Exclusive Excerpt from Eight Lives
by Autumn Breeze & Ashley Chamblee
“Look.” Anselm paused beside one of the many stalls set up in the open market, pointing to a necklace on one of the tables. It was a black choker with a simple small silver bell at the end of it. “I forgot your bell broke. Do you want another one?”
“I like it. It’s cute,” I said, moving closer to the stand.
Anselm moved to the display as well. He picked up the bell and paid the woman behind the stall counter before he grabbed my hand. His fingers were colder than a normal human’s hand. I’d never noticed before, but that was probably because of my fur.
The chill of his touch was comforting.
“I have an idea.” Anselm pulled me along behind him. “Let me see if I can find—there she is!”
Anselm found a woman sitting behind a small round table only a couple of stalls down from where we had purchased the choker. She had cards laid out in front of her, and I could feel the way the air around her seemed to spark.
She was a witch. I stepped behind Anselm. I really didn’t like witches; even the Med-Witch we had seen was a bit scary.
“Ma’am,” Anselm said, holding out my new choker, “could you enchant this? Something to make it the right size needed to fit around the owner’s neck. I’m willing to pay.”
“I suppose. It is a simple enchantment.” The witch took the bell from Anselm. Her hands glowed a pale yellow for a few seconds before she held out her other hand. She had finished with her enchantment but was clearly not releasing the choker until Anselm placed a crisp new bill in her palm. “It was a pleasure doing business,” she said.
Anselm spun me around and pulled the choker across my neck.
“We’re not even going to ask if she actually cursed it?” I said as Anselm snapped it in place.
“She wasn’t a dark witch,” he explained.
I reached up to touch the small bell. “Will it really still fit when I . . . go back?” I wondered. My last bell was something Anselm had given me years ago. I had cherished it until it broke, and even afterward, it was still in our home with a collection of my things. Now I had a new gift from him, one that would fit me as a cat or a man.
“I hope so,” Anselm said, flicking the bell and making it ting. “It suits you. Do you really like it?”
I smiled, looking up at him. “I love it.”
“Let’s get you some clothes,” Anselm said.
I nodded and reached out to grab his hand, lacing his fingers with mine. My heart raced as we walked. My tail swung behind us. I wished this could be our life, that maybe I could find a way to exist with Anselm as I was now, that maybe he would accept me as a man and not just a cat.
I shook that daydream away. I couldn’t afford thoughts like that.
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