by Sarina Dorie
“It’s so fortunate you have a Merlin-class Celestor you can call upon in times like this.” Vega’s lips curled upward. “Shall we discuss what you’re going to give me this time for my services?”
Lucifer couldn’t stand to hear her speak that way to Abigail, lording it over her how powerful she was and how lacking Abigail was when it came to magic. Abigail was good at plenty of other things.
“Why don’t you sit down and try a cookie?” Abigail’s smile was strained as she shoved the plate closer to Vega. “You can tell me if these are worth your time.”
Vega’s lips twitched in amusement. “I suppose you couldn’t wait until the full moon. You thought you’d lure me here, and while I’m here, you expect me to change you into a cat to have sex with your feline lover. How unimaginative.”
When Vega was being snotty like this, Lucifer truly wished he hadn’t copulated with her in the form of a cat. If he’d known she’d been human, he never would have done it, but they’d both been cats. And afterward, for a few brief minutes, the magic of sex—or sex magic—had transformed them both back into being human. It had been an accidental discovery that he could change back into a human at all.
For over a year, Vega had been “helping” Abigail try to turn him back. In exchange for an endless supply of baked goods, Vega Bloodmire had transformed Abigail into a cat at the full moon so that she could be with Lucifer and try to break his curse permanently.
Thus far they’d been unsuccessful.
He wondered whether Vega was only trying half-heartedly. After all, if she succeeded in solving Lucifer’s problems, he’d be a man, and Abigail wouldn’t need Vega’s assistance anymore. Vega’s source of organic, vegan baked goods would dry up.
Without the full use of her affinity, the herbs and spices Abigail ground into her baking could only do so much. At most, the cookies might put Vega in a slightly better mood. They wouldn’t be able to cast a spell over her or make her realize what a vain and shallow witch she was, or that she needed to stop jerking people around to entertain herself. Abigail wasn’t going to be able to convince Vega how serious this problem with the Raven Court was becoming.
Which was why Abigail needed him.
Lucifer would prove to Vega that Abigail’s concerns were warranted and the Raven Court was breaking the house’s wards. He pawed at the door to show he wanted to go outside. Abigail let him out into the rain.
He hated the cold and wet Oregon winters where they now dwelled, but he would do anything for Abigail. He dashed around the side of the house to the place Abigail had buried the birds. It was away from her garden and the compost, as if she feared what evil might sprout from seeds in the ravens’ bellies. Magic had lingered in the carrion. He had no doubt Vega would be able to detect it if she could be bothered to look for it.
All he needed to do was dig up the bird and bring it to Vega to examine. He would have to work quickly. He didn’t expect her to stay long. She needed to understand the seriousness of the threat Abigail faced.
A rustle in the shadows caught Lucifer’s attention. A black shape shifted under the bushes. That flutter of movement made his heartbeat speed up. He sniffed the air for magic, but all he could smell was the frigid shower drowning out any other scent. The prickle of rain against his skin was so cold he couldn’t tell whether he felt magic.
Lucifer darted under the shrubs and prowled closer. His eyes caught the shape of a raven clawing at the earth where the most recent bird had been buried. Its head bobbed down and pecked at something. The raven tore away a strip of meat from the unearthed remains of its comrade.
Disgusting. Those ravens were as bad as vultures.
Any other bird would have taken shelter in the rain. A normal bird that wasn’t nocturnal like an owl would have been in its nest resting. Lucifer had to trust this was no ordinary bird.
If he was wrong, and he brought Vega Bloodmire an ordinary raven, it would only reinforce her opinion that Abigail worried over nothing, and Lucifer was useless at detecting magic. As it was, he couldn’t detect magic at the moment.
Lucifer stalked toward the raven. The thrill of the hunt rushed over him. Thoughts of Vega and Abigail slipped away. He forgot he had ever been human as he crawled forward. The rush of hunger and the desire to crush something small and helpless washed over Lucifer.
He froze, realizing he was thinking like a cat. He didn’t want to crush something small and helpless. He wasn’t a murderer or a monster. The reason he needed to kill this bird was because it was evil. It would hurt Abigail or report her to a Fae queen who would harm her.
