"This is for your own safety," Mallory whispered into the carrier. Then to me, "You owe me for this one, Sis."
"I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of coming with me." I shot her a look as I dug some cash out of my straw bag and handed it to the driver. "Thank you."
She grumbled something about hating funerals as she slid out of the cab without the carrier. I grabbed Lucky, wrestled the carrier out of the seat and met her at the front doors. "There's not even a dead body. She's already been cremated. It's just a ceremony."
A guy in a gray silk suit opened the door for us and smiled politely. "Welcome."
"Hi, we're here for the Rose Faraday memorial," I said, squashing the irritation I had with Mallory.
"Certainly, just follow the hallway out..." he stopped and bent over to stare into the cage.
"Is that a cat?"
"Yes," I said, shifting Lucky to the other hand.
"Well." He straightened up slowly, glancing behind him. "It's very unorthodox to bring a cat to a funeral service. I don't think I can allow it."
I could tell he wasn't sure what to do with me. By his tight frown, I knew I was going to have to do some persuading. "Oh, it's okay." I put on my brightest smile. "This is... I mean, was... Rose Faraday's cat, Lady Luck. Rose contacted me and asked me to please bring her today to give the poor thing closure. She's been very upset. The cat, not Rose, obviously. Not eating, crying all the time. She won't even walk on the floor." I lowered the carrier, hoping he wouldn't see Lucky's robust figure.
"Miss Faraday... contacted you?" His face contorted in confusion. "I don't understand."
"Mmhm. Came to me in a dream last night. You know she was a psychic, right?" I moved in closer to him so I could whisper. "Psychics can do that when they pass, you know. Get a message to someone."
"I see." He glanced at Mallory and I had to give her credit. She nodded solemnly, though I could tell from her pinked cheeks she was about to bust.
"Well, I suppose since the ceremony is outdoors." He was still staring at me suspiciously. "Just make sure the cat stays in the cage. We don't want any accidents in the Cremation Garden."
"Of course." I nodded. "Thank you for your understanding. And the Cremation Garden would be?"
"Follow the hallway through the double doors then follow the stone path, stay to the right at the fork."
"Thank you." We hurried down the hall, through the assault of elevator music and an overactive Glade plug in.
Mallory snorted as we hit the stone path. "Ha, I can't believe you lied to the man like that, Sis. I'm so proud of you."
I switched Lucky's carrier to the other arm. For a ball of fur, he was heavy. "Yeah, well. It was for a good cause." I should have taken off my sweater. The October sun had already melted the slight chill from the morning air.
"Cause you're trying to pawn Lucky off on some poor unsuspecting relative?"
I smiled back at her. "Exactly."
The path led us around the edge of a more traditional cemetery with its gray stones and statues, toward a lake where folding chairs sat under a temporary polyester canopy, waiting for occupants. We detoured into the grass and slid into the back row of the chairs. A few people sat quietly in the front row, a few were peppered throughout the other seats and a tall man in a black suit stood beside a table with a china urn resting on top of it. He was engaged in conversation with another man in a black cowboy hat.
"Not many people here," Mallory whispered. "That lady up front with the black feather in her hair looks like a cat person."
"Yeah." I frowned. It was kind of sad Rose didn't have more friends. That would make it more difficult to find out who might have wanted to cause her harm, too. "Maybe we should sit closer so we can chat with her. Come on."
I slid out of the seat and moved down the center aisle, between the chairs. I was almost at the row behind the feather lady when the tall man beside the table suddenly turned his head and met my eyes. A chill ran down my spine and I stopped in my tracks. Mallory ran into my back.
"Hey! What'd you stop for?" she complained. Then I felt her peer over my shoulder. "Oh."
The man's eyes were large black almonds and I could feel his stare like a physical force holding me. He touched the cowboy's arm and then moved toward us without breaking eye contact. Within a few smooth steps, he stood in front of me holding out his hand. I took it and held his gaze, trying to act nonchalant even though my insides were humming. I could feel Mallory pressing up against my back.
