I strode out to Parker’s car, wearing a confidence I didn’t quite feel. I also wore a flowy black floor-length skirt with a tight black leather bustier, old boots which were mostly hidden beneath the skirt, and my favorite statement piece of jewelry—a shiny black metal necklace with a series of interesting shapes that kind of looked like an eagle if you squinted a bit.
Apparently I’d also shown up with more cleavage than my escort had anticipated. He turned beet red under that beard of his the moment his eyes locked onto said cleavage.
“You didn’t have to get dressed up for this,” he muttered, clenching his hands even tighter around the steering wheel.
“Is that your way of saying I look nice?” I teased. Okay, maybe the old me was still in there a little bit.
Parker coughed.“Sure. Let’s go withnice. Um, did you have a good day?”
“I don’t think there’s much recovering from a murder accusation and the discovery of magic, so let’s just call todayinteresting instead.”
“We know you probably didn’t kill her if that helps,” he offered with an apologetic shrug.
Oh, good. They knew Iprobably wasn’t guilty, which meant I wasn’t fully in the clear yet. It also meant… “So I guess you didn’t catch the real killer yet,” I said with a sigh.
“No, but we have some leads.” Parker’s expression remained firm, serious.
Me, on the other hand, I preferred to lighten the mood a bit—especially when I was already feeling scared out of my mind. “So, what are you? Are you actually a cop, or was all that pomp and circumstance this morning simply for my benefit?”
I expected him to loosen up some at my playful banter, but no dice. He adjusted himself in his seat, sitting taller, commanding even more of a presence. His jaw clenched, and his shoulders tightened. Was he afraid of me, or just not good with people in general?
“I am an officer of the law, yes,” he said, his voice deeper than usual. “I’m also the paranormal liaison to the force.”
“So you’re a double cop?” I asked, scrunching up my nose playfully.
Finally a smile spread across his face.“Something like that, yes.”
“And the cat’s your boss. What about all the other people who were there this morning?” If anyone was going to give me information, it would be Parker, so I decided to press him for all I could on the drive over. It would be easier to influence him privately without the watchful eyes of Mr. Fluffikins.
He glanced at me for a moment and the car jerked toward the curb. Maybe expecting him to multi-task behind the wheel wasn’t the best idea I’d had that day.
Parker returned his attention to the road.“You mean, the other liaisons. Right?”
“If that’s who was sitting around that conference room table, then yeah.” I thought back to the woman with the fantastic outfit and the ancient guy with the Merlin beard and business suit. The other two had made less of an impression on me, but whoever they were, they were important enough tobe at that meeting, which meant I shouldn’t simply forget they existed.
Parker nodded and readjusted his hands on the wheel.“Yes, we’re all liaisons. I’m the liaison to the police force. Each of them keep an eye on other key influencing bodies around the region.”
I bit my lip to keep from frowning. I was beginning to feel stupid, considering how little I knew, and I hated nothing more than feeling stupid.“That’s pretty vague. Are you saying you speak up for the paranormal interests with the police?”
The car jerked as Parker suddenly hit the brake—whether accidentally or on purpose, I couldn’t quite tell. He eased off before we came to a full stop. Luckily, no one had been driving behind us, or we’d both have a serious case of whiplash right now.
Parker’s voice turned pitchy and panicked. “No, no. Gosh, no. Non-magic people don’t know anything about us, so there’s definitely no speaking up about anything. We watch to protect us from them. Not the other way around.”
The fact that he was so nervous had to mean I was hitting on all the good questions, right? I decided to keep going, even though I was more than a little concerned for my safety with such a reactive driver behind the wheel.“Uh, hello. I’m non-magic, but you wasted no time in showing your hand to me.”
“You showed up at the murder scene for one of our most important magical locals, so yeah. We had no choice but to bring you in. Besides, you’ll have some magic in you before the night is through.”
A shiver of excitement passed through me. I was about to get magic. That almost made the whole being a murder suspect thing worthwhile.
Almost.
8
The drive over was short and bumpy, thanks to Parker’s erratic behavior behind the wheel. This time I was actually happy to see the dark office complex, because it meant we had made it to our location without the epic car crash I’d half-anticipated.
Inside Paranormal HQ, Parker guided me in the opposite direction we’d gone that morning. A series of long halls delivered us to a large, echoing space where all the furniture had been cleared away and the carpeting ripped out.
“You’re definitely not getting the security deposit back on this place,” I mumbled, remembering the time I’d forfeited one of my own, thanks to an ill-fated attempt at candle making. Incidentally, that was not a hobby I’d decided to keep.
I turned toward Parker to see how my joke had gone over, but before I could meet his eyes, we were joined by a new arrival.
Mr. Fluffikins hopped down from a hole in the ceiling where one of the hanging tiles had been removed. He landed with a thump right in front of me, proving definitively—at least to me—that cats always landed on their feet.
“Good evening,” he purred, appearing rather pleased with himself, if not with me.
“Thanks for bringing her to me, Barnes,” he said, offering Parker a curt nod. “That will be all. Dismissed.”
“Wait,” I called after his departing form, but either he didn’t hear me or he didn’t care.
I glanced back toward the black cat with growing discomfort. Something told me he wouldn’t be gentle in making my big introduction to magic.
“Human,” he said, flicking the tip of his tail rhythmically as he regarded me. “It is time to—”
“My name’s Tawny,” I informed him.
His eyes widened as if my speaking my name had somehow been an insult.“That’s not important. What’s important is that—”
“Actually, my name is kind of important, and I’ll thank you to use it.” If I didn’t put some rules in place now, I doubted I’d be able to introduce them later. And if I was going to be around long enough to do this Town Witch thing right, then I definitely needed to at least push for him to use my actual name.
Mr. Fluffikins rose to all four feet and paced a circle around me.“That’s a rather tall demand from someone who still hasn’t been cleared of murder.”
“Actually it’s a fairly simple request. You’re asking me to learn magic and temporarily fill in for a witch. All I’m asking is that you treat me with a little respect.”
The cat stopped, cocked his head to the side, and watched me with swirling golden eyes.
We both remained silent, unwilling to budge. As far as I was concerned, I had more leverage here. He may have magic, but he also needed me—and it had to be me for some reason, even though I had no idea why.
After what felt like a small eternity, the cat finally laughed. Not just a small chuckle, but a side-splitting display of amusement.
“You won’t go easy on me, I see. I hope you know I’ll extend you that same courtesy. SoTawny it is, but keep in mind, your future demands will be met with far more resistance.”
“Thank you,” I said between clenched teeth. Even though he’d finally given in, I still felt on edge. Why couldn’t Parker have stayed with us? It would have been so much easier, having a friendly face along for the ride, even if he, too, was still largely a stranger. But I’d take the handsome cop over the scary magic cat any day of the week.