Nancy ran up to her and Destiny did her part by meeting her halfway. By the time my much slower pace caught up to them, Destiny was cuddled in Nancy’s arms. The girl seemed much more relaxed now. Holding a small little furry piece of the Goddess could definitely do that to a person. Relax them right down to a puddle on the ground, if they weren’t careful.
“Her name is Destiny.” I hesitated, then figured it was okay to go on. I was quite sure that Nancy knew we were witches. And I was positive Billy did. “She’s my new familiar, and she’s very special.”
The girl nodded. “I can tell.” Then she grew a little sadder. “I’ve never been allowed to have a pet. Would it be okay if, while I’m here, I pretended she was mine?”
“Meow.”
For once that wasn’t Destiny talking. I glanced behind us and saw a very familiar tiny black shape strolling over to us. The third kitten sister. The one the Goddess had other plans for. Seemed more than fitting to me. Especially if Opal was right and Nancy truly was a witch with power.
And one thing I knew from a lifetime of past experiences was that Opal was very rarely wrong.
Chapter 20
THE LITTLE BLACK KITTEN was a huge success. The instant Nancy’s eyes fell on her, she handed me Destiny and scooped her up instead. Instant and total love quickly followed.
I really hoped that if we weren’t allowed to make a more permanent home for Nancy here, that her next home would be open to having a tiny kitten come along with the deal. But then, with the Goddess involved, that was pretty much a surety.
With our kittens safely held to our chests, we finished our short tour of the backyard, and then I took them all upstairs to my apartment. Her eyes were growing bigger with every passing minute.
“How many people live here?”
“Right at this moment, we’re back to four.” I counted them off on my fingers. “Me, my cousin Ruby, Aunt Opal, and you.”
She looked up at me. “Me?”
I smiled at her. “Right at this moment, yes.” I hesitated to tell her that Opal was trying to make that a bit more permanent. I didn’t want to get her hopes up. “And even if that changes, you’ll be welcome here anytime at all.”
“Really?”
I nodded and crossed my heart. She might not know it, but I don’t take that lightly.
She seemed to like my apartment, and she really loved my furry chair. I’d have to see if Ruby could get another one. We were still a long way from an hour-long tour, so I popped in some microwave popcorn and we sat to watch a short television comedy.
Although, truthfully, I think we watched the two kitten sisters playing more than we watched the television.
I was getting more than a little curious about exactly what was happening below us, so when I heard the van leaving and Opal called up the stairs for us to come on down, we were more than ready.
Nancy hesitated. “Is it okay if I take the kitten?”
“I kind of think that was the plan all along. Just for the record, she’s as new here as you are.” I thought about it. “Actually, you beat her here even.”
“She came with the people in the van, didn’t she?” Nancy was hanging back. At first, I didn’t understand her reluctance to go downstairs, but her words kind of cleared that up for me.
“Yes. Lily was watching her for us. But unless I’m sadly mistaken... no, I will let them be the ones to tell you.” I smiled down at her. “Come on. Let’s go see what the old ones have been up to.”
When we stepped into Opal’s sitting room, I could barely recognize it. They had transformed it into a much nicer version of the girl’s bedroom at the trailer. To include one of the twin-sized four-poster canopy beds from Mom’s new home back in Oak Hill.
One entire side of the room was made up into her bedroom. Bed, small bookcase, portable wardrobe, and a rainbow-colored version of my fuzzy bean bag chair all laid out and ready for her.
“So, what do you think?” Opal asked. “Did we do okay?”
Nancy seemed speechless for a few seconds. “All this is for me?”
“Absolutely. And yours to keep, too. We’ll go shopping for some books for your bookcase one day this week. And maybe for a few more clothes to fill that wardrobe out with too.”
Now the tears did come. In earnest.
The girl ran over to Opal and buried her head in Opal’s chest. Opal patted her head and made soothing sounds for a minute. Then she looked over at me.
“I know I’ve kind of usurped your whole day, but would you mind going to the... going to pick up Nancy’s things? I’ll take her to the school tomorrow to collect her locker stuff. But she will need some of her things tonight.”
I nodded, dashing the moisture out of my own eyes. “I’ll make it quick.”
And I did too. I was back with my mission accomplished in under an hour. Good thing too. I only had a few short minutes to change and get ready for whatever the heck Opie had planned for the evening.
Keeping that mysterious thought at the forefront of my mind was the only thing stopping the tears from flowing.
I really hoped we got to keep her.
I WAS LISTENING HARD for the sound of Opie’s muscle car. When I heard the sounds of tires on gravel, I ran down to meet him. I’d taken his suggestion and was dressed in simple stretchy black yoga pants and a black T-shirt. The perfect outfit if I decided to revisit the cigar club after our little get together. I still had one woman’s name to uncover. I was kind of thinking maybe Jean took care of the day shift and the other woman had the nights.
Both women were still in my sights. I hadn’t given up on them yet. Although, after getting to know Nancy a little better, I was starting to totally understand the whole vigilante thing. The bad thing was, I think I was kind of on his (or her) side of things. And I didn’t think that was such a good thing.