His hand was dry and warm. No, more than warm, exuding heat. The crisp black suit jacket seemed to barely contain his chest and arms as they bulged against it. The muscles in his thick neck and chiseled jaw were taut. An aura of power rolled off of him in waves, making me a bit dizzy with fear. It was like coming face to face with an unpredictable, wild animal.
"Zach Faraday." His full lips curved into a smile, though it didn't reach those dark eyes. "And you are?"
"Nobody." I cleared my throat, pulling my hand from his. He reluctantly let go. "I mean, nobody important. Um, Darwin Winters." Good heavens, get your thoughts together Darwin. "This is my sister, Mallory." It didn't go unnoticed by me that my usually chatty, nosey sister was staying silent.
He nodded at Mallory. "How did you know my mother?"
My mouth opened and closed a few times. "Oh... Rose is... was your mother?"
"Yes."
"Well, we didn't know her personally. We found her cat, Lady Luck." I held up the carrier and peeked in. Lucky was staring at Zach with wide eyes and ears flattened down on her head. A hiss escaped her. I quickly lowered the carrier again. "We thought maybe Rose had a relative that would like to adopt her. I'm sure your mother would have preferred Lucky to be with someone she knew."
Zach smiled slightly. "Well, unfortunately, I'm her only surviving relative and," he glanced down at the carrier, "I'm allergic to cats. But, a few of the ladies she played bridge with are here. You could talk to them about adopting Lucky."
Why did Lucky dislike Rose's son so much? "Oh, okay. We'll do that after the service, thanks." I wanted to move, wanted to be released from his presence but I felt like I needed permission. "I'm very sorry for your loss," I added.
"Thank you." He nodded, turned as if to go, then stopped and turned back to me. Leaning in close to my ear, he chuckled deeply. "I know what you are." With that, he made his way back to the podium and placed his hands on the urn, his head bowed.
I forced my jelly legs to carry me into a chair and plopped down with Lucky's carrier on my lap. Mallory slid next to me and grabbed my arm.
"What in hell's bells was that? What did he say to you?"
I could tell from her breathlessness that she was as shaken as I was. "He said I know what you are." I watched Mallory's freckles pop out as her face paled. She stared at me, emotions churning in her green eyes—confusion, fear, then anger.
"Impossible. And anyway, so what if he does?" She turned her gaze on him as he began to speak. I felt her shiver. "There's something about him, though. I sensed fire. But, he's not one of us." She shook her head. "Impossible."
Apparently, not all that impossible. The question was, what was he?
"Hi, I want to thank you all for coming here today to celebrate my mother's life and to say goodbye to an amazing woman." He continued his speech and never once glanced our way again.
As I began to recover from our encounter, questions formed.
What exactly did he think I was? A psychic like his mother? Did he inherit his mother's psychic ability, if she truly had any? But most importantly, why was I so sure that he was powerful... and dangerous? If I could have, I would have hightailed it out of there right then. But, I was here to find Lucky a home. We'd just have to stay until we could talk to Rose's bridge friends.
It seemed everyone present wanted their turn at the podium. I was suddenly glad she didn't have more friends. The last speaker, feather lady—Vera Groves—was apparently Rose's bridge partner and a big fan of
being in the spotlight. Small as it was.
When she was finally finished with her dramatic, teary speech, Zach thanked her and held his hands out to us all.
"My mother chose a niche bench as her final corporal resting place. If you follow me, I'll show you where it is located so you can visit with her at your convenience." He led the small knot of people toward the lake and under a heavy shade tree. A pair of ducks waddled away from us and slid smoothly into the water. Our small crowd gathered around as Zach slid the urn in a hollowed out part of the pedestal. "Rest in peace, Mother."
After a few moments of silence, Mallory nudged me. Vera Groves and two other women had strayed away from the group. We hurried to catch up with them. The carrier slowed me down a bit, but they still weren't hard to catch.
"Ms. Groves?" I called, waving my arm.
They all turned to me, faces drawn. "Yes?" Vera Groves asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Hi, my name's Darwin. I own Darwin's Pet Boutique on Beach Drive, and my sister and I found Rose's cat, Lucky." I lifted the carrier and peeked in. Good, Lucky had her ears up and her eyes halfway closed. Uninterested. Better than freaked out. "To make a long story short, we were hoping that someone close to Rose would adopt Lucky. We think that Rose would have preferred this, rather than Lucky living with strangers."
