“We can’t always run straight to Nocturna. There are other ways of solving things,” my cat groused. One of his sharp teeth protruded over his bottom lip, giving him an irritated yet comical appearance.
“So says the guy who has a certain Tom cat looking to take him down,” Luna teased. One thing I’d learned quickly while hanging around these two was that cats’ love lives were even more complicated than humans’. First they’d broken up to pursue their magic, then they’d become sworn enemies, had a big showdown, got back together suddenly, and now kittens were on the way. Merlin had also upset a few of Luna’s other suitors who believed she’d made the wrong choice. One had even challenged Merlin to a magical duel, which the Maine Coon had foolishly accepted.
Returning to Nocturna meant risking Merlin’s magic, because if he fought and lost, he’d have to spend forever without it. Unfortunately, Luna and I couldn’t enter Nocturna without Merlin since he was the only active witch. And if he lost his magic, not only would we be permanently locked out of the city, but we’d also be sitting ducks on this side of the cauldron. Whatever supernatural entity was after us now might not stop pursuing us if we lost our only source of magic, even though we’d be completely helpless without it.
And that’s what made this whole thing so frustrating. Our zombie master was literally manipulating life and death. I preferred to remain among the living, thank you very much.
I wrung my hands as I glanced from one cat to the other.“If not Nocturna, then where do we start? Do we try to capture one of the zombies and ask it what it knows?”
Virginia drifted closer to me, and I flapped my hand as if she were a foul smell I could send floating in the other direction.
She simply laughed and moved in even closer.“You only bested me out of stupid luck. Don’t expect to get so lucky again. There’s no way someone as ill-equipped as you—all three of you—could possibly take out a master of the undead. Soon I won’t be the only ghost around here, mark my words.”
Luna raised her hackles and swiped at the air.“Go away, you nuisance! The only weak one here is you. You signed your own death warrant when you decided to betray me in your quest for power. And you have no one to blame but yourself, and possibly that awful illusion witch.”
Merlin nodded thoughtfully, but I could tell something had distracted him.“We can capture a zombie, yes, but there’s no point in keeping it alive—erm, animated. They aren’t intelligent enough to do anything more than go after their mark. They’re disposable. The perfect henchmen, because they won’t get distracted and they won’t betray their maker.”
“You really think you stand a chance, don’t you?” Virginia laughed even louder.
Merlin spun to face her, anger glowing in his green eyes.“Quiet, or I’ll eat you, too!”
Virginia opened her mouth to say something, but Merlin continued to glare at her with all the hostility he could muster, which just so happened to be quite a lot.
She sighed and floated toward the edge of the room. She stayed near enough to keep spying, but at least she’d removed herself from the active conversation.
“Do we think this could be Dash?” I asked the two cats. “It seemed like a pretty sure thing she’d be coming back to challenge us again. Is that what’s happening here?”
“It’s as good a guess as any, dear,” Luna agreed before licking her paw and rubbing it over her forehead.
“She could be anywhere, though,” I pointed out. “She could look like anyone or anything. How will we know when we’ve found her?” Dash’s ability to manipulate others’ perception is what had allowed her to get so close to us the first time around.
“We won’t know,” Merlin said stonily. “At least not at first. But I’m pretty sure she wants us alive. At least long enough for her to carry out whatever plans she has for us. I say we let her capture us, and then take it from there.”
“Darling,” Luna gasped, stomping her front paw down on the ground and drawing a startled expression from both of us. “That’s incredibly dangerous! Think of the kittens!”
“I am thinking of the kittens, which is why I need you to stay here.” Merlin licked Luna’s forehead and then marched over to the door and waited, all the while wagging his tail impatiently.
“C’mon, Gracie,” he called in a voice that brooked no argument. “The sooner we get this started, the sooner we can finish it, once and for all.”
I didn’t want to put myself into the middle of their argument, but we didn’t have a better plan for sussing out our zombie wrangler and I couldn’t bear to stand by and do nothing while we waited for him or her to strike again.
I sighed and offered Luna an apologetic glance as I slipped my feet into a pair of shoes, grabbed my keys, and followed Merlin outside.
“Let’s go catch ourselves a bad guy,” I said once I’d securely closed the door behind us.
“Actually,” Merlin said with a smug grin. “We’re going to let a bad guy catch us, instead.”
I nodded and followed my cat down the street with no idea whether our slapdash plan would work at all.
5
I strolled down the street, trying to appear casual despite the giant housecat walking determinedly at my side.
“What should I be doing?” I mumbled to Merlin when I was sure nobody was looking our way.
“Act… natural,” he said through a closed mouth.
We turned the corner and found old Mrs. Harkness watering her begonias with a pleasant smile on her face.
“Good morning, Grace!” she chimed. “And good morning to your furry little companion there, too.”
I waggled my fingers in a wave and put on my best smile.“Yes, it’s a great morning!” I called back.
“I saidact natural,”Merlin hissed from below.
“What’s that, sugar?” Mrs. Harkness responded with a furrowed brow as she shut off the hose and blinked into the sun.
“Oh, j-j-just admiring the natural beauty of the day!” I said, quickening my pace before she could figure out who’d really spoken.
I waited until we were an entire block away before speaking again.“That was too close.” I kneeled down to stroke Merlin’s head and kept my voice low. Hopefully any passers-by would just think I was cooing over my pet. “You shouldn’t talk while we’re outside. Anyone could be listening.”
Merlin winked at me, and I straightened back to a standing position, ready to continue on our way.
But then Merlin let out a terrible yowl and kicked up his back feet in distress.
I reached down to pet him, but he swatted at my hand.“LU! NA!” he half shouted, half meowed.
I glanced down the block, and sure enough, I spotted a tiny white blur on the horizon. I don’t think I’d ever seen Luna move so fast, but I also had no doubts it was her, especially given Merlin’s unhappy reaction.
When she caught up with us, she plopped her butt on the ground right in front of Merlin.
“I told you to stay home!” he seethed.
“And I told you I’m not sitting this one out,” she shot back in a raspy whisper.
“And I told you we need to avoid talking while we’re outside where anyone could hear.”
“You didn’t tell me that, dear,” Luna pouted. “See, I’m already missing things. I refuse to be written out of our adventures just because I’m about to become a mom. We work best as a team. You need me.”
“Okay, but seriously, stop talking while we’re in public!” I hissed as a beat-up minivan rolled past us. The driver gawked at me like I was some kind of crazy person, and he was absolutely right.
Once he passed, Luna let out a high-pitched meow and rubbed her face against my hand—to signal her agreement, I supposed. Well, at least one of them saw things my way. And Luna was right, too. She’d been an integral part of our adventures so far, and we wouldn’t have escaped either alive without her help.