Of course he shows up the one second I’ve got my ass out. Perfect timing.
8-Neela
I’ve been stewing all afternoon, replaying that awful scene over and over again. Prax just casually killed an adorable little rabbit—just like that. No hesitation, no remorse. And with a skill that clearly shows it’s not his first time. I still can’t wrap my head around it.
“Are you kidding me?” Kiran bursts onto my porch, making me jump.
Startled, I look up just in time to catch the scene.
Prax, completely bare-assed, freezes for a second before casually wrapping himself in the towel he’d left nearby. And—ugh—what a damn perfect ass.
My brother is livid, glaring at the two of us like he just walked in on something deeply scandalous.
“Kiran! What are you doing here?” I ask. “It’s the weekend. I thought you were spending time with your family.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not exactly easy knowing my little sister is home alone with a stranger. And it looks like I was right to worry. Care to explain what exactly is going on here?”
What the hell is he thinking? That we were fooling around? Me? With… with this killer? This cold-blooded murderer? My brother’s imagination is seriously twisted. I’m telling Meg.
“Well, isn’t it obvious? Prax, whom you see here in nothing but a towel, went into the frozen lake to retrieve his clothes!” I say, icily, with a glare to match.
That shuts him up real quick. I rarely lose my temper, but something about this whole situation just sets me off. I stand tall, arms crossed, chin up, daring him to push it further.
“Really? He swam in the lake? But the water’s freezing!” he hedges.
Have I mentioned? My brother is as observant as I am. Must run in the family.
“If you don’t believe me, check the garden. His stuff is hanging out to dry.”
“Neela, I never said I didn’t believe you. I’m just… surprised. I mean, aren’t cats supposed to hate water?”
“Apparently, not this one,” I mutter.
“Did he say anything?” Kiran asks, shifting gears.
Prax, meanwhile, is totally uninterested in the conversation and keeps drying his short fur like we’re not even here.
“No. Just growled. I don’t know if he speaks, but considering he flew a spacecraft, I’d say he probably does. One thing’s for sure, he doesn’t understand French. But now we know he’s not mute—not medically, at least. His vocal cords work just fine.”
“You think it’s trauma? The crash might’ve been rough.”
“You mean like a psychological block? Maybe. Hard to say. But Kiran—we’ve got a bigger problem.”
“Go on.”
I take a breath and just say it.
“He killed a rabbit. Right in front of me. And I’m pretty sure he’s cooking it outside.”
“Oh, that? You scared me! I thought it was something serious, like him threatening your virtue or something.”
I gape at my brother.
“Seriously, Kiran? Why on earth would he be interested in me like that? No, you’re missing the point. He killed a rabbit. Justlike that. One second, it was alive, the next—it wasn’t. I didn’t even have time to stop him.”
A slow smirk curls on his lips and I feel completely out of sync.
“Little sister, I think you forgot something important—Prax isn’t Human. The Pact only applies to Humans. And he’s clearly got a whole lot of feline in him. Felines are carnivores. Just like those lynxes you love photographing. What do you think they eat? Or foxes? Wolves? Bears?”
