Trust with Glittering Eyes

By K.S. Murphy

Sequel to Watch with Glittering Eyes

Life has been going well for Travis Grayweaver recently. The Grand Council of High Magick hasn’t summoned him for anything. For a witch without a Guild, he’s still getting plenty of work. And best of all, he’s spent the last six months falling more and more in love with his best friend Niko, a rambunctious and playful cat familiar, who happens to love him back.

Tonight, they’ll be celebrating the Yule with lots of candlelight and a feast for two and a festival in town as they honor the start of winter and wait for the sun’s return. Only Niko’s been acting a bit off lately, obviously keeping something from Travis.

Travis is trying to be patient with him, but this thing from Niko’s past might be more than he can handle. Old demons and long-kept secrets will be revealed, but can the love they have for one another endure these revelations during the longest night of the year?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Dec 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781685500016

Book preview

Chapter 1

On the outskirts of Kings County, inside the cozy yellow cottage not far from the Whispering Woods, Travis Grayweaver readied his altar for tonight’s celebration. In tradition, Travis used cold colors of winter to decorate it. A gold cloth as a covering. Different colored candles in silver holders or on silver discs. Scattered across the altar were evergreen boughs and holly sprigs and pinecones. A vial of holly water to sprinkle throughout the home for good luck and safety to those who lived there. And, of course, a gold pillar candle right in the center and raised higher than the rest for his sun candle.

Yule, after all, honored the start of the winter season and the return of the sun after the longest night of the year. A time to celebrate renewal and purification. Fresh starts and new beginnings.

Inside, Travis decorated the walls with evergreen wreaths and bright sun sigils. Enchanted icicles hung from the ceilings and mantel.

Outside, winter sparkled. Snow powered the ground, flakes swirling through the air on gentle breezes. Frost glistened on delicate blades of grass and spiraled up trees. Intricate and ornate patterns of ice glistened on the cottage’s windows and door. The ice was there naturally, but Travis added the designs to it and the frosty stars and snowflakes on the outer walls of the cottage.

A tricky bit of spellwork, but being an elemental witch helped. Travis might not have been the most talented witch in the county, but he knew how to pull a few tricks out of his sleeves.

Good thing, too, since those little tricks paid the bills and kept the roof over their heads and their bellies bull. His and Niko’s, Travis’s best friend and the love of his life. Who also happened to be a cat-familiar. A pretty little calico one minute, a human with a few adorable feline features the next. Capable of pure, powerful magick. Magick that left its mark in a perfect circular burn on Travis’s right palm when, six months ago, Niko lent him an obscene amount of his magick.

Travis glanced from his scar to the pillow pile in front of the fireplace where Niko would normally be lazing about. He wasn’t there. He wasn’t in the cottage at all. Not even out in the gardens pouncing on things. He’d been missing since early this morning. Not missing, really. Travis knew Niko left but Niko’d been vague on the details. Something about cat business and not to worry and he’d be back by twilight.

Unfortunately, being told not to worry and actually not worrying were two very different things, and whether Niko liked it or not, worry crept in and sank teeth into Travis about an hour ago. The cuckoo clock on the wall in the kitchen told him it was almost three and Niko still hadn’t returned. Which didn’t really mean much. Niko said before twilight and there was still time before then. Time before the Yule began.

Travis wasn’t always so prone to worrying. Things changed this past spring when he spent several long, agonizing moments believing his precious Nikolai—his better half, his lover, his kitten—was dead before he ever confessed his love for him. The pain of losing Niko, even though he ended up no worse for wear, had been…unbearable, and Travis didn’t think the word was strong enough.

But Niko’d been acting a bit…not strange, much too strong a word. Off, perhaps, fit better. A little distant, sometimes in a daze or staring off into space. A few times, Travis caught him chewing on his claws, something he never saw him do in the seven years he’d known him. Travis even woke in the middle