Drake flew through the door just as Kelley was pouring the last shot into a little paper cup.“Sorry I’m late!”
“Actually you’re five minutes early,” Kelley said as she handed him a shot.
Drake jerked his head toward the door.“Should I go back out and come in a little later?”
“Oh, stop.” Kelley hit his chest playfully, and I watched as standoffish, sarcastic Drake blushed. He actually blushed! Perhaps there was hope for these two, after all.
“A toast!” I said, raising my own paper cup in the air.
“To Harold’s. Long may his legacy live!” Kelley cheered.
“To Kelley. Long may she overlook my tardiness!” Drake countered.
“To all things pumpkin spice,” I added.
The newbies shouted a combination of“Cheers!” and “Hear, hear!”
And then we all took down our shots of espresso.
“Ah, hot, hot, hot!” I cried.
“That went straight up my sinuses,” Drake whined.
The others just laughed and laughed.
Yup, we were ready to slay.
20
I dragged myself home at the end of my double shift, reeking of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. As much as my feet ached and my back twinged, I couldn’t be happier. Kelley had truly risen to the occasion, and I loved seeing the way her face lit up as she basked in the success of a job well done.
I was happy, but now very ready to unwind.
Thank goodness the power outage last night had been the result of a sudden electrical overload and not permanent wire damage. A quick trip to my house’s fuse box had restored power. The hole in the roof, on the other hand, would be much more difficult to fix.
I tried not to worry about it as I popped a TV dinner in the microwave, then settled on the couch and scrolled through Netflix. After my hard day of work, I deserved to indulge in the sleaziest, most over-the-top reality series I could find. I settled on one of their original series that asked people to get engaged before ever meeting face-to-face. This would be trashy television gold.
And, yeah, it was interesting right away. I could hardly tear my eyes from the screen when the microwave dinged, alerting me that my slimmed down version of mac and cheese was ready for consumption.
So transfixed I was by the ridiculousness playing out on screen that I accidentally stumbled over one of the cats on my way to the kitchen.
Luna mewled and ran to my bedroom for cover.
“How dare you!” Merlin boomed, marching straight up to me from wherever he’d been.
“I’m sorry, Luna! It was an accident!” I called after the retreating feline.
Then I turned toward Merlin.“Don’t lecture me when you put a hole in our roof just last night! I called a fix-it company for a rough quote while I was on break, and they want more than I make in a month! So I hope you’ve learned your lesson about summoning the elements inside our house.”
“Don’t start a family. Don’t summon lighting. You have so many rules!” the giant fluff of a cat spat.
I scoffed at him.“They’re very reasonable rules.”
“I think you’re forgetting who’s in charge here. I’m the witch.”
“And I’m the homeowner,” I exploded. I seriously didn’t have one drop of energy left to deal with his nonsense today. “I’m also the one who pays all the bills. And I’ve just had a very long, tiring day at work, so don’t push me!”
“You’re lucky you’re not a cat, or I’d challenge you to a duel right here and right now.” He stamped his little kitty foot in rage, but it didn’t scare me either.
“Merlin! Gracie!” Luna cried. “Enough!”
We both looked to her and grimaced.
“It was an accident, and I’m fine.” As she approached I noticed something different about the way she moved. Oh, I really hoped I hadn’t hurt her too badly with my careless mistake. “But you two have both been way too tense lately. Remember, we are all on the same side.”
Merlin moaned.“But she—”
“But nothing. We’re all dealing with a lot right now, and the last thing we need is to start turning on each other. You’re both stressed, and I understand. I think you need a bit of space to cool off from each other.”
“I’m sorry, Luna. You’re right. I’m just really stressed about the ghost and the warning I can’t make heads or tails of, and the hole in the roof, and—”
“I know you are, dear. I would fix the hole for you if I could, and I would have been able to, if I still had my magic. Never matter, Merlin will travel to Nocturna at the first available moment and find a garden witch who can assist with the repairs.”
“But Tom Cat!” Merlin argued. “If he sees me, he’ll challenge me again. I could die, Luna. Die!”
“Then you’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t see you,” she coaxed. “Now I want the two of you to make up this instant.”
“I’m sorry, Merlin,” I said, casting my eyes to the floor. Luna was good at the whole disappointed parent thing. She’d make a great mother one day when she and Merlin were officially ready to start their family.
Luna walked over to Merlin and nudged him with her paw.“Now you.”
“Sorry, Gracie,” he muttered while also rolling his eyes.
Luna nodded, missing that last gesture.“Now, Gracie, why don’t you get back to your show? Merlin, let’s go on a date. It may be our last chance before the children are born.”
“What?” I exploded.
“Run, my love, run!” Merlin cried as they both launched themselves at the cat door.
Well, that was one more huge thing to worry about. Perhaps I should stop assuming that life would settle down and get back to normal. Chaos was the new normal. And soon kittens!
For today, however, I let the melodramatic reality show soothe my anxieties somewhat as I chowed down on my soggy cheese noodles.
And I didn’t even make it to the end of the first episode before I drifted off on the couch.
21
I awoke sometime later, confused at first as to where I was. Then I spotted the message from Netflix on my TV screen:Are you still watching?
I switched off the television with its remote, then sat up and stretched my arms overhead. I needed to move myself into bed, but I was still so, so sleepy.
Just as I was about to force myself to stand, I heard a series of clicks and scratches coming from across the living room.What the heck?
I tiptoed over to take a look and saw the silhouette of a cat in the window. My cat.
“Merlin, what are you doing out there?” I cried, racing to open the window.
But before I could make it across the room, a bright green light burst forth from the wall and blocked my path.
“Harold?” I squeaked, even though there was no mistaking the figure before me.
“So we meet again,” a ghostly Virginia drawled. Unlike Harold, she was much more than an amorphous glowing orb. Her face was fully formed in a perfect replica of how she had looked in life—except now she was green and semi-transparent. She was also missing most of her body. In fact, her figure ended slightly below the armpits, giving her a bust-like appearance.
Virginia charged at me and gnashed her teeth.
I dodged out of the way just in time.“Get out of here, and leave us alone,” I shouted, running for the hallway.
Virginia followed, cackling as if she were a witch and not a ghost. Maybe she was a witch now, too. She was certainly glowing green with magic, which put me at a double disadvantage. I couldn’t wield any power of my own, and I had zero idea how to kill a ghost.Wonderful.
I groped about in the corner of the hallway until I found the ceramic frog with the potion pooled within its open maw. As soon as I got a firm grip on it, I spun and thrust it toward my assailant.
“Take that!” I shouted, proud of my quick thinking despite the fog of fatigue that enveloped me.