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Kieran glanced up at the brilliantly blue sky on his way to the library. The clouds slid over his head, early autumn winds guiding them along as the morning forged onward.
The breeze tousled his hair and swept leaves around his feet into a riot of color that somehow always reminded him of Lauren, and he smiled to himself at the thought of his wife’s sleepy eyes watching him leave their bed this morning.
His footsteps paused abruptly when Kieran had a sudden sensation of being watched. He glanced around, senses ever on edge despite having been free from Phantom Scythe’s clutches for over five years now.
No other pedestrians were near, which Kieran attributed to the fact that he had left home early that morning due to a sleepless night, but there in the very far reaches of a dark side alley was a pair of gleaming eyes watching him.
Thoughtful, Kieran slipped his watch out of his pocket, seeing that he had plenty of time before he was due to open the library. Something about the small creature lit his curiosity, and he crept quietly forward.
Once shadowed by the surrounding buildings, Kieran’s eyes adjusted to the dim light enough for him to make out a puddle of black fur pressing itself underneath a newspaper. Its eyes were a startling shade of dark green, and they peered at him in terror as its small body shook.
Kieran crouched down in front of the cat, staying still when he recognized how frightened it was. It looked to be several months old, but not quite an adult. He had never noticed any stray cats in this area of town; this little one was quite alone.
“Hello,” he murmured quietly, and the cat scrambled even further back under the papers, burying itself from view.
Hmm. Kieran rose and retreated, seeing that he was only scaring the poor thing.
As he resumed his trek to the library, Kieran pondered the animal curiously.
He was not exactly what you would call an “animal person.” Kieran had certainly never had a pet as a child, and had never considered having one as an adult either. But there was something different about this particular feline.
Over the next several weeks, Kieran and his new friend slowly developed a truce.
Kieran would bring a snack of some sort every now and then and leave it at the entrance to the alley. When he drifted back on his way home, it would be gone.
After catching sight of the cat a few times, Kieran decided it was a male, and that he had at least had some sort of care before, because his ear was notched as a signal that he had been neutered at some point. He was practically skin and bones, and his fur was a dusty, disheveled mess most of the time.
Before he knew it, Kieran found himself setting out cat food on a daily basis for the small creature. On rare occasions, if there were no other humans around, the cat would stealthily creep out and draw near to Kieran until at length he grew comfortable enough to twine around Kieran’s legs as he tried to continue walking past.
“Okay, little one,” Kieran said softly, sitting on the concrete of the alley one morning. His friend was still incredibly fearful of any other human, but seemed to be coming to trust Kieran. He sidled up to Kieran and tiptoed along the length of Kieran’s legs, tail high in the air.
“It’s just that no one’s ever taken the time with you, hmm?” Kieran managed to run his fingers along the cat’s increasingly silky fur a few times as long as he spoke gently. “You’re getting fat, kitty,” he said teasingly, inwardly pleased at how much healthier the feline appeared after a few weeks of regular meals.
Taking care not to move too suddenly and spook him, Kieran slid out his watch. He still had a little time. And besides, that’s what a librarian’s assistants were for. Lucian and Susanna could open without him if he was running a bit behind.
“I suppose it’s a bad idea to give you a name, huh?” he commented. He considered the handful of names that had been creeping into his thoughts. “I can’t continue only calling you ‘cat,’ though. What about Fern?”
Fern sat primly near his feet and blinked slowly at Kieran.
Kieran huffed out a laugh. “Fern it is. For your eyes,” he clarified to his friend, referencing their vivid green color. Fern: new beginnings, he thought automatically.
Fern licked a paw absently, swiping it at his face before shaking his head sharply a few times.
Kieran sighed heavily and stood, brushing himself off before heading back to the main street. At least no one had peered in to see a grown man sitting on the ground in work attire talking to a cat. This time, Kieran thought with a chuckle.
Lauren snapped a series of photos at the crime scene, red and blue lights flashing through the darkened windows as she took in the details.
An unlocked door, no sign of forced entry. A pile of laundry waiting to be folded on the sofa. A dish with a few tiny kibbles in it on the floor near the bathroom. A streak of blood across the living room floor. A broken wine glass in the kitchen. Potted plants everywhere.
