The Cat in the Lighthouse (A Mystic Cove Witches Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Lilly Graves

  “Okay…” She fluffs some hair over her earring and we clasp hands.

  In the meantime, Sebastian slinks out to the hall from behind her. “What’s new?” he asks. “You smell like you’ve been dragged through the Underworld and back.”

  I sniff my shoulder, still holding my aunt’s hands. I knew it! Julian smelled nice and fresh, when I did not. “Just go somewhere other than in my vicinity, right now.”

  “Gladly!” As he bounds downstairs, he calls back, “The air is so much clearer down here! I can breathe!”

  Rolling my eyes, I focus back on the intended moment. “Julian was holding me yesterday, and I didn’t turn back to a cat. I don’t know why.”

  My aunt squeezes my hands harder in excitement. “Oooh, what do you mean he was holding you? You two finally embraced? Did lips meet? I must know.”

  Just then the magical buzzing starts up, tingling behind my ears. “I feel it. I’m going to shift.”

  In the next moment, I’m a slinky black cat in a pile of silk pajamas. “It worked!”

  Aunt Nova looks down at me. “Yes, it worked. Now tell me what you and Julian were up to last night! I’m dying!”

  Aunt Willow exits her bedroom, having overheard us. She’s holding a cup of tea in an orange mug. “He was carrying her up to her bed.”

  “Nooo waaaay. Where was I?”

  “Getting your beauty sleep, of course. You didn’t even hear the doorbell ring.” She takes a sip of her steaming beverage.

  “Drats, I missed it. So, you two got pretty close yesterday.” Nova winks at me.

  I sigh, stepping all the way out of the clothing. “No. He had to carry me. I was too weak to walk home. He found me out at the lighthouse.”

  “Oh, well, I’m no psychic, but I still have a feeling about you two. Tomorrow night is The Harvest Moon Festival. Maybe you can ask him to be your date.”

  “He’s not interested in me that way. You two can stop trying to play matchmaker with us. We’re strictly corresponding because of business.” I look away. “Which reminds me, I need to follow up with Julian to see if he’s arrested Henry yet.”

  My aunts follow me down the stairs. “Who’s Henry?”

  A few steps away, I leap down to the bottom floor. My body feels completely rebounded, especially as a feline. I go over to the temporary home office set behind the sofa. “I need to call Julian, please.”

  The landline is set up on the mahogany desk, and I’m staring at it intently.

  “Why don’t you just use your compact I got you?” Aunt Nova asks.

  “I can do that?”

  “Of course, it works like any other phone. It’s not just for us to get in touch.” She pulls hers out of her dress pocket. “Call Julian Pierce of Mystic Cove.”

  It starts ringing. She sets it open on the desk and I jump to a spot next to it.

  Julian’s face appears out of a sparkling blue fog. “Hello?”

  “Uh, hi, Julian. It’s me.”

  “I can see.” He smirks.

  “Did you get Henry? Is he in your custody?”

  “I did find Henry. We had a very long chat last night back at the station. His story checks out. He’s not the murderer.”

  “Wait? What?!” I hiss.

  He scratches his jawline. “You had a good idea, but it’s not him.”

  “But he’s a crazy treasure hunter who could have been out for my mom’s blood for getting too close to it herself. And he had the torture chair from Shady Pines. So how do you explain all of that?”

  “Shady Pines had a Curb Alert posted on Craigslist. They were getting rid of some old furniture. Shady Pines confirmed it with me.”

  “A Curb Alert? For a torture chair?”

  “Some people like creepy things.” He shrugs.

  “It’s true” Aunt Nova murmurs to Aunt Willow. “Have you seen some of the couches that are posted on there?”

  My silky back arches in disappointment. “So, I’m back to the drawing board, if you’re sure it’s not him.”

  “I’m sure. There were also traces of magic left behind at Maggie’s murder. Henry is in no way magical.”

  “That’s what you thought of a suspect in our last case, but it turned out they had an 8th of magical genes.”

  “Yeah, you got me there. But the energy I felt at the crime scene was strong enough that I should have felt it coming off of him, if he were the killer. It was from a level of a full-blooded witch.”

