Chapter 1

The moment I came back to life, a six-year-old boy was screaming that my cat had blinded him.

The child rolled across the lawn, clutching his face. His mother rushed over, snatched my cat off the ground, and raised her above her head.

The first time I lived through that afternoon, she threw Mochi onto the pavement and killed the cat who had been mine for seven years.

I lunged forward and tore her from the woman's hands.

My husband, Ethan Cole, took two steps back with the woman beside him.

"The cat belongs to her! This has nothing to do with us!"

The other woman was Lily Bennett.

She had also been Ethan's mistress for the past two years.

Lily loved cats. Ethan was severely allergic to them. Even so, while I was out, he had stolen Mochi from our condo and brought her downstairs for Lily to play with.

Lily had not used a leash.

The boy had yanked Mochi's tail. Startled and trapped, Mochi had slashed at him, one claw sinking into his eye.

Back then, no one gave me a chance to explain.

The boy's mother slapped me twice. His father arrived with a butcher knife.

Ethan stood beyond the crowd and watched me collapse in a pool of blood.

They blamed everything on me. After I died, Ethan even sold the condo my parents had left me and used the money to open a pet boutique for Lily.

Then the world snapped back into focus, and I was standing at the entrance to our complex again.

This time, I moved first.

I blocked the hand reaching for Mochi and held her tight against my chest.

"She's mine," I said. "If someone has to answer for this right now, start with me."

Ethan and Lily both relaxed.

They thought they had their fall guy.

The boy's screams cut through the air.

"Mom! Mom, I can't see!"

His mother's face drained of color. She forgot about the cat, dropped to her knees, and tried to pry his hands away from his eye.

Blood ran between his fingers.

Lily was already hiding behind Ethan.

Mochi had curled beneath an ornamental tree. Her tail was puffed to twice its size, and a low growl I had never heard before rumbled in her throat.

I remembered that spot. It was where they had caught her before.

The woman had grabbed Mochi by the hind legs and slammed her into the pavement.

By the time I reached her, Mochi was convulsing, foam spilling from her mouth. I knelt and held out my hand, but she never pressed her head into my palm the way she always had.

Then came the two slaps.

Ethan had pointed at me and shouted, "Your cat attacked somebody. Don't you dare blame anyone else!"

Lily, eyes red with manufactured tears, had added, "I've told her before that her cat has a nasty temper, but she keeps letting it roam."

Before I could ask how she knew anything about Mochi's temperament, the boy's father arrived with the knife.

The last thing I saw was Ethan guiding Lily backward with one protective hand.

He shielded her so completely that not even my blood touched her shoes.

Now that same hand rested at the small of her back.

Exactly as I remembered.

I could almost hear my teeth grinding.

"Call an ambulance," I said.

I crouched near the child without touching his eye.

"Don't let him rub it. Security, please call 911 and ask for the police too."

The boy's mother jerked her head up.

"You have the nerve to call the police?"

"Your son's eye comes first."

I unlocked my phone and held up my driver's license and contact information.

"This is who I am. This is my number. I'm not going anywhere."

She stared at me.

More than a dozen neighbors had gathered. Several were filming.

I made my voice deliberately calm.

"The cat is mine. I can cover the emergency costs up front."

Ethan's eyes lit up.

I saw it. So did Lily.

The tension vanished from the corners of her mouth.

I took off my jacket and approached Mochi slowly. When she saw me, she gave a tiny cry.

My eyes burned.

I wrapped her in the jacket and lifted her against me.

The boy's mother charged over.

"You're still worried about the cat?"

She raised her hand, but a security guard stepped between us.

I did not retreat.

"I know you're terrified. But the cat can't take any more stress. If she hurts someone else, this will only get worse."

The woman's chest heaved.

"If my son loses that eye, I swear to God, I'll kill you!"

Last time, she had made good on that threat.

I lowered my head and stroked Mochi's ear.

She was alive.

For now, that was enough.