Witch For Hire. Psychic For Hire. Vampire For Hire

6

“So talking cats, witches, and angels are all A-OK, but you draw the line at vamps, huh?” Connie’s words were playful, but her expression clearly conveyed irritation. Perhaps even a hint of hostility.

“I…” What was I supposed to say?No, no, no. You’re just fine. Please accept my blood by way of apology? Because that was not going to happen.

“Sorry,” I squeaked.

Connie shook her head with a frown.“Sorry isn’t good enough.” She stepped closer, eyes focused on the wild pulse beating within my neck.

Mere inches separated us now. Backed into the wall, I had no means of escape. I gulped hard, willing myself not to stress vomit all over Connie’s designer heels.

“Please don’t eat me,” I whined pathetically, clenching my eyes closed and holding my breath.

Connie and Fluffikins both burst out laughing at my obvious terror.

“Please don’t eat me, you big scary vampire!” the cat cried out in a nasally voice that was apparently meant to sound like mine.

I opened my eyes again. Now that I was no longer quite as afraid, I was livid.

“Normies,” Connie said with a sigh, a slight smile playing at the edges of her lips. Her blood red lips.

“I… I don’t appreciate you making fun of me,” I sputtered, trying to appear calmer and more collected than I actually felt. “It’s not my fault I’ve never met a vampire in real life before.”

“Actually,” Fluffikins pointed out with a bemused expression. “You probably have. Just didn’t realize it at the time.”

My mouth fell open in shock.

“Let me guess,” Connie interjected, throwing a hand on her hip and staring at me just as intently as before. It was then I realized that she never blinked. “You’ve read all the old classics like Dracula, Twilight, Interview with a Vampire?”

“I mean, yeah. I’m an author. I like to read.” As much as I wanted to appear fine with this latest revelation, my instincts were still screaming at me to run for cover.

“Um, are we calling Twilight a classic now?” I added to lighten the air between us.

Nobody laughed at my joke.

Connie’s nose twitched as if she were going to sneeze, and then she said, “Normies get so much wrong, and by the time they finally get something right, it’s completely outdated.”

“Oh… kay,” I said, because it seemed she expected me to say something.

“Vampires don’t drink blood. Not anymore,” she continued. This is the point I realized that her chest didn’t rise and fall with the normal breaths of everyday life. Probably because she wasn’t alive. She was a freaking vampire.

I furrowed my brow and stared at her, partially in disbelief and partly in continued horror.“Then why did you just…?”

She cracked a grin for the first time.“To mess with you. Obviously.”

“Do you drink deer blood like the Cullens?” The better I understood the intimidating creature standing before me, the less I would fear her. At least, that’s what I hoped.

“No, dear. I’m dead. I don’t have to eat or drink anything at all.”

“So you’re more like a zombie?”

She waved a finely manicured hand at me dismissively.“No, no. I also don’t eat brains.”

Fluffikins hopped up on the table and cleared his throat.“Allow me to intervene. Otherwise this could take all day.”

We both turned toward the boss cat, awaiting an explanation.

“Vampires drain the life-force from humans to survive,” he revealed.

A shiver ran through me.“Yeah, blood.”

Connie shook her head.“It used to be, but not anymore.”

“Then what—?”

“Money,” they both said at once.

I thought about this for a moment but couldn’t reconcile what they were saying now with the stories I’d always heard about vampires growing up.

“In your ‘modern’ world…” Connie made air quotes here. “Money is immortality. If you have enough, you can practically buy your way out of death.”

“No, that’s not right. Rich people die all the time,” I argued, refusing to believe what she was telling me. She was right. It seemed I drew the line at vampires.

“Just the normies. Magicks can live forever, if we want to,” Fluffikins supplied. “It’s part of the reason everyone says cats have nine lives.”

“No, that’s not right, either. Mrs. Haberdash died just last week,” I mumbled, referring to my former landlady, whose death had begun my whole association with the Paranormal Temp Agency.

“She didn’t want to become a vampire,” Fluffikins clarified for everyone. “I did present her with that option before cementing our plan.”

“Prejudiced old hag,” Connie said, then added another colorful curse to top it off.

“If being a vampire is so great, then why wouldn’t she go that route?” I wondered aloud.

“Too many questions,” Fluffikins said with an agitated flick of his tail. “Connie’s role at the PTA is not what we should be focusing on here. You need a makeover.”

“There are certain things you must agree to live without,” Connie whispered, her eyes fixed directly on me. “You gain immortality, but for some the price is too great.”

“What’s the—?”

“Enough,” Fluffikins growled. “Just give her the look and get out of here.”

“I don’t like you.” Connie glowered at the cat.

He turned his nose up and scoffed.“I never asked or expected you to like me, but you have a job to do, so do it already.”

Well, at least it wasn’t just me that Mr. Fluffikins treated like crud. Still, I had so many more questions I wanted to ask Connie. Hopefully, I would get the chance later…

7

Having now been unceremoniously dismissed from the board room, Connie led me to a private office I hadn’t stepped foot in before.

“Is this yours?” I asked, glancing around the dark, windowless space. Rather than a typical desk and chair setup, it sported two elegant and expensive-looking club chairs separated by a marble-top end table and flanked by a deep purple shag rug.

She scoffed.“More or less, I guess. It’s more for staging than anything else, and usually that falls to me because Fluffikins is a bit of a sexist and old Greta couldn’t style her way out of a cardboard box.”

I looked at her askance.“Staging?”

It was a perfectly logical question to ask, but Connie came across incredibly impatient.“Makeup, scene-setting, glamour. It’s always me Fluffikins calls on when any beautification is required.”

“Why don’t you like him?” I risked asking. As much as the black cat bothered me, at least he was predictable. I had to stay on my toes around the Commerce Liaison. Whether or not she would actually try to drink my blood, everything about her flashed DANGER in big neon letters.

“It’s not that I don’t like him. It’s that I can’t.”

I rolled my eyes at her. Darn me and my wry reflexes.“Oh, okay. That clears things up.”

She turned away from me and walked up to the wall standing opposite of the seating area.“You already know too much as it is. They should have wiped your mind and left it at that. And Fluffikins definitely shouldn’t have brought you in for a second assignment when you did such a crap job with the first.”

I frowned.“Oh, I see. You don’t like me much, either.”

“I really don’t,” she agreed as she pushed aside a panel to reveal an enormous hidden closet.

I gasped at the gorgeous luxury wardrobe hidden within the junky office building. It stretched back farther than my eyes could see. It had definitely been expanded by magic. But what use did the board have for this enormous costuming department?

Connie breathed deep as she continued inside.“Wait there,” she barked. Meanwhile, I wondered why she’d chosen to inhale so dramatically when she clearly didn’t need to breathe at all. What was she trying to communicate here?

“I still don’t understand why I need a makeover,” I called, craning my neck to try to spot her among the multi-colored garments.

“You needed one anyway, with or without this assignment. You’re not supposed to wear your pajamas outside of the bedroom, dear.” Even from this distance her derision came across loud and clear.

I crossed my arms to hide my ratty T-shirt and silently fumed. This ornery old vampire made Fluffikins seem like Ms. Congeniality by comparison.

“How’s the search for the new Liaison to the Force going?” I called a few moments later in an awkward attempt to make conversation.

“Not so great,” she called back without the slightest hint of passion.

“Yeah, it will be hard to replace Parker,” I agreed. Secretly, I preferred him in the role of Town Witch, because it meant we got to be neighbors. I definitely felt safe with him on the property, and I enjoyed watching him through my window as he tidied up the garden between our residences.

“That incompetent hack?” Connie asked, then laughed cruelly. I was starting to suspect she didn’t much care for anyone.

From there on out, I stopped trying to engage her and instead waited quietly for her to return.

When she did, she held a stack of dark silken garments in her arms—mostly black with some deep purples thrown in for contrast.

I cracked a smile and attempted a joke.“Is it a paranormal thing, or do we all wear black to honor our black cat overlord?”

Connie snorted.“I wear what I want. You’ll wear this.” She pushed the clothes at me, then stepped out of the closet and slid the panel closed to give me a bit of privacy.

At first I thought the outfit she picked was far too large for my frame, but then I realized that the shirt, skirt, and cardigan were all big and billowy by design. I looked like the grandmother of the bride at a goth wedding.Fabulous.

Not seeing how to open the panel wall, I knocked, and Connie slid it open for me.

She pursed her lips and nodded slightly, then motioned toward a side table.“There are your accessories,” she said of the giant mound of necklaces, bangles, and jewelry that appeared to be made of coins.

I gulped.“All of it?”

“Yes, hopefully it will be enough.” She said this with a straight face.

“I thought the whole purpose was for me to be, you know, incognito,” I argued as I picked up an oversized ring and slid it onto one of my fingers.

“And to do that you’re going undercover.” She lowered herself into the nearest chair. Neither her steps nor her seating herself made even the slightest sound. Even if she didn’t want my blood, Connie Commerce was still very clearly an apex predator.

Suddenly, it became very important to me to keep her talking. That way at least I would know where she was at all times.“What am I going undercover as? Shahrazad?”

“A street psychic, actually.”

My ears perked up.“What?”

“You’ll set up a table downtown with your crystal ball and other props, and you’ll watch. Or rather, Fluffikins will watch through you.”

“You realize this is going to be incredibly embarrassing for me, right?”

“Aw, you still have dignity.Cute.” Something told me she didn’t actually find it that cute, but whatever.

I pushed a metallic headband over my forehead and layered several necklaces together. After adding bracelets that ran halfway to my elbows on each side, I spun in a little circle to show off my new look.“Ta da!”

Connie grimaced.“What’s that? Don’t do that.”

And I sighed.“Can I go back to the boss cat now?” I couldn’t believe I was actually excited to be back in his presence.

“One last thing,” Connie said, then snapped her fingers.

“Do I want to know what you just did?” I asked hesitantly.

“Nope. Now off you go!”

Before I could say anything more, she pushed me out the door and slammed it behind me. It seemed I’d be returning to Fluffikins on my own.

8

“Took you long enough,” Fluffikins complained the second I appeared in my glorious new garb. “Let’s go.”

I expected him to fly us to our next destination, but instead the lanky black cat led me outside to the parking lot where a beat-up old truck idled in the closest available space.

Parker waved from the driver’s seat. His salt-and-pepper hair had recently been trimmed, showing off his gorgeous gray eyes better than ever. I couldn’t help but smile.

“You humans are so obvious,” Fluffikins moaned just before I opened the passenger side door. “Your mating pheromones smell worse than my litter box.”

Parker, who’d apparently heard every word, laughed into the back of his hand.

Meanwhile I stood there rooted in place and absolutely mortified. I asked myself for the hundredth time that day why I’d submitted myself to such embarrassment. It wasn’t on Parker’s behalf. I could see him any day now that we were neighbors. So why did I let this little cat order me around?

Unbothered by my change in mood, Fluffikins jumped into the truck and took a seat at Parker’s side, flicking his tail impatiently the way a human might tap her foot.

“Come on in,” Parker coaxed. “I won’t bite,” he added, then chomped his teeth together flirtatiously. Okay, so now they were working together to make me miserable.Wonderful.

I let out a deep breath and then slid in, taking care not to make eye contact with either of my companions.“Why aren’t we flying?” I asked as Parker backed out of the parking space.

“We can’t exactly land in the middle of downtown without drawing some unwanted normie attention,” Parker explained, pulling out of the complex now.

“Okay. That makes sense,” I agreed.

Fluffikins placed a paw on my leg and waited for me to make eye contact.“Since you know so much about vampires from your books, do you know something of psychics as well?”

I couldn’t tell if he meant to be sarcastic or not. I also had no idea how to answer that question. It’s not like I’d be channeling people’s dead loved ones or anything. As far as I knew, the plan called for me to fake my way through to a breakthrough in the case. Mostly I was a pawn—a strangely dressed pawn with an overblown backstory—but a pawn, nonetheless.

“Vampires, huh? I guess that means Connie helped with this little makeover. You look nice by the way, Tawny.”

My heart fluttered in my chest. I loved the positive attention from Parker, but at the same time I wished I’d never met him. If we hadn’t met, then he’d have let my memory stay wiped so I could move past all this magic stuff. Or perhaps I never would have gotten involved with the PTA at all. After all, he was the one who’d dragged me in against my will.

Fluffikins started to cough and hack.“Gag me on a hairball. There are those pheromones again.”

Parker was quick to come to my defense.“Go easy on her. This is all very new to her.”

“The PTA could have been done with her altogether, if not for your interference,” the cat snapped back. “Since when do you care about our temp’s feelings? Going soft in your middle age?”

Parker shook his head, drawing my attention away from the road. When he caught my gaze, he offered a reassuring smile.“Don’t worry about him. This should be a much easier assignment than last time. You just have to hang out, tell a few fortunes, and keep an eye out for any trouble.”

I twisted my hands in my lap.“Two out of three are easy. The one problem being that I don’t know how to tell the future.”

“That makes you no different than 99.9% of working psychics out there, then. You think actual magicks waste their time on norms?”

“Oh, wow. Thanks for that,” I mumbled, shifting my gaze toward the side window.

“I didn’t mean you. You’re different.”

“Pheromones,” the cat mewled in agitation.

“Oh, c’mon, Mr. Fluffikins,” Parker ground out. “Do you expect us not to talk to each other at all?”

“In my presence, no.” I glanced over at the little cat and saw him sitting with his head held high and his expression unflinching.

“Then next time call someone else to drive the truck,” Parker shot back.

“You know I would do it myself if I could.”

“Yeah, but you can’t, thanks to those clumsy paws of yours.”

There was a story here, and any other time I would have pursued it until the bitter end. Today I just wanted to learn how to do my assignment so I could finish it to the demanding cat’s satisfaction and go back home to my boring, predictable normie life. Who cares if the PTA looked down on me and my mostly simple life? I loved it exactly as it was… before they’d decided to mess that all up.

“Tawny,” Parker said gently. “You’ll be fine. Just say general things and watch how the customer responds. Pick up clues from their dress, talk, what have you. Believe me, it’ll be enough.”

“Sounds like you’ve done this before,” I pointed out, unable to stop the smile that bloomed on my face. I really needed to stop crushing on him—for my own sanity and future safety.

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders.“Maybe once or twice as a party trick.”

“You normies are so easy to impress,” the cat added with a note of derision.

“And you magicks make everything needlessly difficult,” I spat. “There’s no reason that I needed to dress up like this in order to run some simple surveillance.”

“Actually, there is,” Parker said, surprising me.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see,” he said with a smile I took as a warning for what was to come.

9

Downtown Beech Grove, Georgia, was but a stone’s throw from my cottage… At least it would have been if we had skipped the large detour to the Paranormal Temp Agency HQ first. The quaint commercial district was a big part of why I’d chosen to move here in the first place. The old-fashioned storefronts were both odd and charming. Despite its status as an incredibly small town, Beech Grove attracted a fair number of retirees due to the fact it had perfect weather almost the entire year round.

Now that I knew more about the hidden paranormal operatives, I suspected magic had more than a little bit to do with that. I’d have to remember to ask about that later, provided Fluffikins didn’t try to wipe my memory again after today’s spy mission.

Parker grabbed a duffel bag from the truck bed and handed it to me, then pulled out a folding card table and a pair of chairs and slammed the access door shut.

Fluffikins trotted at our heels, carrying nothing.

After about a block and a half, we stopped outside a fishmonger called OH MY COD, and Parker began setting up the table.

“Can we pick another spot maybe? This place…” I waved a hand in front of my face, but the damp fishy smell remained as strong as ever. “…Smells a bit fishy.”

“The field agents love to come to this alleyway on break and feast on the leftovers the fishmonger puts in the dumpster for us. It’s a good central location for you to scope things out and get familiar with the team,” the cat explained after checking no one else was within earshot.

Parker motioned for me to hand him the bag, and I did. Then he set it on the table and began pulling things out.

“What’s all this?” I asked, studying the colorful assortment of cards, crystals, and what have you. I jumped back in fright when he pulled a human skull from inside.

Parker pushed it toward me and chuckled.“This is just Fred Head. Don’t fear Fred Head.”

“Is it alive?” A shudder racked through me. Of course, I knew a disembodied skull couldn’t hurt me, but it still freaked me out.

“He was once a long time ago. Now we just use him as a communication device. Go on,” Parker said, pushing that creepy Fred Head even closer. “Say hello.”

“Um, hi,” I squeaked, wiggling my fingers in a wave.

The skull’s jaw open and closed in speech, but it was Mr. Fluffikins’s voice that came forth. “Stop playing around, and get to work!”

“Whoa,” I said stupidly. Even with all the magic I’d seen the past several days, Fred Head still stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Now you and I will be able to converse freely. The normies will just assume it’s a gag,” Fluffikins explained via Fred.

Parker set the skull back down on the edge of the table.“If you need to call the boss cat, pat Fred twice on the head and then say what you need to say.”

I wrapped my arms around myself in a hug.“I suppose a cell phone would have been too obvious?”

“Bah, boring,” Fluffikins growled as he jumped up onto the table beside the macabre comm device. “Besides, we developed Fred technology centuries before that Bell guy came a long and brought a taste of our awesomeness to the general population.”

“Uh-huh. And what does that do?” I asked, pointing toward the glass ball Parker had extracted and was now carefully arranging on a gold stand right before one of the two chairs.

“This is your beacon,” Parker explained. “If there’s a problem, it will flash a color that corresponds to the warning we want to give.”

This time I actually rolled my eyes. It seemed they made things needlessly difficult just so they could add a bit of stylistic flair.“Again… You guys do realize cell phones are a thing, right?”

“Stop questioning everything and just listen,” Fluffikins spat.

“Right.” Parker nodded. “It flashes three colors: red, yellow, and green.”

Mr. Fluffikins picks up the explanation from there.“Yellow means a potential danger is coming and green—”

“Means everything is good to go?” I guessed.

Fluffikins reared up and hissed.“Heavens, no. Green means be on high alert. Danger is imminent. And don’t interrupt.”

“Um, shouldn’t that be red? You know, red alert?” This system made no sense, and if its senselessness got me killed, I’d be so angry.

“Red means the problem has been dispersed and you can go back to normal,” Parker said placing his hand over the orb and tapping his fingers.

“Oh, I guess that kind of makes sense,” I conceded, even though it would require completely recoding what those colors meant in my brain from years of (mostly) observing traffic laws.

Parker grinned.“Yup.”

“It’s also kind of confusing, though,” I added.

His grin widened.“Yup.”

Great. Well, as long as we were all on the same page here.

“If you took things at face value, this would be much easier for all of us,” the creepy skull told me. And even though I knew Mr. Fluffikins was the one speaking through him, I couldn’t help but address Fred Head directly with my response.

“That pretty much goes against the whole hidden paranormal world thing you have going here. Doesn’t it?”

Fluffikins hissed.

Parker hung his head and laughed.

I just stood there confused. Maybe this new assignment wouldn’t be easier than the last one, after all.

10

“What’s the second chair for?” I asked, after I finally took a deep breath and settled into mine.

Parker and Fluffikins exchanged funny glances.

“Go on. Tell her,” Parker urged from where he stood at my side. “You’ve kept this from her long enough. She’ll find out any minute anyway.”

The cat groaned, then sat down in front of me on the table. He jerked his head to the side, widened his eyes, and then looked over to Parker.

I twisted to glance in the direction he’d been looking and noticed an elderly couple walking hand in hand, approaching us quite slowly.

“Right, I guess it falls to me then.” Parker cleared his throat. “Long story short, the PTA has a new intern, and she’ll be assisting on this assignment.”

“Oh, good. It won’t be quite as boring sitting out here all day then.” I leaned back in my chair, stretching my legs out far in front of me, then snapped back to my previous erect posture as I realized something. “Wait… I thought you didn’t hire permanent staff outside of the board? What’s the deal with this intern?”

