by Abbi Glines
He jerked his attention from the television he’d been watching toward me when the door closed. His eyes widened in surprise. It was not normal for me to just show up. Especially since I’d just seen him at the wedding. We often went months without seeing each other. “Cat? You okay?” He dropped his feet to the floor and shifted his entire body to face me.
“The man, or warlock, whatever he is, I saw him. He was at the college. Watching me.” I blurted it all out. Not asking if he was alone first or thinking about my words. I was starting to panic, and it was clouding my good sense.
Duely frowned. “The stranger at the wedding?” he asked for clarification.
I nodded.
“Fuck,” he muttered then nodded to the seat beside him. “Sit down. I’ll fix you a drink.”
I started to say I didn’t need a drink but decided maybe I did. I had a potentially dangerous warlock stalking me.
“I talked to my mother,” I told him, then I walked over to take a seat at the bar.
“I’m sure she was a wealth of knowledge,” he drawled heavy on the sarcasm.
“She knew nothing. She didn’t cast…” I trailed off, paused and glanced around to make sure we were alone. He hadn’t looked concerned when I’d said “warlock,” so we probably were.
“No one is here. Just us,” he assured me.
I leaned forward on the bar with both elbows resting on the smooth surface before continuing. “She said it wasn’t a caster’s magic and that she didn’t know what it was. Which makes no sense. What else could it be?”
Duely placed ice cubes in a glass frowning so hard his perfect complexion wrinkled around his forehead. “What else did she say?” he asked.
“That I was interrupting The Real Housewives of Atlanta and to leave the room,” I replied.
He rolled his eyes. “Typical,” he muttered.
“If it’s not magic then what else could it be?”
“I don’t know,” he said then slid the martini glass across the surface toward me. I didn’t ask what it was he’d mixed up for me. I didn’t care. I took a drink and remained silent because I knew he wasn’t done speaking. When things were serious and he needed to focus, it took him several minutes to finish a thought.
“Do you think she felt anything, Cat? Did she say she did? I didn’t feel it but that could only mean it’s something I’ve not been taught. Like before I was taught to cast spells. I didn’t understand Latin. I had to learn it.”
I sat there and thought about that for a moment. He took a drink of the amber liquid in the new glass he had in front of him. My mother didn’t say she felt anything. She only said it wasn’t magic. That wasn’t admitting she did or did not feel anything.
“I remember the first time I heard my mother cast a spell and the Latin was so odd. It was confusing. You may have been taught whatever power is out there, and I haven’t. But it depends on if your mother really felt something.”
“I wondered the same thing but she seemed scared of whatever it was,” I paused and then frowned at Duely. “I didn’t know you had to be taught to cast. My sisters did, too. I always understood the language. Why is that?”
He paused mid drink and stared at me a moment, before pointing his finger at me while still holding the glass. “That. That right there. That shit isn’t normal. Casters aren’t born knowing Latin, Cat. We are taught it by our mothers. You’re more fucking powerful than you realize, and your mother knows. You scare her. I think you scare them all.” He grinned then. “Damn wish I knew what you were. Why you’re so badass. Better yet I’d like to see you unleash that shit on my dear aunt and cousins.”
Duely was never going to let that go, and I had blown the idea off but maybe there was something about me that was different. Was it possible I’d been ignoring him because I didn’t want to believe that?
“The subject at hand is the warlock stalking me. What do I do? I can’t hide from him. I don’t know if he’s after me to hurt me or if he thinks I know something I don’t.” I threw up my hands in frustration. “I am trying not to freak out. If I’m this badass you think I am then I wouldn’t be scared of a warlock. I can’t vanish or teleport. He can. He’s the powerful badass. Not me.”
“Have you ever tried?” he asked me.
“Tried what?” I replied then took a drink of my cocktail.
“Teleporting.”
Was he serious? I didn’t know magic like that. No one in our family did. No one I knew did. I’d heard of it just like he had in scary witch stories but that was it. “Why would I try something I didn’t think was actually possible until I saw it with my own eyes?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “That’s my point. You didn’t know it was possible. Now you do. Why don’t you try it?”
I needed his help not this insanity. “Duely, focus. I could be in danger. I don’t know who he is or what he wants or how to find him again.” Duely was the only one I could even ask for advice. Telling my mother wasn’t going to help anything. She’d just start ranting about the power of three. Saying how I was making us all vulnerable. Although I now doubted my mother and sisters were in any danger. He wasn’t stalking them. He was stalking me. I wasn’t making anyone vulnerable but myself, and my mother would use this as a reason to push the power of three stuff again. As terrifying as this man was with his vanishing act and mysterious identity, I had rather take him on than team up with my evil sisters. Satan himself would need to come knocking on my door and threatening to take my soul first and possibly even then I’d need some time to think about which scenario was worse.
“For now, just stay here. Until we know who he is and what’s going on. You have no help with your sisters and mother. At least with me you’d have backup.”
Duely was well-known for not sleeping alone. His apartment over the bar was a revolving door of people coming to do kinky things I didn’t want to think about. “As nice as that sounds, I’m not sure I’m up for witnessing your bedroom activities.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m aware of that, Snow White. I’ll keep my debauchery away from the apartment while you’re here. That includes smoking my occasional… daily doobie down here.”