The humanity in him fought to retain control, but he couldn’t reason like a human and succeed in this task if he was to kill his enemy. He lunged and pounced, the bird not even seeing him.
* * *
Lucifer clawed at the door to the kitchen, hoping Vega was still there. He’d been so distracted making his kill, he had been oblivious to anything else. It was unlikely he would have noticed her go. The door creaked open, a warm glow of light washing over him. Abigail stood in the doorway, her human eyes blindly searching the darkness. He couldn’t see Vega in the room, but he smelled her perfume.
He dropped the bird and meowed.
“Lucy?” Abigail opened the door wider.
He spotted Vega, a mug of tea and a plate of crumbs in front of her. He nudged the bird forward.
Abigail placed a hand on her heart. “Is that what I think it is?”
He meowed again and bowed his head.
“Vega, come here.” Abigail’s voice was a hoarse whisper. “Lucy caught another.”
Lucifer hoped it was a bird from the Raven Court. He needed Vega to understand how vulnerable Abigail was, how she needed protection. Perhaps he should have brought one of the other birds, the ones he knew for certain were from the Raven Court.
Vega sauntered over, her expression bored. She yanked the door out of Abigail’s hand and crouched to examine the bird. He butted his head against the raven to push it across the threshold. Droplets of blood puddled onto the floor, smearing across the pale tile.
“That’s the fourth one in a week.” Abigail wrapped her arms around herself, looking like a lost child.
It was closer to the fourth in ten days, but Lucifer wouldn’t have corrected her if he could have. He wanted Vega to take this seriously.
Vega grabbed the spatula Abigail had used earlier on the cookies and prodded the bird into the light of the kitchen. Abigail shrank back, her gaze shifting from the bird to the spatula that she probably wouldn’t use again.
Lucifer darted into the kitchen and sat down before the bird. Water dripped from his fur onto the floor. He sat tall and regal, feigning indifference as he waited for the verdict.
“Well, this is an impressive kill. This bird has to be the size of a hawk.” Vega nodded to Lucifer. “Your pet killed this just now?”
The sinuous wave of his tail belied his eagerness.
Abigail skirted around the bird to close the door. “It’s from the Raven Court, isn’t it?”
“It is.” Vega stood. “They wouldn’t be here without a reason. What have you done?”
“Me?” Abigail flinched.
“Or your familiar.” Vega waved the spatula at him airily.
Abigail clenched her fists. “We haven’t done anything.”
“Yet the Raven Court is here, spying on you. Not Clarissa, daughter of the most dangerous witch of all time. Little old you.” Vega’s eyes narrowed.
Lucifer licked his paw, not even looking at her. He demonstrated he could be just as snooty as she was. He sauntered over to Abigail and rubbed himself against her leg to show her he was there for her.
Abigail snatched a dishtowel from the hook on the wall and crouched to sop the rain from his fur. He liked it when she rubbed him with a towel and dried him.
Vega pointed at a photograph of a fifteen-year-old Clarissa on the wall, her hair as red as Abigail’s in the days
before she’d started dying it hot pink. “Certainly, we could conclude this is all Clarissa’s fault. Most things are. But she isn’t here. So what does the Raven Court want with you?”
Abigail stroked the water from Lucifer’s fur, the gesture seeming to calm her as much as it calmed him. “They might be waiting for her here so they can snatch her away.”
“True, but they can’t take Witchkin from the Morty Realm against their will unless that individual has broken the law and used magic. So either they’re here to ensure she messes up and uses magic so they can have her or. . . .” Vega’s arched eyebrow lifted in challenge. “Or they’re waiting for you to mess up so they can snatch you.”
“I don’t have magic. How would I break their laws?” Abigail straightened.
“You tell me.” Vega strode around Abigail, sneering down at her. “Are you sure you don’t have magic? Perhaps just sometimes?”