A lifeless hand in the bedroom doorway.
Detective March trailed in, summarizing the details they knew thus far. “Perilla Lewis, 61 years old, single, found dead by a neighbor when she failed to arrive at a dinner party. No known conflicts with anyone around her, by all accounts a well-liked and respected woman.”
To her embarrassment, Lauren’s jaw crackled with a light pop as it stretched open in a long yawn, exhausted despite the macabre scene fueling her meager adrenaline. “Does she have family, friends in the area?”
“Two sisters, a brother, a slew of nephews and nieces. Several friends in a gardening club and from her church group.”
Lauren nodded thoughtfully, replacing the camera around her neck. “Oh, the forensics team is here,” she said, gesturing to the door behind them.
March smiled in what Lauren always thought of as his “we’ve got a case!” expression. Some people were simply made for the thrill of the chase, the puzzle.
“Well, let’s get started on some interviews, shall we?” Lauren offered with a smile in return.
One lazy afternoon, Kieran emerged from his study and found Lauren bathed in the dappled light produced by the sunlight filtering through the trees as it poured in through the window. Glancing outside, he could see the peaceful view of the wind through the handful of branches, the breeze silent from behind the glass.
“Darling?” he called, crossing the room toward her.
“Hmm?” she answered absently, face buried in a newspaper as she searched for anything that might help her with the Lewis case.
Kieran slipped his arms around her shoulders from behind and pressed a kiss to her temple, lips lingering near her skin. “I love you.”
Lauren smiled at this and briefly pressed her fingers onto his hand before returning to the paper. “And whatever could you be wanting from me right now, my love?”
Kieran scowled and rested his forehead against the top of her shoulder for a moment. “Can’t a man tell his wife he loves her without there being an ulterior motive?”
Her laugh echoed with the crinkling of the newspaper as she turned the page. “Sure, but this particular husband never says that quite so plainly unless he’s plotting something.”
She could feel the groan he let out as he leaned onto her for an instant before pushing back.
Kieran busied himself in the kitchen, stowing away a few dishes and wiping down the countertop in an effort to lull her back into her former unsuspecting state.
“Lauren?” he tried again.
“What is it?” she asked, still studying the words on the page in front of her.
“Have you ever thought about the two of us getting a pet?”
Lauren let out a scoffing laugh without looking at him. “No.”
Wincing inwardly, Kieran kicked himself for being surprised at how decisively she immediately shut down the idea.
After a short pause, Lauren did a small double take when she caught sight of him staring into the refrigerator.
“Kieran? What are you moping about?”
He drew himself up indignantly. “I most certainly am not— okay, your special talent really isn’t fair, you know that, don’t you, detective?”
Lauren blinked at him. “You’re serious? About the pet thing?”
Kieran shrugged. “It was just a thought, don’t worry about it.”
She frowned, considering him sharply. When he seemed determined to let the subject drop, she stood and took him gently by the arm.
“I’ll keep you company if that’s what you’re after,” she grinned.
Powerless against her, Kieran breathed out a laugh and tugged her closer to him, placing a lingering kiss on her lips. “It’s a deal.”
Thwarted before he even had the chance to really entertain the notion, Kieran settled for his passing acquaintance with the newly-named Fern as he traveled to and from work daily.
Lauren’s work schedule as a detective often had her hours offset from his, so she typically was not around to notice the slight delay in his commute time, especially since he insisted upon walking everywhere to begin with.
It wasn’t until Fern started trying to follow him home that Kieran began to worry about being discovered.
“No, go on! You can’t be here. She’ll send you running and then you’ll hate me forever as well,” Kieran said in a hushed tone to him as Fern rubbed his head against Kieran’s leg. “Go on, now. Get back to your little home,” he urged.
When the episode repeated the following day, and the next, Kieran knew Lauren was bound to notice at some point.
“Kieran, what is all over your coat?” Lauren asked as she helped him out of it when he came through the door. She hung it on the hook and began brushing at it briskly with her hands.