I thought about his offer, about how I would be cramping his style, and realized I had no other options. I was scared, and I didn’t even know if I should be. Right now, all I had was Duely’s offer and that would give me time to figure out what was happening.
“Okay, thank you,” I said. “I can’t stay hidden here, but I might sleep better at night being here. I have work tomorrow, which will be a good distraction.”
“You’re always welcome here. Not sure if I’m much protection. This mother fucker may kill us both,” was his ever so comforting response. “You want another drink?”
I started to say no then changed my mind. “Vodka cranberry.”
He gave a nod of approval. “You working tonight?”
“No.”
“Good. That gives me a little time to think about how I have no clue what the hell to do about this shit.”
I laughed. I had no reason to laugh, but Duely always managed to make me laugh.
“Other than being stalked by a scary ass warlock, how are things going with Margo and Heath’s new roommate? Heath getting jealous over the new guy showing interest?”
“No. Heath is my friend. He isn’t attracted to me. I’ve told you that already and Rathe… we’re friends,” I replied, even though it sounded odd saying it. I’d almost forgotten my embarrassing interaction with Rathe today. Almost. My cheeks heated as I remembered how stupid I had sounded.
“Ah, there’s a story there,” he said already amused. “What happened? Fuck knows I need a distraction. Entertain me with whatever is making you turn cherry red.”
I took a long drink of the red liquid, hoping its relaxing power kicked in soon. Inhaling deeply, only to cringe a little at the scent of cigarettes that per
meated the bar, I lifted my gaze to Duely and gave him a brief rundown of my earlier interaction with Rathe.
Fourteen
The Phone Call
Sleep came eventually that night. The noise from the bar below wasn’t what kept me awake, although I was used to the silence that surrounded the house I’d lived in most of my life. Sleep was impossible when my brain refused to shut off. I tried thinking of a million different things, but my thoughts always found a way back to the warlock or whatever he was. The last glance at the time on my phone had read 2:38. The bar would have had last call at three and maybe it had quietened down then. I couldn’t remember, but it had been shortly after that I’d fallen asleep.
When my alarm went off at eight fifteen, I groaned and wished I wasn’t booked for the lunch shift today at the restaurant. I reached for my phone and turned off the alarm. The fact I hadn’t come home last night didn’t seem to concern my mother or sister. Neither had texted me, but I hadn’t expected them to. I wondered if I ever did go missing, how long it would take before someone noticed. My guess was Margo would figure it out first, but it may take her a few days. We didn’t always talk daily. She was busy with school, and I had… life.
Duely’s bedroom door was closed, and I knew he wouldn’t emerge from his room until at least noon. I went to the bathroom and showered then quickly dressed in yesterday’s clothing before going to the kitchen and opening the fridge to find nothing but a half carton of milk, one slightly old looking tomato and a jar of sliced jalapenos. If I was going to stay here, I’d need to buy some food. Maybe even cook a meal or two. What did Duely survive on anyway? The bar food he served downstairs? If so, that was a terrible diet. But then so was his daily consumption of beer.
There was no changing him. With a sigh, I headed for the door. I’d grab something on the way to my house to get a bag of necessities and my work uniform. Locking up behind me, I headed for the back entrance of the building. The old heavy door needed a paint job, but I knew it wasn’t going to get one in this decade or the next. Duely didn’t care about things like that and if he did he’d never manually paint it. Magic would be involved. I made sure I had my keys and wallet in my purse, before letting it close with a hard thud behind me.
The brightness of the sun was odd with the cool bite in the air this morning. I wasn’t wearing a jacket. I shivered a little and picked up my pace to get inside my car, so I could crank up the heat. Fall was finally arriving in Savannah.
The moment I opened the car door, my phone started to ring. Climbing in, I closed the door behind me, before reaching into my purse to retrieve my phone. It was Margo. She was never up this early.
“Good morning,” I said in way of greeting then started the ignition in need of heat. Chill bumps covered my arms.
“Where are you?” she asked sharply.
“Uh, in my car,” I replied slowly and slightly confused by her tone of voice.
“But where in your car? I looked on my Find My Friends app, and it says you’re in a bad part of town! It has you at a bar.”
Smiling, I turned the car onto the main road. “I stand corrected. It seems if I go missing my best friend will track my phone and find me right away,” I said to her.
“That’s not funny, Cat. Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I stayed the night at Duely’s. I’m now in my car and headed to my house to get ready for work. I may stop somewhere and grab breakfast. Do you need any more details or is that enough?” I replied with thick sarcasm in my voice.
“Where does Duely live? And why would you stay there?” She wasn’t satisfied just yet. Why was Margo awake this early tracking me? That was the real question here. Not my whereabouts or why I am at Duely’s. I couldn’t tell her the truth about that anyway.
“He lives in an apartment over his bar, and I came to visit him yesterday, and we drank a little, so I stayed over.” I had been lying to Margo about this part of my life for as long as I’d known her. I didn’t like doing it, but there was no other choice. If I wanted to keep them safe then Margo and Heath couldn’t know the truth.
