Un-Familiar Magic (Accidental Familiar Book 3)

by Belinda White

  Well, yeah. She had been a married woman. That wasn’t the case now. That was my whole point. I didn’t think he got it yet.

  “Look, Tommy. I know you guys played it cool while Ralph was still... well, alive. All I’m asking is that play it cool for just a little longer. Once the sheriff has the killer all wrapped up and behind bars, then maybe things will change. But you don’t want to give the neighbors and people in town reason to think you two did away with him so you could be together.”

  He nodded. “We know that.” He motioned around. “That’s why we’re here, after all. We’re afraid to much more than say hello in town.”

  “Good. Stay that way for a while. Give the sheriff time to do his job.”

  That got an odd look. “You aren’t working on this too? I thought you were training to be an investigator.”

  Right now, I really wished I’d kept that choice more to myself. Unfortunately, by now, the whole town knew my future career path choice.

  “I’ll look into too, Tommy. But I can’t promise anything. The sheriff definitely has more resources than I do. He’s your best hope for sorting this out.”

  He might have said more, but that’s when Mabel’s car pulled around the corner of the house. She got out, and he ran down the steps to meet her.

  They ran into each other’s arms just like in the movies. Then, after that instant embrace, they walked into the woods holding hands.

  I was glad the people in town hadn’t seen that. It would definitely have created that shadow of a doubt as to their innocence.

  As much as I hated to admit it, now that shadow was in my mind too.

  I DON’T KNOW WHAT TIME Tommy finally left, and I really don’t care. They spent most of their time out on the balcony anyway, so I didn’t have to worry about interrupting anything if I had to go to the bathroom or something. I appreciated that.

  Not that I thought I would interrupt anything. Friends respect other friends’ boundaries. Especially when they are in that friend’s home.

  Mabel had already left for work the next morning when I got up, but she left me a note telling me thanks and that she’d like to stay a couple more days. That wasn’t a problem with me. She needed some time to get used to her new normal before spending her nights alone in a house that she and Ralph had shared.

  I knew I would if the situation had been reversed.

  Today would be a free day for me. At least this morning was free. I had absolutely nothing planned, and as my car was still an odorous beast, I was fully planning to make the most of a day at home doing absolutely nothing. Not that I thought that would really happen, my life being what it is now, but that was the plan.

  I’d barely gotten showered and dressed before I heard the vehicle coming down the drive. A glance out the window showed Lily’s van out front. She and Arc climbed out and then Arc reached back in and pulled out a cat carrier.

  It would appear Destiny had come home. Immediately the guilt set in. I hadn’t been over to see her in a week. Not a good way to treat a new familiar.

  Lily’s expression when I went downstairs to greet them told me she felt the same way. I felt the heat rising in my cheeks.

  She pointed to the cat carrier now sitting on the floor by the door. “Destiny has done nothing but howl and complain for the past two days. Last night was the worst of all.” Lily shook her head. “I know I said I wanted to give her more time with her mom and sisters, but I’d say she’s ready to be your responsibility now.”

  I swallowed. Great. It would also appear that I might have ticked off the Goddess with my inattention of Destiny too. After all, she’d said the kitten was a part of her. I didn’t know how that worked exactly, but I knew that Destiny would be one very spoiled kitten. I’d make the last week up to her somehow.

  “I’ll take good care of her, I promise.” I lifted the small kennel and looked inside. Destiny looked back out at me. Yeah, the cat was going to be great at the whole guilt thing. She was every bit as expressive as Arc had been as a cat.

  Once my thoughts turned to Arc, I started wondering why he had come too. It didn’t take two people to deliver a cat.

  He grinned at me and then looked past me and up the stairs. “Is Ruby home?”

  Ah, so that explained it. He wasn’t here to visit me at all. It was his new romantic interest that he wanted time with.

  “She’s upstairs.” I thought about warning him that she might not be out of bed yet, but why spoil the fun?