Kieran stared at the incriminating black cat hairs covering his long tan coat, thinking desperately on the spot. “Uh, Lucian has a cat. He likes to borrow my jacket sometimes,” he said carefully, avoiding any outright lies as he referenced his assistant.
“Sheesh, tell him to keep it off the furniture next time. Or I’ll buy him a new coat for goodness’ sake,” Lauren said with a laugh, leaning over to pull Kieran into a hug.
He fought to keep his laugh from sounding as nervous as he felt. “How’s the Lewis case progressing? Any new leads?” he commented, referencing the murder she was investigating.
Lauren was still settled in his embrace, and she buried her face into his chest at the question. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Absolutely nothing. There’s something I’m missing, I’m sure of it.”
Lauren shivered as his fingertips brushed against her skin. “You’re freezing! Go warm up.”
Kieran had already noticed the chill as well, because his thoughts were full of a certain little one who would be bitterly cold this winter.
“Lauren, I think we should get a cat,” he said suddenly, pulling away from her to search her eyes.
Lauren snickered, but quickly sobered when she realized he was quite serious. “Kieran,” she said flatly. “We’re not cat people. We’re not dog people, we’re not even goldfish people. We’re just now getting the hang of keeping ourselves alive, much less anything else.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” he muttered under his breath, releasing her as he also released the subject. “Are we still meeting Kym and William for dinner?”
“Yes, they said to be there around six o’clock,” Lauren answered, straightening the pillows on the sofa as she passed by.
By the time Lauren and Kieran made it to Will and Kym’s front door, they were once again bickering back and forth about the cat.
“Why haven’t you taken him to a shelter?” Lauren asked, hand on her hip as she paused outside the house.
“I tried that! They’re all overflowing and wouldn’t take him. They said black cats were too hard to place,” Kieran protested.
Lauren sighed, shaking her head as she gave a quick rap on the door before pushing it open.
“There you are!” Kym called, drawing back with a mock nervous expression when she saw the obvious irritation on their features. “Uh oh, trouble in paradise?”
“It’s nothing,” Lauren said immediately.
“Lauren wants me to abandon a poor, defenseless creature,” Kieran answered at the same time.
“Wait, what?” Will asked, trailing into the room behind Kym.
Lauren scowled and shrugged off her coat, hanging it near the door before making her way to the kitchen to help with any further preparations that needed to be made.
She busied herself filling a pitcher of water and collecting four glasses, setting them on the table with a loud clink. She checked on the vegetables simmering on the stove and gave them a light stir lest they burn as her friends lagged behind discussing that ridiculous animal.
Lauren heard their voices trickling in behind her as she placed the dinner plates on the table at each seat.
“Ohh, what will you name him?” Kym cried, bouncing lightly on her toes. “Potato? No! Lucky Dumpster! No, Melon!”
Kieran hinged slightly at the waist with laughter. “Where on earth did you get those names?”
“I’ve thought about this a lot, okay?” Kym muttered defensively, crossing her arms as she pushed one of the chairs in slightly with her hip to pass by.
Will sighed heavily, checking on the roast in the oven. “For the last time, I can’t help being allergic to animals, Kym.”
“Lucky,” Lauren muttered, throwing napkins down near each plate.
“I’ve been calling him Fern, actually,” Kieran offered quietly.
Lauren looked up sharply as if to say ‘You named it?’
“Oh, you absolutely have to bring him home. I can just see him lapping up a little bowl of milk in your kitchen!” Kym went on, ignoring the dinner preparations being made around her as she clutched her hands to her heart.
“Kym, you can’t give milk to cats. They’re almost all lactose intolerant,” Will commented in his typical calm way as he pulled the pan out of the oven.
“What?!” Kym cried, dreamy expression sliding off her face into one of horror. “I’ve been lied to my entire life.”
Lauren set the pitcher of water down heavily after filling a glass, drawing their attention. “For the last time, we are not getting a cat!”
Kym burst out laughing as Kieran popped his head up from behind Lauren and mouthed “Yes, we are!”
Lauren whipped around, only for Kieran to look at her with a look of surprised innocence on his features.
“Perhaps we should eat dinner before there’s a fist fight, hmm?” Will suggested with a grin.
