Familiar (4 page)

“Get the girl,” the thug said. His two companions
didn’t hesitate to go around Owen toward me, grabbing both of my
arms tightly. I fought against them, but they were so strong and
big there was no chance I was going to break away. Fear ripped
through me.

Owen didn’t move, but his body looked poised to
pounce, his hands fisted at his sides.

“Here’s the thing, Owen, and I want you to hear me
out.” The man shifted his weight to his other foot, looking very
calm and relaxed, considering the situation. “Your family and mine
have always had this turf war going on. But I heard you got the
boot. They don’t want you anymore.”

“You heard right,” Owen admitted hollowly.

“I’m willing to open my doors to you. Have you come
on board with us as an honorary member of my pack.”

Owen laughed humorlessly. “You want
me
to be
an honorary member of your werewolf pack?”

“That’s right. And in turn you can give us some
inside information about Stan and your big brother’s secrets. You
don’t owe them a damn thing anymore. Not your presence, your
loyalty, or anything else.”

“And you’re willing to do this out of the goodness of
your heart, are you?”

“That bracelet you have should help the goodness of
my heart a little bit. I know you were going to use it to buy your
way back into your pack. Now you can use it to buy your way into
mine.”

“Two for one deal,” Owen said.

“Today only.”

“There’s a small problem.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I don’t know where the bracelet is.”

The thug nodded. “I find that hard to believe. Caught
a glimpse of it only a moment ago. Gave it to your new girlfriend,
did you? How sweet.”

He grabbed my arm and pulled up my sleeve. The
bracelet circled my wrist, where it had been since leaving the
house earlier.

Owen’s mouth dropped open with shock at the sight.
“Brenda—”

“I got it yesterday after school,” I admitted
reluctantly. “Fixed the clasp last night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to.” I bit my lip and felt the sting of
tears threatening to fall. I wanted to give it back to him. And I
was going to. This walk to the alley was only to buy some time. But
I wanted to talk to him first, tell him that I felt going back to
his pack was a mistake and wouldn’t get him what he was looking
for. You shouldn’t have to buy your way into your family. Real love
shouldn’t have a price tag attached.

The thug unfastened the bracelet and dangled it from
his index finger. “Nice. At least a couple hundred grand, I’d
estimate.”

“At least,” Owen agreed. “So you have it. Now
what?”

“I want something else, too.” The man raised an
eyebrow and nodded toward me. “The girl.”

Owen flicked a glance at me. “What are you talking
about?”

“She’s part of your entry fee. Give her to me and we
have a deal.”

Every part of my body went cold as ice. I looked at
Owen, but couldn’t see any expression on his face at the moment
other than anger. I had a feeling it was directed at me for keeping
the location of the bracelet a secret until now.

“There’s a problem,” he said. “She’s not really mine
to give.”

The thug chuckled. “Oh, come on. You know that
doesn’t really matter. All I want to know is if you’re going to
give me a problem about it.”

I held my breath, waiting for his reply.

“You can have the girl,” Owen said flatly. “But you
can’t have the bracelet.”

I gasped. “Owen!”

He didn’t look at me. The guy laughed out loud and
held out the bracelet. “You prefer the jewelry to the girl?
Interesting.”

Owen shrugged. “What can I say? I know what real
value is. Girlfriends are a dime a dozen.”

“You’re a funny kid. Cold-hearted. You’ll make a
killer addition to my pack.”

Owen grinned and took a few steps closer. “You
think?”

“Definitely. Tell you what, kid. You can sell the
bracelet for me. I’ll split the proceeds with you
eighty-twenty.”

“Sixty-forty,” Owen said.

“Seventy-thirty. You want it?” The thug held it out.
“If we have a deal, you can have it.”

“Sounds perfect.” Owen was only a couple feet away
and he reached out to touch the bracelet, flicking it with his
index finger so it sparkled in the sunshine.

Then he knocked the gun out of the man’s hand. It
skittered across the pavement.

A split second later, he’d shifted to tiger form and
pounced, taking the thug to the ground hard enough to knock him
unconscious.