  Halfway up the stairs, he turned to look at me. “If I want to stay longer than Lily, could you give me a ride back home?”

  The nerve of him. Here he was totally ignoring his one and only sister and yet he expected me to run him all the way home when he was done spending time with Ruby? I started to say no way, but then it hit me. He’d be riding in my car. My smelly car.

  Not that I wanted to ride in it all the way to Oak Hill and back myself, but it might be worth it if I shared half that trip with Arc. In fact, it was just the little bonus I needed to say yes.

  I gave him the sweetest smile I could. “Sure thing.”

  “Thanks.” And he took the rest of the steps two at a time. The jerk.

  The door to Opal’s apartment opened, and she stepped out. “I thought I heard voices out here.”

  She wasn’t fooling me. She’d have known the instant that van turned into our driveway. It was one of her super powers.

  “Hello, Opal, we’re just dropping off Amie’s new familiar,” Lily said.

  “I don’t suppose you’d have a few minutes to spare me before you head back? I’d love your advice on plants and landscaping for our new meditation garden.”

  And just like that, the two of them walked out the front door and left me standing there alone in the hallway. I glanced inside the kennel at Destiny. “Looks like we’re invisible, girl.” I paused. “Or just maybe not invited.”

  “Meow.”

  I stared at her. The meow wasn’t a cat’s meow at all. Just the word. I think my cat had an attitude problem. Weren’t we going to be a match made in heaven? Or maybe the other place as far as others might be concerned.

  Holding her kennel up at chest height, I pointed to Opal’s still open door. “Aunt Opal lives in there.” Then I turned and pointed to Mom’s open door. “My mom used to live in there, but right now it’s kind of open for anyone who wants to crash there. She got married to... well, I don’t what technical relationship he is to you. Your mother’s old familiar’s father, I guess. It gets complicated, doesn’t it?”

  Destiny seemed to agree with me, so I continued upstairs to give her a tour of our more personal living space. After pointing out Ruby’s door, we turned into my bedroom. Keeping up a stream of one-sided conversation, explaining where everything was and where her bathroom facilities were located, we walked through the entire apartment. It didn’t take long.

  Once back in the sitting room, I checked to make sure my bedroom door was closed, and I opened the kennel door. Destiny strolled out and rubbed against my ankles. I picked her up for a quick cuddle.

  Her fur was longer and ever silkier than the cat form that Arc had used. I could so get used to this. Which was a good thing, because this time, it was a forever thing. Or as close to that as I could possibly make it. I wanted us to be close for a very long time.

  After a short kitty to human love session, she started squirming to be let down. When I sat her on the floor, she walked straight for the outside door.

  “That leads into the hallway and the outside balcony. You don’t need to be going out that door,” I explained patiently. “You’re just a little kitten, and there are hawks and things out there that could hurt you.”

  Destiny sat on her haunches and her eyes widened. Anyone who says a cat can’t out stare a human is full of bologna. I was the first to look away.

  I felt like I’d been firmly put in my place.

  By a creature not even six inches tall.

  Chapter 11

  AT DESTINY’S
INSISTENCE, I opened the door into the hallway and then the outside door. She scampered down the steps as if she’d been doing them all her little life. What could I do? I followed her.

  Billy was already hard at work on the gazebo, and Opal and Lily were standing off to the side of the area deep in discussion. After a brief tour of the backyard, Destiny made her way straight for Billy.

  He was bending over to pick up his hammer, and she took advantage of his position to hop onto his back and clamber up and onto his shoulder. I’ll admit to a moment’s worry about how he might react to that. I had no idea if Billy was a cat person or not. Some people weren’t. Take me a few weeks ago. I’d have run if I’d seen one coming at me. But then my allergies had a lot to do with that.

  I shouldn’t have worried. Billy handled her like he handled most people in his life. He turned his head to look her in her little kitten eyes and smiled.