“YOU drank so much you had to stay the night at a bar?” She sounded shocked. I didn’t blame her.
“I didn’t sleep in the bar. I slept in Duely’s apartment OVER the bar,” I corrected her.
“Same thing,” she said.
“Is she okay?” I heard a familiar male voice ask in the background. “Do I need to go get her?” he then added. That wasn’t Heath’s voice either. I felt a slight thrill that I needed to get control of because Rathe was only asking because we were now friends. Not because he wanted to see me.
“She’s driving home now,” Margo answered him. “I’m guessing Jacque hasn’t gotten in touch with you yet. He called Heath, which is why I started looking for you.”
“Why would Jacque need to get in touch with me? I know I’m scheduled for first shift.” I asked confused by her question.
She sighed. “Well,” there was a pause, “just come here first. Not home. You don’t need your uniform. You won’t be going into work today. They’re closed.”
“What? Why?” I asked, not liking the way her voice sounded. She was not wanting to tell me something. A very important something too if the restaurant was closed. “Where is Heath?” I then asked, knowing he’d tell me what was going on.
“He’s not here… and I don’t want you to get upset. Just come here and I’ll tell you.”
“Tell me now. I’m already upset not knowing what’s going on. It doesn’t help my driving,” I added the last part, knowing she’d spit it out quicker.
“Okay, well, pull over,” she said.
“I am pulled over,” I lied. “Tell me.”
She paused for a moment, and I thought I heard her whisper something to Rathe, but she muffled the receiver with her hand. I was about to demand she tell me again when her hand moved, and she sighed into the phone. “Mattia had a heart attack last night… and he, he didn’t make it. Greta’s with her kids and the restaurant is obviously closed today and well, Jacque wasn’t sure when or if it would be opened up again. Heath told me to call you, then he rushed out the door. He was meeting Jacque at Grandezzas to close things up properly for an extended time. The food and all, you know.” She stopped talking.
I then pulled off the road. I felt numb. The world outside rushed by with life while I sat there in the silence of my car. I said nothing because I couldn’t. I was trying to let the words I’d heard sink in, even though I was struggling to understand them. Or accept them. I’d just seen Mattia a few days ago. He’d been jolly and laughing. Greta had been telling me that her oldest daughter was expecting again. This time a girl. He’d then made a joke about his offspring breeding like rabbits, and Greta had slapped his arm, smiling at his comment. She loved her children, but she adored her grandchildren. They both did.
I heard Margo saying something more, but I didn’t hear her. It was as if she was talking through a muffled phone again. I couldn’t focus on her words to understand them. A tear fell from my cheek onto my hand. I glanced down at the wetness and more fell, splashing as they hit my hands that were clenched in my lap.
“Catalina?” Rathe’s voice was deep and smooth as it met my ear. I blinked but continued to stare at my tears as they fell. I heard him though. I wasn’t sure I could ever not hear him. When he spoke, all my senses snapped to attention. Damn him for that. His voice was nice. Soothing. That was odd, wasn’t it? That I was soothed by his voice. “Catalina!” he said my name again, and this time, he sounded worried.
“Yes,” I replied, my voice was raspy.
“Are you pulled over?” His voice was firm and there was an edge to it.
“Yes,” I replied. Was he angry about something?
“Good. Stay there. I’ll have Margo drive me to your location. Don’t drive. Promise me that.”
I didn’t ask him why. I underst
ood. “Okay,” I agreed.
“We are headed to her car right now. She said you’re only ten minutes away,” he told me.
“Okay,” I said again.
“What’s your favorite color?” he asked. It was such a strange question. Why did he care about that? I had just been told my friend was dead, and I was grieving.
“Blue,” I replied, instead of asking him why he wanted to know. I was too upset to ask questions.
“What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?” he then asked me.
“Mint chocolate chip,” I replied immediately, again, not asking him why he wanted to know.
“I would have guessed you were a peanut butter cup fan,” he said, then asked, “What was your first pet?”
I had never had a pet. My mother hated animals. “I’ve never had one,” I told him.
“Why?”
“My mother wouldn’t let me.”
“What pet did you want if you could have had one?”
“A dog. Any dog. I really like dogs.” I had never said that to anyone. But then no one had ever asked me. I surprised myself with the answer.
“What would you name the dog?” he then asked me.
I had to think about that harder. I wasn’t sure. “I don’t know. To name a dog, I think I’d have to meet it. Spend time with it. Figure out what name fit.”
“You’d be a good dog owner,” he said.
Why were we talking about this? What was the purpose of all these questions? Did he suddenly have a burning desire to know all about me? I doubted it.
“Favorite movie?” he asked.
I started to tell him that was an impossible answer because I had too many favorites when my phone beeped that I had another call. Pulling it back to see the screen, Heath’s name was there, staring back at me. He was calling to tell me about Mattia. For a moment, I’d been distracted…
And then I understood. What the questions were all about. Rathe had been distracting me. It had worked. The tears were dried on my face, and I wasn’t clenching my hands tightly anymore. Seeing Heath’s name, however, reminded me of the news, and I closed my eyes tightly.