Parker jabbed a hand into his pocket and cleared his throat.“Normally, uh… No. But she’d like to fill the open position for force liaison, and we’d prefer to trial her first before making such an important decision.”

His words would have comforted me if not for the strange mannerisms that accompanied them. They were intentionally not telling me something, and I didn’t like that one bit.

I nodded slowly.“That makes sense, but then why do you need me at all? It seems someone qualified enough to be considered should be fine on her own. Am I wrong?”

Parker glanced toward the elderly couple and smiled. They were still several paces away. He kept his eyes focused just above my head as he spoke.“We need someone to keep a close eye on her, and seeing as you’re already acquainted…”

“What? I hardly know anyone here!” I argued. At the same time a heavy weight of dread dropped into my stomach.

Parker suddenly became very interested in the sidewalk. His lips moved and he mumbled something, but I couldn’t make it out.

So I got out of my chair and came to stand right beside him.“What did you say?”

He briefly met my eyes.“Um, it’s… Uh… Melony Haberdash.”

“What?” I exploded. “But she tried to kill me!”

“She didn’t, though,” Parker pointed out with a hesitant grin and impossibly slow shrug of his shoulders.

“And somehow that qualifies her to work for you guys now?”

When he didn’t answer, I threw my hands up in the air. “If she’s in, I’m out.” Home wasn’t far. I could rush back and barricade the door. Or I could find somewhere to hide. Or hire a ride share and leave town without bothering to pack up my things first. None of these were great options, but they all beat dying at the hands of a snarly teenager.

Unfortunately, before I could stomp off, Fred Head spoke.“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,” urged Fluffikins’s sibilant voice.

“That’s right,” Parker said, apparently finding strength now that his superior had weighed in, too. “Like it or not, Melony’s tied to this town because of her family’s lineage. She can’t be Town Witch, obviously, since I now fill that role and I definitely don’t plan on getting murdered any time soon. Still, she’s a powerful young magick. We have to give her the chance to redeem herself.”

“No, you don’t,” I said coldly. I still couldn’t believe he believed this crappy logic. Melony and her grandfather had tried to kill him, too. They’d tried to kill all of us! And I was all for forgiving grudges—dirty, cheating ex-husbands aside—but it had only been a few days!

I seethed where I stood, still deciding my best course of action. I doubted I could actually run or hide from the Paranormal Temp Agency. One way or another, they’d get me and drag me back into duty.

As I weighed my non-options, the elderly couple passed me and entered OH MY COD, one after the other. The sickening scent of the fresh-ish catch of the day made my stomach turn again.

“Think about it,” Parker said gently. “She could be especially useful if her grandfather continues to cause problems. And this is the quickest possible way to fill our vacant position. Otherwise, it could be years. These things take so much time, and all the while, our position in the region will be vulnerable.”

They were telling me to think about it, but they really meant that I should just accept their logic and do as told. That was not okay with me.“I don’t—” I began.

But I was cut off with the door to the fishmonger swung open to reveal Greta, the angel who served as liaison to schools and who had saved my life last time around. I ran forward to hug her, still so grateful for all she’d done. I didn’t even care that moving closer only strengthened the smell of whatever fish was on sale for the day.

But instead of returning my gesture of affection, Greta flinched. It was only then I looked past her to see a second person standing in the doorway.

Melony.

11

Melony spotted me about the same time I spotted her. Immediately, she narrowed her eyes and raised her hand as if about to cast a spell on me… again.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. This is my babysitter,” she spat to the others without taking her eyes off me.

Well, at least my ill feelings were mutual.

“I don’t like it, either,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and averting my gaze. Hopefully I didn’t just mess up some alpha power play by being the first to break eye contact.

“And I don’t care what either of you like,” Fluffikins intervened via Fred Head. “You’ll be on your best behavior, or you’ll both be ex-communicated.”

I smirked at the little contract loop he’d just revealed. “Oh, so if I just throw one good punch right now, then you’ll stop forcing all these random temp jobs on me?”

“Don’t do that,” Parker said as he reached for my hand. “We need you, Tawny, and you can do this. I know you can.”

Heat rose to my cheeks, but I didn’t yank my hand away.

Melony batted her eyelashes and leaned close to Parker on his other side.“What about me?”

He glanced toward her questioningly, and in that moment, I definitely saw he didn’t like or trust her, either.

While she had his attention, Melony winked at me, then stuck her tongue out. Ugh. Eighteen-year-olds.

Fluffikins jumped into Parker’s arms, and both Melony and I drew back. “Let’s be on our way, Barnes. They should have it from here.”

Parker nodded.“Sure thing.” Then turning back toward me for a brief moment, he said, “Tawny, remember the tools that are here for you. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to use them. I’ll be by to check on you later.”

“Yup, the talking skull and colorful orb. Got it.” I flashed him a thumbs up and a forced grin.

Parker smiled, then took off down the street with the cat boss in tow. I kept my eyes trained on them until they reached the truck and climbed inside.

“Guess it’s just us,” I murmured to my new companion as the engine rumbled to life and the guys drove away. We both stood on the sidewalk outside the fishmonger, a couple steps back from our table. It couldn’t have been much later than nine o’clock in the morning, and while foot traffic had begun to pick up nearby, it still seemed too early for anyone to be going to market for fish.

That gave us an uncomfortable amount of privacy.

I glanced at Melony through my peripheral vision. Today she wore the same beat-up combat boots as she had the last time we’d met, AKA when she and her grandfather had tied me up and taken me prisoner with the intent to kill me. She also wore a long flowy dress that was mostly navy blue with small black roses pattered on the wispy fabric. She’d added a black pashmina wrapped around her shoulders but, unlike me, wore not a single piece of jewelry.

“Don’t talk to me.” Melony thrust back one of the folding chairs and fell heavily into it.

I met her eyes, which were rimmed in heavy black kohl. She also wore a dark blue shade of lipstick that was probably meant to complement her dress but instead gave her a corpse-like appearance.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” I said to her. “Seeing as last time we talked, I kind of outsmarted you and totally ruined your evil plans. I’m guessing your grandpa wasn’t too happy about that. Huh?”

“Shut up,” she said, kicking a boot at the ground like a toddler on the verge of a tantrum.

I knew I probably shouldn’t bait her, but I was still pretty angry about the whole thing where she tried to kill me a few days earlier. “Why do you even want to work for Mr. Fluffikins? Is it because cheating your way into power failed, and this is your backup plan?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” she fumed. I hadn’t seen any of this attitude with the others. Did she hate me more because of my non-magical status? I couldn’t tell if it was some kind of new prejudice to which I was previously unaccustomed, or if she disliked me for personal reasons. I supposed neither option was great, seeing as I was stuck with her for the time being.

“You know, all your non-answers aren’t helping me to trust you any better,” I pointed out with a shrug as if it didn’t matter, though it actually mattered very much.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone from her pocket.“I don’t need you to trust me. I just need you to stop talking and focus on finishing this assignment so we never have to see each other again.”

“What happened to your grandpa, by the way?” I asked, wishing I’d been awake enough that morning to remember my phone. It definitely would have given me something to focus on other than the animosity between us.

Melony sighed heavily.“I don’t know.”

“So too afraid to be on your own?” I raised an eyebrow in question, but she didn’t glance away from the tiny screen in her hands. “Better to switch sides than be without a boss telling you what to do?”

“I don’t owe you any explanations,” she repeated, then pushed a pair of earbuds in.

Now I sighed.“I can see this is going to be a long day.”

She glanced at me briefly and removed one bud.“It’ll go by faster if you—”

“Stop talking. Yeah, I got it.”

Yup, I’d definitely be moving away from Beech Grove as soon as possible to avoid future neighborly get-togethers like this one. I just needed to survive today, then I could start packing my bags.

And hopefully forget magic ever existed.

12

At first, I glanced around in search of anything suspicious happening downtown. After a couple hours passed with no activity, though, I reasoned that Fluffikins would probably just pick up whatever he needed via my brooch cam and switched to staring off into space and seeing how long I could wait before I surreptitiously stole a peek at Melony’s phone to check how much time had passed since last I checked.

Around eleven, people at last started to drift toward the fishmonger in hopes of an early lunch. And fifteen minutes later, we had the first taker for our services.

“How much to get my fortune told?” asked a man wearing dingy khakis and an army green flannel over a sports T-shirt.

“Oh, hello there.” I elbowed Melony in the side to get her attention.

“What did I say about—” She put on a huge phony grin upon noticing our company. “So you’re here to glimpse into your future with the Marvelous Miss Melony?”

“Yes. How much?” he repeated, bobbing his head.

“It’s free,” I said.

At the same time, Melony said,“Twenty bucks.”

The man looked toward me, obviously having decided he preferred my pricing.

“Don’t listen to her. She’s just the assistant. I’m the one with highly honed psychic powers here.” Melony grabbed the deck of cards and began to shuffle. “Tell you what. We’ll split the difference. Only ten dollars, and believe me, you’re getting one heck of a deal here.”

He nodded and pulled out his wallet to pay Melony.

She grabbed the money and stuffed it into her phone case.“Now. Pick a card.” She stopped shuffling and fanned the cards out on the table before him.

Our customer did as instructed, choosing from the center of the pile and pointing.

And my companion psychic nodded and picked up the card, keeping it hidden from both the man and me.“Now, what’s your name?”

“Tom,” he said with a smile that revealed crooked teeth. “Nice to meet you. I’m hoping you can tell me whether my wife would—”

Melony flipped the card face up on the table, interrupting him mid-speech.“Death.I think that’s self-explanatory. Enjoy your day. You don’t have too many of those left now.”

“Melony!” I shouted, shoving the cards at her so that several flew off the table.

The morose man had already begun to skitter away from our table with slumped shoulders and a shuffling gait. Poor guy.

“Wait, Tom,” I stood and called after him. “Don’t listen to her. That’s just a bit of comic relief before you get your real fortune. Come, let’s have a look in my crystal ball.”

His pinched expression practically broke my heart as he turned back our way and approached my side of the table.

I pulled the orb in front of me. It sat clear and unassuming. Meanwhile, Melony was already back on her phone, which meant it fell to me to improve his mood.

Say general things and observe the target for clues as to what they might like to hear.That’s what Parker had suggested, and that’s what I would do now.

Before Melony had interrupted with her cruel prediction, Tom had begun to ask a question about his wife. I also noted that he wore a simple gold band on his left ring finger. His appearance was a bit disheveled, and I guessed he worked a low-paying job in manual labor. He’d also approached us wanting to have his fortune told, which meant he was after an answer of some sort.

I waved both hands over the crystal orb, keeping my expression serious.“Yes, yes. It’s all becoming clear now, Tom.”

“Really? What do you see?” he asked, a small smile playing at the edges of his mouth.

I reached in and let my inner romance author out to play.“Despite recent hardships, your wife still loves you very much. For your next anniversary, skip the usual gifts and offer her a romantic getaway. Spending that quality time just the two of you away from the normal hustle and bustle of everyday life will make your marriage stronger than ever and revitalize you both.”

Tom’s smile faltered. “But what about the death card your friend pulled?”

Ick. I tried not to flinch at his casual referral to Melony as my friend, seeing as we were anything but. I also knew very little about Tarot, but I tended to be pretty good at talking my way out of trouble, so I decided to give it a shot rather than once again reminding him that Melony had only been trying to get his goat with her phony prediction.

Not that mine was any more authentic, but still…

“The death card, yes.” I brought a finger to each temple and rubbed as if deep in thought. “It’s a very powerful card, but it does not predict literal death. Rather the end of an era. Your troubles will soon be over. Keep on your current path, and soon you’ll see.”

If possible, he looked even sadder now than when Melony had told him he’d soon be dead. “You mean I am going to lose my job? I was afraid of that.”

“No, no, no,” I cried. “It’s a positive change. Not a bad one.”

“But you said—”

“You’re taking it too literally,” I sputtered. “Go home and meditate on what I’ve said, and soon all will become clear.”

“Okay, thanks. I guess.” Tom hung his head and ambled away.

I watched him go, wondering what I could have done differently and hoping that Melony and I hadn’t ruined his day too much.

That was when a blurry flash of black caught my eye.

It was moving fast and coming straight at us…

13

As the blur grew closer, two things happened. I realized I probably needed to see an eye doctor… and also the dark shape finally began to come into focus.

It was a lanky long-haired cat, mostly dark gray with black tabby stripes. He took a sharp turn into the nearby alley, and I immediately got up to follow.

If Melony noticed my abrupt departure, she didn’t say anything about it—or make any effort to follow. Definitely better that way.

“Hey, you!” I bellowed as I tore into the alley.

Sure enough, the shaggy Maine Coon stood at the edge of the dumpster, ready to dive in. Noticing me, he straightened himself and waited.

“Can you talk?” I asked.

His tail quivered, but he said nothing.

“You’re a field agent, right?” I tried again.

He twitched his whiskers then let out a raspy meow.

Hmm. I needed a different approach. Reaching down and unpinning the brooch Mr. Fluffikins had bestowed upon me, I held it out for the cat to see.“I work for the PTA, too. See, Mr. Fluffikins gave this to me. I’m here to help figure out what’s happening to the missing field agents.”

He regarded me stonily, not budging in his unwillingness to speak with me.

I was just about to give up on the whole thing when a second cat jumped out of the dumpster and landed on its edge with a clumsy thump. The chubby calico took a moment to struggle for purchase before addressing me.

“Why would the boss send you?” she asked in a high-pitched voice that hurt my ears.

“Stop it, Mungo,” the previously silent Maine Coon hissed. “She was just about to go away and leave us to our vittles.”

“Hey, hey. I come in peace.” I put both my hands out in front of me and approached slowly. “I just want to find out what’s happening here, so no more field agents go missing and so that I can go home and get back to my life.”

The fur on Mungo’s back raised. “Wait, Lester. What about the ones who have already gone missing? Doesn’t she want to get them back?” her shrill voice dug deep into my brain, giving me an instant headache.

It took me a moment to regather myself.“Yes, yes, of course. I want to do that, too.”

“Then why didn’t you say that?” the silver Maine Coon asked, pushing his nose into the air.

“I guess I got put off by the whole not talking thing—You know what? No. It doesn’t matter. I want what you guys want. Don’t you want to stay safe while you’re on the job?”

“There is no guarantee of a field agent’s safety. We knew that when we signed up,” Lester informed me dispassionately.

Mungo’s ears perked up and she crept along the lip of the dumpster to come closer to her companion. “But, Les, what about that time you—”

“Enough!” he yowled in warning.

“Remember, you were patrolling with Percy when he got taken, and—Ahhhh!” Mungo’s words were replaced by a giant scream when Lester took a swipe at her and knocked her back into the dumpster.

Wouldn’t you know it? I was just about to give up on this pair when they revealed this back-alley conversation might not be such a waste of time, anyway. Clearly, Lester didn’t want to talk to me, but if I kept trying, the other cat might just tell me in his stead.

“What was she saying about Percy? Was he abducted? Did you see anything that might lead us to who took him?” I asked, keeping my voice calm, as if I weren’t dying to know the answer so I could complete this case and go home to my poor neglected shower stall.

Lester flattened his ears back against his head.“We’re done here.”

But then Mungo pulled herself back onto the dumpster with an oof.“But, Les, what if this human can help us? I don’t want to get catnapped like Percy.”

“No one’s going to take you. No one would want to,” he spat.

“Oh, like a day with you is such a walk in the park!” Mungo reared up and attempted to take a swipe at Lester but lost her balance and fell into the dumpster again.

“Really,” I pleaded. “I just want to help.”

Lester’s voice grew deeper, his tone more threatening. “Then go away and leave cats’ business to cats.”

“But Mr. Fluffikins sent her,” Mungo called from inside the dumpster. “Won’t he be angry if we don’t tell her what we know?”

Her argument made, the fat calico hopped out of the dumpster, bypassing the rim and landing beside me on the asphalt.

The silver Maine Coon groaned.“If a broken clock can be right two times per day, I guess you can be, too, Mungo.”

“Yup!” The other cat now sat straight and proud, thrusting her nose into the air as she danced happily on her front paws. “Now tell her about Percy.”

“Not so fast.” Lester jumped down to join us. A new mischief lit in his eyes, telling me it would require much more work to get a straight answer out of these two.

Sure enough, he flopped over onto his side and whined,“If you want me to talk about these awful, painful memories, it will cost you, and it will cost you good.”

14

Lester rolled back onto his feet, raised a paw, and let his claws out with an unnerving schlink.“You help us, and we’ll think about helping you.”

“But you already said we would help,” Mungo pointed out, eliciting a low rumble of warning from her comrade.

“Hey now!” I shouted, beginning to panic. Sure, I could probably take a couple of stray cats if things came to blows, but I really didn’t want to beat up on the poor little kitty cats—no matter how nefarious. “Like I said, I want what you guys want.”

“I’d like old man McCaverty to toss the day’s expired lot so we can get to our lunch,” Mungo purred with a thoughtful flick of her patchy tail.

“That’s not what I was going to ask for,” Lester raged, showing off his fangs.

“Now don’t get snippy with me, Les,” Mungo warned, her tail now puffy and full like a raccoon’s. “If you knew what you wanted to ask for, you’d have asked already.”

I was beginning to see how Mr. Fluffikins was the cat to have gotten promoted out of the field. For all his faults, he could intellect circles around these two.“You don’t have to eat spoiled leftovers. I can buy you fresh fish, if you want,” I offered, hoping it would be enough to stop the coming fight. I had a feeling these two had more than just this score to settle.

Mungo deflated, returning to her normal size, then cocked her head to the side as she considered my words.

“Ohhhhh,” she purred. “Did you hear that, Lester? She’ll buy us some fresh. We haven’t had a treat like that in ages.”

“This is supposed to be a quick break, and then back to work,” Lester growled, but even he seemed to be coming around now.

I saw my opportunity and decided to go for it.“Tell you what. You stay here and think about my offer. I’ll go inside and buy some fish. You know, just in case. When I get back, the two of you can tell me what to do with it.”

“Deal!” Mungo squeaked enthusiastically.

Lester rolled his eyes but made no verbal argument.

“Okay, just wait there. I’ll be back. Right back.” I walked backward until my heel snagged a stray box and caused me to trip, then I turned around and jogged back to our pop-up psychic shop.

“Give me that ten dollars we got from Tom,” I said, nudging Melony’s shoulder and holding a hand out.

“Hey, this is mine. You didn’t want to charge him anything at all. Remember?” She turned away from me, hunching her shoulders and disappearing into her phone.

I stomped my foot.“Just give it to me.”

“No,” she mumbled.

I didn’t want to tell her anything, but giving her a trace bit of info was better than having to physically pry the money away from her. “But I have a lead on our case,” I said.

She turned to me, eyes wide.“What kind of lead?”

“There are a couple field agents hanging back in the alley. I think they’ll talk to me if I bring them some fish.” That was enough. She didn’t need anything more. She just needed to give me the money.

She shrugged and went back to her phone.“So bring them fish.” We were now to the point where even if she hadn’t tried to kill me previously, I still wouldn’t like her very much. Was this a teenager thing, or a foiled villain thing? Suddenly, I was quite glad I’d never had any kids.

I clamped a hand down onto her shoulder.“I don’t have any money on me, and I am not robbing a fishmonger when you have a perfectly good ten-dollar bill sitting in your wallet.”

“Fine. Whatever. Just go away, please.” She sighed and slipped the bill from her wallet, then balled it up and threw it at my chest.

Of course, I fumbled the crumpled currency, causing Melony to snicker and heat to rise to my cheeks. It’s not like I wanted to impress her, but I didn’t appreciate her making fun of me, either.

Once I had the tenner in hand, I hurried into OH MY COD and hoped the cats would at least be a bit patient when the promise of a fresh lunch was involved. Of course a line several customers deep had already formed before me with only a single old man to serve everyone.