Even though I was shocked beyond words by what had
just happened so quickly, I managed to reach into my shallow pool
of magical knowledge and threw out the first thing that came to me.
A confusion spell. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. The
werewolves turned around in circles for a moment, not knowing which
way was up or down. Two of them lost their balance and fell to the
ground.

I stared at them for a moment, dumbfounded. Wow, it
actually worked. Who knew?

“Come on, Brenda!”
I heard Owen’s voice in my
head.
“Run!

I ran.

The tiger bounded after me as I ran out of the
alleyway and kept running for three blocks before I slowed to catch
my breath. A glance over my shoulder showed Owen, again in human
form, but now wearing tattered clothing, following closely behind
me.

“Don’t stop!” He grabbed my arm and pulled me along
with him until we found a safe place to hide, slipping into
someone’s backyard behind a tall fence. My heart slammed against my
rib cage and I looked at him with confusion. He was about to say
something, but I spoke first.

“Why didn’t you grab the bracelet before you ran out
of the alley?” I asked.

He stared at me for a moment before he started to
laugh. “After what just happened, that’s what you want to know? Why
didn’t I grab the bracelet?”

“Well? It’s all you’ve been wanting for two
days.”

“I thought so, but I was wrong. That bracelet hasn’t
brought me anything but bad luck. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to
keep the werewolves off my back—and yours—now that they have
it.”

“But your pack—”

“Forget my pack.” He looked down at the ground. “It’s
time I moved on. This just proves it once and for all.”

“But he was going to give the bracelet back to
you.”

He raised his gaze to mine, a look of incredulity on
his face. “Yeah, in exchange for you. No way that was going to
happen. He’s lucky he got knocked out first since I was in the mood
to tear him apart for even suggesting that. Must be the bonding
spell. I feel a fierce need to protect you, no matter what.”

In a few moments, he’d made a final decision that
would shape his future. Without the bracelet, he wasn’t going back
to his pack. And it was mainly because he didn’t want me to get
hurt.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely appreciated the
gesture more than I could say. But it was a major deal. Major.

“Owen—”

He gave me a slow grin. “And look at you with the
witchcraft going on. I thought you said you sucked at it.”

“I do suck at it.” I thought about it. “I guess I
work well under pressure.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Just imagine what you could do
if you studied hard like your mom wants you to.” He pulled at his
ripped shirt in an attempt to straighten it out. “And you know what
you need in order to do that, right?”

“What I need?” I frowned. “A nap so I can get over my
near-death experience?”

“No. Well, maybe, but not right now. You need a
proper familiar. And to get that we need to have this spell
removed. I may be many things, but I’d make a lousy witch’s
pet.”

I smiled despite myself. “Have to agree with you
there.”

“Then let’s not waste any more time. We’ll go to
Hocus Pocus right now.”

He held his hand out to me.

After only a moment’s hesitation, I took it.

“...and that’s why you need to remove the bonding
spell,” I finished. My words had tumbled out of my mouth since we’d
arrived at the magic shop. We had Mrs. Timmons alone in the back
room and were explaining everything.

I just hoped it made some kind of sense.

She pursed her lips, rocking back on her heels as she
studied me and Owen one at a time.

“Let me get this straight, young man,” she finally
said. “You broke into my store and fooled me into believing you
were a cat. You said nothing about this. And you ate my food and
used my protection wards to save yourself from those who wished ill
on you.”

Owen stood very rigid next to me. “Yes. Yes, ma’am.
That’s pretty much it.”

She pushed her glasses down on her nose and drew
closer to him. “How old are you, boy?”

“I’m seventeen.”

“Why aren’t you in school?”

“I was in school. But I had to leave.”

“High school diploma?”

“Not yet.”

“You’re a senior?”

“I was.”

“It’s currently seven months before graduation,
according to my calendar. And now you have no home. No family. No
pack.”

He stared at her defiantly before the expression
faded and he nodded once. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Call me Vera.”