  “What do you think so far, Princess?”

  Destiny tilted her head at him for a minute, then glanced over the supplies and tools he had already laid out in preparation for his day’s work. Finally, she turned back to him. And licked his nose.

  I’d take that as a sign of approval. Billy seemed to too.

  We didn’t really feel comfortable interrupting Lily and Opal’s conversation, so after Destiny did her business in the small flower garden, while I stood guard and cover of course, we made our way back up the stairs. This time she demanded to be carried. I guess gravity was more of a factor going up the stairs, even for cats.

  It was still early, but going back to bed didn’t seem like a good option at this point. By the time I dropped back off to sleep, it’d be time to get up for real, anyway. Might as well make the most of it.

  My eyes were drawn to the mystery novel on the end table by the sofa, but apparently, Destiny had other ideas. She made her way over to my backpack and stood there looking at me.

  “What? Is there something in there that you want?” Then I shook my head at her. “Whatever it is will have to wait just a bit. I need to get you all set up first.” That didn’t take all that long. I put litter in the box and the box in the corner of the bathroom, and a food and water dish filled and sitting in the corner of our little kitchenette out of the way. The whole thing took maybe five minutes.

  She was still sitting by the pack, staring at me. My little Destiny was a very determined kitty about getting what she wanted.

  “All right, fine.” I walked over and unzipped the pack, then dumped all the insides out. Geesh. I should probably do this more often. There were all kinds of things inside that thing. Some I didn’t even remember putting in there.

  After throwing away the empty water bottles and food wrappers, I started sorting through the rest of the items. There was my taser which reminded me that I should probably check in with Boswell Bonds to see if he had any new bail jumpers for me to go after. I could use the distraction. Besides, I was getting pretty dang good at it.

  I felt the hair at the back of my neck go up, and a glance over at Destiny showed her staring at me again. She didn’t look happy. In fact, she shook her tiny little head at me.

  “What?” I was starting to think I’d be saying that a lot from here on out.

  She walked over to the taser and rested one delicate little paw on it, then turned back to me and shook her head again. I felt my brows draw together.

  “You don’t like the taser? Or you don’t think I should be a bounty hunter?”

  Most cats probably can’t smile. At least I don’t think they can. Destiny can and did. Then she took her little noggin and pushed the taser off to the side.

  I reached over and picked it up. “You might not like it, but this little device has saved my bacon a few times. A girl needs a bit of protection in the world nowadays.”

  Huh. What do you know? Destiny was really good at Opal’s signature look.

  What the heck was I in for here? Suddenly having a kitten that was part Goddess didn’t seem like such an awesome idea. I’d need to be on my guard twenty-four-seven around her.

  Then I realized, or just maybe Destiny beamed the thought into my head, that the Goddess had always been watching.

  “Yeah,” I told Destiny just in case the thought had come from her. “But you weren’t so very demanding before now.”

  That got another kitten smile and Destiny turned and snagged a single piece of paper from my pack and dragged it over to me. She looked from it to me. I may be dense sometimes, but when the Goddess gives me a message as clear as that one, I listen.

  The paper was the copy I’d made the day before of all the suspects in Ralph’s murder investigation. At least the ones that Mabel and I had been able to come up with.

  “Are you telling me that, out of everything I could be doing right now, you want me working on this?” I waved the paper at her. We would have to come up with some kind of system for communicating. The Goddess had more than hinted that we could go mind to mind if I allowed it, but I just wasn’t sure I was quite ready for that yet.

  I wanted to hold on to my sanity for a bit longer.

  “How about this? When I ask you a yes or no question, you meow if the answer is yes and wag your tail if the answer is no. Would that work?”

  Meow.

  Okay, but I would need a little further clarification. That could totally have been a fluke, right?

  “So, you want me to work on finding out who killed Ralph?”

  Meow.

  I thought for a minute, my eyes going over to the end table and my book. If this was just a fluke... well, it was worth testing out that possibility, anyway.

