Free Familiar by Michelle Rowen Page B

after and nobody has to get
hurt.”
    What they got was another fierce growl as the huge
tiger moved toward them. Without another word, they turned and ran,
the tiger stalking after them.
    Had they called the tiger Owen ?
    I looked with shock down at the discarded shoebox
that had contained a tiny kitten only minutes ago. Next to it was
the sparkling collar the kitten had been wearing around its
neck—rhinestone, Mrs. Timmons had said. I reached down and picked
it up, looking at it closer. It didn’t really look like cheap
knock-off jewelry to me. It didn’t look like a collar for a pet,
either. It looked like a bracelet with a broken clasp. A diamond
bracelet.
    Another growl from the huge wildcat now loose in the
city made me instinctively turn around and start running for my
house. I’d never moved so fast in my life. Keeping the bracelet on
me made me nervous so I decided to quickly hide it under a dumpster
in an alleyway I passed on my way home. I’d come back for it in the
daylight when every shadow didn’t seem as if it was ready to
pounce.
    “Hey honey,” Mom said, distracted since she was on
the phone when I blew through the front door. “How did it go at
Hocus Pocus? Did you find a familiar?”
    “I don’t know,” I said when I’d found my voice. It
came out really shaky. “I’ll have to go back tomorrow. I have
homework. Talk to you later.”
    I ran upstairs and shut my bedroom door, wanting to
put what had happened out of my mind forever.
     
     

Chapter 2
    When I woke up the next morning, there was a small
striped kitten sitting on my chest, looking at me. It cocked its
head to the side.
    “You’re finally awake. I’ve been waiting forever.
Where’s the bracelet, Brenda?”
    I heard the voice in my head, the same voice from
last night. I pushed the kitten away from me and scrambled out of
the bed, getting tangled up in the sheets and my baggy pajamas.
    “Wh-what do you want from me?” I stammered.
    The kitten watched me carefully. “The bracelet.
Like I just said.”
    If it was actually the kitten speaking to me, its
lips didn’t move. All I heard was a voice—a male voice. “How come I
can hear you?”
    “Good question. I figure it’s because that old
witch did her abracadabra thing last night. I’m your familiar now,
remember? Who knew that would actually mean something? But at least
it helped me find you again. You’re like a homing beacon for me
now.” He didn’t sound terribly happy about that.
    The familiar/witch bonding spell.
    My mouth felt very dry. “You turned into a tiger last
night.”
    “And you’re lucky I did. You have no idea how
dangerous those werewolves were.”
    “Werewolves? Wh-what did they want?”
    “See? We’ve come back to the subject of the bracelet
again. It’s what they want. It’s what I want. So why don’t you hand
it over so I can go on my merry way and leave you to your normal
life?”
    “Brenda!” Mom called from the hallway outside my
closed door. “You up?”
    I tensed. “Yeah.”
    “Breakfast is almost ready. I made blueberry
pancakes.”
    I gulped. “Super. Just a moment.”
    “I’ll bring you up some orange juice to start.”
    “No, that’s not really—” But I heard the footsteps on
the stairs, indicating she’d already headed back down to the
kitchen. Great. Today of all days my mother decides she wants to
hand-deliver me some vitamin C.
    I blew out a long, shaky breath. It didn’t matter. It
wasn’t as if I was hiding anything other than a little kitten in
my—
    I turned around and nearly screamed, stopping myself
only by clamping my hands over my mouth.
    The kitten was gone. In its place was not a tiger
this time, but a boy with tawny-colored hair and dark blue eyes. He
was bare-chested and had my sheets pulled up to his waist. I had
the sinking feeling that was all he was wearing.
    “Comfortable,” he said, pressing on the mattress. “I
could get used to this. Haven’t had a bed for a while. Being on the
run