  It’s all so convincing. There can be no mistaking things. Not even I, someone without Julian’s paranormal detecting abilities, could believe that Henry is a magical being. He has too much of an inferiority complex hiding under his false ego to have descended from magical ancestors.

  Clearing his throat first, he goes on. “I was thinking, tomorrow night, we should go to the moon festival together tonight.”

  A restrained squeal erupts behind me. “He’s asking her,” Aunt Nova whispers.

  My heart pounds in my little furry chest. “I don’t think I have anything to wear.” Why that’s what just blurted out of my mouth, I have no idea. But I’m elated. Julian is asking me out on a date! I’ve never even seen him on a date with someone. He picked me!

  “Some good shoes, something warm. Bring an umbrella so you don’t get soaked this time. The Moon Festival can bring out the crazies. I’m sure our man will be there tonight. We’ll keep our eyes open for odd behavior.”

  Now I see what he’s getting at. “Oh, of course. Like hiking boots and a parka. A big umbrella. Not a formal dress and purse, shoes to match. That’s ridiculous. Big umbrella.”

  “You got it.” He picks up some papers off a desk. “Hey, I’ve got to go, but I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at seven.”

  “Don’t be late,” I tease.

  “I never am.” He hangs up without saying goodbye.

  I turn away from the compact that goes blank, mirroring my feline face. There’s my family, including Sebastian, standing there, three in a row, cringing on my behalf.

  “I’m so sorry,” Aunt Willow says, coming over and petting me.

  Aunt Nova puts on a pity smile. “It’s all right. Use any opportunity you can around a man to dazzle him. I’ll find you the prettiest parka there is!”

  “Don’t forget the matching big umbrella,” Sebastian teases.

  I touch my forehead with my paw. Geez, I sounded like a super dork. I get it.

  The rest of the day I spend recouping energy, taking it easy. I enjoy a tuna sandwich and milk for lunch and at dinnertime, Aunt Willow pulls out a meatloaf from the oven. It’s a good rest day.

  Still, I’m antsy over the fact that I didn’t actually solve the case. The true murderer is still out there. I go to bed dreaming of tomorrow night. In a perfect world, I would actually solve the case.

  Chapter 22

  It’s the night of Mystic Cove’s 100th Harvest Moon Festival. You can bet this will have the biggest draw out of any in the past. As I get ready for the evening, I try my hand at makeup for the first time ever. The red lipstick goes brilliant with my black pixie hairdo, and it’s easy enough to put on. When it comes to lining my eyes, I’m a total mess. Cats don’t ever have to worry about nonsense like this. Our eyes are naturally lined in black.

  I surrender to Nova’s beauty abilities, who is way too happy to do the honors. Sitting me at her vanity’s furry white stool, she claps. “I know, I should give your eyes little black wings.”

  “Yes, so they can fly way like bats,” the white and gray Manx says, sitting on an antique chair, watching us.

  “No…” Nova opens a thing of black liquid liner, and dabs some off on the edge. “So she can hypnotize Julian with her dazzlers.”

  When I look over at Sebastian, he appears worried. “Who told you cats can hypnotize?”

  “It’s just an expression,” Aunt Nova says.

  Her familiar immediately relaxes in relief. “Oh, never mind.”

  My aunt takes my chin and lift my face to look at closer
, before starting the process of making me dazzle. “I appreciate you doing this for me, but I have no intentions of wooing Julian. Like I said, we’re strictly business.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she replies in a disbelieving tone and applies the liner to my lids.

  When my makeup is all finished, Aunt Nova urges me to check myself out in the vanity mirror. I turn around and am quite impressed. My lips and eyes are to die for. “I’m really happy with it.” I smile.

  “Oh, good! I was hoping you’d be!”

  Bursting into the bedroom is Aunt Willow with a box wrapped in shiny green and yellow paper, a big bow with a little frog pattern on it adorning the top. “The best is yet to come!” she announces in her raspy sweet voice. “This is for you, Chloe! For the last few days, I’ve been secretly working on it. I can’t wait to see what you think!”

