Monnayage didn't know what it was that woke him. He became aware of something and it made him come back to a groggy consciousness. Maneki's soft fur warmed his side where she slept nestled against him. Her tail twitched in her sleep. The rain had stopped, and in the new silence he could hear her quiet breathing. The only not-so-quiet sound was that of Kabe's muffled snoring from over on the bed.
That couldn't have been what had wakened him, though, could it? It wasn't that loud.
Shifting a little, Monnayage turned his head and opened his eyes--and nearly yelled in fright. What seemed like hundreds of gleaming, yellow eyes were staring at him.
They were eyes. Cats' eyes.
<They came in through the door,> Maneki said, apparently not asleep. He could see that now, her tail twitching not from a dream but from her agitation caused by their visitors. And, sure enough, when he glanced over at the door he saw that it was now open, more cats creeping in through it.
What in all the damned hells of religions he didn't believe in was going on? How many cats did this woman need? He counted at least sixteen of them, and more were coming. And why were they surrounding him and staring at him like this?
<What do they want?> he asked, bemused. <You're not in heat are you?>
But, no. He would know if Maneki was in heat. And besides, some of the cats here were female.
Before Maneki could answer, however, another noise cut through the silence; a noise so soft he thought he might have imagined it. No ordinary human ears would have been able to pick up on it. All of the cats' heads turned toward the door, some going as far as to get up and go near it to peek out.
It sounded like someone was downstairs. But who? Had Petal gotten up to get a glass of water?
Maneki, obviously more interested in keeping the other cats away from him than she was by this noise, said, <They say there's a stranger in the house.>
That got Monnayage up. <What? A stranger?>
<A robber, by the sounds of it. They say he crept in through the window.>
<Maneki!> He was getting to his feet now. <Why didn't you tell me sooner?>
<It's not our house. What do we care if something is stolen?>
"Kabe!" he hissed in the quiet, trying to be loud enough to wake the other, but not loud enough to alert the person downstairs that he was there. "Kabe, wake up!"
"Mm?" His brother didn't open his eyes, still half-asleep.
"Kabe. There's someone in the house."
More indiscernible grumblings, then, "It's a house full of animals, little brother. That's all you're hearing."
"What? No! The cats--"
A bright light suddenly lit the room, so bright after lying in darkness so long that Monnayage had to shield his eyes with his arm.
"Kabeyage, you bastard. This is where you've been hiding? Should've known." A man stood in the doorway, hand outstretched and producing the strange light that permeated Monnayage's sensitive eyes. A tall man with long, lank black hair and eyes more like dark pools. The stranger glanced about the room in mild curiosity before settling on Kabe's figure in the bed. "It's been a while. And wha--why the hell are you naked?"
Kabe had risen from the bed, stretching and yawning as if this were a usual wake-up call for him. "Dimetri!" he said through his yawn. "Caught up with me already? That didn't take long."
Kabe knew this man?
The man snorted. "Cut the crap. And put some clothes on, for hell's sake."
The cats of the room were now ambling about the room, hissing at the stranger in warning. Kabe looked to them with an amused smile, one brow quirked in curiosity, but said nothing.
Monnayage knew why they were hissing, though. This Dimetri had a strange smell to him that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He smelled of wild poisons and smoke.
What was going on?