“I’m very angry with you,” Merlin said to his wife after licking a few errant drops of water from his lips.
Her tail shot straight up, then arched forward at a sharp angle.“Don’t be. I’m fine.”
Merlin’s tail immediately rearranged itself into the same position. “I said it would be dangerous and that you should stay back, but you refused to listen. Look what happened! You could have been hurt. One of the kittens could have been hurt!”
“I’m not a delicate flower, and I’m not a child,” Luna hissed as she stood ramrod straight, refusing to budge.
“Oh, you think—”
“Enough!” I cut in. “We’re all on the same side here. If we fight among ourselves, we don’t stand a chance. As it is, we have no idea what we’re doing. Let’s not make this even harder than it already is.”
Luna relaxed her stance and dipped her head apologetically.“You’re right, dear. Of course, you’re right.”
Even though Merlin was technically my boss, I decided to take charge of the situation. It was the only way we’d make any progress at all. “Merlin, I know you just want to keep your family safe, but you have to let Luna decide for herself what that entails. You know she wouldn’t knowingly put herself or the kittens in danger. She’s smart and strong, and we need her help if she’s willing to give it.”
Neither cat said anything, but at least they didn’t argue with my hasty decree.
After a few moments of tense silence, I went on.“Okay, our first plan wasn’t exactly a success, so I think it’s time to make a new one. I know you’recatsona non grata in Nocturna, Merlin, but I really think that’s where we ought to go next. I mean, we think our zombie master may be Dash, and we know Dash is interested in our bloodlines.”
“We already met with the blood witch. We know exactly what we are and how we’re connected.” Merlin still stood in an awkward stance, though he had lowered his tail to a less hostile position.
When I shook my head to disagree, his tail shot back up into that mean forward hook.
I sighed. Why did everything have to be a battle for dominance? I just wanted to figure out this zombie thing before we were attacked again. If we could avoid that, I’d be one happy lady.
Still, I proceeded carefully.“Clearly there’s something more that we’re missing. I think we should go back and see if we can find out what that is.”
Luna stretched out her back legs as she moved toward me.“And before you say anything, I’m coming, too.”
“Neither of you can go if I refuse to take you there,” Merlin pointed out with a half-hearted snarl. He’d already begun to deflate again.
“Then it’s a good thing you’re not refusing,” I said with a cheeky grin.
“What about Tom and his cronies?” Merlin asked. “They’re probably still looking for me so we can finish our duel.”
More than a month had passed since that run-in, but I knew very well that cats could hold grudges for longer that.“Can’t you use magic to change your appearance?” I suggested with a shrug.
“I’m a sky witch, and you know that. Illusions are out of my wheelhouse.” He yawned and fell over onto his side dramatically.
“I can give you a makeover if you want?”
“Hard pass.” Merlin jumped up and stalked down the hall.
“Where are you going?” I called after him.
“The portal to Nocturna doesn’t open until sundown. I’m taking a nap,” came his mumbled reply.
Luna yawned.“That sounds like a good idea,” she said before heading through the cat flap and to her favorite spot in the rear garden.
That just left me, alone in the kitchen.
Maybe I could pound out some work on my master’s thesis, make something of this day yet.
“I see you’re still alive and well. How awful for me,” a ghostly Virginia droned as she phased through the wall and came to hover before me.
Yeah, no. I was not dealing with her if I could avoid it.
I grabbed my keys and left the house in a hurry.
I had no idea where I was going, but hopefully I could at least get a few hours of peace and quiet before diving even deeper into this zombie adventure of ours.
11
My life was in a sad state, considering the only place I could think to go was my place of work, Harold’s House of Coffee. No, I was not scheduled that day. Yes, my social life had probably hit rock bottom.
In truth, I hadn’t taken the time to get to know many people since relocating to Elderberry Heights. All my family was back home in Michigan, other than Grandma Grace who’d moved to the Florida Keys. I’d left my friends back in my old college town, and all my new neighbors had a good forty years on me.
My boss Kelley had become a good friend over the last couple months, though. I’d supported her through her father’s death and the resulting murder investigation and stayed by her side as she rebranded Harold’s House of Coffee to serve all pumpkin spice lattes all the time.
She was also dating Drake, which made her the perfect person to mine for some info about him and the nighttime troubles Mr. Fluffikins had spoken of.
As far as I knew, Kelley was one-hundred percent certified human. But I’d assumed that Drake had been, too.
Who even knew anymore?
“Hey, girl. What can I get you?” Kelley sang out the moment I walked into the cafe.
“Just a hot tea. Thanks.” I’d never been much of a tea drinker, but I’d recently become very anti-PSL. Too much of a good thing and all that. It was easier to pretend I didn’t want coffee than to hurt Kelley’s feelings. Because if I refused to accept her offer of a free drink, she’d just go ahead and serve me up whatever new concoction she was testing for the masses. Ergo, my request for hot tea despite the hot weather.
“How’s today been?” I asked when she slid a mug of nearly boiling water to me over the counter. I casually plucked a bag of hibiscus tea from the display and dunked it into my cup.
“Busy as usual,” she answered with a bright smile.
“Hey, have you heard anything from Drake?” Real smooth, Gracie! It was no small wonder I’d managed to survive all my recent scrapes, given how poor my people skills could be at times. Then again, I was mostly dealing with cats and other supernatural types lately.
Kelley shook her head.“Not since this morning when we texted hello. Why? Is something up?”
“Oh, yeah. I mean, no. Everything’s fine!” I hurried to reassure her as I poured a couple packets of sugar into my mug and grabbed a stir stick. I kept my mouth pressed in a firm line as I finished preparing my drink. Why hadn’t I at least attempted to come up with a plan on my way over here?
After mentally scolding myself once more for good measure, I raised my eyes to meet Kelley’s and asked, “He’s just been acting a little weird lately. Don’t you think?”
“Weird how?” she said distractedly as she got to work making an iced drink for a customer.
“It’s hard to describe,” I ventured, not wanting to give away any of Drake’s or my secrets. “Just, you know, weird.”
Kelley tilted her head to the side as she thought, all while effortlessly engaging the blender.“Well, Drake’s always been different. That’s why I like him so much.”
“You’re right,” I said, disparaged at how quickly I’d reached a dead end. “We shouldn’t be surprised by anything he does.”
“Yeah, like how he bought that Segway for no rhyme or reason,” she said with a giggle.
“And the motorcycle,” I added with a laugh.
Kelley shot me a silly look.“Yeah, guess which one of those two I like better.” She shuddered, then poured the blended drink into a tall glass. “Segways really aren’t meant for two people, but that didn’t stop him from picking me up for our date using that thing last week.”
I joined her in laughter, and it felt great to occupy my mind with something so frivolous for a change. We chatted about other things for a few minutes, but I knew I shouldn’t stay too long and disrupt her work, especially given the fact that Harold’s was always busy and needed all hands on deck.