“C’mon, c’mon,” I muttered under my breath.

With my luck, both Mungo and Lester would be gone by the time I returned to the alley.

15

After completing my purchase of a laughably small tilapia filet, I returned to the streets ready to wow my witnesses. Um, provided they were still there.

When I hurried out of the shop, the first thing I noticed was that the orb had begun to flash a powerful yellow that rivaled the brightness of the sun. The next was that Melony had gone missing.

Well, actually, I knew exactly where she’d gone—to commandeer my witnesses and steal all the glory for herself, no doubt.

Well, not on my watch, kiddo.

I picked up my pace and turned sharply into the alley. What I saw made me drop my newly procured bribe to the pavement.

“Melony!” I whisper-yelled, doing my best not to attract attention to the unseemly sight. “Stop that right now!”

She just laughed as Mungo, Lester, and one other cat I hadn’t yet met hung in the air a couple feet above the dumpster, unable to move anything but their wide, terrified eyes. She’d pulled this same trick on me and Greta when we first met, but that was in a private residence. Right now anyone could walk by and see her obvious display of magic.

“Let them go,” I repeated, shoving her hard from behind. “They haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Then why were you questioning them?” she said without breaking focus. Her spell held strong.

I briefly contemplated rushing forward and tearing the frozen cats from the air. But besides having magic when I had done, I was willing to bet Melony moved much faster, too. The only way I could get out of this one was by either distracting her or outsmarting her. I’d managed to do both during our last encounter. I could best her again, especially seeing as that was my only option in the moment.

“I was questioning to see what I can learn about the missing field agents,” I explained numbly. “That’s all. Not because they’re suspects.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll do things my way. Thanks.” Melony let out a low rumbly laugh, and for the second time that day I swear I’d never wanted to punch someone so bad in all my life. If she fought back, though, I’d be toast.Thanks a lot for not giving me any magic to protect myself, Mr. Fluffikins,I thought bitterly.

Fluffikins! That was it.

I ran out of the alley and stopped just short of crashing into our table. I tapped the Fred Head twice as Parker had instructed.“Melony’s gone rogue!” I screamed at the talking skull.

A couple came out of one of the shops across the street, and I smiled awkwardly at them.“Just rehearsing for an upcoming performance of Hamlet,” I explained, grabbing Fred Head and bringing him close to my face. “To be or not to be, haha.”

They shook their heads and continued on their way.

“Fluffikins,” I hissed again.

But he didn’t answer, instead the bright yellow orb switched to a piney green full of swirls.

Green.What did that mean? It was either really good or really bad. But which?

“Mr. Fluffikins,” I hissed yet again. “Answer me.”

He didn’t.

I hit Fred Head two more times in frustration. I was starting to think that maybe magic and technology shouldn’t mix. Maybe our whole mission was doomed from the start.

“What is it?” the boss cat answered at last via our freaky communicator.

“It’s Melony,” I rushed to explain before he grew impatient and cut the connection. “She’s cornered three agents and immobilized them with her magic. I can’t get her to let them go. Anyone can see. She’ll blow our cover. All of ours.”

My favorite black cat let out a string of explicit kitty curses.“Never send a normie to do a magick’s job,” he grumbled.

I narrowed my eyes at the skull.“Hey, none of this is my fault. It’s all on Melony.”

“But clearly you don’t know how to stop her, or you would have already,” Fred Head told me, and I imagined Fluffikins on the other end of our connection shaking his head in disappointment.

“Well, if you’d given me magic…” My words fell away when I saw the same nosy couple had turned back to watch me from further up the street.

I waved the skull at them.“Did I mention it’s a Hamlet Hocus Pocus mashup?” I offered meekly. “Stop that, Thackeray Binx. You’re so crazy. Ahhh!”

“I’m on my way,” Mr. Fluffikins promised before Fred Head’s jaw snapped shut.

I wanted to rush back into the alley and wait for him there, but that busybody couple kept staring at me as if I had sprouted horns or something. It’s like they’d never seen a talking skull before!

Growing increasingly agitated, I started to rattle off random soliloquies that I’d memorized a long time ago for my theater elective in college. When they still didn’t budge, I shouted, “Come back next weekend for the proper show. This is just the dress rehearsal.”

They turned and looked at each other and then graced me with a polite round of open-palmed claps. Still, they didn’t leave.

“That’s it for now. I’m taking an hour’s intermission!”

And finally—finally!—they left. When I was sure they wouldn’t turn back a second time, I got up and calmly walked toward the alley, even though I wanted nothing more than to sprint.

Hopefully I wasn’t too late to make a difference.

16

As it turned out Iwas too late to make a difference.

Where Melony once stood levitating her three feline puppets, the alley now lay empty and lifeless.

“Melony?” I called hesitantly as I tiptoed toward the dumpster, afraid of what I might find. “Mungo? Lester? Anybody?”

There was nothing in the oversized bin beyond the expected mix of trash and things that probably would have been better off in recycles.

“Hello?” I tried again warily.

Yes, I still wanted to go home, but how could I, given that whatever had happened here happened on my watch? I was turning out to be a reluctant hero, but this was still my story—and I couldn’t bear to leave it unfinished.

Something zipped overhead, and I spun around just in time to catch sight of Fluffikins falling from the sky on a puff of pink magic.

“What’s going on here?” he asked, hopping off his cloud. It evaporated the moment he broke contact. “I thought you said there was an emergency.”

“I don’t know where th-they w-went,” I sputtered, turning left, then right, then raising my hands in helpless surrender.

Fluffikins studied me for a moment, then took off down the alley toward the street. He stopped suddenly and turned back to me, golden eyes flashing with irritation. Apparently, in all my shock, I’d forgotten to trail after him.

“Why didn’t you tell me we have a code green?” he shouted.

“What?”

He ran back to join me partway down the alley.“The orb. It’s green!”

Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten about that in my desperation to get through to Fluffikins and then to get that gawking couple to stop watching me. “Green means go, right?” I asked with a nervous squeak.

“No, green means we’ve got a huge problem on our paws!”

“I-I know,” I stammered, twisting my hands in front of me. “Melony took three field agents and disappeared.”

Fluffikins shook his head and took a deep, steadying breath before explaining,“No. It’s much worse than that. Whoever took the field agents also took Melony.”

I stared at him, shaking my head, still unsure of what he wanted me to do.“She was threatening them. She’d frozen them with her magic, and—”

“Made both them and herself an easy target,” the black cat finished for me. Not what I’d intended to say, but I guess he’d know better than me.

“Oh” was all I could manage upon learning this revised interpretation of events.

“Follow me,” he said in a low growl, leading me into a tight space to the side of the dumpster. “Crouch low.”

I did as told, recoiling from the stench.“What’s going on?” I raised a hand to cover my mouth and nose and murmured through them.

Mr. Fluffikins curled his tail around his feet and dropped his ears low.“I didn’t think our abductor would strike with the two of you sitting out there flaunting your presence.”

“Wait, I thought we were undercover.” I instantly regretted uncovering my mouth to speak.

My companion waited for me to stop hacking before he went on.“Mmm, actually, you were but a diversion to buy the real investigative task force some time. The fact that they struck while you were right there and absconded with an intern as well as more field agents sends a very clear message.”

I didn’t know whether to be more offended by his ruse or upset that it hadn’t worked, so I chose to focus on finding out whatever facts I could. “What message?” I mumbled.

He puffed out his chest, drawing my eyes to the stark white patch. He held his breath for a moment, then let it go so he could answer my question.“That they’re not going to stop until they get what they want.”

“What do they want?” I wondered aloud.

Fluffikins simply shrugged.“I don’t know. They haven’t told us.”

“Oh.” I felt increasingly useless as this conversation went on. I had no great insights to contribute, and Fluffikins had begged for my help simply so he could use me as a distraction. As much as I hadn’t wanted this job, it hurt that he didn’t think I could do it.

“There is one thing we can do,” he said after several beats of silence. “When Melony applied to join us, I naturally fitted her with a magical tracker.”

I gasped.“So you expected her to betray you?”

“What’s that old sign you humans have? Plan for the worst, hope for the best? Besides, she didn’t do this.” He seemed so calm in his assessment, but now I had yet another reason to be angry with him—he’d intentionally stuck me with a loose cannon. If I’d have died on this farce of an assignment, would he even care? Just one more normie who mistakenly got herself mixed up in magical affairs…

“So what now? You go track her and I go home?” I asked hesitantly. Despite my hurt at how he’d chosen to handle our relationship thus far, I still wanted to help. What if by turning my back on him now, cats died? What if Melony died? Yeah, I hated her, but not enough to wish her dead. I did have some morals, after all.

“Nope. We’re both going,” he said decisively.

“But I was just a diversion.”

“Yes, and I may need a diversion again.” He winked at me, then tilted his chin up and said, “Take us to Melony Haberdash.”

Pink sparkling magic shot down from the sky and enveloped us. It felt warm and soothing like a nice bath, and I allowed myself to relax into it.

Magic. It should be mine always. Not just in times of crisis. This felt right… Like it was meant to be…

17

The fog of pink magic dispersed mere seconds later, and despite its brief presence, I felt almost naked without it.

The first thing that struck me, of course, was a gnawing absence followed by the intense cold. The temperature must have dropped at least thirty degrees. The smell of fish and rotting trash had also vanished, leaving behind the crisp, cool taste of clean sky.

I sucked in the fresh air and glanced around at the unfamiliar scenery, trying to make sense of what I saw. We appeared to be in some kind of park with wide open expanses of green and a cluster of brightly colored ramps, tunnels, and runways off to one side.

A border collie tore through the obstacle course, then jumped into his owner’s arms with a long leap. Along the far fence line, a pair of smaller dogs walked circles around each other, both wagging tails and sniffing butts.

Fluffikins staggered forward a few steps, then looked back over his shoulder at me.“Where are we?”

“What? Why are you asking me? You’re the one who brought us here,” I reminded him.

“It was the world magic, and you know that,” he hissed. Apparently, he’d become so wrapped up in the division between magicks and normies that he’d forgotten about the equally perilous divide between cats and dogs.

I lifted a finger to my lips to warn him that he should keep quiet, then whispered,“Yeah, well, I don’t see Melony or any of the others, anywhere. I thought it was supposed to deliver us to her location.”

“There must be some kind of magical wall keeping us from going any further.”

“So now what? Do we go back to Beech Grove?”

He growled and flicked his tail.“What’s with you and wanting to give up and go home nonstop?”

“You don’t even need me,” I ground out, still very much hurt by his previous revelation. “Why should I possibly risk my life when I add nothing?”

The black cat’s eyes bore into me and his whiskers twitched as if he was in deep contemplation.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked, reaching toward him with outstretched fingers. He’d let me pet him once as a way of showing me a vision from the past. If he wouldn’t tell me why he’d involved me in this, then maybe he’d be willing to show me. Or maybe I could sneak a quick jumpinto his memories and find out for myself.

He leaped back, fur twitching spasmodically.“Do not touch me without first receiving an invitation,” he growled.

Across the field, a beagle’s ears perked up. He became rigid and pointed toward us, then took off in a run.

I was just about to grab Fluffikins for safe keeping when he spun a quick circle near my feet. The dog yipped and ran to its owner.

I shook my head to rid it of the distraction and carried on with the earlier topic.“You’re keeping something from me. How can I be safe if I don’t know—?”

“I’m not telling you in order to keep you safe, so stop prying!”

“Shouldn’t I be able to decide things that involve me and my safety?”

Fluffikins’s jaw dropped, his tail twitched, and I could have sworn he was about to say something.

But somebody else spoke first.“Lovely day for it, eh?”

I rose up and smiled at a man approaching with a leashed dog at his side. Judging from the giant head, short legs, and derpy expression, it was a corgi. Spotting my feline companion, he gave a joyous bark and began to strain against the leash.

I had to raise my voice to be heard over the dog.“Very nice.”

The owner nodded and continued on his way.

“Wait,” I called after him. “We’re from out of town. Just stopping by for a quick stretch, and then we’ll be on our way. Would you mind telling us where we are right now?”

His mouth hung slightly slack as he regarded me.“Where we are? Didn’t you notice where you were going when you got on the ferry?”

I slapped a palm to my forehead.“Silly me, I’ve already forgotten.”

“You’re on Caraway Island. It’s not really a place where one just stops on by. The ferry’s the only way here from the mainland,” he informed me, complete with furrowed brow.

“Oh.” I crossed my eyes in confusion. I knew I appeared to be an idiot, but I still needed more information. “And what’s the mainland?”

“Maine,” he answered matter-of-factly.

Ugh. Why was it so hard to get such simple information?“Yeah, what’s the mainland, please?” I repeated.

“Maine. Maine. The state of Maine. Look, are you okay? Should I take you to a hospital to get your head checked maybe?”

I laughed and waved off his concern.“Oh, I’ll be fine. The fresh air is already clearing my head.”

“I don’t think it needing cleared was the problem,” the man muttered, then powerwalked away with his corgi protesting in his wake.

“Real smooth, Tawny,” the boss cat spat with a little chuckle that sounded like he was about to cough up a hairball.

I shrugged.“Hey, I didn’t see you getting any answers.”

“Okay, so if you have all the answers, then what do we do now, Mrs. Smart Normie?” He blinked up into the sun with a self-righteous expression I wanted to wipe clean off his face.

“Ew, don’t call me Mrs. anything,” I grumbled as I dragged my eyes around the park in search of… something.

Luckily, something is just what I found.

“We go talk to your twin,” I said with a triumphant grin, pointing toward the black cat hanging out beneath a bench at the far end of the park. Could this be one of our abducted field agents?

18

Fluffikins jogged ahead and joined the other black cat under the bench while I causally strode over. After all, we definitely didn’t need the man with the corgi growing even more suspicious and calling someone. Whatever magic my cat companion had worked on the beagle seemed to translate to the other dogs in the park. Even the corgi quickly lost interest and left us to ourselves.

When at last I reached the bench, I took a seat and raised a hand to my ear, pretending I’d hidden a Bluetooth device there.

“One of your field agents, Mr. F?” I asked, shortening his obviously cat-like name in case any of the other park-goers overheard.

“He’s a pet,” Fluffikins rumbled from beneath me.

“I’m a familiar,” the other voice corrected in irritation. Apparently our new friend was male. He also had a thick Boston accent, making him seem just as out of place here in Maine as me and Fluffikins.

“Same difference,” Fluffikins shot back.

“It ain’t the same!” the other hissed.

“You work for humans while they work for me. You’re worse than a pet. You’re a slave.” I could just imagine the PTA diplomat’s smug expression as he lorded his superiority over the other feline.

“Hey,” I cried, covering the rather colorful retort from the offended cat.

I glanced down and made eye contact with the unfamiliar black cat through the slats on my bench.“Sorry about that. He’s really not so bad when you get to know him.”

He narrowed his eyes at me.“Yeah, I got no intention of that. Now get outta here. You’re compromising my stakeout.”

“Stakeout? You sound like a cop,” I mused with a sight chuckle.

“Iama cop.”

“I thought you were a familiar,” Fluffikins corrected him, referring to some part of the conversation I’d missed.

“I can’t be both?” He crouched closer to the ground, breaking eye contact with me. “Now get out of here before Scavo catches wise, and the whole gig’s up.”

Fluffikins sucked in a startled breath.“Scavo?”

“Yeah, Scavo. What about it?” All I saw was a blurry black body to one side of me and another blurry black body to the other. Yes, I’d definitely be needing that eye exam.

Mr. Fluffikins took on that same pedantic tone he took whenever describing anything magical to me.“The PTA’s been tracking him for decades. He’s that normie mobster who found out about magic and started using it for personal gains. Created a whole black market.”

“That ain’t even the half of it. So go back to your litter box and ‘please try again,’ or whatever your PTA thing is.”

“Your disrespect has been noted and will be thusly punished,” Fluffikins promised in a low rasp. “I am a diplomat for the Paranormal Temp Agency, so I can do that, you know.”

“So go be diplomatic somewhere else and leave this one to the Blueberry Bay Paranormal Division,” our new acquaintance countered.

“Is this like a national versus local thing?” I suggested.

Both cats hissed at me, and I returned to being a silent observer as their conversation continued.

Mr. Fluffikins spoke next.“Scavo died a couple years back, so unless he’s walking around as a reanimated corpse, your mission is pointless.”

“Wait. Are zombies real, too?” I squeaked. A chilly gust of air swept past, making me shiver and wrap my arms around my torso.

Both cats ignored my question.

“Shows what you know,” the cop cat spat. “He’s back and up to his old tricks, too.”

“Not possible,” Fluffikins maintained.

“Yeah, I bet you also don’t think a guy fifty years in the grave can wind up as a magical talking cat, and yet here I am.”

“Fine. If Scavo’s back, then where is he? Because if you haven’t noticed we’re a long way from Boston.”

“If I knew where he was, I wouldn’t be on this stakeout, ya chowderhead. He’s close, though.”

“Yup, this one’s a straight nutter,” Mr. Fluffikins told me, hopping onto the bench at my side. I couldn’t say I disagreed, exactly, but still, a crummy lead was better than no lead.

“Stop bullying him. He may be able to help,” I said gently, then got down on my hands and knees to address the other cat head-on. Now that I saw him a bit more closely, I noticed that he wasn’t an exact replica of Mr. Fluffikins. For one thing, he didn’t have a white patch on his chest. Andfor another, he wore a thick buckle collar with an odd star symbol on it.

“Again, I’m sorry about him,” I said with a polite smile. “I’m Tawny. What’s your name?”

“It’s Blackjack now,” he revealed with a bemused smirk.

“We’re a long way from home on an investigation of our own. Cats have been disappearing from the streets in our hometown of Beech Grove, Georgia, and we have reason to believe they’ve ended up here on Caraway Island. Any ideas how we might find them?”

He balked at me.“This whole thing is about cats? I thought you were tracking Scavo?”

“That’s right. We’re trying to find several missing field agents. One human girl is missing, too, I guess.” I couldn’t even tell him how many cats had disappeared, seeing as Mr. Fluffikins had given me the bare minimum in our debriefing.

Blackjack tilted his head to the side, then nodded.“Well, why didn’t you start with that? Come with me, kid. I know someone who might be able to point you in the right direction.”

19

I got up and followed Blackjack toward a hole in the fence. He squeezed right through, then turned back to wait for me.

“Um.” I shifted my weight from foot to foot. I couldn’t fit through that hole, and climbing over the fence when there were already two perfectly fine exits would definitely raise the suspicions of other humans in the park.

“I’ll go around and meet you on the other side,” I offered.

“Suit yourself,” Blackjack said with a sneer. “We’ll be in the west parking lot.”

“Cover me,” Fluffikins said, then blinked out of view and flashed back on the side of the fence.

“Neat trick,” Blackjack said with a twitch of a tail. “You pick that up in diplomat school?”

“Yeah, it was right after we removed theRs from Sesame Street for Boston public access.” Who was this new Fluffikins? He normally had a superior air about him, but he seemed to hate this other cat in a way I’d never seen him detest anyone or anything before—including the Haberdashes.

Blackjack, of course, gave as good as he got.“Didn’t watch that one. I was busy at ya mother’s…”

Thankfully, their voices faded away as I walked quickly along the edge of the fence until I reached the exit. After letting myself out, I traced back the way I’d come. I found the hole in the fence, but not the cats.

The corgi man caught my eye as he bent down to pick up a dingy tennis ball and gave me a questioning glance.

I waved briefly, then turned and pushed through the uncut grasses on the wild side of the fence, searching for either parking lot or feline, whichever I could find first.

I wished for two things at this point—a warm jacket and my cell phone. Yeah, I may have been smart when it came to words, but I’d never been able to discern east from west without the aid of tech. Glancing toward the sun only hurt my eyes. It didn’t tell me the direction from which it had risen.

