“Let them go,” I repeated, shoving her hard from behind. “They haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Then why were you questioning them?” she said without breaking focus. Her spell held strong.
I briefly contemplated rushing forward and tearing the frozen cats from the air. But besides having magic when I had done, I was willing to bet Melony moved much faster, too. The only way I could get out of this one was by either distracting her or outsmarting her. I’d managed to do both during our last encounter. I could best her again, especially seeing as that was my only option in the moment.
“I was questioning to see what I can learn about the missing field agents,” I explained numbly. “That’s all. Not because they’re suspects.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll do things my way. Thanks.” Melony let out a low rumbly laugh, and for the second time that day I swear I’d never wanted to punch someone so bad in all my life. If she fought back, though, I’d be toast.Thanks a lot for not giving me any magic to protect myself, Mr. Fluffikins,I thought bitterly.
Fluffikins! That was it.
I ran out of the alley and stopped just short of crashing into our table. I tapped the Fred Head twice as Parker had instructed.“Melony’s gone rogue!” I screamed at the talking skull.
A couple came out of one of the shops across the street, and I smiled awkwardly at them.“Just rehearsing for an upcoming performance of Hamlet,” I explained, grabbing Fred Head and bringing him close to my face. “To be or not to be, haha.”
They shook their heads and continued on their way.
“Fluffikins,” I hissed again.
But he didn’t answer, instead the bright yellow orb switched to a piney green full of swirls.
Green.What did that mean? It was either really good or really bad. But which?
“Mr. Fluffikins,” I hissed yet again. “Answer me.”
He didn’t.
I hit Fred Head two more times in frustration. I was starting to think that maybe magic and technology shouldn’t mix. Maybe our whole mission was doomed from the start.
“What is it?” the boss cat answered at last via our freaky communicator.
“It’s Melony,” I rushed to explain before he grew impatient and cut the connection. “She’s cornered three agents and immobilized them with her magic. I can’t get her to let them go. Anyone can see. She’ll blow our cover. All of ours.”
My favorite black cat let out a string of explicit kitty curses.“Never send a normie to do a magick’s job,” he grumbled.
I narrowed my eyes at the skull.“Hey, none of this is my fault. It’s all on Melony.”
“But clearly you don’t know how to stop her, or you would have already,” Fred Head told me, and I imagined Fluffikins on the other end of our connection shaking his head in disappointment.
“Well, if you’d given me magic…” My words fell away when I saw the same nosy couple had turned back to watch me from further up the street.
I waved the skull at them.“Did I mention it’s a Hamlet Hocus Pocus mashup?” I offered meekly. “Stop that, Thackeray Binx. You’re so crazy. Ahhh!”
“I’m on my way,” Mr. Fluffikins promised before Fred Head’s jaw snapped shut.
I wanted to rush back into the alley and wait for him there, but that busybody couple kept staring at me as if I had sprouted horns or something. It’s like they’d never seen a talking skull before!
Growing increasingly agitated, I started to rattle off random soliloquies that I’d memorized a long time ago for my theater elective in college. When they still didn’t budge, I shouted, “Come back next weekend for the proper show. This is just the dress rehearsal.”
They turned and looked at each other and then graced me with a polite round of open-palmed claps. Still, they didn’t leave.
“That’s it for now. I’m taking an hour’s intermission!”
And finally—finally!—they left. When I was sure they wouldn’t turn back a second time, I got up and calmly walked toward the alley, even though I wanted nothing more than to sprint.
Hopefully I wasn’t too late to make a difference.
16
As it turned out Iwas too late to make a difference.
Where Melony once stood levitating her three feline puppets, the alley now lay empty and lifeless.
“Melony?” I called hesitantly as I tiptoed toward the dumpster, afraid of what I might find. “Mungo? Lester? Anybody?”
There was nothing in the oversized bin beyond the expected mix of trash and things that probably would have been better off in recycles.
“Hello?” I tried again warily.
Yes, I still wanted to go home, but how could I, given that whatever had happened here happened on my watch? I was turning out to be a reluctant hero, but this was still my story—and I couldn’t bear to leave it unfinished.
Something zipped overhead, and I spun around just in time to catch sight of Fluffikins falling from the sky on a puff of pink magic.
“What’s going on here?” he asked, hopping off his cloud. It evaporated the moment he broke contact. “I thought you said there was an emergency.”
“I don’t know where th-they w-went,” I sputtered, turning left, then right, then raising my hands in helpless surrender.
Fluffikins studied me for a moment, then took off down the alley toward the street. He stopped suddenly and turned back to me, golden eyes flashing with irritation. Apparently, in all my shock, I’d forgotten to trail after him.
“Why didn’t you tell me we have a code green?” he shouted.
“What?”
He ran back to join me partway down the alley.“The orb. It’s green!”
Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten about that in my desperation to get through to Fluffikins and then to get that gawking couple to stop watching me. “Green means go, right?” I asked with a nervous squeak.
“No, green means we’ve got a huge problem on our paws!”
“I-I know,” I stammered, twisting my hands in front of me. “Melony took three field agents and disappeared.”
Fluffikins shook his head and took a deep, steadying breath before explaining,“No. It’s much worse than that. Whoever took the field agents also took Melony.”
I stared at him, shaking my head, still unsure of what he wanted me to do.“She was threatening them. She’d frozen them with her magic, and—”
“Made both them and herself an easy target,” the black cat finished for me. Not what I’d intended to say, but I guess he’d know better than me.
“Oh” was all I could manage upon learning this revised interpretation of events.
“Follow me,” he said in a low growl, leading me into a tight space to the side of the dumpster. “Crouch low.”
I did as told, recoiling from the stench.“What’s going on?” I raised a hand to cover my mouth and nose and murmured through them.
Mr. Fluffikins curled his tail around his feet and dropped his ears low.“I didn’t think our abductor would strike with the two of you sitting out there flaunting your presence.”
“Wait, I thought we were undercover.” I instantly regretted uncovering my mouth to speak.
My companion waited for me to stop hacking before he went on.“Mmm, actually, you were but a diversion to buy the real investigative task force some time. The fact that they struck while you were right there and absconded with an intern as well as more field agents sends a very clear message.”
I didn’t know whether to be more offended by his ruse or upset that it hadn’t worked, so I chose to focus on finding out whatever facts I could. “What message?” I mumbled.
He puffed out his chest, drawing my eyes to the stark white patch. He held his breath for a moment, then let it go so he could answer my question.“That they’re not going to stop until they get what they want.”
“What do they want?” I wondered aloud.
Fluffikins simply shrugged.“I don’t know. They haven’t told us.”
“Oh.” I felt increasingly useless as this conversation went on. I had no great insights to contribute, and Fluffikins had begged for my help simply so he could use me as a distraction. As much as I hadn’t wanted this job, it hurt that he didn’t think I could do it.