He finished patting the letters and sat back.
She read, “Plan only work if you don’t tell them.” It took all his will to focus his brain to form words. After thirty years in this body, his spelling and reading had suffered.
If he didn’t get out of this body soon, he feared his soul would be so much like a cat’s he would never truly be a man again. Vega Bloodmire, the witch who had been helping Abigail, had only solidified this fear in his mind when she’d told him he would never change back to being a human if he didn’t figure out his curse soon. Yet he had.
In a way.
Abigail bit her lip. “I know that’s your preference, but it just doesn’t seem right. We’re using my daughter and your brother to harness sex magic. It’s unethical. We should tell them. They’re nice people. They’ll agree.”
Lucifer tapped the letters with more force than necessary. “No.”
Abigail’s adopted daughter, Clarissa, was one of the rare affinities who used touch magic like Lucifer. He still couldn’t understand what she saw in his brother, Felix. He had to be almost a hundred years older than her—even if he didn’t look like it due to aging slowly and living in the Faerie Realm. He was stuffy and boring—like an old man.
Also, Lucifer suspected he was evil.
He couldn’t prove it, but Felix did seem to still have ties to the Raven Court, even if he claimed he no longer worked for the Raven Queen. The fact that Priscilla, their younger sister, was now Felix’s supposed familiar and trapped in the form of a raven didn’t bode well. They both might be spies, for all Lucifer knew.
“We don’t have to tell Felix you’re related,” Abigail said. “But we should just tell them this worked before, even if it was only temporarily. They might be more willing to give you magic rather than you stealing it if you would just let me talk to Professor Thatch—I mean—Felix.” She scratched Lucifer behind the ears. “And he’s probably sorry about what happened before. He might try to help you, to make up for the past.”
Lucifer hissed. The day Felix had taken their sisters with him and abandoned Lucifer in the Faerie Realm with their abusive mother was the last day he had considered Felix his brother.
He smacked the N and the O again with his paw. It felt unsatisfying to not be able to give voice to that word.
“Just listen to my idea.” Abigail pushed wisps of auburn hair out of her eyes. “We should tell them why I’m leaving you in the cottage during their honeymoon. If I don’t, they’ll find you and kick you out. Especially if you make your presence known.”
What she probably meant was that they would kick him out after he raked his claws against their ankles or they discovered their clothes had been shredded.
He spelled out each word with care. “I will behave.”
He planned to hide under the bed during their honeymoon. If he was going to get sick from the transformation, he would run into the bathroom and use the litter box. When the electrical magic of Clarissa’s and Felix’s touch affinities had previously set off Lucifer’s magic and burned through the curse, his transformation to his human self had been temporary. Perhaps it would be again, but Lucifer suspected if he didn’t squander his magic like last time, and he instead stored it, he wouldn’t change back into a cat.
It also meant he wouldn’t be able to work any other spells, but he didn’t care. As long as he could be a man again and be with Abigail, to hold her in his human arms once more, he would be happy. He nuzzled her hand.
“There’s so much that can go wrong with this plan,” Abigail said. “Your electrical magic might weaken the wards, and the Raven Court might find a way to get in. I don’t want them to hurt Clarissa.”
He tapped the board. “Raven Court will not know where they are honeymoon. They will not look for way in.” He found it more difficult to keep his words from jumbling together. “Do not worry.”
She offered him a hopeful smile, but the lines didn’t ease from her forehead.
“Tell them strengthen wards after honeymoon.” He wrote. “You can bring Clarissa smoothie.” Breathy pants escaped from him, the closest he could manage to a chuckle. Clarissa hated Abigail’s healthy smoothies.
“That’s right! I can bring her a strawberry-kelp-banana smoothie in the morning so they have energy.” Abigail beamed.
Now that they were on the topic of food, Abigail was in her element. Lucifer did his best to pay attention while Abigail told him about the menu she was helping plan and the wedding cake she would be baking for the wedding.