Darn cats! Why couldn’t they have just gone through the normal exit with me?

A woman with bright teal hair wearing ripped jeans and a leather biker jacket approached from the side.“Tawny?” she called.

I nervously tucked a strand of pink hair behind my ear and swallowed.“Yes, hi.”

She smiled kindly.“I’m Val. Your familiar said you’d probably be lost.”

“Oh, I’m not… Um.” I turned back but could no longer see the corgi man or any of the people from the park, thanks to a slight incline behind me.

“You are a witch, right?” Val said as she studied me and my gothy garb. And honestly, who even knew anymore? I didn’t have magic, but I doubted I was just a “normie,” anymore, either.

I struggled with how to respond to Val.“No. Yes. I mean, I was, but I’m not now.”

She tilted her head to the side, and a sympathetic smile flickered across her face.“Feeling all right there?”

Great. Now both normies and magicks thought I needed to get my head examined. Maybe I did. I could add that to my list for when I was safe and sound back home. First the eye doctor and then the shrink.

“I’m fine,” I managed at last. “Fluffikins and I are here to investigate a string of abductions.”

“So he says. C’mon, walk with me.” A shiny badge that matched the star pendant on Blackjack’s collar glinted from Val’s belt, showing the world they belonged together. But me and Fluffikins? If there was anything actually tying us to each other, he’d chosen to keep it a secret.

“Tell me about these abductions,” she pressed in a way that told me she was a far more experienced interrogator than I’d ever be.

She didn’t even have to offer me a bribe to get me to sing like a canary. Unfortunately for her, I knew almost nothing.

“I don’t know much,” I said to establish how little I’d be able to help right from the get-go. “Several cats were taken, and one young witch named Melony Haberdash.”

Val halted suddenly and turned back to face me.“Did you say Haberdash?”

I nodded emphatically.“Yeah. Silly name, right?”

Val bit her lip.“It’s probably just a coincidence, but… Yeah, I’ll definitely need to think on that for a bit.” Her words trailed away, she shook her head, and then she kept walking.

A mostly empty parking lot came into view several paces away, but I still couldn’t see either Fluffikins or Blackjack. I had no idea what business it serviced as it seemed too far a jaunt from the pet park and I could see no other businesses nearby.

“Val, wait. What is it?” I called as I jogged to catch up with her. For all I knew, she was leading me to my doom. I needed to stop trusting people so easily. After all, that’s what had gotten me into this whole magical mess in the first place.

Val’s steps came much faster now, and I longed for my running shoes rather than the useless black clogs Connie had forced upon me.

Was this chick really running away from me?

So much for the kindness of strangers.

20

Blackjack trotted over to join us at the spot where the overgrowth gave way to payment.“He’s gone!” he somehow managed to mewl with a Boston accent.

Val appeared white as a freshly painted wall. I should know—I lived with several of them in my undecorated cottage. “What do you mean he’s gone? Who’s gone?” she demanded of her partner.

Blackjack held his tail high. Only the very end twitched.“The what’s-his-name schoolboy. Fluffy? He just up and vanished.”

“Weren’t you with him?” I demanded, placing a hand on each hip and trying to appear scary, sassy, something. If they decided to turn on me, I’d be toast. Fluffikins and I had been much better off before connecting with this troublesome duo.

“Yeah. The whole time. I blinked, and he was gone, quicker than a nun in the Combat Zone.” Blackjack raised a paw and stared at his toe beans as if they’d gravely disappointed him. “Thought he might’ve done that teleport trick again, but—poof—just gone.”

Okay, my one tie to home had left, but that didn’t mean he’d abandoned me. Maybe he’d just popped home for a quick chat with Parker or one of the other board members.

Yes, that was probably it. I mean, I thought Melony had left of her own volition, but Fluffikins had been certain she’d been taken.

Wait…

“Did you see a swirl of pink magic?” I asked the Boston cat, practically begging him to say yes. Seriously, even if it wasn’t true, I could really use some good news just then.

“Nothing,” he informed me, eyes wide as if he worried blinking again would steal me away, too.

Suddenly I felt as if I were underwater—not in that soothing, peaceful way that happened when immersed in the pink world magic, but in that horrible, terrifying way of being trapped in an undertow with no hope of escaping to break the surface.

“Guys,” I managed despite the throes of panic taken hold. “He didn’t leave. He was taken. Whoever took the agents took Mr. Fluffikins, too.” Giving the voice to the words made me realize just how true they were. He wouldn’t intentionally leave me stranded without money, identification, or any way of reaching the PTA back home. He was a pain in the butt, but he wasn’t evil. Well, at least not pure evil.

“What should I do?” I squeaked in desperation.

Val placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, but it did little to quell my panic.“We’ll keep working our side of this case and see what we turn up. Maybe we’ll luck out and find your familiar in the process. But we can’t drop our investigation to go looking for him.”

“But I have no phone, no money, no one to help. How am I supposed to get him back?” I argued. The panic grew thicker around me, and I struggled to catch a breath.

“I wish we could do more, but here…” Val reached into her pocket, then pressed a roll of bills into my hand. “After you leave the parking lot, head right down Main Street. Around the corner of Main and Yarrow there’s a scuzzy-looking motel called The All-Nighter. It looks bad, but it’s actually really clean, and the owner is one of us. Crash there for tonight, and in the morning hop the ferry to Glendale. The first one runs at seven thirty.”

I nodded along, glad Val seemed to have a plan because I was still totally lost.“Okay, okay. And then what?”

“There’s a woman there who can talk to animals. Her name is Angie Russo. Not a magic bone in her body, but Jack bumped into her when we first got here. We checked into her and she seems legit. Fancies herself a bit of a private investigator, so just play that angle and she’ll help you find your familiar.”

“Thank you,” I said, rather than correcting her about the true nature of my relationship with Mr. Fluffikins. “I will.”

Nobody said anything, so I took the opportunity to ask a question.“How can I get in touch with you if I need something?”

“You don’t. Maybe we’ll meet again one day, but for your sake, I hope not,” Val said grimly.

“Now go. We can’t waste any more time standing here chitchatting when we’ve got a crook to catch.” Blackjack motioned me away with his paw.

I took a deep breath and walked to the end of the parking lot. When I turned back, both Val and her cat familiar had vanished.

21

As promised, the All-Nighter looked terrible from the outside but was mostly okay from the inside. I resisted the urge to turn away from the cracked brick exterior that was largely in need of a power wash, knowing that I could either sleep here or on the streets.

My room smelled like a heady blend of Clorox and Pinesol, which I took to be a good sign. The first thing I did after examining my room for either hidden corpses, used contraceptives, or little baggies of powdered drugs—none of which I found, thank goodness—was to take a long, hot shower. As the water sluiced over me, I fought the temptation to relax into it and instead combed my mind for solutions to that day’s outlandish string of problems.

While I was grateful to Val for offering me money and a lead, it seemed she’d taken advantage of Fluffikins’s disappearance to avoid telling me what she knew about the Haberdashes. I chided myself for not realizing that earlier. For all I knew, she was in league with the abductors. After all, the magical tracker had delivered us right to her familiar. He’d also beenalone with Fluffikins for long enough to stash him somewhere unbeknownst to me. Why had I taken him or Val at their word?

Another question that I kept asking myself:Why hadn’t I ever exchanged phone numbers with Parker? True, I could just take a short walk to visit him and vice versa. We’d also only known each other a handful of days, but still.

If I could call him now, he’d be able to help. Instead, I was hopelessly alone in a far-off place and with only half the money left from the wad Val had entrusted to me. I needed to find my way out of this one and fast, because I doubted I’d be able to afford a second night in this place.

Grasping at straws, I picked up the hotel phone and dialed information.“OH MY COD in Beech Grove, Georgia, please,” I said when the operator picked up.

She patched me through at once, but the line just rang and rang. Either the proprietor was too busy to answer or he’d already closed for the day. Just my luck.

I called information back and gave her the names of a few other businesses from the downtown area. This time she gave me a list of numbers, which I jotted down on the motel’s stationery. I called every single one, asking whoever picked up if they knew Parker Barnes, but no one did.

Strange.How could he have lived in Beech Grove his entire life and not made a mark on any of the locals? It was like the man was a ghost.

This, of course, left me worse than I’d started, because now I was beginning to lose that last thin thread of hope I’d managed to cling to.

I tore off the sheet of paper with the numbers written on it and tossed that into the trash, then sat with a fresh piece before me and began to write a new list. This one was for any clues and inconsistencies I’d noted until this point.

First I listed the names of those who had gone missing. I still didn’t know how many cats had disappeared, but I remembered Mungo and Lester talking about Percy in the alley. I jotted down their names, then added Melony and Fluffikins. That made for five missing people—er, creatures.

Next I wrote down places. So far all I had was OH MY COD and the Caraway Island Pet Park. Yes, I’d be headed to the mainland in the morning, but I didn’t know yet whether that was actually relevant.

Suspects included Melony—I wasn’t letting her off the hook just because she’d been taken, too—Val and Blackjack, that Scavo guy they’d talked about, and maybe even Melony’s grandfather. Val certainly had a strong reaction to the mention of the Haberdash surname.

That was everything. All I knew could be condensed to a single narrow sheet of paper.Sigh.

I stared at it for a good long while, willing the words to rearrange themselves into some kind of revelation that would explain everything. But that didn’t happen.

Frustrated, I folded my list up and stuck it in my pocket

Not knowing what else to do now, I walked to a fast-food restaurant I’d passed on my way to the motel and ate until my stomach hurt. I took a few cheeseburgers back to the motel for later, then went to bed early so that I’d be bursting with energy and ready to go the next morning.

22

Apparently my Angie Russo was a bit of a local institution around this quaint seaside area called Blueberry Bay. I had no trouble at all finding someone on the ferry who could give me directions to her house in Glendale—and here I thought Beech Grove was a small town!

Most people thought the so-called“Pet Whisperer P.I.” was a bit touched in the head, but they liked her all the same.

“She and her grandmother had this huge charity benefit to help the shelter. Just last night, as a matter of fact,” a woman about ten years my senior revealed when she overheard me asking after Ms. Russo.

A few minutes later, one of my new friends from the ferry said she was heading in the same direction and would drop me off. And that’s how I arrived on the porch of a massive Eastern Seaboard manor house just a little after eight o’clock in the morning.

When I knocked, a high-pitched bark sounded from deep inside. It grew closer and closer along with the skittering of claws until the door swung open and a tiny animal flew out onto the porch to greet me.

The barks turned to whimpers as the mostly black Chihuahua stood on her hind legs and pawed at my shin.

“She wants you to pick her up, dear,” a woman’s voice said from the other side of the doorway.

I grabbed the squirming canine and then straightened back up.“Are you Angie?” I asked the woman who I now saw was at least seventy years old and wearing a close-fitting hot pink velour sweat suit.

She burst out laughing as if I’d just told the world’s greatest joke. “Oh, heavens no! I’m Nan, and that sweet girl in your arms is my Paisley. Angie is still sleeping off last night. We had quite thefete. Perhaps you’d like to come back in the afternoon?”

I mindlessly stroked the little dog’s head as she shook and shivered in my arms. “Well, it’s just that I have a big problem, and the longer I wait, the bigger it will get,” I tried to explain. What would I do if she turned me away? Where would I go next?

Nan pressed her lips in a thin line.“I see.”

I decided to get straight to the matter at heart, hoping it would endear Nan to me rather than cause her to get angry and send me away.“Is it true she can talk to animals?”

The old woman began to nod, but then paused. Her face fell.“Um, I’m not really supposed to talk about that anymore.”

She chewed on her lip as we stood facing each other in silence.

The Chihuahua continued to shake with excitement.

“Would you like to come in for a nice cup of tea while you wait?” Nan offered at last.

I nodded and followed her into the living room, where a rather large brown tabby sat on the sofa watching me with what appeared to be skepticism. Could he talk like the other cats I’d met over the past week? Was he also some kind of cop, spy, or diplomat? It was hard to think of him as anything much more than a house cat, given the lazy demeanor and poorly hidden paunch.

When she noticed me staring at the tabby cat, Nan chuckled and said,“Oh, don’t mind our Octo-Cat. He was born angry, I’m afraid. Come with me into the kitchen. Are you hungry? I have a batch of vanilla bean scones finishing in the oven.”

My stomach rumbled at the promise of fresh baked goods, and I nodded enthusiastically.

Nan sidestepped a pop-up card table covered in balled-up napkins and other trash.“You’ll have to excuse the mess. We had a big charity gala last night and are still playing catch-up on the cleaning part. We’d planned to finish, but then the dead body showed up, and—”

“Dead body?” I squeaked, taking a step back to put some distance between us. I clutched the little dog to my chest like a shield. This crazy old lady wouldn’t hurt me as long as I was holding her pet, right?

Nan just tutted.“Oh, don’t look at me like that. It wasn’t me who killed him.”

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” I whimpered, ready to leave this place and try hitchhiking back to Georgia, or maybe I could stop by my publisher in New York and ask for them to send me the rest of the way.

Footsteps sounded behind me, and I turned to see a tall woman with sandy brown hair who was wearing a matching set of polka-dotted pajamas.“Good morning,” she told me with a friendly smile. “Who’s this, Nan?”

“She hasn’t given me a name yet, but she’s here for you, dear,” the old woman said with a shrug.

“Why does she look like she’s seen a ghost?Nan.”Her voice held a note of warning.

Nan shrugged again.“I was just catching her up on the events of last night is all.”

“How many times do I have to remind you, murder is never a good ice-breaker?”

Nan chuckled as she put the kettle on.

“Are you Angie?” I asked, feeling at least a little safer now that I wasn’t alone with Nan. “I heard you might be able to help me. My name’s Tawny, and I’m not from around here.”

She gave me a huge smile and swept her arm to the side in invitation.“Yes, that’s me. Let’s go get cozy in the living room and you can tell me all about it.”

23

Angie settled onto the couch next to her cat, leaving me to take up my place on an adjacent wingback chair. The furniture was stiff, yet somehow also inviting.

I set the wiggly Chihuahua on the floor, but she immediately hopped back into the chair with me and snuggled beside my thigh.

“Do you have a case for me?” Angie asked, leaning forward slightly to convey her interest.

I nodded, wondering how much I could rightly share.“I do. It’s about a missing cat. Well, several, actually.”

“I can find a missing cat,” Angie boasted, her eyes wide with excitement. “I’ve found a missing dog before—the mayor’s dog, actually—and once my own cat went missing, but as you can see, he’s back now.”

She set a hand on the tabby’s back, and he flinched. She ripped her hand away as if she’d been burned, then fixed her gaze back on me.

Maybe I was just imagining it, but Angie seemed almost too eager to assist.

“Val referred me to you. Said you could talk to animals,” I mentioned, watching this new acquaintance for any signs that the rumors could be true.

And she didn’t make me work very hard for it. Angie laughed so hard her face turned red. “What a kidder, that Val is. In fact, I don’t even know a Val.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes, overselling it so much, I had no question that what Val had told me was, in fact, quite true.

“It’s okay. I’m not going to tell your secret,” I promised, wishing we could just get on with it. After all, I didn’t have all day to sit around trying to convince her to help me. “It’s just I’m really desperate to find one lost cat in particular. His name is Mr. Fluffikins.”

Angie’s head snapped to the side and she glared at me with a new intensity that set me on edge. “That’s not a very common name.”

I shook my head.“No, I guess it’s not. So can you help me?”

Nan entered with a tray of the aforementioned vanilla bean scones and three mugs of what appeared to be English Breakfast tea.

The snuggly little Chihuahua immediately left me to join her.

“What did I miss?” she asked, taking a seat beside her granddaughter. “Anything good?”

Angie appeared to have calmed down a bit now that Nan had joined the conversation.“Tawny here is trying to locate her missing cat, Mr. Fluffikins,” she explained.

Nan’s eyes widened at this news. “Isn’t that the cat from last night who told you—”

“Nan, you know that whole thing about me talking to animals is just a well-circulated rumor,” Angie interrupted with a goofy smile and another big eye roll. She held Nan’s gaze for several moments until at last the old woman looked away and took a long slurp of her tea.

“We hosted an event last night called the Black Cat Benefit,” Angie continued. “Our goal was to find homes for black cats from the local shelter and to raise funds. There was a cat named Mr. Fluffikins who came in with the adoptable felines.”

“But how?” I asked, wrapping my hands around my mug of tea and squeezing tight. “He was only just taken yesterday afternoon. And from Caraway Island at that.”

Angie appeared unbothered by this.“Well, we’re all kind of one big small town around the bay. It’s totally possible that Glendale’s shelter brought a few black cats from other area rescues.”

I stood.“Does that mean he’s back at the shelter? Should I go there now?”

Angie sighed heavily and motioned for me to sit back down.“No, he was adopted.”

“Adopted!” I exploded. “No, no, no. That’s not possible. He’s my cat, and I really need him back!”

“It’s going to be okay. If he’s yours, I’m sure the new owners will give him back. We can just refund his adoption fee.” Angie picked up a warm scone and took a big, luxuriating bite.

“No harm, no foul,” Nan agreed.

“But where are these new owners?” I demanded. Weren’t shelters at least supposed to try to find the owners before giving a cat away? It seemed they’d have at least taken the time to give him health and temperament checks. Something definitely wasn’t right here.

“Let me shoot off a quick text to see if the shelter can send that over. I’m sure, given the circumstances…” Angie pulled out her phone and began typing far faster than I’d ever manage. A few moments later, she looked up at me with a satisfied grin. “There. We should hear back from themany minute.”

“Please do enjoy your tea,” Nan said, pointing to the mug that remained clutched firmly between my hands.

I took one tentative sip, then another. It didn’t take long for me to drain the entire cup.

“Oh, here we go!” Angie said, waving her phone overhead. “The shelter just texted back.”

I set my empty mug back on the tray and watched as Angie’s face fell.

“Oh,” she said plainly.

“What is it, dear?” Nan pressed, saving me the trouble of doing so myself.

“Mr. Fluffikins has been placed in a home on Caraway Island,” she said with a strange expression.

Of course he was.

And now it looked like my strange magical journey had jumped straight into fantasy, mainly JRR Tolkien’sHobbit: There and Back Again.

24

Angie drove me back to the ferry and parked to wait with me.“It’s not true what they say, you know.”

“Hmmm?” I asked, staring off into the horizon mindlessly.

“About me talking to animals, I mean. That’s crazy, right?” Angie’s eyes bore into me. I could feel her intense gaze without even needing to turn and meet it.

“Yeah, totally,” I agreed, offering her a placating grin.

“I just understand their body language really well. Apparently that makes me a pet whisperer.” She laughed uncomfortably, and I joined in to be polite. This was going to be a long wait. I had no idea how frequently the ferry came in, and with my luck we’d be waiting around all day. Not for the first time that day, I longed for Fluffikins and his ability to fly us from place to place at record-breaking speeds.

“So what’s your story, Tawny?” Angie asked next. “The pink hair and black clothes, they make quite an impression. What are you trying to tell the world?”

Oh, like she was one to judge. Before we let her house, she changed out of her polka-dotted pajama set and into what appeared to be leg warmers and an off the shoulder sweater. I was no great fashionista, but at least I knew what decade we all lived in.

“My dress is deep purple, more like a blackberry than true black,” I corrected, keeping the rest of my thoughts to myself.

“But still, why so much jewelry? It’s almost like you’re in a costume.” She offered me a goofy smile to soften the blow.

Well, she was right about one thing. I’d debated long and hard about whether to leave the heaps of jewelry in the motel that morning. I’d ultimately decided to keep it on me to avoid eliciting unnecessary anger from Connie. Even though she claimed to feed on money instead of blood, I just wasn’t ready to take any chances when it came to the cranky vamp.