  “Oh, I know what it is,” her sister says, lifting her shoulders in girlish delight.

  When I open the box, I dig through loads of tissue paper to find none other than a cat-ear headband made of black velvet. I smile wide and giggle. “This is so cute!”

  “Keep digging.” She waves. “There’s more.”

  Next, I pull out a long matching snake. I look up, confused.

  “That’s your tail! I got the velvet from the fabric store. What do you think?”

  I stand up and throw my arms around Willow. “Thank you so much! It will be perfect!”

  It’s tradition for festival vendors, and guests alike, to dress up like fantasy witches for the evening, some even sporting fake warts on their nose. I put on the headband and my aunts help fashion the tail to the top of my black jeans. Looking at the results, my eyes lined very catlike, and sporting the new headband and tail, I’m beaming.

  “Now where’s my hug too?” Nova teases.

  “Oh, yes. Thank you, too!” I hug her. “I couldn’t be happier.” Over her shoulder I spot Sebastian, and suddenly worry for him. That’s what I do, apparently, when I get more attention than him for once. I oddly feel for the dude, who demands attention most of the time.

  As if he can sense what I’m thinking, he says, “Don’t you worry about me. I have the perfect costume for the evening.”

  By seven o’clock, we’re all ready to go. My family doesn’t want to leave until they see Julian picking me up. So, when he rings the doorbell, he’s greeted by two flamboyantly-dressed witches: one in a shiny green wig and poofed out skirt (Willow) and the other wearing fairy wings and a tutu (Nova). Both have doused glitter on each other a little too much. Sir Sebastian Meow-Meow is wearing a pointy purple hat with a long gray beard that matches his fur. He’s proud to be Merlin, a wise old wizard.

  “Hi ladies…” Julian looks down at Sebastian standing front and center. “And gentleman.”

  “Is Chloe here?”

  I’ve been standing off to the side, in the living room. I do as Nova has advised, leaving my jacket on the coat rack for first impressions. “I’m here.” I approach my non-date.

  In his usual black dress shirt and pants, he’s not wearing a costume of any kind. Like I said, all business. One side of his mouth turns up at the sight of me. “I like it. Going as both sides of yourself tonight.”

  “Yes.” Nervously, I go grab my shiny parka, the hood rimmed in black fur. I can’t forget my dumb umbrella hanging from a rack too.

  In his car, on the way, I break the ice by saying, “You didn’t dress up.”

  “I never dress up.”

  I narrow my eyes at the handsome warlock and smile. “Do you ever just have fun, Detective?”

  His brow furrows and he looks at me for a split second before focusing back on the road. “I have fun.”

  “Like what? What’s the last thing you’ve done that was just fun, not business?”

  “My job is fun.”

  “That doesn’t count. It’s work, and like you said to me before, it’s centered around the dark side of life.”

  “Hey, I can say the same about you.” He shrugs. “Ever since I met you, you’ve been all about solving cases.”

  I guess that’s true. I sit in thought, peering out at the dark cloud-filled sky. We haven’t even known each other that long, and all it’s been is a whirlwind of high-adrenaline events surrounding murders.

  This spurs a question. “Why are you wanting me to come with you tonight, if you were so mad at me for being involved to begin with?”

  “It’s not that I was mad. The criminal world is dangerous. You’ve gotten deep into this case already. It’s best that we stick together now, work together.”

  “So, who do you think could be the murderer, then?”

  “Sylvester Moon.” He doesn’t miss a beat.

  “It’s not Sylvester.” I lightly chuckle.

  We turn down Wildes. It’s dark tonight, closed signs on every storefront. The public is parking at the end of the strip in rows. We turn down an alleyway instead.

  “The only way for us to know for sure, is if we can track him down tonight and meet with him.”

  “To interrogate him?”

  “More importantly, to find out if his magical essence matches the strength of the traces left at Maggie’s crime scene.”

  “Sy didn’t come from a magical family,” I inform.

  We park in a reserved spot in the back alley for The Mystic Cove Mirror. Julian takes off his seatbelt and turns to me. “Chloe, I know his secret.”

  “You what?” I blink. “How?”