Lucifer watched Vega with the same predatory instincts he’d used as he’d observed the birds earlier. He hoped she hadn’t figured out how his magic or Clarissa’s could affect a person and bring out other Witchkin’s magic. It was dangerous for other witches and Fae to know what he was and how they could use him. If Vega understood Lucifer’s passive magic brought out Abigail’s own, she might steal Lucifer to turn him into her own familiar, not so different from how Baba Nata, the Witch of Nightmares, had kept him around to increase her powers. Vega might use this information to increase her own powers by pretending to befriend Clarissa to keep her close.
Or Vega might sell Clarissa out to the highest bidder. Lucifer’s back arched. He hissed at Vega.
She didn’t deign to look at him. “Perhaps this is just an act, you being Clarissa’s caring fairy godmother? Maybe you’ve been working with the Raven Court all along.”
Lucifer didn’t love Clarissa, not like he adored Abigail. But he knew Abigail loved her adopted daughter as though she were her own. He understood why she stiffened, Vega’s insult as palpable as a slap.
“I would never work with the Fae.” Abigail’s eyes narrowed. “And I would never do anything that would hurt my child.”
Vega placed a hand on the beaded waist of her gown, a smirk on her lips. “Maybe the true reason those spies are here is to make sure you help them tempt Clarissa into using magic so they can snatch her.”
“How dare you.” Abigail’s voice held an ominous warning.
From the gleam in Vega’s eyes, Lucifer could see this was a game to her. He didn’t understand why she wanted to provoke Abigail, only that she did. He placed himself between the two women, trying to nudge Abigail back from the powerful witch.
“What did they promise you?” Vega’s eyes flashed like a cat’s tracking her prey. “Did the Raven Queen come to you herself? Did she say she’d be able to restore your magic? Just so you know, she can’t. You were drained. By electricity. Nothing can save any Witchkin drained by that. Is it worth selling out your daughter for so little?”
Abigail’s voice rose. “Think about what you’re saying. Why would I write you to help me protect my home from the Raven Court if I work for them?”
“Maybe someone bit off more than she could chew.” Vega nudged the bird with the point of her shoe and cast a contemptuous glance at Lucifer—as if she could say the same thing about him.
He extended his claws in warning and then retracted them. He wasn’t going to fall prey to Vega’s antagonism.
“Get out of my house,” Abigail said.
Lucifer pawed at Abigail’s jeans, trying to tell her arguing wouldn’t help. For whatever reason, Vega was baiting her. She needed to get Vega to erect better wards. They needed a powerful witch as an ally, not an enemy. More than ever, he wished he had arms to hold her back. He wished he had a voice to warn her.
Vega didn’t budge. “You want me to leave.” She lifted her chin. “Make me.”
“I will.” Abigail’s voice wasn’t her own. It was the scrape of twigs against trees in the wind.
Lucifer had a bad feeling about this.
CHAPTER THREE
Witch-Off
The perfume of herbs and oak pitch grew stronger in the kitchen. Vega had just provoked the magic out of Abigail. Lucifer didn’t know what the consequences would be.
Abigail’s eyes blazed greener, fury smoldering in them. Her hair looked redder, and the dust motes around her caught the kitchen light, shimmering like glitter. The windowsill herb garden quivered as Amni Plandai magic radiated from Abigail. Basil and oregano leaned toward her.
Lucifer hadn’t seen plants react this strongly to Abigail in years. They responded to her as her familiars, sensing her stress, and wanting to aid her. It was a fraction of what she used to be able to do, but it was impressive she managed this much.
Vega pointed to the plants. “Ha! There! Do you see it? You do have magic.” Her grin was triumphant.
Abigail’s anger melted into fear as she took in the plants in the windowsill stretching toward her. Lucifer understood Vega’s game now. She’d made Abigail angry to see if she could get a magical response out of her.
It had worked.
“There’s your answer.” Vega crossed her arms, somehow making the gesture graceful, even with the spatula still in her hand. “The Raven Court spies have suspected you still have inklings of magic. They’ll use that against you.”
Abigail swallowed. “It was an accident.”