Lauren grumbled her acceptance and they sat down at the table, moving on to less contentious subjects of conversation.
As the nights grew colder, Kieran gradually stopped urging Fern to stay behind when the cat followed him home. At least he could take refuge under the shrubs next to the house and leech some of the heat there.
Kieran also began tucking a bowl of food behind the house, being sure to keep it out of sight near the corner where a large spider continuously made its home. He knew Lauren avoided that area like the plague thanks to the arachnid’s presence.
“You have to stay hidden, alright?” Kieran said in a low voice, wagging his finger gently at Fern as he ate ravenously from the bowl. “Be stealthy.”
Fern ignored him as usual, which only brought even more of a smile to Kieran’s face.
A few nights later, Kieran checked the time, knowing he had about an hour before Lauren was due. Fern had followed him home once more, and he stepped out the side door to sit on the frozen ground next to the house and watch him.
Fern sauntered by, not directly acknowledging Kieran’s existence for the first several minutes. Unbothered by the cold, Kieran picked up the book accompanying him and skimmed the pages, glancing up from time to time to see Fern slowly coming closer.
The feline eventually gave up the ruse and rubbed against Kieran’s leg, a purr thrumming loudly in his chest when Kieran ran his hand along Fern’s back. The cat arched his back with the motion and pressed his head into Kieran’s hand in a demand for more attention.
After a moment of this, Fern lightly took Kieran’s hand in his teeth. Kieran let out a small “ouch!” and snatched his hand back, but Fern merely sat nearby and groomed himself serenely.
“Kieran White, what in heaven’s name are you doing?”
Uh oh. Kieran’s eyes flickered toward Lauren and then back to Fern as the cat flattened its ears and scurried for cover. Kieran recalled suddenly how fearful Fern still was around any other human.
He stood stiffly, brushing off his pants and tucking the book under his arm. “Welcome home?” he ventured with a reluctant smile.
When Lauren merely stood there, hands on her hips causing her red IU jacket to gape open in the front, Kieran’s lips slowly shifted into a smirk.
“Listen, darling, I can’t just kick him away. He followed me home!”
“Oh, and I’m sure you did nothing to encourage it, hmm?” Lauren countered immediately. “We are not keeping the cat, Kieran.”
She turned to enter through the front door, and Kieran scrambled after her. They tumbled back into the warmth of the house, and Lauren sank onto the sofa, exhausted from a mentally taxing day at work with dead end after dead end in the same case that had been plaguing her for weeks.
Kieran took her jacket and pushed her lightly down onto the couch. He pressed a quick kiss to her temple and pulled her boots off one at a time, leaving them on the floor next to her. Tapping her lightly, she raised up slightly for him to sit at the end of the couch with her head in his lap. Her eyelids fluttered closed as he gently carded through her hair, unsnarling the tangles put there by the breeze.
“Kieran?” she asked after a moment, eyes still closed.
“Hmm?”
“Why do you want that cat so much?”
His hands paused their motions as Kieran considered the question. They slowly resumed working through her hair as he answered haltingly, “I’m not sure, exactly. He’s so young, and someone just abandoned him. He was…unwanted. Afraid.” She felt him shrug above her. “I just thought…maybe I could help.”
Lauren opened her eyes partway, studying him through her lashes as he spoke. Her heart twisted in her chest as she realized that this was far more about Kieran himself than that blasted cat. She raised up, twisting around to take his face in one hand and press a soft kiss to his lips.
His fingers traveled up her back, gently pulling her close with his hand on the nape of her neck as he took her lips in his once more, sighing into her mouth as he savored her closeness.
She could feel the melancholic tilt of his actions, and everything in her felt the overwhelming need to heal it. She deepened the kiss, the quiet of the evening surrounding them as he pressed her to his chest to feel her heartbeat against his.
Lauren felt the corners of his mouth turn upward before he murmured against her lips, “So does this mean I get to keep the cat?”
She groaned lightly, a low sound in her throat as he shifted to place a warm kiss on her neck. “You’re the worst,” she muttered.
He trailed his lips down her skin. “That sounds an awful lot like a yes to me,” he said as he tilted her face back to his, smiling into another kiss.