The women glanced at each other and then at Vera. She was smiling kindly, wiping at her nose with a Kleenex. "Oh, that's a good idea. She loved that cat. Hello, Lucky." She bent over and smiled at the cat. "I'm afraid I can't take her though. I have two dogs that would think I brought them home a new chew toy." She glanced at the other ladies. "Jilly? What about you?"
The frail blonde smiled. "No, sorry. My husband forbade me any more pets after Buddy passed. He wants to travel without any strings."
My heart sank. This wasn't looking good. We all stared at the last woman.
"Oh." She shook her head. "Can't have pets in my condo."
"Okay, I understand. Sorry for your loss, ladies."
I sighed as we watched them walk away. "No luck for Lucky."
"Can we go now?" Mallory stood behind me, looking uncomfortable. I turned to see Zach standing alone, his hands shoved in his pockets, staring back at us.
"Yep," I said, backing away. "Let's go."
CHAPTER TEN
I awoke Monday morning with Lucky sleeping on my head like a Russian hat and a slight nagging in my gut from my encounter with Zach Faraday. What a strange man. Shaking it off, I pulled my head out from under Lucky's curled up body and watched her slide down the pillow without waking up. I checked my phone and shut off the alarm. Sure, 5:23 a.m. is a reasonable time to be awake.
"What happened to sleeping with Mallory?" I grumbled at the cat. Then, I felt bad and stroked her ear. I should be grateful she was no longer shunning me. And she would have actually had to climb the stairs herself. That was a good sign.
After a torturously cold shower to speed up the wake-up process, I towel-dried my hair, threw on a silk robe and padded down the stairs, where I found Mallory sitting in the still-dark living room, practicing with a row of candles.
"Hey, what are you doing up so early?" My voice disturbed the silence and startled Mallory. She jumped.
The candles all roared to life at once. "Couldn't sleep."
Now I knew why Lucky ended up in my bed. "Any particular reason?"
"Mm." She shrugged, her eyes never leaving the dancing flames. The middle one stretched up higher and higher, licking the air as if searching for something to consume. "Had a bad dream."
I walked over to stand in front of her. She wouldn't meet my eyes. With her hair all piled on top her head, and wearing pink pajamas with butterflies, she looked much younger than her eighteen years. I felt deeply protective of her and had an urge to wrap my arms around her like I used to when she was little and would sneak into my room after a nightmare. "Want to talk about it?"
"No. Not really."
Lucky had made her way downstairs in stealth mode and used the chairs, bar and then end table to reach the back of the sofa. Okay, maybe not so much progress. Could cats get post traumatic stress syndrome? The flower essence wasn't helping her recover from her encounter with the rattlesnake. I'm sure she missed Rose, too. Maybe it was time to try something a bit more powerful. I thought about the chalice Mallory had brought to me. Did I really want to open that can of worms here?
I watched Lucky curl up on the sofa between Mallory and a throw pillow.
Feeling helpless, I decided to back off. "Okay. I'm going to make some tea. Want some?"
"Sure."
I paused and watched her for a moment as she grew each flame in turn, connecting the energy within her that was in tune with the sympathetic resonance of the fire. She made it seem effortless and a part of me yearned to stretch my own wings and practice.
"Hey, Mal?"
A tired sigh escaped her. "Yeah?"
I shifted my feet. "Have you ever dreamed about Father?"
She finally glanced up at me. Her eyes were puffy. They held a touch of surprise. We never talked about our father. She nodded. "Once, on my thirteenth birthday and then..." she looked away and the middle candle flame rose as the others went out."Then again on the night you left us." She glanced back up at me. "You?"
I hugged my arms around my body and nodded. "Recently, when I was—" I stopped. Telling her I had been in the hospital after being mowed down by a car on purpose would not make her feel better about me leaving Savannah. "When I was really sick. Only, it didn't really seem like a dream. It seemed more like a visit." I smiled. "Except for the weird lady and wolf next to him and the fact that he was under water."
