“What is she doing?” the plump vampire asked with a stony expression. “I thought we’d decided to move on from this one.”
Fluffikins let out a low angry rumble, almost as if he took offense to the way his colleague spoke of me.Almost.“Connie, you forget your oath. There is no discussing board business with outsiders.”
“I have not forgotten mine,” she answered with a sneer. “I am simply reminding you of yours. We’ve already broken protocol by including her in two separate jobs. So, why is she here yet again? Why hasn’t her memory of us been erased?”
The two supernatural entities stared each other down, but neither budged in their position.
Maybe if I restated my case, Connie might be more willing to help than her boss had been.“I know I’m different. Not just a normie, I mean. And I want to know why. The cat and I made a deal, but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to hold up his end of it.”
Connie’s eyes narrowed, and she shot a dirty look toward Mr. Fluffikins. “You made a deal with her?”
He shrugged his little kitty shoulders.“It had open-ended terms.”
“Still, you made a deal with a normie. You know that’s binding.”
“She’s not—” He stopped himself by hissing and unleashing a string of kitty curses.
“I want to know what you know,” I said, standing firm in my resolve. I even thrust one hand on my hip in case that made me look tougher or more serious. Somehow.
“If you don’t wipe her mind right now, I’ll do it,” Connie said with her jaw clenched. She looked so close to snapping, and I didn’t want to be around when that happened. Still…
“But he promised me!” I cried, taking a giant step back as if it would do any good.
“You’re lucky I have no desire to head the board, or you’d be out of a job,” the vampire growled, curling her upper lip to show off those unsettling fangs of hers.
“Tell me and tell me right now,” I demanded with a stomp of my foot.
“Let’s make a provision to our agreement,” Fluffikins shouted, his paw apparently having finally been forced—or so I assumed. “Steak for answers. Like you said.”
“Now?” I had a hard time trusting him, given that last ruse of his.
The cat shook his head.“After one more job. With Connie.” He turned toward the vampire head of Commerce. “I received your request for a temp to investigate the new coven downtown. Tawny will assist you in whatever way you need.”
“Unacceptable.” Connie’s gaze turned even icier as she regarded us both.
“Actually,” Mr. Fluffikins corrected. “It’s perfectly acceptable, seeing as I’m in charge here. You need a temp, and this one’s ready to take the job. Aren’t you, Tawny?”
“If I do this, you’ll tell me everything?” I asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow and crossing my arms over my chest like a shield.
He nodded, watching Connie instead of me.“After you’ve completed the job to the board’s satisfaction, I will tell you what you want to know.”
There was no way I was getting tricked by another of his loopholes.“Define, to the board’s satisfaction.”
The cat narrowed his eyes at me.“Until the coven either submits to Connie’s leadership or leaves town,” he answered with a small shake of his head.
“Deal,” I said with a slight nod to show my agreement.
Connie cried and threw her hands up in the air.“This is not what I wanted when I filed that request, and you know that. I understand your desire to punish the normie, but why me? I’ve been nothing but—”
Fluffikins pushed off the ground with his back feet, then floated up to meet Connie’s line of sight. He hovered in mid-air in a pink glittery swirl and said, “I don’t care what you want. I make the decisions here, and this is what you got. As you know, I can’t go back on a deal with a normie once made. You’ll accept Tawny’s help, or you’ll forfeit your seat at the table. Do I make myself clear?”
Even though the boss cat wasn’t speaking to me, I bobbed my head vigorously. Connie terrified me, but I could survive anything temporarily—and that’s all this job would be. My last two assignments had been over in a couple days each. And I had to believe that this one would be no different. Otherwise I might run away screaming long before I got any of the answers I craved.
Be brave, Tawny. Be brave.
5
“Not so fast, Fluffikins,” Connie hissed. “I know you think your word is law, but I refuse to work with someone I don’t like simply because you used your stomach to make a decision instead of your brain.”
“I have already made our promise. It is done,” he said before floating back to the floor and landing with a soft thud.
“I have made no such promises to this mortal, so I will be the one to wipe her mind and free us all from the burden of her company.” Connie grabbed my head and pulled it toward her. The rest of me followed.
“Please don’t,” I wheezed. I couldn’t even struggle to get away. Connie’s super-human strength controlled my muscles even better than I could.
“Look at me,” she snarled.
And as much as I didn’t want to, I couldn’t resist the invitation. My eyes lifted from the floor and found Connie’s waiting. They glowed a bright and hot pink, which normally made quite a lovely color, but as it lit the vampire’s gaze, I froze in fear.
Literally.
I could not move. Could not blink. Could barely even think.
All I could do was watch as she raised a finger to each of my temples, pressed her manicured nails hard into my skin, and mumbled words in a language I couldn’t understand.
And then just as quickly as she’d grabbed me, she let go and I fell to the floor. Thank goodness, Fluffikins had already cleaned up the broken glass or I’d be done for.
“Please,” I mumbled, weak, tired, angry. “I only want to know the truth about who I am.”
Connie gasped and looked as if she herself were about to faint.“She remembers? How is that possible?”
Fluffikins jumped up onto an empty desk.“I cleared her mind once before. Barnes restored it after.”
“But my magic is stronger than his!” Connie shouted and stamped her foot. “What is happening? Why isn’t it working on her?”
“That’s what I want to know,” I added as I slowly rose to my feet. “This is the third time something like this has happened, and I just want to know why.”
It was Fluffikins who spoke up next.“Our contract has been made. First tend to the new coven, then I will tell you both what I have discovered about our dear Tawny.”
Connie folded her arms over her chest and turned her face away from both of us.“I will place a call for your removal,” she promised the little black cat.
“And it will fail. Just as it has failed before,” he responded without an ounce of emotion.
Connie huffed and pulled at her hair in distress, which seemed to please the boss cat.“I’ll be in my office while she undergoes orientation,” she said before storming off down the hall.
“Well, Tawny…” Fluffikins looked up at me with glowing golden eyes. “Are you ready to become a vampire?”
My breath caught in my throat.“Um, what? That wasn’t part of the deal.”
Fluffikins merely chuckled.“Actually it was. For your job with Connie, you will be provided with vampire magic.”
“Fangs and all?” I recoiled at the thought. Even if Connie didn’t suck blood, she was still cold, cruel, and downright villainous. I could probably survive working with her, but to become like her?
“Yes, you’ll receive all the makings of the vampire. The power, the prestige…” He flicked his tail for several beats even though he clearly hadn’t finished speaking yet. “The curse.”
“The curse!” I exploded. “Nobody said anything about a curse.”
“Come now. We should get you started. You’ll have exactly forty-eight hours to complete your job, and there’s no time to waste.”