He meowed and shook his head.
“Stop messing around,” I hissed.
Fluffikins growled and pressed himself against the entrance, demonstrating the presence of another magical barrier. Well, no wonder he hadn’t escaped before now—he couldn’t use magic in the cage nor could he get out. That also explained why he wasn’t talking to me.
This whole set-up had been erected to keep magicks away, but being a non-magical person, I had slipped through the barrier just fine. What if…?
Taking a chance, I reached into the cage and grabbed Fluffikins. He came straight out into my arms.Yes!
When we’d flown yesterday, holding him had transferred his magic to me briefly. And by holding him now, I was able to transfer my non-magic. Interesting how the absence of a thing was also a thing. I’d have to give that one a good think later.
I clutched Mr. Fluffikins tightly to my chest as I ran up the stairs and out into the yard.
When she saw me emerge from the threshold, Angie clapped excitedly and hopped up and down.
“You did it! Tawny, you did it!” Parker said, still too weak to offer much more than his words and a smile.
I set Fluffikins on the street, and he began to groom himself obsessively, washing off my touch.
Parker nudged the black cat with his foot.
“I can’t believe I had to be rescued by a temp,” the boss cat spat.
Parker stared daggers at him, but Fluffikins either didn’t notice or didn’t much care.
“It’s fine!” I said with a chuckle, taking a quick moment to catch my breath. This next part wouldn’t be easy. “I’m going back in for Melony.”
I raced back inside and found Melony waiting at the top of the stairs.
“So you didn’t die, I see,” she said rather drolly.
“Nope, now let’s get you out of here.” I moved behind her and wrapped my hands around her waist.
“Eww, what are you doing?” she shouted, slapping at my hands and arms.
“Rescuing you. I need to transfer my non-magic through touch, then you’ll be able to walk through the barrier,” I explained breathlessly.
“No, thanks. I’d rather remain a prisoner.”
“Would you just shut up and come with me already?” I yelled right into her ear.
She sighed and shuddered but didn’t fight me when I wrapped my arms around her a second time.
And thus we began our awkward descent, stumbling more than once as we worked to move our feet in tandem.
“I hate you,” Melony reminded me.
“No, you don’t,” I said, and she didn’t bother arguing.
30
When Melony and I burst out of the house, Fluffikins still sat in the middle of the street grooming himself.
“We should probably get out of here before Percy gets loose or one of the other bad guys comes back to base,” I suggested irritably.
“Percy gets out?” Parker asked with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah, I trapped him in a cardboard box. He beat me up pretty good first, though.” I winced as I lifted the side of my shirt to show off the angry red scratches. They stung even worse when exposed to the cool outside air.
“Mr. Fluffikins, get Greta,” Parker ordered, his voice sounding stronger than it had since his arrival.
“I’m not done cleansing myself,” the boss cat growled.
But Parker didn’t capitulate. Not this time. “I don’t care. Tawny is hurt and needs Greta.”
“Um, could you bring Connie, too?” I asked, drawing the cat’s ire.
Fluffikins growled mightily but then sighed and flashed away in a cloud of glittery pink.
“Whoa,” Angie said, blinking hard as she stared at the spot where Mr. Fluffikins had just been.
And she was still blinking and staring slack-jawed when Fluffikins returned with both the angel and vampire in tow.
“Who’s this?” Fluffikins asked, apparently noticing Angie for the first time. “You know what, it doesn’t matter.”
He spun in a circle and pointed a paw her way.“Memory wipe. Boom!”
Angie teetered woozily as if she’d had one too many drinks. I guess that was the non-magical way to wipe someone’s memory, now that I thought about it.
“Connie, give me some money,” I ordered, taking a chance that she’d have some on her given that it was how she fed.
“I don’t want to,” the vampire said flatly.
The angel’s eyes blazed with fire at Connie’s easy dismissal. “But you will,” Greta compelled her.
Luckily, Angie still appeared too dazed to notice much of anything. She’d have to sleep it off, like I had.
“Fine,” Connie grumbled, then pulled a wad of bills from her purse and handed them to me.
I didn’t even bother counting them before handing the whole stack over to Angie. “Thank you so much for your help finding my lost cat. Here are your fees as promised.”
She took the money and gasped.“But there’s over a thousand dollars here.”
“You did a great job,” I assured her, patting her gently on the back. “Now that we have Mr. Fluffikins back, we can all go home.”
“Oh, okay. Happy I could be of service.” She shook my hand, glanced at the others, then headed back to her car.
We all stood waving until she finally pulled out of view.
“Please do something to make sure she gets home safe,” I mumbled through clenched teeth as I continued to smile and wave.
“Already done,” Greta said with a wink. Of course it would be the angel to act as our human accomplice’s protector, even though she’d only just arrived on the scene.
“Tawny’s hurt,” Parker blurted out.
Greta frowned as I pulled up my shirt for her to examine my fresh wounds.“Oh, heavens,” she muttered, then placed a warm hand over the scratches.
I grew warmer and warmer as she pressed her palm into me. The glowing light from her angel armor crept from her heart, down her arm, and into my side. She held it there for a moment, then pulled the light back and removed her hand.
The scratches were gone, replaced by smooth, clean skin.
“What do we do about Scavo?” I asked. “We can’t just let him get away.”
“Who’s Scavo?” Melony wanted to know.
I balked at this.“Wasn’t he the guy who held you captive?”
She shrugged.“Dunno. I never got his name.”
“Well, I guess if it is Scavo, Val and Blackjack will take care of him sooner than later,” I told everyone.
“And if it wasn’t?” Melony countered.
“Then we’ll be back,” Mr. Fluffikins declared, pacing the curb. “This isn’t over yet.”
Melony nodded.“My grandpa is still out there somewhere. He’s not going to give up this easily.”
I shivered as a gust of cold wind swept by.
“Let’s go home,” Parker said, extending his hand toward me.
I grabbed it in mine, then Greta took my other hand, and Connie took hers.
“Back to HQ,” Fluffikins commanded, and the sparkly pink fog descended.
I closed my eyes and luxuriated in the magic wafting over me. When I opened them again, we’d returned to the boardroom.
Fluffikins stood at the head of the table in his usual place of power.“And that solves the case of the missing field agents. Tawny, you are dismissed.”
“Wait, but I…”
“Dismissed!” he repeated, louder this time.
Wow, not even a quick thanks.
I shook my head and stumbled out of the office, feeling more disrespected than ever before.
“Tawny, wait!” Parker called after me.
I turned and waited for him to catch up to me. When he did, he wrapped strong arms around my waist. Now that we’d returned to Beech Grove, he was back to his usual self.
“Mr. Fluffikins is bad with thank-yous, but I’m not,” he said before covering my mouth with his. And that’s when I realized that this moment with him was also a special kind of magic. A warm buzzing sensation shot through me and all at once I became dizzy.
I giggled against his lips.“If that was from Fluffikins, then you can take it back.”