It couldn’t be good when one started rooting for a double murderer, now could it?
Opie grinned at me as I slid into his passenger seat. “You ready for tonight?”
“Bring it on. As long as you keep my mind occupied, I’m up for just about anything.”
That sobered him. I should have kept my big flap shut. He glanced at the house.
“How’s Nancy doing?”
I took a deep breath before I answered. More to center myself than anything. “As well as can be expected, I think. Opal pulled out all the stops to try to make her feel welcome. And she has a kitten now, too.” That last bit would probably be the girl’s saving grace. Not that Opal wasn’t doing everything she could too.
“Good. Then let’s go have a little fun.” He reached into the backseat and handed me a blindfold. “Put this on.”
I looked at it and then at him. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
The grin was back. “Nope. I want this to be a total surprise.” He paused. “Besides, the location is kind of secret. The people we’re going to meet kind of insisted on this. So... put it on, already.”
There were other people involved? My curiosity spiked off the charts. But I put the dang thing on then turned in his general direction. “Are we good now?”
“Yup.”
I could feel the car moving and hear the gravel, and I tried to keep track of which way he turned and the distance between turns. There was more than one way to figure out where we’d gone than just seeing it. Unfortunately, he must have figured out what I was doing. After all, we watch pretty much the same movies. He knows all my tricks.
The radio came on and music filled the car. That pretty much took care of me hearing anything important. Then he started talking. “Oh, and by the way, the other woman that works there didn’t show up while I was watching. But I swear half the men from town go to that place. Marco must be making a killing.”
“You know they serve alcohol without a license, right?” I hated not being able to see him. Was he shocked or did he already know that?
“We’ve heard rumors, yes. Unfortunately, no one has made a formal complaint and we really don
’t have enough evidence to initiate a raid warrant.”
Too bad. Personally, I’d love to see Marco and his business taken down. They were a blight on the whole town as far as I was concerned.
“Any word on the vigilante angle of things? I know you all have talked to Crazy Al by now. Learn anything juicy?”
Silence. I started reaching for the blindfold, but his hand grabbed my arm.
“Look, Dad has me on a pretty tight leash on this one. I’ve been told to really limit what I tell you, okay? Give me a minute to work things out where I can tell you without, you know, telling you, all right?”
I could handle that. It took more than a minute though for him to work it out.
“Did you know that the night Ralph was killed there was a big shindig just outside of town? A band of hard rockers set up a camp type music festival a few miles out. Seems that old Al found out about it. Instead of informing us, as he should have, he decided to try to make some converts.” A slight pause. I could totally imagine him shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. But then he did those things on a regular basis. “It didn’t go all that well for old Al. He ended up in the hospital over at Oak Hill. A concussion from hitting his head after being pushed off his milk crate and a couple of broken ribs. They ended up keeping him overnight.”
In other words, Crazy Al had a rock-solid alibi for Ralph Morgan’s murder.
“You guys really think the killer is the same one or is there a possibility Al really has gathered a small army to do his work for him?”
A groan. “You aren’t making this easy on me, Amie. Give me another minute.”
The minute stretched into two, maybe even three. Not being able to see a clock, there was no way I could be certain.
“I got nothing. I can’t think of a single way not to tell that the coroner thinks the same murder weapon is the same in both murders. So, you get nothing from me, understood?”
“Understood.” So, Al wasn’t our guy. That didn’t mean it wasn’t one of his converts though. Or that he didn’t know exactly who it was. I was getting ready to head down that conversational path when I felt the car stop.
“We’re here.”
I felt his fingers slip under the blindfold and lift it. I blinked a few times to get used to being able to see again. Sight is a pretty powerful thing.
He leaned over and kissed me softly. “Whatever happens tonight, I want you to keep in mind that I love you. I’m doing this because I want you to be safe, okay?”
All right. Now my curiosity took a nosedive into worry. What the heck had he planned? An intervention of some kind? What the heck had I done to justify that?
Opie got out and came around to open my door for me. I spent the few seconds that took to look around. We were parked off a little access road—probably somewhere in the forestry that ended where Wind’s Crossing began. But that forestry was huge. No way would I ever be able to pick this place out again. It was just trees and a small road. Those abounded here.
He took my hand and led me down a short walking path maybe a quarter of a mile into a clearing. What I saw there took my breath away.
My loving and caring boyfriend had brought me to a cage fight.
And I had a funny feeling I knew who the star attraction would be.
Me.
Chapter 21
“PLEASE TELL ME YOU aren’t expecting me to fight you in that cage.”
I know the doctor had released him back to full duty, but I still wasn’t sure he was ready for such strenuous activity. Cage fights weren’t the kind that had a lot of rules. Or any rules for that matter. Of course, if I was his opponent that wouldn’t be an issue. No way would I hurt him.
“Of course not.”
I released the breath I’d been holding. Good. I’d read the situation wrong.
“You’ll be fighting her.” He pointed over to a woman who was standing with her back to us. When she heard his words, she turned to face us.
