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Coret cats The cats he’d known as a kid had been barn cats They lived outside, took care of the mice and baby rabbits Aloof creatures, they stayed out of Cormac’s way, he stayed out of theirs

Standing in theup at the giant, tangled furball crouched on the top of a bookshelf, he was at a loss That thing enty-five pounds of pure hate, teeth bared, hissing and spitting Pale fur shook from it every ti, sharp claws Nothing like daggers—more like hypodermic needles, and they’d draw just as much blood

The ani, an otherworldly noise thatreally was possessed by a demon

There is nothing supernaturally wrong with this cat, Amelia declared He’s simply a cat Aain, shuddering, letting loose another rain of fur

Apparently, Aes of her rown up with in her family’s lush Victorian manor house Beautiful, soft animals born to sit demurely on laps, to be petted, to have satin ribbons tied around their necks, to ride in a little girl’s doll carriage Those cats had followed her around the house, batting tiny paws at the edges of her petticoats while she giggled

This was a side of herself Amelia rarely revealed She didn’t like to think of her past—she’d left her home and faic Anymore, she didn’t like to think of her old life Before she’d died

Those cats from her childhood had looked much like this one: a luxurious Persian with brushable fur and an aristocratic face But this one was, the owner confidently reported, possessed by a terrible demon

“Schubert didn’t used to be like this,” the old man said He was a er, the cat his only co apartment “He was always a little stubborn, but can you bla at everything, yowling in theme” The fine skin of his liver-spotted hands was covered with slash marks and thin scars

Corh their clients hter’s, a family who really did have a haunted house They lived off of Cheesman Park in the center of Denver, the site of dozens of hauntings over the last century because that hat happened when developers plowed over a cehborhoods on top of it withoutthe bodies Cormac and Amelia had successfully exorcised the place and set the restless spirits at peace

Surely they could do the same with a possessed cat?

He isn’t possessed, Amelia insisted He’s ill

Corht deether In a way, that was how they’dthe demon that had invaded the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility She’d been a disefully hanged for hter conviction—a bit more recently

He’d deserved his sentence Probably worse, too He’d been lucky When the de prisoners, he’d been lucky she was there and kne to destroy it Lucky she’d been able to contact hih—eventually—to listen to her To let her in

Yeah, standing here looking at that cat, he had to remind himself how lucky he really was

“So what are we going to do?” Corman waited in the kitchen for the verdict If Coret paid anyway He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be that simple

Well, Amelia said, matter-of-factly A veterinarian should see him, I suppose

Corman if he had a carrier for Schubert He did, and Cormac and Amelia spent the next hour in the back roo everyone Corun their partnership, he had never entirely gotten used to the sensation It was like stepping aside, closing his eyes andto the back of his own mind, and Amelia—her soul, her essence, whatever that part of her was that had survived—caician, really—she needed to use his body to work her spells, to scry her ic He was merely the muscle The front man The bounty hunter turnedwhatever it was that he’d turned into

We are partners, she said firmly, as she often did She never took control of his body without warning hi to it It was part of their understanding

With a can of tuna and ed by himself, Amelia lured the deain as soon as the door closed—and he had finished eating the tuna Hunkered down in the carrier, he was at least safe, and Mr Wegman was safe from him

The cat whisperer A talents

Corman and told him that the cat really needed to see a veterinarian, that these changes in behavior were likely medical rather than supernatural

“Oh,” Mr Wegarded the carrier on the kitchen table Because wouldn’t it have been si—for the proble a feords? Wouldn’t that always be simpler? As it was, he now had lots of expensive tests and an uncertain diagnosis ahead of him

“Howfor a wallet sitting on the kitchen counter