“Fine,” she whispered between kisses. “But that cat will stay outside,” she demanded as Kieran pulled her lightly into his lap to better hold her. When he only breathed out a laugh in response, she pulled back slightly to look him in the eye. “I mean it, Kieran. Out. Side.”
“Yes, darling, as you command,” he grinned, pulling her back down for another kiss.
Lauren slid her key into the lock and pushed open the door into their home. Having been called out in the middle of the previous night for a case, Detective March had allowed her to leave early and she was overwhelmingly relieved. She and Kieran both had been having a run of nightmares that left them sleepless more often than not. She blamed hers on the handful of cases she had on her desk still unsolved.
She tossed her keys into a bowl by the door and craned her neck to see around the corner into the main part of the house. “Kieran? Are you home?”
She loosened her belt, eager to get out of her uniform as she entered their bedroom, only to stop short at the sight of a long, black cat laid out comfortably in a large sunbeam on the carpeted floor.
Detecting her presence, Fern shot up suddenly and dove under the bed, cowering in fright.
Lauren let out a cry of dismay and fell to the floor on her hands and knees, peering under the bed. “No! Here, kitty, kitty!” she called, but she knew even as she did so that it was no use. Cats were far too intelligent to willingly come to anyone who might have ill intentions, she thought cynically.
For a long moment, she and the cat stared stubbornly at each other. Large green eyes shone in the darkness, lit only by the ray of sun sliding under the bed where Lauren lifted the bed skirt.
Maybe if she gave him a moment, he would come out. Lauren grumbled under her breath and stood, wiping her hands lightly on her pants to clear away the dust from under the bed that had clung to her skin. She crept out of the room, lamenting the fact that she still had not changed out of her uniform, but the faster she left the room, the faster the cat would come out from under the bed. Or so she hoped.
She made a cup of coffee in the kitchen and perched on a chair as she took a few sips, wincing at the slight burn on her tongue she earned as penance for her impatience.
When her repeated attempts to peek into the room to check her progress seemed to fail, she rinsed her coffee cup with perhaps what might be considered excessive force and let it settle onto the counter with a loud clank as she stomped back into the bedroom.
“Okay, you! You can’t be here!” she commanded, dropping back down on her hands and knees to see the gleaming eyes in the same place she had left them. She reached as far as she could but her fingertips came nowhere near the cat.
She was interrupted by Kieran’s bewildered voice. “Darling, not that I mind the view, what exactly are you doing down there?”
Lauren huffed out a groan as she dragged herself out from under the bed and sat up on her knees with a glare. “That wretched cat is under the bed, Kieran. And how exactly did it make it inside, could you tell me that?”
Kieran swallowed the wince that threatened to give him away. “He must have been cold.”
Lauren merely leveled him with a flat stare. “I don’t want it in the house, Kieran.”
Kieran loosened his collar, considering his response for a moment before settling on, “Why not?”
Lauren stared at him as though he had lost his mind. “Only about a hundred reasons! First of all, look at me.” She gestured to her white shirt, now covered in black cat hairs. “Not to mention the fact that they do whatever they want, whenever they want. At least with a dog they inherently want to please and so will actually learn to listen at least some of the time.”
She stood, straightening with her hands on her hips as she glared at the bed. “They walk all over the furniture, the kitchen counters, they knock over—”
Mid-diatribe, she halted abruptly, a look of stunned realization crossing her face.
“Lauren?” Kieran asked tentatively.
“The cat! Where was the cat?” she exclaimed, still not looking at Kieran.
He glanced around the room as though to find the piece of conversation he was evidently missing. “I’m fairly certain we established that he’s under the bed, love.”
She lunged across the room, gripping his forearms. “No, not this cat, the Lewis cat! Where was the cat?” Her thoughts flew to the cat dish that had been on the ground and the broken glass in the kichen that had seemed so separated from the remainder of the crime scene...as though the glass had been knocked off the countertop by a mischievous feline.
Kieran shook his head, trying not to grin at the way Lauren’s mind worked when she was unraveling a case. It was one of his favorite ways to see her. “Perhaps he stepped out for a milk run?”