He frowned. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t like ma’am. It makes me feel old. And having
a seventeen-year-old boy staying in my spare room and eating my
food will make me feel old enough as it is.”

Owen and I exchanged a confused glance.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

Mrs. Timmons huffed. “Well, I would think that’s
obvious. Owen has no place to stay, no family to claim him. So,
I’ll claim him. He can live here and finish up school with you.
Unless you have a better solution, young lady. Do you?”

“No, I don’t.” My heart pounded loud in my ears.
“That sounds pretty good to me, actually. What do you think,
Owen?”

I had a feeling he wouldn’t be interested in the
offer. Now that he couldn’t return to his pack, he would probably
take off. Backpack across the country. I had no idea what might
happen to him then. All I knew was I wouldn’t get to see him
again.

That thought made me very unhappy.

“What do I think?” Owen repeated, his forehead
creased as if a million thoughts were coursing through his mind. “I
think that’s the best idea I’ve heard in a very long time. Thank
you so much...Vera.”

I couldn’t help but hear the gratitude and raw
emotion that thickened his words.

Mrs. Timmons pushed her glasses back up her nose and
nodded once. “Then it’s settled. I haven’t had anyone here for a
long time. It’s ten years since my Franklin left for college, but
his room is still the way he left it and you’re welcome to it and
the clothes there, too.”

“You don’t have a problem with me being a shifter?”
he asked.

“If I had a problem, I wouldn’t have suggested this.
You don’t need a litter box, do you?”

“Well, no. Of course not.”

“Then there’s no problem.” Finally a genuine smile
spread across her wrinkled face. She reached up and patted his
cheek. “Now, I have a shop to run. Let’s break this bonding spell
and then get back to our regularly scheduled lives, shall we?” She
looked at me. “And Brenda...”

I straightened up automatically under her sharp gaze.
“Yes?”

“You’ll have to pick out another familiar. I don’t
suppose Owen will be much use to you there anymore.”

He still looked shocked by what had just happened—the
opportunity to live here with Mrs. Timmons and go back to high
school to get his diploma.

“I guess you’re right,” I said.

Owen didn’t say anything at all.

After the spell was broken, which took about three
seconds total, I left Owen to check out his new bedroom and slipped
out of the store.

I tried to ignore the big lump that had formed in my
throat. When Mrs. Timmons broke the spell I hadn’t felt anything
change, other than the immediate twinge of pain. But it was over.
Owen was no longer my familiar. He’d never really been my familiar
in the first place. How could he be? He was a boy, not a cat. It
didn’t matter what form he was able to shift into. It didn’t change
the fact that he had his own life that definitely didn’t have to
include me anymore.

“Brenda!”

I heard him shout behind me and I froze, wiping at
the tear that was sliding unceremoniously down my cheek.

I turned slowly to see him walking quickly to catch
up to me. “What?”

“Why did you take off without saying anything?”

“I didn’t want to get in the way. Also, I have to
meet Sandy at the mall like I said I would.”

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “I just wanted to thank
you for all your help.”

“You mean helping you lose your bracelet and your
chance at getting back into your pack?”

His lips twitched into a small, sad smile. “My pack
was lost to me when my mom died. I just didn’t want to accept it. I
don’t want to be anywhere I’m not wanted anymore. I don’t want to
force anyone to want me in their life if they aren’t interested in
having me around.”

“Your brother’s a jerk.”

“Yeah, you said that before. And it’s true. Maybe
he’ll realize that one day, too, but I won’t be there when it
happens.” He raked a hand through his tawny-colored hair. “Look,
there’s a bit of a problem.”

I looked at him with surprise. “What?”

“It’s the bonding spell.”

“Mrs. Timmons removed it.”

“I know, but I’m not sure she did it right.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I feel the same as I did before,” he said softly,
approaching me so he was only standing a few inches away. I didn’t
pull away when he slid his fingers into my hair and swept it off my
shoulder.

“Which way is that?” I asked, looking up at him.

“Like I belong to you.” His smile grew. “And that’s
kind of hard to ignore.”