Abigail still hadn’t decided whether she was going to bake the cake at home, and bring it when Felix magically transported her, or use the oven at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches, the magical boarding school where Clarissa and Felix worked as high school teachers. Yet all he could think about was the numerous ways this plan might go wrong.
Most matrons of honor only had to plan invitations, decorations, and catering. But Abigail also had to worry about uninvited Fae guests who had figured out what Clarissa’s affinity was and wanted to kidnap her for it.
Touch magic was more than pleasant sensations that could break curses. It could amplify other Witchkin’s and Fae’s powers and be used as a weapon against others. Lucifer was fortunate no one knew about his affinity or his brother’s. He hoped to keep it that way.
In three days they had a wedding to attend, and he had a honeymoon to crash. Lucifer was so close to freedom he could almost taste all the cake, pizza, and wedding leftovers he was going to eat once he was in his human body again.
CHAPTER TWO
A Fairy-Tale Wedding
Abigail was so busy with preparations in the days to come, she hardly had time for Lucifer. He was left to his own devices once they arrived at Womby’s School for Wayward Witches. He did his best to play his part, behaving as any other sociopathic cat would: killing mice, hissing at teenagers who came too close to Abigail, and watching for any ravens that happened to be flying over the grounds of the school.
Lucifer only saw one raven, Priscilla, and Abigail had forbidden him from pouncing on his sister.
On the day of the wedding, magic was thick in the air, mingling with Clarissa’s anxiety. Magic and nerves were never a good mix among the half-breed offspring of Fae and humans known as Witchkin.
If Clarissa had been his daughter, he would have told her it wasn’t too late for her to change her mind about the wedding. She was still young, in her twenties. She was cute, with freckles, making her appear far younger than she actually was. There were plenty of other men out there who would put up with her hot-pink hair and eccentric art teacher ways.
But if Lucifer could have spoken, he would have been human. He wouldn’t have needed for her and Felix to release a dose of Red affinity magic that he could snatch up to break his curse. He didn’t want Clarissa to marry a potentially nefarious man like his brother, but he did need them to consummate their marriage.
Abigail helped Clarissa get ready in the morning, while Lucifer tried to stay out of the way. Clarissa was dressed in Abigail’s wedding dress, a gown from the eighties with puff sleeves and layers of ruffles that invited a cat’s claws to snag against the lace. Lucifer’s reaction seeing it a second time wasn’t any better than the first time he’d seen it. He hunched down, fighting the instinct to shred it into pieces.
Abigail had worn the dress on her wedding day with Adam. She’d looked like a princess.
Lucifer had gone into the woods and killed mice to appease his anger that night.
Preparations the morning of the wedding went smoothly enough despite the tension in the air.
The moment the Fae burst into the cottage, all that changed.
CHAPTER THREE
The Godfather. The Fairy Godfather, That Is
The moment Lucifer laid eyes on Prince Elric of the Silver Court, he was fairly certain he was the one person he loathed more than his brother. For one thing, the man was a Fae prince—an elite and entitled noble us
ed to getting his way. For another, he was a powerful being who radiated so much magic he could have scooped it into bottles and marketed it as a perfume. The man wore a crystal crown on top of his long silvery hair. Despite the color of his long locks, his face was youthful.
Elric swept Clarissa into his arms like a rakish former lover—which he probably was.
The Fae man fussed over Clarissa. “I beg you will forgive this intrusion, but there are some traditions I cannot ignore, and giving a blessing to one of my subjects is one of them.”
Lucifer snorted. He gathered this princey fellow thought he was her fairy godfather.
Abigail and Clarissa both tried to deter him from a “blessing.” Lucifer knew all too well how mixed those blessings could be—especially from an uninvited Fae who had just crashed a wedding. The Fae Lucifer had met in the Unseen Realm and Faerie Realm were all tricksters—even the seemingly benign ones. A Fae on a wedding day would result in trouble.
