The bobcat lay on the floor of their cabin, watching them with a baleful, almost human intelligence. Despite Caleb’s protests, Brance knew the feline was other. He could see it in the amber eyes staring back at them, and more than once the bobcat growled in frustration as if angry at its own inability to communicate. Her gaze flicked from one man to the other, as unsettled as the tail that slapped the floor boards or the ears that twitched on top of her head. Time stretched out between them, unreal. Each movement they made sparked a hiss or a growl; at every whispered word, the cat grew upset. At one point Brance placed a hand on Caleb’s knee, both to steady the shaking limb and to silence his lover. The slight movement attracted the cat’s attention like a skittering mouse, and a thick ton