Then again, if Angie was sticking to her poorly constructed cover story, I could give her mine. I’d spoken too freely with Blackjack and Val, but I didn’t have to make the same mistake twice.

“I’m a psychic,” I said simply with a toothy smile of my own.

Angie seemed a bit surprised.“That’s cool. So you can tell the future and what not?”

I shook my head.“Not really. I’m just good at reading people’s body language and then telling them what they want to hear.”

“Oh, so we’re kind of the same?” she said with another girlish laugh.

“Yup.” Both frauds with shoddy cover stories.

“I knew you didn’t mean for real,” she said after a moment.

I nodded but kept quiet.

The ferry arrived a short while later, freeing me from Angie’s clumsy attempts to engage me in small talk.

Relief washed over me, until something awful and unexpected happened…

“I’m coming with you,” Angie informed me just as I had begun to reach my hand toward the door.

Before I could argue, she pulled her car into the boarding queue. Well, I guess my investigation would be quicker with a wheeled escort. And it’s not like Angie could make things even more awkward than she already had… Right?

“So you like solving mysteries, right?” I asked, at last choosing to trust her despite my hesitations. Such was my desperation.

She gave me her biggest smile yet.“Oh, yes. It’s my job. Did you want to officially hire me to work your case?”

“I don’t really have much money at the moment. I could get you some after we solve this, but…” I shrugged. “I can’t expect you to work for free.”

“Oh, yes, yes, you can. I work for free all the time. My cat’s trust fund pays all our bills and then some. Plus I need the experience to keep my skills from getting rusty.”

Well, that was weird.

“So you want to help?” I asked, raising both eyebrows in surprise.

Angie bobbed her head.“If you’ll let me.”

“Then here.” I reached into my pocket and handed her the list I had made the night before. “This is all the information I have right now.”

Angie scrutinized the list; her brows pushed together in deep thought.“So many people have gone missing and you lead with your cat?”

“Oh, no. Just one person. Melony.” I pointed to her name emphasize my point. “The others are cats.”

“And what’s the rest of this?” she asked, her eyes creeping down the paper.

“Suspects and key places.”

“OH MY COD?” she asked with a giggle.

“That’s a fishmonger back home. In Georgia.”

“Georgia?” Angie burst out, shoving the list back at me. “What are you doing all the way over here? Do you really think someone kidnapped your cats and drove twenty hours to get here?”

I stared at her in awe. Maybe she wasn’t as clueless as she first appeared. “How did you estimate the length of the drive so quick? I don’t even know it.”

“My cousin lives in Georgia,” she revealed with a far-off smile. “In the Peach Plains area. Do you know it?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s where I live.”

Something new lit in her eyes.“Larkhaven?”

“No, Beech Grove.”

And that light almost instantly distinguished.“Oh,” she whispered.

“Oh,” I whispered back.

Angie didn’t talk to me again for the rest of the ferry ride, proving that—yes—she could be more awkward still.

25

Once the ferry docked, Angie drove us straight to the address listed on the adoption paperwork the shelter had emailed over.

Or rather, she tried.

“Hmm, somehow I passed it. Keep your eyes peeled for house number 748,” she muttered, driving slowly along the residential street.

We both watched closely, but the numbers skipped from 743 straight to 752. Definitely not a good sign.

“Did someone really give a fake address? Who does that?” Angie fumed and slapped the steering wheel.

“Someone who doesn’t want to be found,” I pointed out. Angie pulled the car to the side of the street and groaned in frustration.

Something was happening here. Something big. Would me and my half-mad new sidekick be enough to put an end to it?

“Wait there,” she said, unbuckling herself. “I’ll be right back.”

I watched as she walked to a yard a few doors down and stooped down to address a corgi who sat sunning himself in a dried patch of grass. There’s no way that could be the same corgi I’d met at the park yesterday… Right?

Angie crouched near the dog, facing away from me. And yet it was still incredibly obvious that she was talking to him.

They conversed for several minutes before the front door to the accompanying house swung open and a familiar man stepped onto the porch. It was the man from the pet park who thought I needed psychiatric help.

I bolted out of Angie’s car and raced to help explain away our misdeeds.

“You again,” the corgi owner said, his eyes locking onto mine.

“Hi, yes. Remember the cat I had with me the other day? He’s gone missing, and my friend here is trying to help me find him.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down the bridge of his nose at us.“By trespassing in my yard?”

“N-no,” I sputtered and took a step back. “Sorry. She just loves animals. She saw your cute dog here and just wanted to say hello.”

Angie finally caught wise and jumped in to help. She also jumped up to her feet.“I just love corgis and their little heart butts. I’ve been thinking of adopting one for myself, but still want to do more research. Say, would you recommend one to a friend?”

“I’d recommend you get out of my yard,” the man grumbled, staring daggers Angie’s way. “C’mon, Baron. Let’s get inside!”

The dog ran surprisingly fast, considering how tiny his little legs were. He slipped inside, and then the man slammed the door.

“Rude,” Angie pouted as we both walked back to the car.

“What did Baron tell you?” I asked when we were both safely inside. “With his body language, I mean.”

“Oh, right.” Angie lay her head back and closed her eyes. For a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to answer me, but then she did. “He’s seen a lot of strange passers-by around here lately. First there was a tall man, then a cat, and then us.”

Fluffikins! Maybe the incorrect address had just been a blunder. The boss cat might still be nearby.

“Was it a black cat with a white patch?” I asked eagerly, sitting up straighter in my seat.

“No, I think he said it was a tortoise shell. Um… At least that’s how I interpreted it.” No wonder so many rumors swirled about this girl. She did an absolutely horrible job keeping her secret.

But that was her problem. I had much bigger, more urgent matters to worry about. And, oh boy, was I worried.

“Can we just drive around a bit?” I asked, my spirits falling faster than, well, something that falls famously fast.

“Oh, sure.” Angie put the car in drive and did slow laps around the neighborhood, taking care to avoid the mean corgi man’s house.

Neither of us spoke as she began to snake out into the surrounding streets. I’d just about lost all hope when…

“Angie, stop the car!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.

We jerked to a sudden stop, and my seatbelt hugged me tightly, digging right into my chest.

“What’s going on?” Angie cried as she scanned the area in search of answers.

But I was already out the door and running down the street.

26

I jumped straight into Parker’s arms, and we both staggered backward from the high-speed collision.

“You found me!” I cried—actually cried—from being so fantastically relieved.

“You’re a tough woman to find, Tawny Bigford,” he murmured, reaching for my cheek to swipe away an errant tear. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

“How did you know I’d be here?” I asked, staring into his gorgeous gray eyes and wondering if now might be a good time for the first kiss we both knew was coming.

“When you, Melony, and Mr. Fluffikins went missing, I panicked. I didn’t know until I swung by later that afternoon to check on you. When I couldn’t find you or Melony, I tried reaching out to Mr. Fluffikins, but he was gone, too. No one knew anything, so I started combing through all of Fluffikins’s paperwork—that guy records everything—and I found the magical signature for Melony’s tracker. That took me to some kind of—”

“Pet park,” I finished for him.

“Yeah.” Parker gave me a weak smile, then stumbled forward.

I reached forward to steady him.“Whoa. What’s wrong?”

He yawned and listed slightly to the side.“I feel so drained. Like I’ve been up for days without any sleep. It’s strange.”

“Are you hurt?” I immediately began to inspect him for injuries. Perhaps teleporting was more dangerous than Fluffikins had let on before whisking the both of us away.

“I think…” He paused and took a deep breath. “I think now that I’m a town witch, I have a hard time being away from my town. My magic…”

He raised a hand and flicked his wrist. A small spark flew from his fingertips and fizzled in the air.“I think that was the last of it,” Parker told me and then slumped at my side.

“We have to get you back!” I looped one of his arms over my shoulders and turned back toward the car.

Angie stood just outside of it, staring wide-eyed at us both.

“We have to help him,” I yelled to her and tried to guide Parker toward the car.

But he resisted.“I can’t go without Fluffikins. Without the Diplomat, there is no PTA.”

Angie’s features pinched and she shook her head. “What’s he talking about, Tawny? What was that trick he did with the burst of light?”

“A friend of yours?” Parker wheezed, turning his head toward me in a jerky moment that almost looked painful.

“Sort of,” I whispered so only he could hear. “She’s helping me search for Fluffikins.”

“Why were you guys talking about magic?” Angie called as she laughed uncomfortably. “I mean, magic’s not real.”

Parker and I exchanged a worried glance.

“Is it?” Angie squeaked, bringing a hand to her chest like she wanted to check that her heart was still beating beneath it.

“We have to wipe her memory,” Parker rasped, then pulled his arm off my shoulders and raised both hands high and grunted.

Angie took a step back.“Look, guys. I don’t know what this is, but it’s not very funny.”

“It didn’t work,” Parker moaned as his knees buckled from the exertion. “I’ve got nothing left in the tank.”

“We’ll find Mr. Fluffikins, and he’ll take care of everything,” I decided aloud as I helped him back to his feet.

Angie pulled the driver’s side door open. “Well, I should be going. Don’t worry about that payment. Okay, byeeee!”

I saw a chance then, so I took it. I let Parker go, hoping he could keep himself upright, then bolted for the passenger side door and threw myself inside.“Nonsense, we’ll have your payment soon. Just bear with us a little longer.”

Parker staggered toward the car like some kind of ripe and rosy zombie, and I left the door open so Angie would be less inclined to drive away without him.

She sighed heavily and pressed her forehead against the top of the steering wheel.“I deal with murderers, embezzlers, and other types of crooks all the time, but I don’t think I’ve ever been quite as scared as I am now. Please just let me go home and pretend I never heard or saw what just happened out there. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

“Please help us,” I begged, knowing full well just how much I was asking of her. “You have a cat, too. Wouldn’t you do anything to get him back?”

She lifted her head and regarded me warily. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes, and I felt deeply sorry for involving her in this. After all, I’d been in the exact same position only a few days back. We needed her, though. Parker and I wouldn’t be able to make it a block without her assistance, and I couldn’t abandon him when he’d come all this way to find me.

“I promise we’ll keep you safe,” I said, desperate for her to believe me. “Everything will be okay, and you’ll get a big fat paycheck at the end of the day for your troubles.”

She sighed, and just when I thought she’d tell me to get the heck out of her car and pretend I’d never met her, she smiled, wrapped both hands around the steering wheel, and turned to me. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

27

Once Parker had clambered his way into the back seat, we began driving through the various neighborhoods and side streets of Caraway Island once more. As much as I hated being so far away from home, at least we were dealing with a confined search area here on this little island.

While Angie drove, I handed Parker the list I made from the hotel to help get him caught up on what we knew, which admittedly wasn’t much.

“I can add a few things,” he said after studying it for a moment. “Without magic or much physical energy, I know I’m mostly a liability for this mission, but my brain still works decently enough. For starters, I have no idea who this Val and Blackjack duo is, but they’re right about Scavobeing back.”

I shook my head in disbelief as the suburban scenery slowly rolled past.“But Mr. Fluffikins said he died a couple years ago,” I reminded him.

“His body died, yes, but Scavo dealt deep and dark enough in magic that he’d already managed to arrange for his return before he…” Parker raised his hands to make half-hearted air quotes. “…died peacefully in his sleep.”

Angie toed the break and we lurched to a stop.“S-s-sorry,” she sputtered. “Go on.”

“So he’s back but looks different?” I asked to bring us back on topic.

“That’s the working theory. We believe he’s adopted a new name but held onto some of his old contacts.”

Hmm.Like Angie, I was also creeped out by this new revelation as to what magic could accomplish.

“Why didn’t he just become a vampire?” I questioned, recalling what Tawny had told me.

“For one thing, he himself was not a magick, and no Diplomat in their right mind would lend him that kind of power. Seems you and Connie had a nice chat during your makeover montage, huh?” Parker laughed weakly. Was he getting worse the longer he stayed away from his town? Gosh, I hoped not.

I had to keep him talking, just in case this magical withdrawal worked kind of like a concussion. I couldn’t risk him falling asleep on me and possibly never awakening again. “Okay, so Scavo’s back and possibly involved in all this. But how come you know about his return and Fluffikins doesn’t?”

When he didn’t answer right away, I turned and found him leaning back with his eyes closed. “Parker!” I shouted and nudged his knee.

His eyes blinked open and he tried to sit taller on the car’s rear bench seat. “Right. Fluffikins doesn’t know because it’s a recent development. We found out right before I stepped out of the role of Liaison to the Force and into the role of Town Witch.”

I turned back to face front and found Parker’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “But shouldn’t Fluffikins have known? As your boss?” I prompted. This Scavo definitely felt like a good lead, but none of us knew what he looked like these days, and I also had no way of getting in touch with Val or Blackjack to request further assistance.

“I did submit a report, but I doubt he’s gotten to it yet. There’s always so much paperwork to sift through. Bureaucracy at work.” Parker’s smile was barely discernible, but at least it was still there. “I didn’t know he was working out of Blueberry Bay instead of Boston now, but it makes sense.”

“What else can you tell me?” The new information was beginning to click into place, but still nothing resolved this mystery. With Parker ill and Angie frightened, we were now in far worse shape than we’d started.

“Parker?” I prompted when he didn’t answer immediately.

“I’m thinking,” he said. “Making sure I get things right.”

“Okay,” I said, then waited several moments while he composed his thoughts. The whole time I watched him through the rearview mirror to make sure he didn’t nod off again.

When Parker spoke again, his words slurred together.“Five field agents were abducted before this latest batch, one of which was Percy as you’ve noted. The others were called Cricket, Harry, Darjeeling, and Bill.”

Angie surprised us both by speaking up next.“Did any of them have tortoise shell coats?” she wanted to know.

“Yes,” Parker answered at once. “Percy did. Why?”

Angie slowed the car to a stop and turned to face Parker in the back.“We met a corgi earlier who told me about a bunch of strangers walking by today. I assume you’re the man he mentioned, but in addition to you, he also saw a tortoise shell cat. Like the one we just passed.”

“You can talk to animals?” Parker asked, raising an eyebrow with great effort.

“With all your free talk of magical crime rings and conspiracies, my secret doesn’t seem quite so weird anymore,” she said slowly as if it had to be pulled out of her.

“He’s coming this way,” I said, spying the little tortoise shell cat approaching our car. “Get down, Parker.”

Parker fell to the side, seeming relieved to not have to keep himself upright anymore.

I waited for the cat to advance several paces past the car, studiously avoiding his gaze so as not to draw suspicion.

“Now look,” I whispered to Parker. “Is that Percy?”

Parker struggled to pull himself up, but eventually did by grabbing onto the back of my seat and using whatever strength was left in his arms to aid in the motion.“Yup, sure is,” he said after a quick glance out the window.

Bingo! Now we had a real clue to go on.

“Follow that cat!” I told Angie, excitement bubbling up inside me. We weren’t too late to fix this, and if my suspicions were right, then Percy would lead us straight to our missing persons… um, cats and person.

28

Percy led us to a brick colonial with a foreclosure sign in the front yard. How he didn’t notice us trailing him, I have no clue. Maybe he was too focused on the road ahead to worry about looking back.

Once he was out of eyesight, Angie parked at the curb and the three of us quietly exited. I marched straight for the front door, then looked back to see I was on my own.

“Guys,” I hissed, powerwalking back to them at the edge of the yard. “What are you doing? We need to see what’s inside!”

“We can’t enter. It’s warded against magic,” Parker explained as if this was a normal everyday occurrence. Perhaps for him, it was.

“But I’m not magic, and I can’t cross, either,” Angie argued, trying to push through the invisible wall and failing.

“You can talk to animals. How is that not magic?” Parker pointed out, lowering himself to the ground.

Her face fell.“Oh.”

“Looks like you’re on your own for this one,” Parker told me, offering a half-hearted thumbs up from his seat on the pavement. “Are you going to be okay?”

“I have to be,” I said, trying to summon my courage. “I’m our last hope.”

“You can do it,” Angie said with a little whoop. “You’ve come all the way from Georgia. You can’t lose now.”

I nodded, then returned to the door, which I was surprised to find unlocked. The main floor had been completely cleared of furniture and stripped of all its appliances. Nothing looked unusual to my eye, but the wards outside were proof enough that I’d find something as long as I kept looking.

After exploring the living room, kitchen, and a powder room, I found a pair of staircases, one going up and one going down. I chose to visit the second floor before braving the basement. Slowly I crept up the steps, praying my approach would go unnoticed.

When I finished my ascent, a short hall greeted me with two doors on each side. The first led to a bathroom. Unlike the lower floor, the upper level still appeared fully livable. The shower even had a curtain, complete with a bright yellow smiley face print.

The next door revealed a small home library. After that I found an empty bedroom. The last door also opened up to a bedroom, but this one was not empty. There in this small room with pink walls and a princess bed set, a girl with black hair and heavy makeup slept fitfully. Recognizing her the exact moment I spotted her, I rushed to the girl’s side and tried to shake her awake.

“Melony! Melony!” I whisper-yelled.

She rubbed at her eyes sleepily, then noticing me at last, shot up in bed as if afraid.“What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” I countered, pulling at the covers and trying to force her out of the bed.

“I’m being held as a ransom, duh.”

“So you didn’t kidnap the cats?” Even though Fluffikins had assured me she didn’t, I still hadn’t fully believed her innocence until this very moment.

She scoffed, appearing truly offended.“Why would I?”

“You said you’re being held ransom. Why?”

“My grandpa. When we failed to take the board, his boss got super angry. He took me to make sure Grandpa didn’t fail this time.”

“Fail at what?” I asked as fresh fear coiled at the base of my spine.

“He wants Fluffikins for some kind of ritual. He took the other cats to lure him here. Apparently capturing me as well was just some kind of lucky break and not part of the original plan.”

I didn’t know how Melony had all these answers, but I was glad she did. “Why does he want Fluffikins so bad?”

She stared at me as if the answer to my question should have been obvious.“He’s one of the most powerful Diplomats in the world.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked at last.

She shrugged.“You know how bad guys love to reveal their dastardly plans before trying to kill everyone? I’m guessing it’s that.”

I pulled at the covers again, but Melony yanked them away from me.“We’ve got to get you out of here.”

“I can’t leave this floor. It’s warded,” she informed me in a bored monotone. Had she really given up so soon after being captured?

“Okay, so how do I break the ward?”

Melony groaned in irritation.“You don’t. You have no magic, remember?”

“Yeah, that’s why I could get in and the others couldn’t.”

“Interesting. Well, if you feel like going on a suicide mission, Fluffikins is being held in the basement until the preparations for the ritual are complete.”

“What ritual? Actually, wait. I don’t want to know. Just tell me, where are the other cats?” I could stand here talking to her all day, or I could take action. I’d already wasted enough time traveling from one end of Blueberry Bay to the other.

“Most of them were placed in local shelters once they weren’t needed anymore. Some idiot henchman accidentally gave Fluffikins to a shelter, too, not realizing who he was. Far as I know that guy’s now been vaporized.” She chuckled bitterly.

“What about Percy? We just saw him outside,” I said.

Her expression grew cold and jagged.“He was the inside man. Betrayed us all.”

“Us? Does that mean you’re one of the good guys now?”

Melony smiled devilishly.“Yeah, I guess I am. I still don’t like you, though. Even if we are on the same side now.”

“I don’t like you, either,” I told her with a grin.

“Aww, so many warm fuzzies.” Melony rolled her eyes. “Now stop wasting my time and head to the basement. You’ll either save everyone or get yourself killed. My money’s on the latter. Good luck, though!”

29

Here’s what I knew…

Melony was trapped inside, and supposedly so was Fluffikins; meanwhile, Parker and Angie were trapped outside. Only I could enter and exit the house, and I had my normie status to thank. Ha, I’d like to see them condescend to me after this!

