The Shadow King's Pet

Hello! I'm briefly breaking my normal schedule for a good cause. 

Today I'm sharing a story that will be part of a charitable anthology to benefit an animal shelter. (Permission granted.) This wonderful compilation is brought to you by Kyra Lennon, and several other wonderful authors will be contributing. Check out Kyra's place to learn more. Happy reading!

The Shadow King's Pet

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“The Shadow King is always looking for a new heir,” Grandfather said, his white hairs twitching in a breeze from the air conditioning. “One filled with light to replace the child who fled from him ages ago.”

“The rebellious prince,” Katia finished for him, grinning. She’d heard this story a dozen times while camped around the family living room, but it never lost its appeal. The rebellious prince was cursed for his betrayal, banished solely to the light where he had eventually married a mortal. He was protected by his truest friend, a terrible beast. Katia loved the story unconditionally—until she learned it was grandfather’s delusional invention to help them both cope with Grandma’s death. A fiction to distract them both. Mom and Dad couldn’t get him to stop telling the story like it had happened to him, and with Katia’s 16^th birthday only hours away, she’d grown to see through his coping mechanism.  

She picked a crumb off her plate on the coffee table, what was left from her slice of early celebration birthday cake. Grandfather would be in dialysis tomorrow and unable to visit, although she wondered why he’d scheduled the procedure for tomorrow. “Grandfather, it’s just a story.”

His dark eyes turned on hers, the wrinkles around his eyes falling smooth as his smile faded to nothing. “No, Katia, it is not a story. Your father didn’t inherit the light, but you are special and you had best stay away from the King of Shadows.” His fists were clenched white. “He would like nothing more than my granddaughter.”

Katia shivered at the sobriety behind grandfather’s words. She had always assumed the fairytale was one to keep her from sneaking out of bed when she was younger, but the pain glistening in Grandfather’s eyes was more than just a bedtime story. Darn him, she was too old to fear the dark!

Weight landed in her lap. Katia jumped. Pepkin, her butterscotch tabby, curled up and rubbed his furry cheek against the back of her hand. She ran her fingers through his mane, giving him a grateful rub for the distraction. His purr soothed her, as did his presence.

“I have nothing to fear so long as Pepkin is around.” She lifted the cat’s face and rubbed her nose against his pink one. “You’ll keep me safe, won’t you Pepkin?”

His purring increased. Grandfather snatched his cane and lifted one leg over the side of the flowered couch, his brows furrowed low. He steadied on his feet and tapped his cane twice. “You will be sixteen soon, and he will come for you. Stay out of the shadows.” He aimed for the door. “Remember the light within.”

“Yes, Grandfather,” she whispered.

***

Katia slipped down the stairs, aimed for the fridge. At midnight it would be her birthday, and she wanted a slice of cake to enjoy when the clock changed. Was it pitiful that she was celebrating only with family—that her friends were all away on summer vacation, leaving her to suss out this life-altering transition alone?

Fur brushed her bare leg. She reached down and caught the offender’s tail, giving it a playful tug. “You’re not trying to trip me down the stairs, are you Pepkin?”

The cat didn’t reply.

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She flipped on the kitchen light with five minutes to spare and quickly dished herself up some raspberry-lemon cake. She sat on the counter. Pepkin jumped up next to her, his tail batting comfortingly across her arm.

11:59…

Midnight.

“Yay! Happy sweet-sixteen to me!” She pumped a fist and glanced around the kitchen.

The bay window around the breakfast nook sucked her in. It was too dark—like a black hole, like all the light had been drained out of that corner, and what remained was tangible blackness. A shiver rattled through her.

Katia couldn’t pull her eyes from the pitch. It had swallowed the light, and now it wanted to swallow her. There was something on the other side of that darkness. She wanted to open the doorway and see what waited beyond.

“Crazy,” she muttered, but she didn’t sound convinced. Stay away from the shadows. She’d seen Grandfather serious many times, but never quite so sober as he’d been tonight—not a single lame pun in their entire conversation.

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Pepkin growled.

She twisted toward the cat, startled she stood in the middle of the kitchen, half way to the summoning corner. How had that happened?

The cat leapt down from the counter and circled around her feet, cutting her off from her intended trajectory. His hackles rose, back arching.

A low chuckle bounced off the tile. Katia whirled to the darkness. Her heart thundered through her ears, breath coming in short gasps. She could just make out the outline of a man swathed in the shadows of the alcove.

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