We pulled up to the park and I cast a sensing spell before we even got out of the car. Plenty of humans were somewhat nearby so we would need to be careful, but there were no supes, just what felt like a black spot in my vision of the park. Like someone had erased an area from existence.
"Up ahead to the left just past the fountain," I said.
It was the perfect autumn day,:cloudless blue sky, wind with just a slight chill to it, and the leaves on the trees were just starting to tinge with color. In the cool light of fall Mae's red hair practically glowed. The woman was stunning to look at, and if she could handle herself in dicey situations then she might be a good addition to the team. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go. I wasn't sure if she'd be interested in continuing to fight monsters though, especially not when something was after her. The question became, did we help her hunt it down and take care of it, or did we send her on her way? I knew which Ellis would vote for, but I had a feeling Hunter would be on the other side, and from the way Grim had been watching her he might be as well.
Tension hung in the air between the three of us as we all readied ourselves for a fight. A yowl sounded as we passed the fountain, which had already been shut down and drained, even though it was a little early. I cast an obscuring spell that would make people want to look away from us and Mae just watched me with narrowed eyes.
When I started to approach the bushes though she refocused on the mission and the hot feeling of her gaze on me was gone. I wanted to bring it back, to feel her watching me, taking an interest in me, and that bothered me more than I cared to admit. I wasn't one for needing attention, although I usually got plenty of it. In that moment though, I wanted Mae to look at me like she looked at Hunter, to give me the same smiles I'd only seen her give him.
Relationships were never really my thing though, so it made no sense. I was never on equal footing with the other person, and always felt off-balance. All I wanted was for someone to understand and accept me for who I was, unlike my family, who were disappointed not only in my choice to be a Hunter, but in my skill level in general. What they didn't know was that I'd improved and become a better mage than they'd ever expected, but only after I left home.
Two red eyes blinked at me from the bush in front of me, making me forget all about my confusing feelings toward Mae and the possible desire for more than just a quick fuck. The cat, if you could call it that, was bigger than I expected. When it launched itself from the bushes, I had to take a step back in surprise. It was the size of a Great Dane and had horns as long as my forearm. It hissed at us and arched its back, puffing out all its fur as it stood there for a moment. When we didn't take the hint and run, it hunkered down like it was going to pounce.
I prepped a shield spell and cast it on us all before the beast could do any damage, and quickly readied a spell I liked to think of as holy fire. It wasn't actually holy fire, but demons hated it. I wasn't sure why, I just knew it worked.
Before I could cast it, though, Mae was there, walking up to the creature, like it was a house cat. She held her hand out in front of her with her palm up and took slow, steady steps. When it hissed again, I had to fight every impulse I had not to blast it with everything I had. Mae seemed intent on taming the thing though, and I knew if I pissed it off the first one it would lash out at would be her, so I kept my spells ready but didn't let them fly.
When she finally reached it, the thing sniffed her hand and licked her like it was recognizing it's owner. My jaw practically hit the ground.
"I could've done that," Grim grumbled from next to me.
I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"It's a demon cat, or devil cat, or whatever. It likes death. She and I both smell like it, have that aura or whatever hippy thing you want to call it. It thinks we're from wherever the hell it comes from," he replied under his breath.
"He's just scared," Mae said quietly, a reverence in her voice I hadn't expected.
"Scared or not, it's the size of a Great Dane and has horns and claws that are proportionate. We still need to get it out of here," I said, trying to keep my voice smooth and calm, but apparently the demon cat didn't like it when I spoke, no matter how calm I was, because it hissed at me and batted at Mae as though she'd betrayed it.
She hissed in pain as its claws scraped over her skin, which only freaked the creature out even more. When she turned and looked at me, I could see the gashes on her side that matched the animal's paw. She raised her finger to her lips, silently telling me to shut up. I didn't want her to get hurt anymore than she already had so I did and watched as she once more soothed the beast into submission.
Is that what she was doing to us? Soothing our ragged emotions until we went along with what she wanted? No, that wasn't right. Until we were healed, just as she was healing the wounds on her side in that moment. Maybe some of us didn't want to be healed though. Maybe that's why Ellis was being such an asshole, because he wasn't ready for what she was offering, whereas I wanted to grab on with both hands and never let go.
"Where are you from, baby?" she asked the beast.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out only to find a text from Ellis along with the location he'd shared. Backup needed asap.
When it let out a meow that sounded more like a house cat than I would have ever expected my attention was pulled back to the scene at hand. I couldn't have been more shocked. I was wrong though. When it purred and Mae started scratching it behind an ear I could have been knocked over by a small breeze.
"Okay, little one, ready to go home?" she asked. I expected her to turn to me, to ask for help with magic, but she didn't. She turned to Grim. "Can you cross to the Deadside right now?"
He nodded. Although the answer was yes, a keen eye would have seen the shudder that ran down his spine. He might have agreed to it and even have the ability to, but he sure as hell didn't want to.
"Would you be okay with crossing with this guy? He won't hurt you if you stay calm. I think that's where he's from and if we can get him back there then we don't have to kill him unnecessarily," Mae said with a shrug.
Grim edged forward slowly as the demon cat watched him with suspicion written all over its face.
When he was close enough, Mae said, "Can I take your hand?" He held it up and she wrapped her elegant fingers around it, turned it over so it was open, and brought it to the cat's nose letting it sniff before she placed Grim's hand palm-down on the fur. "All yours," she said quietly.
Grim's form seemed to fade from view, taking on a bluish tint until he was no longer visible and neither was the cat. When he popped back into existence a moment later his skin was pale and he bent over breathing heavily.
"Harder to move that thing than I thought it was going to be," he said eventually.
"Are you okay?" Mae asked as she knelt down in front of him, putting both hands on either side of his face as she looked at him. Grim froze, unused to that kind of attention, before he mutely nodded.
"If you're good then we need to book it. Ellis and Hunter are in trouble," I said, holding up my phone so they could see the text on the screen.
Grim gave a grunt and pushed to his feet and we ran back to the car ready to assist our brothers-in-arms. I, for one, couldn't wait to see what Ellis's reaction would be when he found out about us sending the cat back to its realm instead of killing it. Something told me it was going to be glorious.