With growing confidence, I crept down the stairs to the basement, which was dingy, unfinished, and filled to bursting with boxes. I didn’t see anyone, and I couldn’t see much by the light of the tiny glass block windows.

“Hello?” I chanced calling into the darkness.

An agonized meow rose up to greet me. I rushed toward the sound and found a tiny black crate surrounded by boxes stacked above and to both sides.

I blinked hard to make sure I was really seeing what—or rather who—sat before me. “Mr. Fluffikins!” I cried, forgetting for a brief moment to be quiet.

He let out another pitiful meow just as a lanky tortoise shell cat leapt toward me.Percy!

He hissed and sunk his claws into my side.

“Meow! Meow!” cried Fluffikins in a panic.

Percy reared up and took another swipe at me. Sharp pain cut through my torso. What was I supposed to do? Could I really fight a cat? I mean, clearly he was an evil cat, but he was still a much smaller creature, and—

OUCH!

As I was puzzling over the ethical considerations of battling him, Percy had landed yet another blow—and he was rearing up to go at me again. He’d claw me to death if I didn’t do something and fast.

“Meow! Meow!” Fluffikins called, and when I looked over at him, he moved his glowing golden eyes upward toward the boxes atop his crate.

Yes! Okay!

I grabbed one and shook out the contents. This time when Percy came at me, I pushed down the box and trapped him between it and the cold concrete floor.

He hissed and spat and struggled against the cardboard prison, but still he failed to break free. Careful to keep consistent pressure on Percy’s box, I slid him next to a tall stack of packages and began to pile them on top of him. Hopefully the big bad would be by to free him before he ran out of oxygen under there… but also not before I managed to free both of my captured team members. Who’d have ever thought that I’d be working to save Melony’s life a mere four days after she’d tried to end mine?

I swear, sometimes life really was stranger than fiction—especially when it included magic.

After watching for a moment to make sure Percy was secure within his trap, I returned to Mr. Fluffikins and unlocked his cage.“C’mon. We have to hurry.”

He meowed and shook his head.

“Stop messing around,” I hissed.

Fluffikins growled and pressed himself against the entrance, demonstrating the presence of another magical barrier. Well, no wonder he hadn’t escaped before now—he couldn’t use magic in the cage nor could he get out. That also explained why he wasn’t talking to me.

This whole set-up had been erected to keep magicks away, but being a non-magical person, I had slipped through the barrier just fine. What if…?

Taking a chance, I reached into the cage and grabbed Fluffikins. He came straight out into my arms.Yes!

When we’d flown yesterday, holding him had transferred his magic to me briefly. And by holding him now, I was able to transfer my non-magic. Interesting how the absence of a thing was also a thing. I’d have to give that one a good think later.

I clutched Mr. Fluffikins tightly to my chest as I ran up the stairs and out into the yard.

When she saw me emerge from the threshold, Angie clapped excitedly and hopped up and down.

“You did it! Tawny, you did it!” Parker said, still too weak to offer much more than his words and a smile.

I set Fluffikins on the street, and he began to groom himself obsessively, washing off my touch.

Parker nudged the black cat with his foot.

“I can’t believe I had to be rescued by a temp,” the boss cat spat.

Parker stared daggers at him, but Fluffikins either didn’t notice or didn’t much care.

“It’s fine!” I said with a chuckle, taking a quick moment to catch my breath. This next part wouldn’t be easy. “I’m going back in for Melony.”

I raced back inside and found Melony waiting at the top of the stairs.

“So you didn’t die, I see,” she said rather drolly.

“Nope, now let’s get you out of here.” I moved behind her and wrapped my hands around her waist.

“Eww, what are you doing?” she shouted, slapping at my hands and arms.

“Rescuing you. I need to transfer my non-magic through touch, then you’ll be able to walk through the barrier,” I explained breathlessly.

“No, thanks. I’d rather remain a prisoner.”

“Would you just shut up and come with me already?” I yelled right into her ear.

She sighed and shuddered but didn’t fight me when I wrapped my arms around her a second time.

And thus we began our awkward descent, stumbling more than once as we worked to move our feet in tandem.

“I hate you,” Melony reminded me.

“No, you don’t,” I said, and she didn’t bother arguing.

30

When Melony and I burst out of the house, Fluffikins still sat in the middle of the street grooming himself.

“We should probably get out of here before Percy gets loose or one of the other bad guys comes back to base,” I suggested irritably.

“Percy gets out?” Parker asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah, I trapped him in a cardboard box. He beat me up pretty good first, though.” I winced as I lifted the side of my shirt to show off the angry red scratches. They stung even worse when exposed to the cool outside air.

“Mr. Fluffikins, get Greta,” Parker ordered, his voice sounding stronger than it had since his arrival.

“I’m not done cleansing myself,” the boss cat growled.

But Parker didn’t capitulate. Not this time. “I don’t care. Tawny is hurt and needs Greta.”

“Um, could you bring Connie, too?” I asked, drawing the cat’s ire.

Fluffikins growled mightily but then sighed and flashed away in a cloud of glittery pink.

“Whoa,” Angie said, blinking hard as she stared at the spot where Mr. Fluffikins had just been.

And she was still blinking and staring slack-jawed when Fluffikins returned with both the angel and vampire in tow.

“Who’s this?” Fluffikins asked, apparently noticing Angie for the first time. “You know what, it doesn’t matter.”

He spun in a circle and pointed a paw her way.“Memory wipe. Boom!”

Angie teetered woozily as if she’d had one too many drinks. I guess that was the non-magical way to wipe someone’s memory, now that I thought about it.

“Connie, give me some money,” I ordered, taking a chance that she’d have some on her given that it was how she fed.

“I don’t want to,” the vampire said flatly.

The angel’s eyes blazed with fire at Connie’s easy dismissal. “But you will,” Greta compelled her.

Luckily, Angie still appeared too dazed to notice much of anything. She’d have to sleep it off, like I had.

“Fine,” Connie grumbled, then pulled a wad of bills from her purse and handed them to me.

I didn’t even bother counting them before handing the whole stack over to Angie. “Thank you so much for your help finding my lost cat. Here are your fees as promised.”

She took the money and gasped.“But there’s over a thousand dollars here.”

“You did a great job,” I assured her, patting her gently on the back. “Now that we have Mr. Fluffikins back, we can all go home.”

“Oh, okay. Happy I could be of service.” She shook my hand, glanced at the others, then headed back to her car.

We all stood waving until she finally pulled out of view.

“Please do something to make sure she gets home safe,” I mumbled through clenched teeth as I continued to smile and wave.

“Already done,” Greta said with a wink. Of course it would be the angel to act as our human accomplice’s protector, even though she’d only just arrived on the scene.

“Tawny’s hurt,” Parker blurted out.

Greta frowned as I pulled up my shirt for her to examine my fresh wounds.“Oh, heavens,” she muttered, then placed a warm hand over the scratches.

I grew warmer and warmer as she pressed her palm into me. The glowing light from her angel armor crept from her heart, down her arm, and into my side. She held it there for a moment, then pulled the light back and removed her hand.

The scratches were gone, replaced by smooth, clean skin.

“What do we do about Scavo?” I asked. “We can’t just let him get away.”

“Who’s Scavo?” Melony wanted to know.

I balked at this.“Wasn’t he the guy who held you captive?”

She shrugged.“Dunno. I never got his name.”

“Well, I guess if it is Scavo, Val and Blackjack will take care of him sooner than later,” I told everyone.

“And if it wasn’t?” Melony countered.

“Then we’ll be back,” Mr. Fluffikins declared, pacing the curb. “This isn’t over yet.”

Melony nodded.“My grandpa is still out there somewhere. He’s not going to give up this easily.”

I shivered as a gust of cold wind swept by.

“Let’s go home,” Parker said, extending his hand toward me.

I grabbed it in mine, then Greta took my other hand, and Connie took hers.

“Back to HQ,” Fluffikins commanded, and the sparkly pink fog descended.

I closed my eyes and luxuriated in the magic wafting over me. When I opened them again, we’d returned to the boardroom.

Fluffikins stood at the head of the table in his usual place of power.“And that solves the case of the missing field agents. Tawny, you are dismissed.”

“Wait, but I…”

“Dismissed!” he repeated, louder this time.

Wow, not even a quick thanks.

I shook my head and stumbled out of the office, feeling more disrespected than ever before.

“Tawny, wait!” Parker called after me.

I turned and waited for him to catch up to me. When he did, he wrapped strong arms around my waist. Now that we’d returned to Beech Grove, he was back to his usual self.

“Mr. Fluffikins is bad with thank-yous, but I’m not,” he said before covering my mouth with his. And that’s when I realized that this moment with him was also a special kind of magic. A warm buzzing sensation shot through me and all at once I became dizzy.

I giggled against his lips.“If that was from Fluffikins, then you can take it back.”

“Okay, I will,” he said, then kissed me again. And again.

“Pheromones!” Fluffikins cried from somewhere in the distance, but neither of us paid any attention as we basked in our hard-won moment.

I still didn’t know what to think of all that had happened over the course of the last several days, but I liked the person I was becoming.

Maybe being a temp really wasn’t the worst job in the whole entire world…

And maybe I wanted—needed—more.

3. VAMPIRE FOR HIRE

1

My name’s Tawny Bigford. I used to think the most interesting thing about me was that I write romance novels part-time to make my meager living… But then I met a little black cat who changed everything.

His name? Mr. Fluffikins.

His role? Diplomat in charge of the local PTA. That’s Paranormal Temp Agency, by the way—not the other organization that goes by the same unfortunate acronym. Just trust me when I say I have a fairly sordid history with those other guys.

Cough, cough. Cheating ex-husband.

Anyway…

Even though Fluffikins and I just met and I never asked for a job, he hired me as a temp and forced me to work two cases over the past week. The first was the murder of my former landlady. The second was a string of abductions that led us all the way to an island off chilly and scenic Maine.

I almost died at least once—and probably more—which might make it seem weird that I’m ready and eager to take on another assignment.

Let me back up a second here so you better understand the choices I’ve made.

The first thing you need to know is that magic is real. Seriously!

We’re all born with it, but most lose it along the way. I had a brief taste of that special brand of power on my first case, and I’ve been craving more ever since.

But even though I know about magic, I’m not part of the community. I’m an outsider, what the others derisively call a “normie.” Real magical folk are referred to simply as magicks. And the aforementioned PTA is a special governing body that protects their interests in our fair Peach Plains region of Georgia. They are but one of many such boards set up all across the globe.

There are seven permanent members of the board. Anyone else they need to work joins briefly as a temp.

Like me.

Usually temps get their minds wiped once they’ve served their purpose, but for better or worse, I remember everything.

The big boss is the bureaucratic black cat, Fluffikins. He is joined by the Town Witch, a role currently filled by my smoking hot neighbor Parker Barnes. I think we may be dating now, but we haven’t kissed again since that first time almost a week ago, so who really knows…

Anyway, after Parker and Fluffikins, we have the five board liaisons. Greta is an honest-to-goodness angel who oversees the Schools. Connie is the cranky vampire in charge of Commerce. Then there’s Buckley in Agriculture and some old dude in a suit for the Cemeteries. I know almost nothing about either of them.

We’re supposed to have a liaison for the police force, too, but that position was recently vacated due to an unfortunate string of events that would take way too long to explain here…

So instead we have an intern who is applying to be the provisional liaison, if only she can prove herself worthy of the job. I don’t have high hopes, considering she tried to kill me—and almost succeeded.

Yeah, I’m really not a fan, and that feeling is definitely mutual.

If you had asked me a week ago, I’d have told you I hate the PTA and want nothing to do with them. But our last big case made me spin a one-eighty.

There’s something the others are hiding from me, something important, something about me. And I won’t rest until I get some answers.

Last time, they dragged me to the local Paranormal HQ against my will. This time I’m going to show up at their door and demand their attention.

Our first two adventures also taught me something far more mundane. Namely, that it’s hard to survive in this world without a car. So much for shrinking my carbon footprint, because I used my last royalty check to purchase a ten-year-old sedan to help get me from point A to point B.

The last two times I visited PTA HQ, Mr. Fluffikins had flown me there with his magic, but I liked being in charge of my own transportation this time.

And I arrived almost as soon as I’d pulled out of my driveway, given the old office complex that houses the PTA sat just a couple miles past downtown Beech Grove.

The windows hung dark, but I knew that was just a ruse to keep outsiders away. And magic or not, I was part of this now. At least that’s what I kept telling myself as I gathered my carefully prepared package into my arms and marched up to the front door.

It was locked, so I knocked.

When no one answered, I grabbed a rock and smashed it through the glass door. Tiny shards flew everywhere, but I didn’t care. I needed a way in, and it’s not like they couldn’t fix my little oopsie with a bit of well-placed magic.

What I had to say was just too important to wait. Hopefully I could find someone who was willing to not only listen, but also to speak.

I’d been their pawn up until this point, but now I was ready to be a stronger player in the game…

Just call me“Bishop Tawny.”

2

No one came running to investigate my violent breakin. Even though I waited by the door for a few long, uncomfortable moments, no one came at all.

Huh. Didn’t expect that.

I shook my head, took a deep breath, and continued deeper into the dark building. First I checked the glass-enclosed conference room where the various members of the board got together to discuss important matters. No one was there, so I left the basket I’d prepared for my visit at the edge of the table and continued on to explore the rest of the building.

When I walked by Connie’s office door, I couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran down my spine. Even if she was there, I didn’t want to disturb the vampire head of Commerce. Sure, she’d claimed she had no plans to eat me, but I felt better off not taking any chances.

I hurried down the long hall until at last I came to the vacant warehouse-like space where Mr. Fluffikins had taken me to kick off my last two assignments. This was the same place he’d flung deadly magic at me to test my instincts when I was temporarily appointed Town Witch. It was also where he’d entrusted me with the special silver brooch that had given me magic for my first assignment and served as surveillance equipment for my second.

“Hello?” I called hesitantly before inching my way into the room.

Only a weak echo of my own voice answered, so I dared to go deeper still.

Each time we’d entered this place before, Fluffikins had brought me to the center of the room and then jumped into the ceiling to retrieve that brooch. Might there be other magical goodies up there?

I decided to find out.

Now before you get all angry with me for snooping around uninvited, I’d like to remind you that this was the same agency that had already played fast and loose with my safety twice before. For whatever reason, they’d brought me on to help with their supernatural kerfuffle, and now I wanted to find out why.

Sure, the first time they brought me in, it was because I’d stumbled right into the middle of a crime scene. It made sense they’d keep me close by until things got sorted out.

But the second time they forced a job upon me? There was no obvious reason they needed me specifically. Not at first. But then Mr. Fluffikins accidentally dropped a few stray hints that there might be something special about me, something he and the others had yet to share.

For one thing, the boss cat couldn’t undo the one spell I’d accidentally cast during my stint as Town Witch. He’d tried to turn my bubblegum pink hair back to its natural color but couldn’t. Then after we transported to middle-of-nowhere Maine, he’d been about to tell me something before the investigation came crashing into us headfirst.

I’d taken that all in stride and focused on the assignment, believing someone would surely explain everything once we saved the day and brought everyone home safely.

No such luck, however.

Not even a full three days passed between my first assignment and the second.

But now almost a week had passed since job number two, and nobody had bothered to get in touch. Not even Parker who lived mere feet away from me and used to drop by to visit unannounced.

So what was everyone hiding? And perhaps even more importantly, why were they hiding it?

I scanned the warehouse for an object that would be strong enough to support me but light enough for me to move on my own.Nothing.

Not one to be deterred, I headed back to the boardroom and grabbed a chair. This solution wouldn’t allow me to look into the ceiling space with my own eyes, but if I stretched my arms high above and swept the area with my phone’s camera and flashlight, I’d still be able to catch a glimpse.

Satisfied with this plan, I placed the wheeled executive chair beneath the missing ceiling panel in the center of the warehouse and climbed onto it slowly so as not to set it rolling. I probably would have been able to peek into the space myself if I stood on my tiptoes, but I did not trust my coordination enough to attempt that particular feat—especially with no one around to help if I fell and gave myself a concussion.

So I reached one arm up, phone in hand and already recording, and held the other out to my side to help with balance.

As carefully as I could, I slowly rotated my wrist to make sure I scanned as much of the area as possible without having to turn the chair and myself around to face the other way, and then brought it back down to study the footage.

About ten seconds in, the glint of silver caught my eye.My brooch!

Before I could finish watching the full video, something heavy dropped from above, knocking me off the chair and onto the cold hard cement.

Ouch…

3

“Intruder!” Fluffikins hissed, staring down at me from the chair with judgment burning bright in his golden eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I moaned as I tried to shift into a sitting position. Everything hurt so bad that I just stayed on the ground with my arms and legs akimbo. “No one had followed up about my next assignment this past week. And then no one was answering the door, so I—”

The cat shifted in the chair with a low growl.“So you thought you’d burgle us?”

“N-n-no,” I sputtered. “I was just trying to find some answers, I swear!”

Mr. Fluffikins turned his nose up and let out an indignant huff.“You were just a temp, Tawny.Were. Now it’s time to let this go.”

“I know I’m different.” I wanted to sound serious, knowledgeable, and even a little intimidating. Instead, my words came out in a pained wheeze.

“I know I’m different,” I repeated, sounding a little stronger on the second take. “And I know you know it, too.”

The black cat flinched but gave no other indication that my words had made an impact.“I don’t care what you think you know. You were not invited, and you shouldn’t be here.”

“Oh, I get it,” I said, finally managing to roll onto my side with a grunt. “You only want me around when it benefits you.”

Fluffikins chuckled dryly.“You really don’t know much about how business works. Do you? Or cats for that matter.”

“Whatever,” I bit back. “You put my life on the line twice and didn’t even pay me for it. The least you can do is tell me the truth about who I am.”

The cat’s tail flicked back and forth in irritation. “If you think you can goad me into saying something I don’t want to say, then you’re wrong.”

Clearly, I couldn’t appeal to the bureau-cat’s compassion, so I’d have to bring out the final trick I had at my disposal. “I brought steak,” I revealed with a scheming smile.

Fluffikins sniffed at the air.“What’s that you say? Steak?”

“Yup, and it’s no rump roast, either. I brought the good stuff.” I paused to heighten the anticipation. “How do you feel about filet mignon?”

The black cat spun in an excited circle before hopping down to the ground and coming to my side.“Where is this steak, and why is it not in my belly yet?”

Leave it to a well-placed bribe to do what kindness would not. Inwardly, I breathed a giant sigh of relief. Outwardly, though, I kept my game face on.

“I’ll get it for you,” I offered, “if you agree to tell me what I want to know.”

“Or I could beat you up and take it for myself.” Fluffikins sneered at me as he weighed his options. “Come to think of it, you’re already down and out. I just need to find that sweet, sweet steak myself.” He sniffed at the air again, whiskers twitching as he trotted toward the edge of theroom.

“Wait,” I called before he could fully leave me behind. “It won’t taste as good if it’s ill-gotten gains.”

The cat’s mouth dropped open. “Is this true?”

I raised an eyebrow.“Do you really want to risk it?”

Mr. Fluffikins let out a massive sigh, then waved his paw at me. Instantly the pain from my fall disappeared just as fully as if it had never been there in the first place.

I pressed my palms into the floor, then pushed myself to my feet and waved for the boss cat to follow me back to the conference room where I’d left my carefully prepared parcel. Inside were seven Tupperware containers filled with freshly seared filet mignon. Yes, I’d gone all out, just in case I came across the full board in session and needed to bribe them all. Of course, I had no idea what Connie ate, given that she was a vampire. I also hadn’t worried myself over bribing Melony since she was little better than a temp herself.