She smacked at his arm, ignoring him otherwise. “We tore that entire place apart, but there was no cat. Oh, who was it, who was it?” she said to herself, running one hand through her hair distractedly.
She flew over to the phone, dialing the number for the precinct immediately.
“Detective March, please. Yes, I’ll hold.” Her foot tapped violently with impatience as she waited.
“Detective March! The Lewis case. Which one of the people we interviewed had all the cat scratches on his hands?” It had been weeks now, but she distinctly remembered it because his companion had said something about him not even owning a cat. The interaction had struck Lauren as odd at the time.
“Yes sir, I do know I’m supposed to be resting. Please, sir, tell me you remember who it was.” Kieran watched in fascination as she paused, awaiting some reply.
“The brother! Of course! Sir, you have to get him back in for questioning. Just trust me, I— oh, this is ridiculous. I’ll be there in a few minutes. No, I’m sure, sir. See you soon.”
Lauren slammed the phone down and snatched up her jacket. Dashing by, she placed a quick kiss on his cheek.
“Does this mean Fern can stay inside now?” he called after her with a grin.
“Tch,” was the only response at first as Lauren snatched up her keys.
“Come on now, darling, he even helped you solve a case!”
“Fine, but only in bad weather, Kieran White! And you need to get that thing to a vet first!”
The door slammed behind her and Kieran padded back to the bedroom. Crouching down on the floor, he called softly, “Come on out. Dragon lady is gone.”
Fern slinked out toward him, winding his way around Kieran’s form.
Looking him in the eye, Kieran winked and whispered in mock seriousness, “We’re getting to her, my friend. Keep it up.”
“It’s miserable out there,” Lauren commented with a glance out the window at the dreary spring rain. “Do you really have to go?”
Kieran’s eyes flickered toward her as he attempted to straighten his tie in the mirror. “It’s for charity, love. And it’s at my library. Of course I have to go.”
With a sigh, she pushed his hands out of the way and straightened his collar for him. “I know, I know. Somehow the idea of curling up with a blanket and listening to the rain isn’t nearly as appealing when you’re not with me,” she smiled. He smelled like his soap and aftershave, freshly showered, and she wanted nothing more than to keep him right there for the rest of the night.
Kieran chuckled, buttoning his sleeves. “Right, because then you’d have to actually sit still for more than a moment or two.”
Her eyelids fluttered in a roll as she stepped out of the way for him to pass by and collect his shoes on the way to the door.
“Kieran! Wait,” she said suddenly as he neared the door.
When he turned expectantly, she shifted on her feet, not meeting his eye. “You can let Fern in if you want. Because of the rain,” she said grudgingly.
Kieran tilted his head in smug surprise. “Oh really, now? ‘That blasted cat’ has a name now and everything? What sacrificial offering had to be made to accomplish this monumental feat?”
“You’re right, I take it all back,” she said archly, turning back toward the kitchen.
Kieran laugh followed her as she left the room, only glancing over her shoulder to let him see the corner of her smile once she knew he had stewed long enough.
“For what it’s worth,” he called out to her, “he’s coming around to you, too!”
A scoff was all he received in return as he slipped out the door.
A few hours later, just before midnight, Kieran quietly opened the door to their home. He crept silently toward his study and found Lauren almost exactly where he expected to.
She always waited for him in the oversized armchair in his study when he was away at night or couldn’t sleep. Most of the time, like tonight, something about the change of scenery would give her rest as well, and he would find her snoozing quietly away.
Tonight, however, not only was Lauren sleeping soundly there, feet pulled up under her, but the lamplight showed a black ball of fur curled up on her chest, head under her chin.
Kieran stood frozen in the doorway at the sight, laughter threatening to bubble up and ruin the moment. He stepped forward and tucked a strand of hair behind Lauren’s ear, then pressed a kiss to her temple.
When she stirred slightly but did not wake, he ran the back of his knuckles down Fern’s head and neck and was rewarded with one eye opening to investigate while a purr rumbled even louder in his chest.
“I knew you could do it, little one,” he whispered to Fern with a smirk toward Lauren’s sleeping features. “She never could say ‘no’ to a lost cause.”