The tabby shook her head. I’d expected that. She truly had no idea what she was supposed to do, or what it was going to feel like. Poor girl. “Well, I have to warn you that this is gonna hurt. But I promise it’s worth it. The pain is temporary, and it’s nothing compared to regaining the use of your fingers and your voice box. You still up for this?”

She nodded, and while she definitely looked scared, she also looked eager. She was ready to Shift. Probably even overdue.

“Okay, the first thing I need you to do is stand up.” I dropped onto my hands and knees to demonstrate, reminding myself not to go through the transformation myself, as I’d done when I tried to help Abby. If I wound up as a cat while she Shifted into a human…well, she probably wouldn’t like being defenseless and at my mercy.

The tabby stood two feet away facing me, and I realized with a jolt of alarm that she could now kill me easily with the swipe of one paw. If she wanted to.

She won’t do it. I had little doubt about that, because if she killed me, I couldn’t teach her how to Shift, and her eagerness to reassume human form was obvious. So I shoved my own fear to the back of my mind so I could concentrate on hers.

“Good. Now, the rest of this is mental. Whether you realize it or not, your body knows how to do this, and all you have to do is relax and let it take over.” After all, she hadn’t been born in cat form, so she’d clearly Shifted at some point in the recent past, whether she remembered it or not. The details were buried in her brain somewhere. They had to be.

“But just in case, we’re going to give your body a little nudge in the right direction. I usually start with my feet.” I wiggled the bare toes of my left foot for effect. “Or back paws, in your case. Concentrate on only that one part of your body. Feel your toes. Move them if you want. Sheathe and unsheathe your claws.”

Her eyes closed, and I knew without looking that she was doing as I’d suggested.

“Good. Now, instead of your cat paws, picture your human feet. Remember what they look like. If you have any scars on your foot, think about them. Where are they? What are they shaped like? How did you get them?”

Her eyes were scrunched shut in concentration now, and I couldn’t help smiling at her honest effort.

“Your toes…” I continued. “Are they long and thin, or shorter and thicker? Is your big toe the longest, or your middle toe? Picture the fine, thin hairs on your big t—”