Having only Fluffikins to appease made this a very expensive bribe per capita, but I hadn’t wanted to take any chances with what could very well be life-or-death information. Otherwise, why would he be working so hard to keep it a secret?

“First answers, then steak,” I told the cat who was practically drooling as he sat across from me on top of the conference table.

“Steak, then answers,” he countered, his voice slurring even more than usual as he focused on the prize with wide eyes.

Well, I guess beggars couldn’t be choosers. And in this case, I was definitely the beggar. I sighed. “Do you promise?”

“Yes, yes, and my promise is magically bound. Now make with the good stuff.”

I nodded, opened the first container of steak, and slid it over to him. Luckily I’d already pre-chopped the piece, otherwise it would have taken much longer to sit there and watch him devour this medium rare cut into my last paycheck.

When Mr. Fluffikins finished, he licked his chops and lowered his eyelids with contentment.

“Well?” I said, when he made no move to keep up his end of the bargain. “Now it’s your turn to make good on our deal. Tell me how I’m different.”

“Ah yes. That,” the cat said with a wink. “I promised to give you answers after steak, but I didn’t say how soon I’d provide them. You’ll just have to wait.” He hopped off the table and trotted off down the hall, openly laughing at me the whole way.

4

I charged down the hall in pursuit of that no-good trickster cat. Once I caught him, I’d hold him down and force him to sign a contract. If I had to, I’d use the rest of the steak I’d prepared as leverage. I hoped it would work, because this was the only move I had left.

Now that I knew there was something special about me, how could I go the rest of my life without finding out what it was?

I caught up to Fluffikins in the building’s abandoned front lobby. He stopped running and paused before the broken glass door. I had assumed he planned to yell at me about the destruction of PTA property, but he simply waved his paw and wedged the glass back together as if it had never been broken.

A moment later, the door opened and in walked Connie—the single board member I feared most. Today she wore a red crushed velvet shirt with an expensive-looking pencil skirt and designer heels. Her lips appeared impossibly pale when compared to her dark smoky eye.

“What is she doing?” the plump vampire asked with a stony expression. “I thought we’d decided to move on from this one.”

Fluffikins let out a low angry rumble, almost as if he took offense to the way his colleague spoke of me.Almost.“Connie, you forget your oath. There is no discussing board business with outsiders.”

“I have not forgotten mine,” she answered with a sneer. “I am simply reminding you of yours. We’ve already broken protocol by including her in two separate jobs. So, why is she here yet again? Why hasn’t her memory of us been erased?”

The two supernatural entities stared each other down, but neither budged in their position.

Maybe if I restated my case, Connie might be more willing to help than her boss had been.“I know I’m different. Not just a normie, I mean. And I want to know why. The cat and I made a deal, but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to hold up his end of it.”

Connie’s eyes narrowed, and she shot a dirty look toward Mr. Fluffikins. “You made a deal with her?”

He shrugged his little kitty shoulders.“It had open-ended terms.”

“Still, you made a deal with a normie. You know that’s binding.”

“She’s not—” He stopped himself by hissing and unleashing a string of kitty curses.

“I want to know what you know,” I said, standing firm in my resolve. I even thrust one hand on my hip in case that made me look tougher or more serious. Somehow.

“If you don’t wipe her mind right now, I’ll do it,” Connie said with her jaw clenched. She looked so close to snapping, and I didn’t want to be around when that happened. Still…

“But he promised me!” I cried, taking a giant step back as if it would do any good.

“You’re lucky I have no desire to head the board, or you’d be out of a job,” the vampire growled, curling her upper lip to show off those unsettling fangs of hers.

“Tell me and tell me right now,” I demanded with a stomp of my foot.

“Let’s make a provision to our agreement,” Fluffikins shouted, his paw apparently having finally been forced—or so I assumed. “Steak for answers. Like you said.”

“Now?” I had a hard time trusting him, given that last ruse of his.

The cat shook his head.“After one more job. With Connie.” He turned toward the vampire head of Commerce. “I received your request for a temp to investigate the new coven downtown. Tawny will assist you in whatever way you need.”

“Unacceptable.” Connie’s gaze turned even icier as she regarded us both.

“Actually,” Mr. Fluffikins corrected. “It’s perfectly acceptable, seeing as I’m in charge here. You need a temp, and this one’s ready to take the job. Aren’t you, Tawny?”

“If I do this, you’ll tell me everything?” I asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow and crossing my arms over my chest like a shield.

He nodded, watching Connie instead of me.“After you’ve completed the job to the board’s satisfaction, I will tell you what you want to know.”

There was no way I was getting tricked by another of his loopholes.“Define, to the board’s satisfaction.”

The cat narrowed his eyes at me.“Until the coven either submits to Connie’s leadership or leaves town,” he answered with a small shake of his head.

“Deal,” I said with a slight nod to show my agreement.

Connie cried and threw her hands up in the air.“This is not what I wanted when I filed that request, and you know that. I understand your desire to punish the normie, but why me? I’ve been nothing but—”

Fluffikins pushed off the ground with his back feet, then floated up to meet Connie’s line of sight. He hovered in mid-air in a pink glittery swirl and said, “I don’t care what you want. I make the decisions here, and this is what you got. As you know, I can’t go back on a deal with a normie once made. You’ll accept Tawny’s help, or you’ll forfeit your seat at the table. Do I make myself clear?”

Even though the boss cat wasn’t speaking to me, I bobbed my head vigorously. Connie terrified me, but I could survive anything temporarily—and that’s all this job would be. My last two assignments had been over in a couple days each. And I had to believe that this one would be no different. Otherwise I might run away screaming long before I got any of the answers I craved.

Be brave, Tawny. Be brave.

5

“Not so fast, Fluffikins,” Connie hissed. “I know you think your word is law, but I refuse to work with someone I don’t like simply because you used your stomach to make a decision instead of your brain.”

“I have already made our promise. It is done,” he said before floating back to the floor and landing with a soft thud.

“I have made no such promises to this mortal, so I will be the one to wipe her mind and free us all from the burden of her company.” Connie grabbed my head and pulled it toward her. The rest of me followed.

“Please don’t,” I wheezed. I couldn’t even struggle to get away. Connie’s super-human strength controlled my muscles even better than I could.

“Look at me,” she snarled.

And as much as I didn’t want to, I couldn’t resist the invitation. My eyes lifted from the floor and found Connie’s waiting. They glowed a bright and hot pink, which normally made quite a lovely color, but as it lit the vampire’s gaze, I froze in fear.

Literally.

I could not move. Could not blink. Could barely even think.

All I could do was watch as she raised a finger to each of my temples, pressed her manicured nails hard into my skin, and mumbled words in a language I couldn’t understand.

And then just as quickly as she’d grabbed me, she let go and I fell to the floor. Thank goodness, Fluffikins had already cleaned up the broken glass or I’d be done for.

“Please,” I mumbled, weak, tired, angry. “I only want to know the truth about who I am.”

Connie gasped and looked as if she herself were about to faint.“She remembers? How is that possible?”

Fluffikins jumped up onto an empty desk.“I cleared her mind once before. Barnes restored it after.”

“But my magic is stronger than his!” Connie shouted and stamped her foot. “What is happening? Why isn’t it working on her?”

“That’s what I want to know,” I added as I slowly rose to my feet. “This is the third time something like this has happened, and I just want to know why.”

It was Fluffikins who spoke up next.“Our contract has been made. First tend to the new coven, then I will tell you both what I have discovered about our dear Tawny.”

Connie folded her arms over her chest and turned her face away from both of us.“I will place a call for your removal,” she promised the little black cat.

“And it will fail. Just as it has failed before,” he responded without an ounce of emotion.

Connie huffed and pulled at her hair in distress, which seemed to please the boss cat.“I’ll be in my office while she undergoes orientation,” she said before storming off down the hall.

“Well, Tawny…” Fluffikins looked up at me with glowing golden eyes. “Are you ready to become a vampire?”

My breath caught in my throat.“Um, what? That wasn’t part of the deal.”

Fluffikins merely chuckled.“Actually it was. For your job with Connie, you will be provided with vampire magic.”

“Fangs and all?” I recoiled at the thought. Even if Connie didn’t suck blood, she was still cold, cruel, and downright villainous. I could probably survive working with her, but to become like her?

“Yes, you’ll receive all the makings of the vampire. The power, the prestige…” He flicked his tail for several beats even though he clearly hadn’t finished speaking yet. “The curse.”

“The curse!” I exploded. “Nobody said anything about a curse.”

“Come now. We should get you started. You’ll have exactly forty-eight hours to complete your job, and there’s no time to waste.”

“What if I don’t complete it in time?” I asked, chasing after him as he headed toward the warehouse.

Fluffikins turned to glance over his shoulder, his eyes twinkling with delight.“Then the change will be permanent.”

That’s when it hit me.

If I turned into a vampire for good, then he wouldn’t have to tell me why I was different. Because the answer would be obvious:You’re a vampire, Tawny.

This was his last-ditch effort to keep his secret. He knew Connie wouldn’t make my job easy. Heck, he was counting on it.

But I was counting on getting my answers. I’d survived two PTA assignments to date, and I’d survive this one as well.

My mortality depended on it.

I could’ve killed the sneaky bureau-cat. Instead I followed him back to the training room—ready to put everything on the line just so I could learn something about myself that I should have already known long ago.

If he wanted a vampire, then a vampire I would become.

I’d be the best vampire he ever saw, but only for forty-eight hours, tops. Then I’d be me again, and I’d finally know what all that entailed.

Game on, Mr. Fluffikins.

6

The warehouse was exactly as Fluffikins and I had left it only a short while ago. I pulled the chair I’d dragged in a couple feet away from the opening in the ceiling and took a seat. My body ached from my latest fall, thanks to Connie, but I doubted Fluffikins would have the good grace to heal me twice.

In fact, right now he was eyeing me with what appeared to be disappointment.“You look exhausted.”

“I am exhausted,” I snapped back. “And that’s not a very nice thing to say to a woman… or to anyone for that matter.”

A smile stretched between his whiskers. I wished he’d just get on with it already.

“You should be happy,” he said dryly. “After all, you’re getting exactly what you want. You came to steal the artifact, and now here I am about to offer it to you for your next assignment.”

I slumped back farther in the chair and crossed my arms over my chest.“We both know this isn’t what I wanted.”

The cat’s smile widened. I thought he might be planning to say something particularly mean-spirited, but he simply jumped into his ceiling hold, leaving me beneath him.

I expected him to return quickly as he had both of the other times he’d gone up there for me, but instead I found myself sitting alone for what felt like ages.

At one point, Connie even peeked her head in to check on our progress. She left, muttering something under her breath about“that no-good feline menace.”

When Fluffikins finally returned, he held the magical brooch in his mouth, then turned and guided a second, larger object down from above with a sparkly swirl of pink magic.

“What’s that?” I nodded toward the unexpected additional piece of equipment.

He gently lowered the brooch to the ground, then looked back up at me.“It’s your vampire armor,” he answered matter-of-factly.

I cocked my head to the side.“Vampire armor? Like Greta’s angel armor?”

“Not exactly. This will keep you from getting staked in the heart.” Fluffikins sat and curled his tail in front of his feet.

My chest clenched at the fact that such a thing was even a possibility.“But I’ve never seen Connie wear anything like this,” I pointed out, eyeing the ornate chest plate and the leather straps that presumably held it in place.

The cat scoffed.“Connie doesn’t need to wear hers unless she’s knowingly heading into a dangerous situation. She’s a much more experienced vampire than you.”

A shiver ran through me.“I’m not a vampire.”

“Not yet, but you will be in about two minutes here.”

“Okay, so do I need to wear this thing the entire time I’m on this assignment?” I took a deep breath in an attempt to ready myself. The thought of wielding vampire magic was far more terrifying than anything I’d experienced at the hands of the Paranormal Temp Agency so far. I mean, witches could be both good and bad, but weren’t vampires always bad, horrible monsters? If Connie was any indication for how the rest of her species operated, then yes.

Fluffikins seemed to enjoy my discomfort and even took efforts to make it more pronounced.“I added the straps for you,” he said with a small flick of his tail, “since you have a penchant for exposing the flesh on your chest, and we needed some way to secure it.”

“You make it sound like I’m running around with my boobs hanging out. I only show a little bit of cleavage, and only sometimes. It’s tasteful. Not wanton.” Still, I pulled my top up higher and wondered if I should invest in some new turtlenecks for my wardrobe.

He looked me up and down and sighed.“Yes, well… The straps remain essential, nonetheless. We can’t risk you dying mid-job.”

“Aww, Fluffikins. I had no idea you cared.” My voice came out syrupy and sweet. I hated that.

“Losing a temp mid-assignment creates too much paperwork,” he deadpanned.

I groaned and rolled my eyes at the snarky cat.

He motioned with his paw to catch my attention.“Go ahead and put it on. I can use my magic to adjust the fit if it’s not right.”

I stood and hesitantly grabbed the floating vampire armor. It had a thick leather collar that buckled at the back of my neck along with straps that went under my arms and around my back to keep the chest plate from slipping. The metal piece was covered with intricately carved scroll work—an absolute stunner. Still, that didn’t stop me from feeling as if I were wearing an oversized pet collar and that the boss cat may be trying to get one over on me rather than actually protecting me from getting staked in the heart.

The fit, however, was perfect.

I banged on my chest plate to show that it remained perfectly in place.

Fluffikins nodded.“Excellent. Now this.” He nudged the brooch toward me with his paw. I wasn’t sure where exactly I could put it, since the magical artifact was meant to stay close to my heart, and my heart was already covered with the breast plate. I ended up clipping it on my bra and hoping the metal wouldn’t dig into the sensitive flesh below.

As soon as this artifact was in place, a glow lit me up from inside. At least that’s how it felt. I don’t think I was actually glowing.

What I do know is I felt very different.

We humans have become accustomed to a certain level of pain in our day-to-day lives, especially those of us nearing forty like myself. We have so many little aches and discomforts that become part of our norm—a rickety joint, an itchy patch of skin, that kind of thing.

The vampire magic took all of it away.

I no longer felt the pain from my earlier fall. I no longer felt anything. Not physically spent or in need of a second cup of coffee. Nothing.

I even held my breath for a moment and found that my lungs didn’t yearn for oxygen.

Wow. It was as if I’d lost the sensation of living altogether.

“Well, how do you feel?” the cat asked, circling me now.

I didn’t know how I felt about this change. On the one hand it was freeing, but on the other, it felt so at odds with my normal state that I no longer felt human. In that way, I guess I wasn’t. I was a vampire. Did that mean I was technically the undead now? Yeah, it probably did. At least for a little while.

I ran my hands over my body and shook my head.“I feel… nothing.”

“Oh, just you wait,” Mr. Fluffikins added with a smirk.

“Huh?”

“Come with me. Now it’s time for the real test of your magic.”

I gulped hard, but it did nothing to quell my growing anxiety as I followed the boss-cat to whatever he had planned next.

Let’s just hope it wasn’t to my doom.

7

I easily matched pace with Fluffikins as he ran full tilt through the office building’s long halls. This was so weird. At least when I’d had the town witch magic, I’d still felt like me.

Now, as a temporary vampire, I felt both elated and terrified. I could operate with extreme ease. Feeling no pain was a definite game changer.

But it made me wonder just how Fluffikins and Connie intended for me to put these new powers to use. Whatever the particulars of this assignment, I assumed they must be quite dangerous.

Instead of returning us to the conference room, Fluffikins took me to a small office in the back corner of the complex.“Wait here,” he instructed, leaving me on my own.

I tiptoed inside and found what looked like an old-fashioned drawing room. The absence of windows and the presence of a busy floral-patterned wallpaper made the room feel much smaller than it otherwise should have. Hand-knitted doilies covered every surface, and a honey-wood curio cabinet proudly displayed a mismatched collection of dainty tea cups and saucers.

Unclear of how long my wait might be, I settled into a tall wingback chair, trying not to upset the doilies that rested over its thick arms.

The door swung open a moment later.

“Tawny? Hi.” Parker offered a shy smile from the doorway. “What are you doing in my office?”

“Your office?” I crossed my legs, settling deeper into the chair. Still I felt no comfort from the plush, overstuffed seat. I felt nothing at all. “I had no idea this was your style.”

Parker chuckled.“I haven’t had a chance to redecorate since taking over the Town Witch post for Lilah. And part of me doesn’t want to do it at all. It’s nice, remembering her.”

“You’ve been avoiding me,” I told him. I’d tried so hard to get his attention this past week, but he’d definitely been avoiding me since our impromptu kiss at the end of my last assignment. I should have been overjoyed to see him now, to get the chance to talk. More than anything, though,I was curious about his sudden change of heart.

He sighed and leaned back against the closed door.“Since our kiss, I know. I’m sorry.”

“Why?” I wanted to know. My foot twitched with impatience as if counting down the seconds to his answer.

Parker closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the ceiling.“I really like you, Tawny, but it’s a lot to ask of someone, to accept all this PTA stuff. Plus, as you’ve seen firsthand, it’s dangerous.”

“I already know all that,” I said, unwilling to let him off the hook.

“You know a little, but there’s so much more, things that you shouldn’t ever have to worry about. It’s all my fault for dragging you in even this deep. I was selfish to bring back your memories. To kiss you.” He winced as if the words caused him physical pain.

“Shouldn’t I have a say in this, too?” I wondered aloud. I also wondered why he was being so dramatic. We’d kissed. Sure, it had felt momentous and earth-shattering at the time, but now? I didn’t know how I felt. Mostly tired of having him run away from me, curious about why he had.

“We can’t have a future,” Parker revealed, concern reflecting in his gray eyes. “Magicks and normies, we don’t mix for a reason.”

There was only one logical conclusion here. We had to put this to the test.“Kiss me again,” I said. “If you feel nothing for me, I’ll let it go. But if there really is something special between us, shouldn’t we at least see it through?”

Parker nodded and licked his lips as I rose from my chair and sauntered over to him. I placed a hand on his arm and brought my face to his—something I’d been longing to do all week.

And now that our big moment had arrived, I felt…

Nothing.

In fact, I’d felt nothing more than an amused curiosity from the moment he stepped into the office. Yes, we’d talked back and forth, and I’d made my argument for why we should be together. But that’s all it was, a logical discussion. No pounding heart or shortness of breath as we drew close. No shivers of excitement from his kiss.

I’d crushed on him hard ever since we first met, but now he seemed little more than a stranger to me—one of billions on this planet. He could have been anyone.

Yes, I knew him, and I knew our history together. But that wasn’t enough.

Parker pulled back and smiled at me, but when he caught the expression on my face, his brow furrowed with worry.“Tawny? What’s wrong?”

I glanced down toward my new breast plate and shook my head.

“What’s that? What are you wearing?” He raised a hand and brought it to rest on my armor.

“Mr. Fluffikins just gave me a new job,” I whispered. “With Connie.”

Parker’s eyes lit with rage. He pushed me to the side and bolted out of the office without so much as a word of explanation.

I didn’t try to stop him, but I did follow—curious more than invested in the outcome.

“You gave her vampire magic?” he shouted after storming into the conference room and finding the sleek black cat sitting across from Connie at the long table.

“Yes. Connie had a job,” he answered with a shrug.

“But you know how dangerous it is! How sometimes the change isn’t temporary!”

“And what’s your point? We needed a temp, and she wanted another assignment. Remember, it’s you who returned her memory after the first one. We could have all moved on with our lives by now if you hadn’t interfered.”

Connie smirked as she studied her freshly painted nails. I could still smell the sick chemical tang in the air.

“Are you ready to give us the rundown on the job?” I asked, stepping deeper into the room and moving toward Connie and Fluffikins to take my seat with them.

“Tawny…” Parker’s voice cracked. I could see his anguish but felt none of it myself.

“Parker,” I addressed him coolly, ready to move this along. “I have a job to do now, but we can talk more later. Okay?”

