Cat and Company Read Free Page B

always parading in something new and colorful, while Fareed went for basic black. The difference just seemed to draw attention to how much like each other they were. As they were essentially each other’s clone, that was understandable but Lilly still had moments when she sometimes treated Connell just as she would Fareed, before she remembered.
    Connell was holding his arm up against his chest, favoring it. There was a rip in the fur-lined and edged jacket he was wearing. The edges of the tear were blackened and beneath, Lilly could see blood.
    “What happened?” she asked, alarm nudging her fear even higher. She and Yennifer met him halfway across the big room, just in front of the sofa. Connell hugged Lilly with his free arm. For once he didn’t let his hand slide over her back, down toward her ass as he sometimes did, just to tease her.
    “It’s all right. Everything is fine,” he said quickly. “Well, sort of fine.”
    “Where have you been?” Lilly demanded. “Not a single word from either of you. I’ll kill him when I see him.”
    “I’m pretty sure you can see him now,” Connell told her.
    “Where is he?”
    “He should be emerging by now.”
    “Emerging?” Lilly brought her hand to her throat. “He…died?”
    “It’s a long story,” Connell assured her. “Lilly, we found Bedivere. He’s back, too.”
    Lilly couldn’t help it. Her gaze moved toward the door on the far left. The one that hadn’t been opened for years.
    “Is Bedivere fine, too?” Yennifer asked softly.
    “You can probably tell that better than I can,” Connell told her. “I don’t have access to the therapy center datacore.”
    Yennifer gave him a small smile. “I was asking as me.”
    “Why don’t you come and find out?” he suggesting, looking at Lilly. “I have to have this seen to, anyway.” He lifted the injured arm. “I think Bedivere might like to see some friendly faces when he comes around.”
    Lilly frowned. “If I can manage a friendly expression, I will, but I’m not making any promises. Nine years, he’s been gone, almost to the day.” Yet she found her feet were moving to the door all by themselves, as if she was eager to see him. “And you two have been gone for weeks, too. What hole did you pull him out of, anyway?”
    All Connell’s good cheer faded. His eyes shadowed. “Wait until you hear the full story, Lilly,” he said gently. “Then, maybe, you might want to hug both of them after all.”
    * * * * *
    Like all such awakenings, this one was sluggish and confusing. His vision was slow to adjust—he’d never used these eyes before and they would need to settle into his old brain patterns.
    As his vision adjusted, he remembered his name. Bedivere. And he remembered what he was. Everything was there, including….
    “Brant.” He groaned and closed his eyes.
    “You’re welcome.” Brant’s voice. Dry and weak.
    Bedivere tried to sit up and couldn’t. Of course, he’d have to train the muscles. He could turn his head, though. He opened his eyes again and fought to make them focus on the object in front of him.
    Finally, the image joined up with memory and made sense. Brant was sitting in a floating chair—he wouldn’t be any stronger than Bedivere right now. His hair was short, again. His skin was pale. The white tunic was almost the same color.
    “Why do I remember everything?” Bedivere demanded. “I stopped backing up weeks ago. Deliberately.”
    “Your backups were becoming more and more sporadic, so we switched you over to live feed backup. That’s how Connell tracked you.” Brant shrugged.
    Bedivere rolled his head back and stared up at the pristine white ceiling. “It didn’t occur to you that I might object to remembering everything?”
    “It was the only way we were going to be able to find you.”
    “I didn’t want to be found!”
    “Too bad.”
    “Hades take you…how dare you override my will?”
    “If you really had not wanted to be found, you would have