“How old are you? Fifty, right? You sound like one of my fifteen-year-old students, ‘Wah-wah. It isn’t fair. I didn’t mean to use magic and break the law.’ I think you’ve met enough Fae to know an accident isn’t going to stop them. You’re going to have to learn to control yourself. Either that, or you’re going to have to stop petting your blasted cat so much.”
Lucifer was cuddled against Abigail’s ankles to try to comfort her. Abruptly he stopped, realizing his proximity was going to draw out more of her magic. He retreated a few paces.
His affinity had always drawn out Abigail’s, making her plant affinity stronger. It had been inconvenient in the Faerie Realm when they’d been teens and both learning to control their magics. He hadn’t been able to kiss her without his passive magic making vines tangle around them and trap them against the forest floor. The only way he’d been able to free them was by breaking the vines that had sprouted from Abigail’s flesh, hurting her with every twig he snapped.
It had been impossible for them to be together, and yet, he hadn’t stopped loving her. Not then as a teenager, and not now as a cat.
“I won’t be able to keep trying to turn him back into a human. That’s what’s causing my magic to grow again, isn’t it?” Tears filled Abigail’s eyes. “Because I touch him.”
Lucifer hissed. He didn’t want her to admit so much to this woman. Abigail might have found Vega’s culinary requests to be flattering rather than seeing it for the extortion it was, but he knew better. They couldn’t trust Vega with the secrets of his affinity.
They couldn’t trust anyone.
Vega shrugged. “Probably. You see the real problem now. It isn’t about the Raven Court spying on you to learn all your naughty little secrets. The true problem is that you aren’t being careful when you’re around plants—which reacts to your affinity—and that calls to the Raven Court so that they take note of your magic. You’re welcome.” Vega eyed the clock on wall. “Now I should be on my way. One can only keep a gorgeous date waiting for so long before trying his patience.” Vega laid the spatula on the table and picked up a package of cookies wrapped in aluminum foil.
Abigail swiped the spatula smeared with Fae blood off her table, crinkling her nose up at it. “How am I supposed to break Lucy’s curse? If I stop turning into a cat to see if I can break his curse, he’ll be stuck this way forever.”
Vega strode over the dead bird, toward the door. “It was a long shot to begin with. Nothing you’ve tried has succeeded in breaking Lucifer’s curse yet. It would be in your best interest to
give it a rest—especially if it’s going to draw out your magic. You aren’t skilled enough to make proper wards for yourself.”
Lucifer’s heart clenched. Vega’s words shattered any hope that remained in him that he might return to his human form someday.
She was right, of course. Abigail couldn’t risk endangering herself for him. If she had stayed in the Faerie Realm and completed her training with her mentor, Baba Nata, perhaps Abigail might have developed the skills necessary to construct better wards. If she hadn’t lost her powers, she would be able to do more than infuse blessings into meals and help plants to grow.
But neither of those were possible now. Baba hadn’t wanted Abigail as an apprentice after Lucifer’s affinity had accidentally drained her. And Lucifer hadn’t wanted to apprentice for Baba if he couldn’t be with Abigail. He’d known his mentor would punish him for leaving her service early; he just hadn’t known the hedge witch would turn him into a cat.
For thirty long years.
“I can’t give up on him. He’s everything to me.” Abigail clasped the spatula, her knuckles bone white. “There has to be a way to turn him back into a man.”
“Not my problem.” Vega exited out the back door without looking back.
Lucifer darted out into the rain after her. He didn’t understand why she had to act so heartless. It wasn’t so much that he despised her cool aloofness toward him and his problems. It was that she had to be so cruel to Abigail. Once a month when Vega arrived to transform Abigail, it had been the one sliver of hope Abigail had been granted in all these years. Abigail had seemed so happy having a purpose, telling him how useful she felt baking cookies and making pudding as payment for Vega’s services.
And now Vega had dashed Abigail’s hopes to splinters. He wanted to sink his teeth into her ankles and bite her. He didn’t care if she did have magic. Instincts took over. He dashed between her legs, nearly succeeding in tripping her.
Vega stumbled in her heels. She aimed a kick at him and missed. “Try that again, and I’ll make you regret it.”