Abigail sat on edge in her chair, chaperoning the visitor. Lucifer stalked back and forth, eager for Abigail’s go-ahead to strike. The moment the man’s advice upset Clarissa, Abigail left her seat and placed a hand on the man’s arm. “Stop right there.”
Elric gestured toward the door. Abigail’s green eyes clouded over, and she stumbled toward the exit. Lucifer’s attack instincts were set into motion, but instead of launching himself at Elric, he found himself rushing out the door, rolling around in a bush of catnip, more drunk than a sailor. He couldn’t recall what he’d been about to do.
Eventually he wandered back inside the cottage and plopped himself down on someone’s jacket on a chair. He heard beautiful voices singing eighties love ballads in the distance. The soothing melodies put him to sleep.
The sound of screaming woke him from his catnap.
CHAPTER FOUR
Creature of Habit
The shrieks of harpies and thunder of magic shook Lucifer from happy dreams of a tabby cat with orange fur—that was what Abigail looked like as a cat when Vega had used magic to transform her. Lucifer shook off the clinging wisps of dreams, disoriented. His heart convulsed in his chest at the roar of magic outside the cottage.
He leapt onto the bed in the corner to see out the window. Light flashed through a garland of flowers. Black feathers drifted through the air. Through the cacophony of noise, Lucifer heard Abigail scream.
He rushed to the door, but it was closed. He threw himself at it, but it wouldn’t open. He searched for another exit. The windows were closed. He pushed at the frame, but it wouldn’t budge. How he wished he had human hands and a man’s muscle. He clawed at the door, at the windowpane, at the walls, but nothing would work. Eventually the noise died down. Lucifer yowled to be let out of the cottage, but no one came.
It felt like an eternity before someone rushed in through the door. A man laid a woman covered in blood on the bed. The injured woman wasn’t Clarissa or his Abigail, and he didn’t know who the man was—other than that he was a Witchkin teacher from the school.
Lucifer darted out the open door. He sniffed the air for Abigail’s scent. The beautiful garlands of flowers Abigail had helped make were gone. Giant scars marred the earth. The area where the ceremony had taken place was a battleground of blood, feathers, and charred flowers. Magic tingled Lucifer’s nose, making it difficult to make out any one scent.
He prowled the grounds for a sign of Abigail. He didn’t see Felix or Clarissa. Lucifer meowed, his voice sounding small and pathetic. No one paid him any mind.
It took hours of searching before he found a hint of Abigail’s green magic laced with blood.
CHAPTER FIVE
Lost and Found
In the days that followed the battle, Lucifer was inconsolable. He ran around the school grounds, crazed with frustration, raking his claws against classroom furniture and lashing out when students neared. He didn’t know anyone, nor did he want to. He just wanted Abigail.
Stuck in the body of a cat, he was unable to ask what had happened. Nor could he find Clarissa. He was too restless to listen to any conversation for long. From the quantity of feathers, he knew the Raven Court had attacked. He wasn’t certain what Elric of the Silver Court had to do with anything, but when there was one Fae, there were always more. They were like cockroaches as far as Lucifer was concerned.
It was Imani Washington, Clarissa’s student, who found him and tamed him with her touch. She fed him, and she carried him with her everywhere. The familiarity of someone he knew calmed him. He remained hidden in her backpack during the day and cuddled up to her at night. He didn’t know anyone else besides a few of Clarissa’s other students who had stayed with Abigail during the winter break because these orphans had no families of their own. That was the kind of generous thing Abigail would do—invite wayward witches into her home and heart—just like she had with her own adopted children.
Lucifer liked Imani the most out of Clarissa’s students. She let him come and go as he pleased and was always friendly with him when he came back to her.
A few days later, Felix returned with Clarissa. Lucifer butted his head up against her leg to get her attention. He wanted her to tell him where Abigail was. She lifted him into her arms and wept. That only worried him further.
He wouldn’t usually have tolerated this much cuddling from Clarissa, but he needed the comforting as much as she did.
