glinted off a medal he wore around his neck.
The cat was circling them now, growing more agitated. The younger man squatted, and when she went to him, he stroked her. But she backed away. It wasn’t soothing that she was after.
The man in the hat was hurrying along the beach now in my direction. The other man rose, ran after him, then grabbed his arm and jerked him around. The argument escalated, and suddenly, the younger man shoved the older man to the ground. When he fell, he missed the cat by inches.
Concern for the animal filled me, and lowering my camera, I gave up on the path and began to make my way down the rugged hillside in a more direct route to the beach. By the time I reached it, my view of the two men and the cat was blocked by the rocks that bordered the little cove on the Villa Prospero’s side.
I felt the cat before she appeared around a boulder. Her emotions slammed into me with enough force to stop me in my tracks. The agitation I’d sensed earlier in her had given way to terror, urgency. In my head I saw a bright red color. I squatted, tried to calm my mind and waited for her to come to me. She did, pausing when she was only a few feet away.
Slowly, I held out my hand. I’m Philly. I’m a friend.
Most often when I communicated with animals, I did it mentally. I thought what I wanted them to know—sometimes in words, other times in images, depending on the initial way the animal communicated with me.
She was a beauty—nearly pure white, and her eyes a pearly mix of gray and green. Without coming any closer, she studied me in much the same way I was studying her. The emotions rolling through her were chaotic, and I couldn’t get a clear image.
What’s your name?
Ariel.
I’d heard the word in my mind as clearly as if she’d said it aloud. With a name like Ariel, I bet she was one of Alexi’s cats. I recalled Miranda had mentioned the name of the other—the one that was missing. Caliban.
Help.
This time I caught an image. A white cat lying still in a shadowy place. Bigger than Ariel, I thought. I caught the gleam of his eyes before everything went red.
Ariel turned and raced back toward the boulders.
When she paused to glance back, I was already on my feet and heading after her. She had an easier time of climbing down the rocks than I did. After slipping for the second time, I thought, Slow down.
Ariel paused and waited for me. The moment I joined her, she began to run again, and I followed her lead. I was beginning to feel the same overpowering sense of urgency and fear that I was getting from her. The two men who’d been with her at the far end of the beach were gone. It wasn’t until I reached the center of the crescent that I realized I was wrong. One of them was still there—lying on the sand. I broke into a sprint.
I was out of breath when I finally reached the man. As I dropped to my knees, my mind registered details. He was the older of the two men I’d seen. His wide-brimmed hat had fallen off, and he was lying faceup, the backpack and binoculars at his side. But my eyes were riveted to the hole in the side of his head, and the large red stain on the white sand. My heart was racing and not from the run. I wasn’t a forensic scientist, but it looked like a bullet hole to me. Wouldn’t I have heard the shot?
My stomach was in free fall, my hand shaking as I did what I’d seen people do on countless TV shows. I put two fingers to the side of his neck and felt for a pulse.
Nothing.
I felt myself going numb. When an insect hummed past my cheek, I brushed at it absently. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ariel, standing, watching me. Waiting. Worrying.
Help.
This was no time to go numb. I can’t help him. He’s dead.
Once again an image flashed into my mind—the white cat. There were fewer shadows this time because of dappled sunlight, so I caught more details. Next to the cat was what appeared to be the remains of a small animal. A bird? And I made out a puddle of water. Even as the image faded, questions poured into my mind. What was Ariel trying to tell me? Was the other cat the one that was missing? And what was her relationship to the dead man? Had she witnessed what had happened to him? Where was the younger man who’d stroked her and shoved this man to the ground?
The list of questions would have gone on if I hadn’t heard another insect hum by. This time I also heard a ping and I glanced in the direction of a nearby boulder. Then I heard yet another hum and saw sand erupt inches away from Ariel.
Shock threatened to numb me again. Someone was shooting at us. He had to be using a silencer. That was why I hadn’t heard a shot.
Run.
Ariel took off first, racing toward the foot of the hill. A second later she’d leaped across rocks and disappeared into the trees. I was about three beats behind her and not quite as fleet of foot. But that gave me time to spot the flash of reflected sunlight from the woods bordering the Castello Corli.
Ariel! Wait. I scrambled over the rocks and raced after her into the cypresses.
CASS ANGELIS STOPPED pacing the moment the knock sounded on her door. When she opened it and saw Kit, some of her tension eased.
He hugged her soundly, then moved to the tea tray she’d set up near the couches. He never drank the tea, but he’d already popped one of the finger sandwiches into his mouth. “Mission accomplished,” he mumbled around it. “Roman’s plane should be touching down in Corfu Town as we speak.”
“Good.”
He glanced at Cass, studying her for a moment. Then he sat down on one of the couches and gestured for her to join him. “Everything’s going just the way we planned. Philly’s in Corfu, and Roman has followed her. What’s worrying you?”
Of all of her nephews, Kit was the one who could always read her the most clearly. She sat next to him and picked up one of her crystals. “This morning I was out at the pond.” Kit knew that she usually went there at sunrise—visions often formed for her in the water. “I saw more—Philly and Roman standing on white sand and there was a castle in the distance. I saw a white cat, and there was blood on the sand. It’s the second time I’ve seen blood.”
Kit frowned. “Philly’s or Roman’s?”
Cass shook her head. “No. But they’re headed into danger. I sensed that before. And that cat—if there’s an animal in the middle of it, your sister is going to get involved.”
Kit took one of her hands. “Maybe an adventure is just what the two of them need. Look at Nik and J.C., Theo and Sadie, Drew and me—we were all in a lot of danger the weekend we fell in love. You keep reading the crystals, and I’ll keep in touch with Roman. If things get serious, I’ll go over and give them some backup.”
Cass smiled at her nephew. “You always know what to say to make me feel better.”
He leaned closer and kissed her cheek. “Funny—you have the same effect on me.” Then he grabbed another sandwich. “Mason said to give you his best.”
Cass’s heart skipped a beat. “You saw him?”
