KILLYAN PICHÉ's Arc

Chapter 4 of 8

The cat came to the light every night now. It sat by the barn wall and watched the moths. But the moment Killyan stepped off the porch, it bolted into the trees. He had tried bits of ham. He had tried sitting still for hours. Nothing worked. The cat trusted the light, not him. He needed something stronger than food. He found Granny in the kitchen, stirring a pot, her apron dusted with flour. His grandmother ran the daycare from the house, and she knew more about the world's treasures than anyone. Her three dogs barked at squirrels outside the window. Killyan told her everything. The light. The cat. How it ran from him every time. Granny set down her spoon. She looked at him a long moment. "Wait here," she said. She went to her room and came back with an old gold wand. It was topped with two little cat ears, worn and scratched, set with pink gems. "This lures cat creatures," she said quietly. "It helps them trust a child. I've kept it hidden a long time." Killyan reached for it. But a hand snatched it first. "Mine," Raven said. She held the wand above her head, her rainbow hair swinging, her Harley Quinn dress glittering. "It's gold. It's pretty. Princesses get the pretty things. End of story." Harlow stepped between them. Killyan's cousin was quick and already had a plan behind his eyes. "You don't even want the cat," he said. "You hate dirt. The barn is dirt. All of it." Raven's smile cracked. She hated the barn. She hated mud. Harlow had boxed her in and she knew it. She shoved the wand at Killyan. "Take your dumb stick," she said. "I didn't want it. Not one bit." Killyan's aunt Catou leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, green hair falling over one eye. She had built the bug light that drew the cat out. She knew the creature better than anyone. "That wand's real," she said. "Don't wave it around. Hold it still. Low. Let the cat come to it." That night Killyan walked off the porch slow. The cat sat by the barn wall, its little glasses catching the violet glow. He knelt in the dirt. He held the gold wand low and still, cat ears up, the way Catou said. The cat froze. Its blue eyes fixed on the wand. Killyan did not move. The cat crept closer. One step. Two. It sniffed the gold ears. Then it pressed its head against Killyan's knee and stayed. He had touched it. For the first time, the cat had not run. But Granny stood on the porch, watching, her face tight. "That charm wakes things," she said low. "Things in the forest that were sleeping. Keep that cat close now. You'll need it."