My eyes narrow. “Yeah, I’m gonna believe some nameless, evil guy.”
“Would my credibility improve if I said my name was Levi?”
“Could be a lie.”
“But it isn’t.”
I grit my teeth, so angry I could scream. Maybe he’s telling the truth, but I really don’t need to be reminded by a freaking stranger that I don’t know what’s going on. I am well aware of that already. “Look, if you’re not going to kill me or help me, then get the hell out of here. I already have enough to deal with.”
“I could help you.” Levi puts his hands in his pockets, seeming almost like a normal boy. He looks at me, hope in his eyes. “If you help me.”
I scoff. “Nice try. That work on the last girl you terrorized?”
He smirks. “Yes, actually.”
The bell rings, and the classroom doors burst open. I freeze when Kat and Winn emerge from the physics room. They immediately spot my horrible new acquaintance, who frowns when he sees them. I run to Winn and wrap my arms around his neck.
“You!” Winn’s glare is ice, and he holds me tightly.
Levi appraises Winn carefully, as if he should know him somehow, and then lets out a laugh. “Interesting boyfriend you have here, Josephine. What’s his lineage? There’s something . . . off about it.”
Winn’s eyebrows raise, and I think I sense fear. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you better stop stalking her before I call the cops.”
“Cops?” Levi turns to me, like we’re in on some kind of joke. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”
I ball my fists before the magic spills out again. It barely works, and Levi seems to notice because he takes a step back, as if he’s honestly afraid of what I’ll do to him. He should be. “That would be my cue to leave,” he says.
“Wait!” Winn calls, but Levi keeps going. Winn turns back to me. “Are you okay? He didn’t try anything, did he?”
“No, I’m fine.” I snuggle into him, wishing this were the last day of school so I could never leave Willow’s End again. “Why can’t some guys take a freaking hint?”
“I don’t know.” Winn visibly relaxes, probably thinking Levi was trying to hit on me.
“What is with the full-frontal hug?” Gwen says when she appears from around the corner with Adam.
“Some creeper was hitting on Jo,” Kat says.
Gwen laughs. “Hate to break it to you, Winn, but you’re gonna have to get used to that. If you haven’t noticed, she keeps getting prettier.”
“No kidding.” Winn finally lets me go, but only enough so that we don’t look like we’re mauling each other in public.
“I have the same problem with you, so it’s even,” I say, though my mind is reeling from who I just met. Nana and I theorizing that male magic users existed was scary enough, but Levi made it all too real.
Girls hitting on Winn—I wish that were the only thing I had to worry about right now.
“Nana!” I yell the second I get home.
“Here!” Maggie calls from the dining room.
I drop my bag, wondering what they’re doing in there. We never use that space—only the kitchen table. Everything in the dining room is original to the house, as pristine as it was when Agatha moved in. The table is dark cherry, each leg carved with hemlock flowers, small like baby’s breath but deadly. The fancy cupboard matches the table and contains fine china with gold-plated edges. And if that’s not elegant enough, the chandelier is stunning, with its draping flower crystals.
Nana and Maggie peer out from behind the thick velvet curtains. “Josephine,” Nana says. “We have a visitor.”
My heart sinks, envisioning something terrible, like Levi standing at the gate. If he got through our defenses we’re doomed. “Who?”
“More like what,” Maggie says.
I join them at the window. The front lawn of the house under the bridge is the same as always, shady and overgrown. I haven’t been out there since my dad showed up, and I ache to walk through the damp grass barefoot, searching for snakes and salamanders. “What are we looking at?”
“Under the ivy by the gate,” Nana says.
I squint at the shadows. There—two glowing eyes. “A cat!”
Nana nods. “Our first clue to where Anastacia might be.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Cats and witches have always gone together, and for good reason. Felines possess the same ability to hold darkness, but on a smaller scale. Most witches have at least two or three, which they use for various purposes. Cats are beloved companions to us, as faithful as dogs but much smarter. I’ve always, always wanted one, and seeing this cat’s eyes makes me long to keep it here forever.
But Nana’s violently allergic.
One strand of cat hair will make her entire face swell up. When she was born, Great-Grandmother Geraldine had to say good-bye to four beautiful Russian Blues. We still have a picture of them on the mantel.
“Once you discover why it has come,” Nana says, “get back inside, shower, and then tell me what we’ve learned, both from the feline and that horrid young man you met.”
“Of course.”
I grab a frog eye from the apothecary and head back to change the front door to the black one. I savor the brass knob’s grimy feel, excited to open it. It lets out a positively gleeful groan, and the world outside crashes into me, all power and shadows and age.
Unlocking the gate, I click my tongue and hold out my hand. The cat emerges from the bush immediately. It’s a pretty thing, sleek and sandy in color. It saunters over like we have all the time in the world. I don’t mind—I’m just excited to hold it.
It hops into my lap, and I run my hand over its silky soft fur. “What’s your name, pretty cat?”
“I am Rose,” she says in a delightfully rich voice. “I am here to deliver a message from my master to Dorothea Hemlock.”
“Who is your master?”
“Sylvia Black.” Rose’s purr tickles my fingertips as I scratch under her chin. “She has heard that you are looking for her daughter.”
My heart skips with hope. “Dorothea is allergic to cats, but I’m her granddaughter, Josephine. Are you authorized to give your message to me?”
Rose nods. “My master knows not of Anastacia’s whereabouts since she is traveling. But if you would like to visit Sylvia, she is willing to attempt contact with Anastacia for you. Her house is in Georgia, on an old plantation called Blossom Ridge.”
“Well, that’s something. Thank you, Rose.”
“You are very welcome.”
I scratch behind her ears, and she purrs. “Do you need anything before you leave? Milk? Food?”
Her ears perk up. “Milk would be lovely, but I can find my own meals.”
I reluctantly put her down and crack the door. “Maggie! Grab a bowl of milk, will you?”
“Sure thing!” When Maggie brings it out, she smiles gleefully at the cat. “Oh! You are so pretty. It’s weird to be in a house without cats. I don’t know how Jo survives.”
I fold my arms. “I don’t. It’s horrible not having them around. I miss them, and I haven’t ever had one.”
“It is a shame,” Rose says. Then she sticks her face in the bowl, lapping up the milk. Maggie pets her as she drinks, this longing expression on her face. I wonder if I look the same.
After we take a few more turns petting Rose, I force myself to stand. “We need to get back to work.”
Maggie frowns, but frees Rose from her hug. “Come back if you can.”
The cat licks her paws. “Thank you for the milk.” Then she runs through the gate and disappears behind the ivy.
As I climb the stairs for my shower, I hear Nana ordering Dad to vacuum the entire front hall and all the way up to the second floor in case we tracked in cat hair. I wouldn’t be surprised if she made him clean the walls, too.