8

Despite my request for him to leave and let us get down to business, Parker remained rooted to the spot. I had forty-eight hours, tops, to do this job, and here he was stubbornly delaying the start. If I failed this task, I’d remain a vampire forever—and he’d be at least partially to blame. How could he not see that?

“Have you told her about the curse?” he asked Mr. Fluffikins in a booming voice. I’d never seen him so riled up.

“I have temporary vampire magic,” I informed Parker, pulling out a chair beside Connie and taking a seat. “That means everything that comes with it. And, yes, I know there’s a curse.”

“But do you know what it is?” he pushed even harder. Why couldn’t he just come out and say what he meant rather than asking all these senseless questions?

When I curled my lip instead of responding, Parker burst forth with his answer.“Vampires can’t feel, Tawny.”

Well, I already knew that. It was the first thing I’d realized when the new magic settled over me. And that stark absence became even more noticeable the longer I held onto the magic.

Parker appeared to be trembling now. His voice also quaked.“They can’t love or keep any lasting relationships. Friends, family, romance. None of it. If you stay this way, you’ll have immortality, but at what cost? You’ll be a lonely monster forced to live by yourself in the shadows forever.”

“Stop being so melodramatic,” Connie spat. “I have the curse, and I get along just fine. Besides, she’s not staying a vampire. I intend to finish this job and be rid of her as fast as I possibly can.”

“So that’s why you hate everyone,” I quipped with a quick glance toward Connie.

She straightened in her seat and held her chin in the air.“No, the curse is why I don’t like anyone. Hating them is a choice.”

Fluffikins spoke next.“Barnes, your work here is done. Thank you for helping me make sure Tawny’s full magic is in effect before sending her out into the field.”

“I want to help. Surely, whatever this assignment is, it will be done more satisfactorily with three people rather than just two.”

“No, this is a vampire-only job. At least for now. See yourself out, witch,” Connie commanded.

Parker looked as if he desperately wanted to say something to me, but instead he stalked off, slamming the door behind him.

“I thought he’d never leave,” I said, which drew a laugh from Connie. I didn’t want him to be upset, because it was such an unpleasant thing to witness. I needed everyone to keep their emotions in check so we could get down to business.

“Ha! I no longer hate you quite as much as the others,” Connie mumbled. “I still can’t wait to be rid of you, though.”

That made sense. I nodded.“Mr. Fluffikins, are we ready to begin the debriefing?”

The cat rose to all fours and began to pace up and down the table in his classic war general stride.“The long vacant storefront at the corner of Main and Grand downtown has recently been purchased by one Vanessa Vane. A vampire.”

“Just one vampire? That doesn’t seem like much of a problem to me.” I couldn’t believe that all of this fuss was about a single vampire moving to town.

“Where one settles, there will be more,” Connie said with a snarl, apparently having already made her mind up about this new resident.

Fluffikins strode back toward us, blinking slowly.“Before now, Connie was the only vampire in Beech Grove. Due to their long lives and extreme wealth, vampires are quite territorial. It’s possible that Ms. Vane purchased property in town without realizing this area has already been claimed by Connie, but it’s also possible she wishes to start a dispute. And if that’s the case, the rest of her coven will be arriving soon.”

“Okay, so what do you need us to do?” I asked, not quite understanding.

“As a lone vampire, Connie looks weak, but with your help, she’ll appear more official. It means the newcomers will be less likely to make a play for the area.”

“So what? We pay this new vampire a visit and nicely ask for her to leave?” This seemed far too simple, but both of my companions nodded emphatically in response.

“Exactly,” they said.

I tapped my fingers on the table, growing impatient with them both.“And if that doesn’t work?”

“Then you’ll really get to see what those new powers of yours can do,” Connie remarked with a sinister smile.

My curiosity sparked to life once more. I’d heard the expression about curiosity killing the cat many times before, but it seemed the saying was much more apt when it came to vampires. Rather than blood, I thirsted for knowledge, understanding. And presumably wealth, though I hadn’t yet felt the avarice come to life within me.

Fluffikins purred with delight.“So are we all clear on the mission here?”

Yeah, about as clear as mud.

I bit my lip to keep from speaking. More out of self-preservation than any obligation to respect the boss cat. It looked like this job could go one of two ways. It could be the easiest one yet, or it could throw me straight into the middle of a violent vampire war…

And I honestly couldn’t say which I preferred.

9

Fluffikins dismissed us from the board room, which meant it was time for Connie and me to find and confront this new vampire named Vanessa Vane.

“You look ridiculous,” Connie informed me as we walked side-by-side down the hall. “Like you need to be attached to a leash and led around on all fours.”

I brought a hand to my breast plate and ran my fingers over the scrolling metalwork.“Too much?” I asked.

“It’s a fine accessory, I suppose, but it doesn’t fit the outfit. A quick trip to my closet should have you looking like more of a respectable vampire, though.”

I remembered Connie dressing me up as a phony psychic for my last assignment. That walk-in closet of hers went so far back, I couldn’t see the end of it. Then again, Connie always looked like she’d stepped right out of a fashion magazine with her confident and put-together ensembles. I’d recognized a few designer pieces here and there, too, giving me no doubt everything she wore was painfully expensive.

Imagining the finery she’d put me in got me all twitchy with excitement now. Oh, so I could still feel some things. Vampires loved power and wealth, and according to Connie and Fluffikins, that was also how they now fed. Parker’s kiss had meant nothing to me even though I knew it should have, but the prospect of playing dress-up had me all kinds of giddy.

What a strange new world I found myself in.

I tried to remind myself that this change was temporary. That I didn’t have to guilt myself about not caring about Parker while I was equipped with vampire magic. But honestly, I much preferred focusing on the makeover ahead. How expensive an outfit would Connie put me in? I bet it would be more valuable than my entire wardrobe back home combined. I’d be so fancy, so deserving of admiration and respect. I could hardly wait!

Connie wasted no time in selecting a crushed red velvet blouse with bell sleeves and a pair of black pin-stripe pants from her closet and handing both to me.“If you’re going to wear that ridiculous armor, we might as well make it work with your ensemble.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste at my current attire.

“It’s my vampire armor, to protect me from getting staked in the heart,” I explained. Shouldn’t she know this already?

She let out a sarcastic laugh.“Is that what Fluffikins told you?”

“Um, yeah. Are you saying he was lying? What does it—?”

“No time for questions. Get dressed, and let’s go.” She returned to the walk-in to give me some privacy and returned a few minutes later with a black leather corset in hand.

I eyed it—and her—skeptically.

“It completes the look,” she said, helping me into it.

As Connie’s hands wrapped around my waist to place the corset, I realized that we now wore the same crushed red velvet fabric. “Is there a reason we match?”

“No, not match,” she corrected with a disgusted growl. “We coordinate.”

“Fine.” Working with her would be mentally exhausting. In fact, it already was. “Is there a reason we coordinate?”

She rolled her eyes.“Coven colors. Makes this little farce appear more official. Now, no more questions. With any luck, this Vanessa Vane will be a clueless coward and go running with her tail between her legs the moment we show up.”

“Do you really think it will be that easy?” I asked as she yanked the straps on my corset as tight as they would go.

“No,” she said, startling me with the abruptness of her response. “You’ve had two assignments with us now. Was either of them easy?”

“Fair point. Um, so how are we getting downtown?” I asked as she locked her office behind us.

“Well, we’ll change into our bat forms and fly there, of course.”

“Really?” I squeaked.

“No. Now stop asking stupid questions, and let’s go.” She moved quickly down the halls, but I had no trouble keeping up. We left the PTA headquarters, but instead of heading to the parking lot, we moved toward the woods.

As soon as we passed the tree line, Connie shifted into high gear. Together we moved through the forest so fast, it was as if we were flying. My new vampire magic removed all limits from what my body could do, it seemed. Not even wind resistance was an issue as we cut through the air and across the land.

In hardly any time at all, we reached the other side of the vast forest, and Connie slowed herself to an appropriate pace.

“That was amazing!” I cried, jumping into the air and pumping my fist.

“We move without restriction only when human eyes aren’t near,” she informed me, and for the first time I realized it took incredible effort to walk at this comparative snail’s pace now that I knew how fast my magical body could move.

“What else can we do?” I asked, falling into step at her side.

“There is no we, and you’ll do well to remember that.”

“Vampires, I mean.”

“You are not a vampire. You merely have one’s magic.”

I growled in frustration.“You know what I’m getting at. Just tell me.”

Connie stopped walking and turned to face me with a stony expression.“I owe you nothing. If you have questions, find the answers for yourself. We’re almost to Vanessa Vane’s building. When we get there, I don’t want to hear a peep out of you. In fact, it would be great not to hear any more peeps out of you before then. Just shut up, look tough, and let me handle everything.”

Oh, was that all?

I was starting to think Connie would be an even worse boss than Mr. Fluffikins.

Less than forty-eight hours to go. I’d be counting down each one now…

10

I kept quiet to avoid any further arguments with Connie, counting down the minutes until this assignment would be over. Not only would I avoid staying a vampire forever, but I’d also find out the big secret Fluffikins wanted so desperately to hide from me. And I’d get another chance with Parker, which—logically—was something I knew I wanted, even though I couldn’t bring myself to care in my current state.

What strange creatures vampires were. No wonder people feared them. If they only knew…

“We’re here,” Connie said, reaching out to clasp my wrist with her freshly manicured hand. We stood outside a storefront that had been bare ever since I arrived in town and likely a long time before that. When I saw it a week ago, it had been covered with cobwebs and layers of filth. Now the interior was decked out in bright, rich reds, yellows, and purples. Fantastic beaded mini chandeliers hung over each table, and a polished metal serving station stood at the back of the space.

“Is this a restaurant?” I asked in disbelief. “I thought vam—“

Connie shot me a look of warning.

“I mean, I thought people like you didn’t have to eat.” I glanced away from Connie and spotted the sleek sign that now hung above the shopfront:BOLLYWEIRD.

Connie saw it, too, and snorted.“We don’t have to eat, but we can. Normally our heightened sense of taste makes the task more tedious than pleasurable. I suspect this get-up is for normie customers, though. Terrible name for a restaurant.”

“I guess they’re planning on serving Indian food. Not that it matters, if we’re here to send them packing.”

Connie tightened her hold on my wrist and waited for me to look her in the eyes.“Let’s go. Don’t forget your place.”

Yes, I was the backup. There for no other purpose than to add to Connie’s numbers.

I nodded, and she let go of my wrist. When I pulled the door open, she stepped in ahead of me.

A young woman stepped into the main dining area while drying her hands with a dish towel. She looked like she could hardly be more than twenty, but I knew very well that she could be centuries old, thanks to her vampire immortality.

“Can I help you?” she asked with a business-like smile. Her eyes narrowed when she caught sight of Connie, however.

Connie nodded in the direction from which the other woman had just come and quirked an eyebrow.

“Yes, we’re alone,” she said, crossing her arms and letting the dish towel dangle. “Now what do you want?”

This was obviously our good friend Vanessa Vane, and she also clearly knew who Connie was and why we’d come.

“As you can see, this town already has a coven in residence, so we’d like to ask you to leave and find another place to set up shop.” Connie spoke in a chilling monotone, taking no efforts to hide her contempt.

“One vampire does not a coven make,” Vanessa answered with an impatient cluck of her tongue.

“I’m a vampire, too!” I squeaked.

Both women shot daggers at me, and I nervously took a step back.

“What? Did you turn this one on your way over?” Vanessa asked with a cruel laugh. “Doesn’t even have fangs yet.”

“I’ve been in this town for a long time,” Connie continued without answering Vanessa’s question. “It’s not big enough for the both of us, and you know that.”

Suddenly, it felt very much like we were in an old western. I imagined the two vampires squaring off with cowboy hats and pistols. Never mind that we were currently standing in Bollyweird. This moment was all spaghetti western.

“I won’t bother you, if you don’t bother me,” Vanessa supplied with a challenging glare. “Grand opening is tonight, and I refuse to miss my own event.”

“We both know that’s not true. It’s not the way of our kind.”

Vanessa sighed.“Hmm.Then maybe it should be.”

I couldn’t say I disagreed with her. Both Fluffikins and Connie had pressed the importance of getting Vanessa to leave town, but neither had told me why. What if Vanessa simply wanted to share her passion for south Asian cuisine with the rest of the world? Wasn’t that a possibility? And if it was, did that mean we were the bad guys here?

I hung my head, wishing I’d asked more questions or at least been given more answers before marching in here to threaten a stranger.

“This is your last chance,” Connie warned the other vampire through gritted teeth. “Leave.”

Vanessa smirked.“Or what? You gonna make me?”

They continued to stare each other down, neither budging. Tension rippled through the room, growing thicker and thicker as the two vampires sized each other up.

I hung back, wondering what would happen next. Would we fight now, or…?

Connie let out an animalistic roar and spun toward the door. If this was the first battle, then we’d just lost. And that did not bode well for whatever happened next.

Connie swept back toward the door, grabbing my arm in the process.“C’mon, Tawny. We have a war to prepare for!”

Vanessa’s amused laughter followed us to the streets. She wasn’t afraid. In fact, she clearly wanted this confrontation to escalate.

Which meant she was far better prepared than either me or Connie.

Which meant we had a pretty good chance of losing.

Crud.

11

I chased Connie through the streets of downtown. We both powerwalked quickly enough to draw concerned glances from some of the other pedestrians, but I knew better than to mention it to Connie.

I waited until we were safely ensconced in the forest to unleash my long list of questions.“Why can’t both you and Vanessa live here? Why is she refusing to go? Do we really need to declare a war?”

“Such pointless questions!” Connie hissed without slowing to discuss things with me.

“Tell me,” I demanded. These were perfectly reasonable questions to ask in light of the situation and how very quickly it had escalated. “Why did—?”

Connie spun on me suddenly, and I nearly crashed into her. Luckily, I managed to catch myself just in time to avoid an embarrassing collision.

“When we first met…” the vampire said with a clenched jaw. Her muscles twitched as if she were trying very hard to hold herself back. “You were afraid of me. Why?”

Honestly, I was still afraid of her, but that was beside the point.“I thought you’d suck my blood,” I answered meekly.

Connie eased up a little, straightening to her full height and looking down at me over her nose.“And what did I tell you?”

“That vampires don’t do that anymore. They feed on wealth now.” That was easy. Normally my memory wasn’t the best, but when it came to the paranormal world, I now made sure that nothing I learned was forgotten. Even the smallest little factoid could mean the difference between seeing a job to completion or messing up so badly I lost my life in the process. I’d learned that the hard way when I’d forgotten what the various colors meant on the flashing crystal ball Fluffikins had saddled me with for my last assignment.

Connie’s brows scrunched together as she regarded me. “That’s not strictly true.”

I gasped and stumbled back a step.“You still drink blood?” As a newly christened vampire, did that mean I, too, would soon be drinking blood? I shuddered at the thought.

Connie hung her head and eyed the leaves scattered across the forest floor as she spoke.“I don’t, but I would if I have no other choice.”

I chanced a step closer.“What would take away that choice?”

Her eyes snapped up to meet mine.“When too many vampires live within a confined area, and especially within more than one coven, there isn’t enough wealth to go around. This leaves us to seek out other, baser ways of sating our hunger.”

“Blood,” I said, almost tasting the word as it left my mouth.

She bared her teeth, putting her fangs on full display.“We still have the equipment.”

I ran my tongue along my upper teeth. They still felt the same as they had before Fluffikins provided me with my new vampire magic.

“You don’t have them yet,” Connie said, watching me closely. “But if the change remains permanent, you will. They only take a few months to grow in. It gives new recruits the chance to learn our new way of feeding and helps curb what would otherwise be a frenzy.”

“Wow,” I said and sucked a deep breath in, even though I know my lungs didn’t need it. “So we really do need to get Vanessa to leave Beech Grove.”

“Yes, and seeing my peaceful attempts at negotiation failed, we now must prepare for war.” Connie’s words came out dispassionate as she sighed and shook her head. She seemed tired, battle-weary before the war had even truly begun. Did she mean she was afraid? And if she was afraid, what did that mean for the rest of us?

“Have you been in a vampire war before?” I asked gently, hoping she may actually open up to me. “It sounds really scary.”

She laughed dryly.“Vampire strength mixed with human weakness, what a joke.”

“Have you?” I insisted. I’d seen that flash of despair, regret, fear, something—and I needed to know why.

“Many times. Where there is hunger, there is also greed. Some vampires aren’t content with their current resources and seek to claim other towns. They must be stopped, swiftly and permanently.”

“You mean…?” I took a deep breath and held it inside me.

The elder vampire reached down and grabbed a short branch from the forest floor, pointing it at my chest plate.“Stake to the heart. It’s the only way to kill us, after all.”

“You saidus.” My heart would have warmed if it had still been beating.

“I didn’t meanyou. I’m talking about the real vampires,” she corrected with a growl. Oh, good. I’d offended her. That would make it easier for us to work nicely together.

“Then why did Fluffikins give me this armor to protect my heart?” I challenged, raising a hand to my chest.

She chuffed.“I don’t know why he gave you that ridiculous collar, but it’s not for the reasons he said.”

“You think he lied to me?”

“I know he lied to you.”

“But why? What’s he hiding?”And what aren’t you telling me about your own past?

“I don’t know. I haven’t been paying enough attention to catch on to the big secret you and he have been going on about. I also don’t care enough to go digging.”

Well, that made sense with everything I knew about Connie so far. She’d never liked me, and she never would. She couldn’t. That was her curse, and for a short while, it was also mine.

She hurled the stick so hard I couldn’t see where it eventually landed. Once the projectile flew out of sight, she looked over her shoulder at me and said, “Now can we please go back to base and start preparing for our battle? I’m going to need a lot more than you as backup.”

Connie didn’t wait for me to answer. Instead, she fled deeper into the woods, leaving me no choice but to run after her.

12

Mr. Fluffikins sat waiting for us at the edge of the forest.“Well, what’s the report?” he asked as soon as we stepped out onto the lawn behind HQ.

“Time for phase two,” Connie answered before setting her mouth in a firm line.

Fluffikins rose to his feet at once.“I’ll gather the team.”

“Leave the angel out of it,” Connie snarled, her expression growing dark in an instant. “She’s never liked my methods, and she doesn’t hesitate to say so, either. If we’re going to create a strong team, we need no dissidents.”

The cat nodded.“Very well.”

“What now?” I asked Connie as Mr. Fluffikins trotted back toward HQ.

She stared after him rather than shifting her gaze to meet mine.“Now we form a plan and practice until I’m reasonably assured you won’t fail.”

“How to fight a vampire one-oh-one?”

She smirked.“Something like that.”

Fluffikins worked fast, so it wasn’t long before the others joined us at the edge of the forest.

Parker immediately rushed over to stand at my side.“Tawny, are you okay? What’s going on?”

I shrugged and shook my head. I didn’t fully know the answer to either of his questions.

“All eyes on me, please,” Connie shouted at us. “You’re here to learn how to dispatch an unwanted coven in the area. I’ll formulate a plan and then teach each of you how to execute it.”

The old guy in the suit lowered himself to the forest floor, struggling for breath. If his waist-length white beard hadn’t given away his age, then his complete lack of physical fitness would have sold him out. I still didn’t know his name, and at this point, it felt rude to ask. I did know that he was the head of Cemeteries, which was the most cringey job of the bunch. Seriously, though, what good would such a feeble old man be when it came to violent hand-to-hand combat?

Connie cleared her throat to draw everyone’s attention back to her and continued. “Clearly, we are at a disadvantage here with our hodgepodge group of supernaturals, a normie with magic she doesn’t know how to use, and a teenager.”

“Hey!” Melony and I cried in unison.

“I’d know how to use my magic if you’d just teach me,” I shouted at Connie.