, he started talking to the cat. “Merry meet, Skylar. I understand that you have been connected to Neferet. I, too, have been connected to her, so I can imagine some of what you may be feeling. She hurt me as well. She continues to hurt others. I cannot allow you to hurt yourself, though. I have chosen to protect this school, and you are part of this school.”

What happened next was one of the craziest things I’d ever seen—and I have definitely seen some serious crazy. Skylar cocked his head to one side as if he was listening to Aurox.

“Skylar,” Aurox continued solemnly, “I will protect you, even if it must be from yourself.”

Then Aurox held out his hand.

Slowly, Skylar stretched himself forward until he was within touching distance of Aurox’s hand. I held my breath, expecting the big cat to growl again and slap him with his claws. But he didn’t do that. Instead, Skylar sniffed him, paused, and then began rubbing his chin against Aurox’s hand. Even from where I was standing down below them, I could see the smile that lit Aurox’s face as he tentatively started to pet the cat. Skylar paused for a moment and cocked his head, studying Aurox again.

“You can choose not to let Neferet’s Darkness destroy your life,” Aurox told the cat earnestly as he stroked Skylar under his chin.

With no more hesitation, Skylar trotted nimbly forward into Aurox’s arms.

And every cat sitting around the broken tree began to purr.

When Aurox dropped to the ground, he was cradling Skylar tightly to him. The cat looked like he was hugging him and had his fluffy head tucked under Aurox’s chin. As Aurox got close to me, I could hear Skylar purring.