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“You don’t have magic, but I do. Remember? Being a familiar is an important job, but not a thankless one. Many of the famous folks in your human history were secretly familiars.”

I crossed my arms and glared at him.“Really? Like who?”

“Well, consider my namesake,” he said with a smile stretched wide between his whiskers.

I balked at this.“Merlin. The wizard?”

“Ha, he wishes! The Merlin you humans know about was actually the familiar for an extremely powerful cat witch. His name was also Merlin, which makes it a bit confusing. The human Merlin wished to achieve power and fame in exchange for aiding his cat. But he became greedy and self-important, which is why the real Merlin cursed him to age backward. Meanwhile, he found a much more suitable familiar in a new human called Arthur. He only wanted power and prestige in the human world, which was much easier for my great ancestor to cope with.”

“So Merlin was a fraud and King Arthur was just somebody’s familiar?” I summed up.

“There’s nojust about it. Familiars are incredibly important. We witches do what we have to in order to keep you happy.”

I raised an eyebrow in question.

“So could I be the next Lady Gaga?”

“That would take some talent. You may not have been born that way, but I can sure make it happen.” Merlin paused and flexed his paws. “Is that what you want?”

“No, it was just a hypothetical,” I rushed to explain.

“Careful then, because wishes that size only come around once. There’s a lot of small stuff I can do on the regular, but truly life-changing alterations are a one-time deal.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I promised, still not quite believing all this.

“As you should.” Merlin appeared to be satisfied now. “Come. Let’s begin.”

7

“Where are we going?” I asked as I chased my cat through the house.

Instead of answering, though, he ran through the pet flap and outside.

Hurriedly, I pushed my feet into a pair of cheap flip-flops I kept by the door, then swung the door open in just enough time to see him jump into the birdbath and splash around. I knew Maine Coons liked water, but it was still strange to see him enjoying himself in this way. Back where I came from, cats were cats—they hated water and they definitely did not talk.

“I saw you the other day,” I said as I approached cautiously. “Yesterday,” I amended.

Wow, that felt like a week ago at least.

Merlin stopped splashing and glanced over his shoulder at me.“Yes. And what did you see?”

“You f-fl-flew,” I sputtered, wrapping my arms around myself in a hug. “After a bird you wanted to eat.”

Merlin sighed.“First thing’s first, I did not want to eat him. That guy owed me money.”

I blinked hard.“Money?”

“Yes, money.” He smiled now. “Secondly, I wanted you to see me. It was a test.”

“Test?” A chill ran through me, even though the Georgia morning was already bright and warm.

Merlin rolled his eyes.“Stop repeating everything I say as a question.” He stared me down, waiting for whatever it was he needed from me.

I gulped and nodded, still stuck on the fact my cat used money and that a neighborhood bird owed him some.

“I had to see how you reacted to your first glimpse of magic. Some humans can’t quite handle it.”

“And I did? Handled it, I mean?”

My cat looked me up and down then smirked.“You’re still standing. That’s a good start.”

“What could have happened?” I demanded, quite angry that he would knowingly put me in danger.

“You could have lost your mind,” he said flatly. “Many do. That’s why one must always exercise extreme caution when selecting and testing a familiar.”

“So you mentally break people?” It took everything I had not to yell that. Still, we were outside in the middle of a neighborhood street. If someone happened by and saw me not only talking to—but arguing with—my cat, the crazy train would be at my door by noon, ready to lock me up and throwaway the key.

My cat remained calm, casual, as if he were discussing meaningless trivia and not the very real facts of our lives.“Yes, not everyone can handle the existence of magic. A sad truth.” Merlin straightened and puffed his fluffy chest out. “Anyway, glad you’re still with me.”

“Do I have a choice?”

He chuckled.“No.”

“I didn’t think so.”

“Come closer,” my cat urged, and I immediately did as told.

“What’s this? What are were doing?” I asked, feeling awkward as we stood in the middle of my yard and continued to converse in broad daylight. Seriously, why couldn’t we have done whatever this was inside?

“How to be a familiar, lesson one!” he declared with pride, then moved to the edge of the birdbath, balancing somewhat precariously. “Protect the cauldron at all costs.”

“That’s a birdbath,” I pointed out.

He raised his arm high, then face-pawed.“It’s a cauldron. The source of my power and my connection to the larger magical community. Without it, I am a witch at large. Not a proper witch at all.”

I looked from the birdbath to him and back again.