"Damned man," Monnayage heard Dimetri curse under his breath. "Still moving even with . . . " but his voice trailed off to something indistinguishable as he left the room, foot steps dull thuds on the wooden floor.
Even with what? Those unfinished words caused Monnayage's heart to drop down into his stomach where it felt like it would stay forever. Sure, his brother was a pain in the ass, but he was his brother first. Had Kabe gotten himself into more trouble than he could handle, or did he really know what he was doing as he seemed to?
He turned to Petal to see if she was all right and--
Saw that she was crying, face crumpled in misery.
What?
Uncomfortable given the situation, Monnayage avoided sending a pleading look at Maneki and instead kept his gaze steadily on Petal's. What was he supposed to say? He felt terrible having invaded in this girl's life like this, only to have such a thing happen. Talk about unfair. There was nothing he could say to make her feel better.
But, still he found himself saying, "It'll be all right, Petal. Come on." And he turned toward the door. After a few steps, he stopped and without turning around added, in a low voice, "I'm sorry," then continued on.
---
The house was bustling with animals, most of them cats. Kabe thought he might have caught sight of a bat or two up in the rafters, their leathery wings rustling in the blackness. Eyes likes moon shone at him from corners and under furniture as he descended the stairs.
It had been one thing for him to face Dimetri, as brash and confident as he was, but it had been another to see his brother do it. He had no doubt in his mind that Monnayage was capable of taking the man on, but the thought of there being any slight possibility of his brother being harmed had set his temper flaring.
Guess I am like a dog, he mused to himself, smiling slightly as he looked down at his injured arm. The pain had not ebbed at all, if anything growing steadily worse, and he hoped he hadn't made a grave error allowing it to touch him. But, knowing his luck, he probably had. Just another difficult situation to get himself out of.
Another noise emerged as he neared the door leading out of the house. He looked around in the gloom and saw a small something writhing on the floor, letting off strangled mewling sounds.
It was a cat. And he knew just what cat.
In a few moments he had the cat scooped up in his arms, the animal too weak to protest with its claws, which was fine by him. "Hang in there, sport," he said to it, not knowing if it could even understand him. Maneki understood him to an extent due to her human-like understanding from his brother, but regular cats were a bit different.
The animal, the orange cat he now recognized from earlier, shivered in his arms, convulsing every few seconds. He ran his fingers through its soft fur, trying to calm it. He wasn't a big fan of cats, but he didn't have anything against them, either, and he couldn't help but feel the tom's suffering was his fault. Dimetri had come looking for him, after all.
There were still clouds scattered here and there in the sky, but the rain had stopped. The only thing left to remind anyone of the previous storm were the said clouds and the puddles on the ground that appeared as bottomless pits in the darkness. The air smelled wet, a usually pleasant smell.
"All right. We're outside," came a voice from behind, and he turned to see Dimetri watching him from the doorway. "Now hand it over."