My heart skipped a beat. Missy Daniels. As far as I knew, and trust me I knew, Opie had only ever dated one girl in his entire life before me. Missy Daniels. Knowing now what I didn’t know then, things made a little more sense. Like why I’d never much cared for the girl. From the feeling I was having at the sight of her, things hadn’t changed on my end.
Then I realized she was wearing a brown deputy hat. What the hell?
She sauntered over to us. There was really no other way to put the way she walked. She was definitely working the hip movement for the guys surrounding us. And there were a lot more guys than gals in that small clearing. About a six to one ratio from a quick headcount. Twelve men and just the two little old females.
“Hey, Amethyst, long time no see.”
Not nearly long enough for me. I forced a smile.
“I thought you moved to the big city. Are you visiting friends?” Please, oh please, say yes.
She laughed and tipped her cap at me. That darn deputy cap. Opie and I would be having a long discussion about this later.
“Actually, I’m back for good. Been through the academy and now I’m working on Sheriff Taylor’s team.” She gave Opie a light punch on the arm. “Me and Opie will be teaming up for a week or so. He’s going to show me the ropes.”
A very long discussion.
“How nice.” I was really testing out those acting skills that I didn’t have. But I really don’t think I was fooling anyone. A primal part of me wanted to take her down right then and there.
Then Opie’s words came back to me. I guess that was the plan after all. And it would be sanctioned too. No one would think badly of me... as long as I could tamper down the instinct to pull her gorgeous red hair and not succumb to the urge to gouge her beautiful green eyes out.
Yes, she was a looker. That was more than a little part of the reason I really didn’t like her. At all.
I turned to Opie who suddenly wasn’t looking so sure of himself. As I said, I really didn’t think I was fooling anyone. “So, you arranged all this, did you?”
He swallowed but nodded. “It’s been a long time since we did anything like this, and I wanted the chance to see how much you retained from our dojo days.”
I might have been happy about that, as it sounded like a reasonable plan to me, if only my chosen opponent wasn’t my one and only arch enemy. Even if I was the only one of the two of us that knew that.
“You ready for this, Amethyst?” Missy asked, grinning. “I’d totally understand if you wanted a few days to prepare for it.” She glanced around at the men still watching us from the sidelines. “Or maybe a year or two.”
The smile I gave her now was real enough, even if it wasn’t a very nice one. “Oh, I think I’m ready.”
In fact, I’d never felt more ready for anything in my life.
Opie pulled me to one side, out of earshot.
“Can you do this without magic?”
Oh, now he worried about that? A little too late for that if you asked me.
“I’ve got better control now.” I shrugged. “I’ll do my best, but I really can’t give you a solid guarantee you know.”
“Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all.”
“You think?” Then I glanced back at Missy standing there flirting with the guys. They seemed more than happy with that. “Why didn’t you tell me she was back?”
His eyes widened. “You mean you didn’t know? She’s been back for almost a month. I thought sure you’d heard the news by now.”
“Let me guess. She came to town right after that thing with Opal, didn’t she? What did she do, nurse you back to health? Is that what took you so long to get back to me?”
Opie took a step back. “Whoa. That isn’t what happened at all, and you know it. I just needed time to process the whole magic thing. It’s not like it was for all that long. Maybe what, a week total?”
The longest week of my life, but yeah, that sounded about right.
“So, you didn’t spend any time with Missy during
that week? Just hung around home thinking about my new powers?”
I could tell by his wild eyes and bouncing Adam’s apple that wasn’t the case. I turned back to the group behind us.
“Let’s do this.”
“Amie...”
But I kept walking. I was more than ready now.
I DUCKED INTO THE CAGE opening and gave a little finger wave to Missy to signal that I was ready whenever she was.
The cage itself wasn’t actually a cage as such. It was more a padded fencing that came in modules that could be put together on site easily. The fence came up to around my chest, but I’m on the short side. For a lot of the men milling around waiting for their turn in the cage, it would reach stomach level at best.
So, a motivated person could get out of the cage if they wanted to. It wasn’t like you were actually locked in or anything. At least not by anything other than your pride and your opponent’s aggression.
The real problem with these portable setups is the size. A regulation cage is much larger, giving the opponents room for footwork and the dance as they call it.
There wasn’t any room for that in this one. Smaller cages meant hotter and faster fights. Right now, that was more than okay with me.
Missy stepped into the cage with a huge grin on her face. We’d see how long she got to keep it.
In hindsight, getting into that cage with a dozen or more witnesses and limited control of my new found magic probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’d ever done. But as it turned out, I wasn’t even tempted to use my power. My hurt, anger, and jealousy fueled my fight by more than enough.
When the referee gave the word, Missy came on in a rush with her hands and feet flying. I let her take me down three times. Sure, I’d wake up tomorrow with bruises galore, but it was worth it. A good fighter learns their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses as quickly as they can. As I’d never before seen her fight, it took me a while to put it together.
Un-Familiar Magic (Accidental Familiar Book 3) Page 13