  “After studying his police file, I got suspicious. The behaviors that landed him in Shady Pines to begin with are on par with a wolf shifter. I spoke with the administration down at the facility and they shared with me all of his files, going back more than twenty years.”

  My jaw drops in response.

  “You know about him too.”

  I pause. This is kind of bowling me over right now. “Yes, I do know of his secret. I’m just surprised you do too.”

  “When were you planning on telling me, Chloe? Why withhold information like this that could solve your mother’s case?”

  I shake my head and drop it into the palm of my hands for a second. All of the things my aunts told me about him being a longtime boyfriend and charming guy. The vision I had down at the lighthouse with him, where he tells Raven he loves her. The way he hated his condition, the beast within. How he didn’t want to hurt me, when he could have.

  “There was a moment when I thought he was the one. He did it. But, after all, I guess I just couldn’t fathom him as the killer.”

  Julian nods. “You saw him as a friend. As your mother’s love of her life.”

  I can feel my expression drop further. “Am I just a fool? The romantic side of me swept me up into believing he’s a good man just because my mother loved him?”

  “It’s okay, Chloe. Don’t be too hard on yourself. This is best, if he thinks of you as a friend of sorts, a confidant. Then, if he sees you tonight, he won’t run.”

  “He might run if he sees you!”

  “We’ve never met. There’d be no reason for him to suspect anything.”

  I blow out a long, drawn-out breath. Julian had a plan all along, of course. I should have known. We weren’t just going to be bumbling around the festival in hopes of seeing something strange. We’re on the look-out for Sylvester Moon. “All right, I’ll help. If this will solve the case…”

  We head on foot to the cove, me in my jacket and glumly swaying my closed umbrella at my side. A good detective wouldn’t let their feelings get in the way of a case. Julian is a good detective. I’m just a wannabe. If I would have told Julian about Sy to begin with, then Maggie wouldn’t have been killed. I feel repulsed, like part of that murder was my fault. I let a killer free.

  All that’s left is for me to do my best to find the werewolf at the festival. If he’s even coming tonight….

  Chapter 23

  This morning, shops started setting up down at the beach, away from the shoreline, against the tall cliffs. Other vendors have come i
nto town as well, selling things like cotton candy and strawberry-covered funnel cakes. One ride, a Ferris wheel, is set up on a flat concrete structure, ready for it to come every single year.

  Down at the beach, festivities are bustling. The smell of kettle corn and incense is in the air. Children are running around in their costumes. True little witches are playing with their wands, doing harmless antics with their magic, like turning their wands into sparklers like on the Fourth of July.

  I see my family amidst the crowd, walking together. The Mystic Cove Mirror has a stand with a banner and table set up, free newspapers lining it. Nova’s Mystique Boutique is never in the vendor line-up. She enjoys experiencing the night without working.

  Julian and I don’t talk much as we walk around the festival. My costume suddenly feels silly. I came into tonight lightheartedly, and with some stupid girlish hope that the warlock might be dazzled by my lips or eyes. How off course I was.

  Passing Marney’s Moon Pies set up. She’s manning the stand alone and I’d wave if she wasn’t busy fulfilling orders.

  As the night draws on, hope is fading. There’s no sign of Sy. I start to wonder if he totally beat it out of town.

  But there’s still one place we haven’t checked. Up top of the lighthouse.

  When we arrive at the abandoned structure, the first thing to catch our attention is that the doorknob has been busted. Of course, I have Henry’s key.

  “Let’s go in and up the stairs,” Julian suggests. “But wait for me to first clear the area. Just in case, we don’t want to startle a madman in the dark.”

  The lighthouse is far enough from the crowd of festival-goers that nobody would pay attention to us. I agree with Julian, waiting outside. My nerves make me tap my foot. I just want to see how all of this ends. Will Sy get arrested? Will the streets be safe again? There's still that little part of my heart that wishes it wasn’t Sy. That doesn’t want to believe it’s him, but I do my best to ignore that.

  I’ve got to be rational like Julian. More logical.

  After a couple of minutes, he waves me in with instructions. “You go up ahead of me. He knows and trusts you. I’ll be right there as your backup.”