Heart Thief by Robin D. Owens Page A

lazy. She doesn’t use telepathy, she talks instead.”
    Samba looked up at him and made a chirruping sound that he knew was agreement. He blinked.
    â€œYou’ll soon understand her.” D’Ash sniffed. “She’s fat, but part of that is because she chose to be spayed. She didn’t want kittens. She’s also very curious and loves adventure. She’ll make a good companion for you.”
    Samba’s purring increased, then broke for a moment as her ears rotated. She strung a few syllables together in mews and rumbles that Ruis could have sworn meant Fun! Adventure. Let’s go play . He stiffened in astonishment.
    D’Ash smiled. “You see what I mean? She talks.”
    â€œI don’t need a cat.” But he didn’t release Samba.
    â€œRrrfff.” The muttering sounded piqued. I am not Cat. I am FAM .
    D’Ash chuckled, then stroked the top of Samba’s head.
    â€œHhhmph, rrrff, phsppth!” Not your Family anymore. Finally I get the most attention. HIS. My FamMan. Take your hand away .
    D’Ash jerked her hand back. Ruis felt dazed that he understood the cat by the angle of her ears, the position of her body, her wordlike mews.
    â€œYou’ve won her already.” D’Ash looked him up and down. “Handsome and a man of good character.”
    He laughed shortly. “There are few who believe so.”
    She sighed. “You’ve too much anger. Master it”—she smiled ruefully—“just as my T’Ash mastered his feral nature.”
    â€œEasier said than done.” But as he stroked the cat—his Fam, he thought with wonder—he felt more peaceful than he’d been for a long time.
    D’Ash glanced around and reached through the slit in her tunic to her wide-trous pocket and pulled out a fat wallet. “Here.” She slipped it into his trous pocket.
    He looked at her warily. “What is it?”
    â€œGilt.”
    The pouch weighed heavy. “So much?”
    â€œTwelve thousand.”
    Shocked, he jerked. Samba jumped down and sat at his feet, curling her tail around her paws. He felt her warmth through his boot. He had someone on his side now. And twelve thousand gilt!
    â€œI’ve never had that much gilt in my life.” The words sped from him before he could stop them.
    D’Ash stared. “It’s a month of my noblegilt for being D’Ash. You’re a FirstFamily FirstSon, you should’ve received noblegilt every month as a child—”
    â€œI didn’t.”
    D’Ash frowned.
    Screeching broke the night silence. Samba arched her back and hissed.
    A huge, battered tomcat jumped into the twinmoonslight. Ruis had tangled with Zanth, T’Ash’s Fam, before.
    Samba hissed again and took a stance before Ruis.
    Zanth growled.
    â€œT’Ash comes,” D’Ash said. She stood tiptoe and brushed a kiss on Ruis’s cheek. “Go with the Lady and Lord. Start anew in another place. Blessings upon you.”
    Samba jumped Zanth, her sire, and the cats rolled in a whirling, spitting ball.
    â€œZanth, come!” D’Ash ordered as she ran toward the city gate. “If you don’t come with me, right now, you’ll eat no cocoa mousse for an eightday.”
    Zanth hopped away from Samba, curled a lip and sneered at her, then snarled at Ruis and spit on his boots.
    Samba growled back and lifted a clawed paw.
    Zanth disappeared.
    Samba grumbled cat noises. I showed him . She glanced up at Ruis, and a pink tongue came out and swiped blood from her whiskers. Her smile held glee, undimmed by the red scratch on her nose. Her gaze glittered with excitement, and she uttered a string of murmurings Ruis had already learned. Let’s go play !
    â€œNot yet.” Would D’SilverFir approach? To his surprise, his spirits had lifted.
    A moment later D’SilverFir stepped from the shadows of the gate tower. The air seemed to shimmer around her,