"Really?" Mallory slid back into the sofa and turned her body toward me. "That's how it felt to me, too. In fact, we had this whole conversation and yes, he was under water." She shrugged. "No wolf, though. Or weird lady."
This shocked me. "What did you talk about?"
"Well, this last dream... or visit, whatever it was, I was so upset that you left and he kept telling me everything changes and I had to understand that. He also told me that I had to be strong because you would need me soon and I would know when the right time was to come to you."
I stared at my little sister, trying to piece together this new information. Our father told her in a dream I would need her? "So, that's why you came here?"
"Yes," she confessed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." Her eyes were pleading with me not to be angry. "I told Mom about the dream when I felt it was time for me to come here. That's why she let me. That's also why I don't know when I'm going back. I can't go back until whatever you need me for happens."
A chill moved through my body. Was I in real danger?
"Mom took the dream seriously, then?"
"Yes."
"Interesting." Did our father know I was going to be in danger somehow? Does that mean he is watching us from... wherever he is? Or, it could have been just a dream. But deep inside I knew it was more than that. I didn't know what to say. I needed to do something normal. "I'll get that tea now," I whispered.
I leaned against the stove for support and waited for the kettle to whistle. So many emotions were moving in and out. I tried to just let them flow, feel them and then release them, but the frustration was not cooperating. I moved here to be normal. To have normal friends, a normal quiet life. But, here was my old life and my crazy, absentee father sticking his nose into my new world. No, I wouldn't let that happen. I had to think.
If it was true that I was in danger then it probably came from me trying to solve Rose's murder. I would just have to do that quickly and then Mallory wouldn't worry about me and she could go home.
When I finally returned to the living room with a new resolve and two steaming tea cups, Mallory had her arms crossed, staring at me. Lucky had moved to the back of the sofa and was pulling at Mallory's hair tie. Mallory seemed too focused on being annoyed with me to notice.
"You know, maybe the reason I was sent her
e to help you is because you won't help yourself. Don't think I haven't noticed that you're not practicing at all. Are you completely shunning everything that Grandma Winters taught you? Everything that our family is about? Father may not be around but he did give us these gifts. The magick is part of our heritage."
According to Mom and Grandma Winters. I still wasn't completely clear on the whole nature of what our father was and what we were. It all seemed like a bad fairytale.
"Mallory, that's not fair. We're human, too. Why can't I just embrace that part of our family?" I put down the cups and fell on the sofa next to her, the frustration reaching new heights. "Will you just try to understand my point of view, please? We were never given a choice growing up if we wanted to be normal or not. But now, I feel like I do have a choice. I have a fresh start. I can be normal here in St. Pete and that's all I want. Plenty of people live without magick and do just fine. They have friends, hobbies, completely full lives without feeling the need to manipulate nature to get what they want." I saw Mallory's eyes widen and then narrow, but it was too late. I couldn't stop myself. "How do you even know we're supposed to have these gifts? How do we know that those people calling us witches weren't right? Maybe father isn't... maybe these gifts aren't from a good place. Maybe they are—"
"From the devil?" Mallory almost choked on the words, the same ones that people had spit at us growing up, tears springing to her eyes. I immediately wished I hadn't said anything. Too late. "Oh, that's rich, Darwin. Wow." She yanked at her hair tie and her hair tumbled around her shoulders like soft flames. Lucky mewed. Mallory threw the hair tie onto the adjacent love seat and Lucky leaped over the end table to retrieve it.
"No, I didn't say that." I took a shuddering breath. I felt her sense of betrayal blowing through me as waves of heat. Tears were blurring my own vision. I didn't really know what I was saying. I hadn't allowed myself to face my doubts before, to really examine the reason I wanted to leave that side of our family legacy behind. But, I couldn't do it right now either, not under the assault of Mallory's emotional storm. It was too painful. Outside the French doors, the sky growing lighter. "We'll talk about this later. I have to get ready to open the boutique." I stood on shaky legs and went upstairs, feeling drained and sad.
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