I shuddered and yelled at her not to do that again.
“Or what?” the ghost asked so silently I had to strain to hear.
“Well, you are already grounded,” I said with a laugh. “Give me time, though, I’ll think of something.”
Both cats laughed with me as Virginia disappeared into another part of the house.
“She hates it, and we love it,” Merlin answered with bright eyes.
Luna seemed less amused despite her earlier laughter.“I still feel somewhat responsible for this all.”
“You can’t control the evil within someone else,” I said, running my fingers over her smooth white fur. “And besides, now your children will know much more about ghosts than you ever did. That’s a good thing, right?”
“I suppose,” she said with a sigh and leaned into my touch.
“Never mind about that.” Merlin stood and arched his back in a deep stretch. “We have a surprise for you.”
I raised one eyebrow.“Oh?”
“Right this way, if you’ll please.”
Both cats hopped off the table and trotted down the hall to my bedroom. They stopped before entering, though.
“Look up,” Merlin said with wide, eager eyes.
I looked up and saw nothing—or at least nothing that wasn’t supposed to be there. And the sight of that plain, boring white ceiling made my heart leap with joy.
“You fixed it!” I cried, stooping down to pet both cats in thanks. “How? I thought you needed to go to Nocturna to find someone?”
“As much as I’d like to take credit, it was all Luna,” Merlin announced with pride. “Tell her, Luna.”
The she-cat looked embarrassed by her good deed.“Well, you know how we’ve been going to my garden so much lately?”
“I do.”
“I figured if there were other garden witches nearby, they would have similarly well-stocked gardens.” She paused, and Merlin picked up where his partner left off.
“We spent all day teleporting to various neighborhoods around the state until at last we found what we were looking for two towns over. A place called Beech Grove. There we met a magical human of all things! The garden was his, but he introduced us to a cat he knew named Mr. Fluffikins.”
“And Mr. Fluffikins came with us and fixed the roof with just a swish of his tail. Can you believe it?” Luna cried. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this Fluffikins had left quite the impression on her.
Merlin didn’t seem the least bit jealous, though, and I admired how secure their relationship had become after its rough start.
“I can’t believe you went through all that for me. Thank you.”
“Well, it was Merlin’s fault, but now he knows better than to summon lightning indoors. Right, dear?” Luna glared at him.
Merlin’s head drooped toward his chest. “Yes, dear.”
“I appreciate you making it up to me, thank you.” I gave them each another pat on the head before rising back to my feet.
“Oh, that’s not him making it up to you,” Luna said in a stern voice, directed more at Merlin than at me. “That’s just setting things right. Merlin has another surprise for you as part of his apology, though.”
Merlin took a deep breath.“I thought a lot about our talk the other day, and how important it is to you that Luna and I embrace human customs while living in the human world…” His words drifted off, leaving me confused. What was he getting at?
Luna nudged him with the side of her paw.“Well, go ahead. No need to dilly-dally.”
The Maine Coon raised his head and regarded me with glowing green eyes.“And as such, Luna and I have decided to get married. Officially. Before the kittens come.”
I clapped my hands together in excitement.“You guys, that’s great! I’m so happy for—”
“And you will plan it for us,” Luna gushed. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
My smile faltered for a moment.“Uh, you guys don’t have to do all this on my account.” Especially if you expect me to do all the work, I added silently. I’d never planned a human wedding before, let alone a cat wedding. Where did one even begin?
“Think nothing of it, dear. We want to do this for you,” Luna assured me. She really had no idea.
“Thanks,” I said, trying so hard to keep some form of a smile plastered on my face. “When is the happy day?”
“This weekend!” they both cried in unison.
Oh, boy.
30
And so one adventure came to a close while many others loomed large on the horizon. I had a cat wedding to plan post-haste, a litter of kittens on the way in less than two months, a ghostly roommate I now needed to work hard at avoiding for the rest of my mortal existence, and the big bad was still out there.
I had no doubt we’d see Dash again, especially given Harold’s eerie warning about sown seeds and dangerous fruit. Still, we had no idea how to find her, which meant we’d have to wait for her to come to us.
In the meanwhile, Merlin and I would just have to work to become as strong as possible so that we’d be ready when she returned. Thanks to Virginia’s drain, I’d lost a good portion of the magic I’d accumulated since becoming Merlin’s familiar. Luckily, my witchy cat was able to patch me up just fine. I had also started taking on magic faster the more and more time we spent together.
Everything would be fine. I had to believe that, or I would most assuredly go crazy.
The one thing that bothered me most about everything we’d just gone through, however, wasn’t the near-death experience at the hands of an enemy I thought had been killed once and for all. It was the fact that my current coworker and former admirer Drake now knew about me and my cats—and who knows what else?
He had special abilities that none of us did, and he took them all in stride. The ghost hadn’t weirded him out or broken his cool. He’d treated it like everything else in his life, somewhat interesting but mostly just… normal.
I longed to ask him what he was, but I figured he’d have no problem telling me if he actually knew himself.
He definitely knew what I was, though. And he often tried to talk to me about that night’s events when we found ourselves alone at work.
Let me tell you, the tabletops at Harold’s had never looked shinier, thanks to all the good polishes I gave them whenever I needed an excuse to avoid him.
For now, Drake was taking care to speak to me only when we were guaranteed privacy, but what if he started blabbing to others? Would I be held responsible by magical law enforcement and forced to pay for this exposure?
Merlin and Luna had said I was in the clear since Virginia was the one who exposed herself to him, but I still felt sick about him knowing.
I trusted him with my safety, but my secrets?
Not a chance.
I had a feeling I’d need to make some very difficult choices soon in order to protect him, my magical family, and myself.
And with a sweet, innocent litter of nieces and nephews on the way, I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes…
2.5. LUNA THE MAGICKLESS FLUFF
1
My name is Gracie Springs. I’m a part-time barista and full-time familiar to my magical Maine Coon Merlin.
Yes, as it turns out, magic isvery real. Although around my small South Georgia town of Elderberry Heights, it’s wielded by cats far more than people.
In fact, my main job as Merlin’s right-hand gal is to serve as a vessel for his magical overflow. I can’t do anything with it myself, but when I’m around, he’s much more powerful. That’s a good thing, because he’s got a handful of enemies, any of whom would love to take me down right along with him.
We’ve also made some fantastic friends during our time together. Most notably, Luna, a gorgeous white cat and former witch. She gave up her magical powers to save Merlin and me from almost certain death. Of course, she retains her knowledge of all things magic, but can’t actually perform any on her own. She and Merlin are crazy in love and even expecting a litter of kittens together!