“What date is the festival?” asked Malcolm.
“October 31st,” Jasper replied with a chuckle as if Malcolm was an idiot.
“Right. That makes sense,” he sighed.
Two weeks. That was all the time he had to figure out how to grow Calli some new prize-winning pumpkins, or find something else to make it up to her. He wanted to do it—he would do it. He just didn’t know how.
Something tickled Calli’s nose. She rubbed at it and moaned, not wanting to wake up. She’d been having the most wonderful dream where she was sitting on her porch watching the children trick-or-treat, only this time she wasn’t alone. Malcolm sat with her on the front porch swing, handing candy out to children as they walked up the steps. It felt right. No, more than right. It felt real.
But whatever kept tickling her nose was reminding her it was just a dream, and that really started to annoy her. She scratched at her nose again and something soft bumped into her hand. A strange noise like a tiny rumble vibrated against her chest.
Calli’s eyes flew open and stared at two bright yellow-green eyes surrounded by long black fur.
A kitten sat on her chest, purring. It kneaded its little paws on her collarbone as though attempting to make biscuits. It was no bigger than her hand and black as a moonless night.
“Hello,” she greeted. How had a kitten gotten into her home? Perhaps one of the local town cats had a litter nearby?
“Mreow…” The kitten’s high-pitched meow was adorable, but strange. Because on some level she could have sworn it had said hello back.
Calli gently lifted the kitten up so she could sit up in bed and cuddled it against her chest. A sense of connection sprang to life deep inside her, like finding the missing piece of a puzzle that she’d been trying to put together for years.
With a gasp of delight, she lifted the kitten up in the air.
“It’s you!” She squealed. “You’re mine! Aren’t you?”
The kitten continued to purr as little purple sparks shot out of its tail. It wiggled its paws playfully at her.
“You’re mine,” Calli’s eyes filled with tears. “My familiar.” She had waited her whole life for this little creature to come along. She buried her face in the kitten’s angora soft fur.
“You’re mine.” She whispered again, torn between laughter and tears.
A familiar was a manifestation of a witch or warlock’s soul, but they also had their own minds. They not only offered a way to focus one’s magic, but they were companions and dear friends to their chosen witch or warlock and lived as long as they did. For most of magical history, those who practiced magic were often lonely, ostracized by human society or even in danger. A familiar kept a witch or warlock from feeling completely abandoned. As Calli listened to the kitten’s purr, she knew she would never be alone again. She kissed the kitten’s pink little nose.
“So, what’s your name?” While some familiars materialized completely clueless about themselves, some had such a strong sense of self that they already had a name.
The kitten mewed softly, the sound filling Calli’s chest with warmth.
“Persephone, huh? I like that.”
The purring grew louder. The kitten rubbed her cheek against Calli’s wrist.
“Are you hungry?” She got out of bed, tucked the kitten against her chest and took her to the kitchen. She poured some cream into a bowl and set the kitten and the bowl on the floor. As Persephone lapped up the cream, Calli noticed a folded piece of paper on the counter between two of her pies. She opened the note.
Calli,
Hades and I went to town to find Jasper. Going to see about getting a room at the bed and breakfast. I’ll meet you at your bookstore around noon.
Malcolm
Calli stared at the note. Hades and I… She’d forgotten that Malcolm’s giant schnauzer was named after the God of the underworld. Her gaze dropped to the kitten on the floor. The kitten called herself Persephone, the daughter of Demeter who’d married Hades and lived in the underworld with him for half the year.
Then she remembered her grandmother had said familiars chose to appear for their family the first time a witch or warlock found love.
Her legs suddenly turned to jelly. “Oh no. No—no—no,” she said to herself and the kitten on the floor. “Absolutely not.”
Persephone finished licking up the rest of the cream and turned her yellow-green eyes on Calli. She mewed a question.
“No,” Calli said more forcefully. “You’re too young to understand this, but lust and love aren’t the same. I might lust after someone, but that’s not the same as loving someone. You can’t fall in love with someone after just meeting them.”
