STRAY: A Sentinel Story

Chapter Nine

When Sebastian had let himself into his flat through the humiliating pet door, he'd paced aimlessly for hours, wondering how the hell he was supposed to get a human to take him in as a stray cat—these days, a creature more despised than even rats. Finally he'd curled up into a furry ball of exhaustion and woke at dawn the next day. The first thing that popped into his mind was Noah.

Sebastian had already interacted with Noah in his Felis form, and even though he'd wiped the guy's memory of seeing him at Sanctuary, Noah would remember the big white cat. Since he knew that Noah went to the Bazaar every Tuesday, Sebastian had followed him, and gotten a meal out of the deal.

He'd always thought that getting involved with a human in any way was a dangerous game of chicken, so he didn't quite understand what Nikhil was trying to do by forcing it. Sebastian supposed that Feliscindae had to get close to humans long enough to mate but every single time, it was a risk. Of exposure. Of labs and experiments. Of extermination. The classic Frankenstein Effect.

A shudder rippled through Sebastian's body, starting at his whiskers and ending with a rattle of his plume-like tail.

But things didn't seem that much safer for Noah than for a stray cat, or a Feliscindo for that matter. Humans often liked to talk to animals, and Noah was no exception. Some of what he spoke about, the things he had to do to survive, made Sebastian's skin crawl and his gut burn with rage. There were so many evil humans out in the world, so why must life be so hard for a kind-hearted kid—man—such as Noah?

Sebastian had gathered from their one-sided conversation that the place Noah was staying wasn't a safe one. Initially, he'd been happy to find that Noah wasn't on the streets every night, but his instincts were telling me that this Tom person's place might be worse, so he followed Noah even after he'd told him to stay. Against his will and better judgment, Sebastian had formed an attachment to the guy and he couldn't stand the thought of him being hurt. And now that he had more information about Noah, there was absolutely nothing Sebastian could do for him because he was trapped inside his own body.

He followed Noah to a tiny slum-district, to another row house on a different street from the first one he'd followed him to. This house was much more worn down and in need of repair, but Sebastian had a feeling the so-called owners of the houses here were nothing more than squatters who'd gotten there first.

Sebastian made a note of which house Noah went into, but he didn't try to follow him inside. Something told him he might go insane if he saw Noah being mistreated when he was unable to help. Impotent fury welled up inside his chest, directed at the Praesidium for following him, at Nikhil for blindly following orders, but mostly at Arliss.

Once Noah had disappeared, Sebastian began the short walk back to his flat. Once inside, he went straight to the bathroom and jumped onto the counter. He settled into the sink so he could get as close to the mirror as possible, because he needed to confirm with his own eyes what Nikhil had done to him. He cocked his head and rotated his ear forward. Sure enough, there it was, the five-pointed crown of the house of Locke, along with the loathed nickname, the black ink a stark contrast to the pink paper-thin skin of the inside of his ear.

That fucking bastard. Nikhil had probably only been following Arliss's orders. Arliss knew how much Sebastian disliked the diminutive, how it made him feel like a snot-nosed kid, which was no doubt exactly why he'd made Nikhil brand him as such. Gods-be-damned, what the hell am I going to do?

Sebastian had a brief moment of self-pity—and, okay, terror—before he decided he was going to do exactly what he did every day. He would spend some time at the club, and then go on patrol. He couldn't exactly perform his duty as an envoy but he could watch, and he could keep an ear to the ground. He wouldn't be a cat forever...he hoped.