  “How’s about I take the morning off and just read and sip coffee?”

  That didn’t amuse her. Destiny’s tail didn’t just give a single wag, it began moving furiously. Obviously, the Goddess was used to getting her way.

  I took a deep breath and stood and walked over to the sofa.

  And yes, the paper was still in my hand. I could take a hint.

  BY THE TIME MY PHONE rang at a quarter till noon, I’d managed to get a pretty solid feeling for the Ralph situation. Of course, I’d had that feeling before I’d even started. Ralph Morgan was a scumbag of the first order. He’d deserved everything he got and probably a lot sooner than he’d gotten it. I couldn’t feel one bit sorry for him. If that made me a bad person, so be it.

  The only ones I felt sorry for were the ones he left behind and the mess they had to clean up because of him. Too bad whoever had killed the jerk hadn’t taken the body and buried it in a deep hole far, far away.

  But no. They had to leave the thing in plain sight for Mabel to find. Maybe the killer wasn’t such a good guy after all. Not that I really thought that the killer was a good guy. Good guys don’t kill other people. Even if I had come close to doing that myself before.

  Really, really close.

  I answered the phone, already knowing who it was. The Andy Griffith whistling tune gave Opie away every time.

  “Hey, Opie, what’s up?”

  “You know, now that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend, it might be nice if you started calling me by my actual name. That’s Trevor, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  I thought about it. Didn’t sound right, but I could give it a try. “Hey, Trevor, what’s up?” Man, that sounded weird even to my ears.

  “Thanks for trying, anyway. I was calling to see if you wanted to join me for lunch. There’s a new chicken place opening up across from Boswell Bonds. I thought we could try it out.”

  Sounded good to me. “You buying?”

  He chuckled. “Would I be asking if I wasn’t?”

  Fair enough.

  “Then sure, I could eat some chicken.” I felt a paw on my arm and looked down to see two little kitty eyes staring at me. “Just remind me to save a little to bring home for my cat.”

  “Leftovers? When has that ever happened between the two of us?”

  He had a point. “Okay, then remind me to order another piece before we le
ave. I have a feeling things could go pretty badly here if I come home without some.”

  Meow.

  There, see, I knew it.

  “Not a problem. I’ll even pay for Destiny’s meal too. Just put in a good word for me with her, okay?”

  “Deal.”

  I was getting ready to say goodbye, but then he spoke again. “Oh, and Amie?”

  “Yeah, Op—Trevor?” This would take a major effort on my part.

  “Would it be too much to ask you to ride your bike to meet me?” His voice sounded hopeful.

  Again, he had a point. He was on a roll today.

  “Sure. It’ll take me longer though, so if you get there first, go ahead and just order me whatever you’re going to have.”

  “Will do.” And he was gone. Men were so abrupt when ending phone calls.

  I’d still be saying good-bye right about now.

  I shoved the paper back into my backpack, along with a few other necessities of life, but when I reached for my taser, it was gone. I looked all around the bag on the floor where I’d left it and in the bag itself. No taser.

  Then I looked back at Destiny. She seemed very satisfied with herself.

  The Goddess might not like the taser, but right now in my life, I felt it was a necessity to have on me at all times. If I got totally ticked off at a person, I’d have an alternative to use rather than having to rely on my magic. With the threat of the council looming over my head, using my magic in public simply wasn’t such a good idea. A little spell from me could end up being ten times what I’d intended for it to be. That kind of thing draws attention.

  Destiny gave an audible sigh. Yes, that’s possible, because she just did it. Then she hopped down from the sofa and disappeared beneath it. Seconds later the barrel of the taser peeked out from under it.

  I reached down and grabbed it and shoved it into my bag.

  “Thank you,” I said. There may have been a touch of sarcasm in my voice when I said it. I guess I should have been grateful that Destiny had decided to go along with my way of thinking.