One of the problems with already having established himself as a nuisance and a cantankerous cat was that Clarissa shut him out of Felix’s private room after that. He had to listen at the door to overhear their conversations and dart into the room when Felix accidentally left the door open.
He hid under the bed and absorbed as much of their conversation—and sometimes their magic—as he could.
It was through her arguments with Felix that he understood Abigail was still alive and being held captive by the Raven Court.
“I need to help her. They might be hurting her,” Clarissa cried.
Lucifer was surprised how gentle his brother was with Clarissa as he held her and stroked her hair. “I told you she’s safe. She will remain safe until the end of the school year.”
Lucifer didn’t know much about the school calendar, but it seemed like that would be in the summer. It was already warm outside. They might only have weeks before the Raven Queen would do something bad, though Lucifer wasn’t sure why his brother was so certain she would wait.
“Maybe,” Clarissa said. “But you’re also a liar.”
That was true enough. Felix’s words didn’t put Lucifer at ease any more than they reassured Clarissa.
If Lucifer was going to help Abigail, he couldn’t do it in this useless form. He needed to be a man. If his brother wasn’t going to go to the Raven Court with Clarissa to save Abigail, Lucifer would.
After he was no longer a cat.
Lucifer refrained from coughing up hair balls into his brother’s pockets. He showed them he could behave.
Clarissa and Felix grudgingly allowed him to stay in their private quarters. For the most part, Lucifer stayed away from his brother. He tried to nuzzle up against Clarissa’s ankles so that she would notice him, but she wasn’t like Abigail. He always seemed to be getting in the way of her feet and making her trip. Much of the time she ignored him.
The only way he was able to fuel his affinity was by hiding under the bed as Felix and Clarissa made love. He wanted to cover his ears and pretend he didn’t know what was happening. He felt like a pervert, trying to use Abigail’s adopted daughter and his own brother for sex magic. It wasn’t like before when they’d accidentally exploded with electrical energy and he’d unwittingly used it to turn human—even if it had only been temporary. Felix was teaching Clarissa to harness her magic, and there was hardly any left for Lucifer to use to break his curse.
When Clarissa was alone—or when she thought she was alone—he snuck into her classroom as she channeled her Red affinity into magic spells to see Abiga
il. In her locked art room, away from her husband, she picked up a pencil and began to draw. Lucifer knew this wasn’t an ordinary drawing from the way her pupils shrank and her skin took on an incandescent pink quality. The air around her first smelled like rainbows and dreams but shifted to the perfume of plants he associated with Abigail. There was the fragrance of strawberries, orchids, and oak mingled into a bouquet that danced over his fur.
He sniffed at the air. There was the taste of Abigail coming from the sketchbook, but not just her earthy fragrance of pitch and springtime. There was blood on blackberry thorns and the danger of nightshade and oleander drifting in the air toward him. Lucifer jumped onto Clarissa’s desk. The sketch she’d made of Abigail was moving, plants shifting like a living cage around her. She was surrounded by grotesque Fae creatures that looked like they’d stepped out of someone’s nightmare. Some were thin and spindly like sickly trees, others knobby with exaggerated features and beady black eyes.
Several Fae creatures were so beautiful it made Lucifer’s eyes hurt to linger too long on their features. The Raven Queen was one such Fae. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders like rivers made of midnight, blending in with the feathers of her gown. Her eyes were ink black, yet seemed to glow with intensity. On top of her head she wore a crown made of spikey spires that resembled icicles.
The Raven Queen spoke from the drawing, her voice deep and dark as molasses, filled with bittersweet promises and thinly disguised venom. Lucifer had always thought Vega Bloodmire was a wicked witch. He had despised Baba Nata, the Witch of Nightmares, who had turned him into a cat. He had complained to Abigail that his brother was evil.
He’d had no idea until this moment what evil felt like as it slithered down his spine in the form of the Raven Queen’s voice.
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