Page 28 of A Skirl of Sorcery (The Cat Lady Chronicles #3)

Chapter

Twenty-Three

‘It sounds like we’re replacing one wild goose chase with another,’ Thane muttered as we walked away from Green Humbleton.

‘What other reason can you think of why someone would possess a hundred bone boxes?’

‘We’re talking about Coldstream, Kit. People do weird things, have weird hobbies – though I’ll agree it’s worth investigating further. But the trows’ attitude towards us had already relaxed. They’d probably have told us where they got the box without you making a deal with them.’

I stopped walking, put my hands in my pockets and gave him a long look.

‘Oh,’ he said.

I nodded. Now he understood.

‘You want the trows to accept your help without it appearing to be charity.’

‘Stealing is out of character for their kind, regardless of how they justify it to themselves. They’re desperate but they’re also proud. It’s the same reason the Barrow werewolves haven’t asked anyone for help or advertised their problems.’

‘We live in a fucked-up world,’ Thane muttered.

I didn’t disagree. ‘It’s why I prefer spending my time with cats.’

‘Cats?’ he asked archly. ‘And perhaps the occasional lone werewolf?’

I half smiled. ‘Perhaps.’

We jumped onto the next tram heading into the city.

Unfortunately it was busy with all manner of nocturnal-living Preternaturals, so Thane and I had to stand for the whole journey wedged between a huffing basilisk, who took up far more space than should have been allowed, and a trio of chattering vampires.

But even though we couldn’t maintain the same physical contact we’d had on the outward journey, the tension between us continued to grow.

Thane’s gaze brushed against mine repeatedly.

When the basilisk stretched, towering over me so that only the top of Thane’s head was visible, I ran my eyes over his copper-coloured hair, which was longer than usual because of yesterday’s full moon.

I imagined running my fingers across it and wondered if he’d purr like Tiddles did when I stroked her ginger fur.

The tram lurched as it curved around a particularly sharp corner, which made the basilisk shift position.

Thane’s eyes were on me once again as he tilted his head and wet his lips.

I inhaled deeply, scenting past the basilisk’s earthy smell and the iron-rich tang of the vampires until vetiver tickled my nostrils.

Thane had dropped his right arm to his side and placed his left foot in front of his right one; he was mirroring my stance, unconsciously or not. I shifted my weight and altered my posture and he followed suit a moment later. My heart rate picked up a notch.

His eyes lingered on my mouth then he raised one hand to his lips and scraped them gently with his thumb.

I reached up to my neck and slowly traced a path downwards with my fingertips until I reached my chest. Two high points of colour appeared on Thane’s cheeks.

A moment later, he upped the stakes and raised his T-shirt several inches from his waist as if to absently scratch his skin. My breath caught sharply.

That was when two of the vampires nudged each other and smirked at me. Suddenly I felt my own cheeks warming and I dropped my gaze. It was a relief when the tram reached the Danksville stop at the top of my street and I could step out into the cool night air with Thane by my side.

‘I don’t have anywhere to stay tonight,’ he said, breaking the silence. ‘I can’t go to the flat and I’ve not had time to arrange an alternative.’

I pretended to consider the matter. ‘Tiddles is already at my house waiting for your return. It’s late and it’s been a long day for both of us.’

‘It has.’

‘It will be another long day tomorrow.’

‘Mmm.’

‘I suppose one more stray won’t make a difference to the McCafferty household.’

Thane’s eyes gleamed.

‘For one night,’ I added, in case it needed to be said aloud.

‘One night,’ he agreed. ‘We both want to maintain our independence.’

I was glad we were on the same page. I started to smile – but a beat later my smile turned into a scowl and I stopped dead in the middle of the cobbled street.

‘Kit?’ Thane asked, immediately aware of the abrupt shift in my mood.

I bared my teeth and marched over to the Dinsbury house. For fuck’s sake.

The Dinsburys had erected a sign in their small front garden.

I strongly suspected that Arthur had watched me leave earlier with Thane and decided it was the perfect opportunity to put it up.

He probably thought I’d notice it on my way home and immediately cave to public pressure.

Well, he thought wrongly – very wrongly.

Keep Our Neighbourhood Safe! Keep Ban Siths Out!

I glared at it. The ornery bastard.

Thane gave a low whistle. ‘Jeez. Your neighbours are kinda crazy.’

‘They’re afraid,’ I muttered. ‘But fear doesn’t give them the right to act like this.

’ It was incendiary, nasty and uncalled for.

I hissed, giving my best impression of She Without An Ear when she was forced to endure some petting, then I clambered over the Dinsburys’ garden wall and yanked the sign out of the ground.

I returned to the street with it clamped under my arm.

As Thane raised an eyebrow, I proceeded to smash it against the ground until I’d turned it into kindling.

A light went on in the Dinsburys’ house and the curtains twitched.

I didn’t turn my head: let them stand behind their window and watch the show if they wanted to.

They should have expected this sort of reaction.

‘Feel better now?’ Thane enquired.

‘Not really.’

‘I’ll get the next one for you,’ he promised.

I frowned, then realised that there was a similar sign on display in Slasher’s garden further down the street.

Maybe I should have been pleased that there were only two signs to deal with, but I knew it was unlikely to stay that way.

This was pack mentality. Even though Keres hadn’t emerged from her bed since she’d arrived, more of my neighbours would follow suit with anti-ban sith rhetoric.

Under other circumstances, I’d have dealt with the situation more diplomatically but I had bigger problems eating into my time.

Thane was true to his word. He pulled up Slasher’s sign and destroyed it easily, then hand in hand we walked to my house. There would be considerable fall out from our actions – but I wasn’t sure I cared.

As soon as we reached home, I let Thane in before heading upstairs to check on Keres in her flat.

Dave was asleep on the sofa, his chest rising and falling with wheezing regularity.

I reckoned I could have bashed a pair of cymbals next to his ear and he wouldn’t have woken up.

Keres, however, was a different matter. Whether it was because of her illness or because she was unused to sleeping during the night, her eyes opened the moment I poked my head into her room.

‘Hey,’ I said quietly.

Keres blinked in return. Instinctively, I realised she wasn’t feeling chatty. ‘Do you need anything?’ I asked.

She swallowed. ‘No,’ she whispered. She continued to watch me, a question in her eyes.

‘Nothing concrete yet,’ I told her. ‘But I’m chasing something that might prove useful.’

Her body sagged and I registered the worry in her eyes. She wasn’t concerned for herself, she was worried for me because I’d given her my word I’d find a way to help her. It was possible that rather than boosting her confidence and well-being I’d only made things worse.

‘I’ve got this, Keres,’ I told her, trying my best to sound confident.

She nodded but I sensed that she didn’t believe me. She had a point: my assassin skills were superlative but my investigative skills could do with some improvement. I might do well to sign up for some sort of private eye training programme.

I filed the thought away for the future. As useful as training might be, right now there wasn’t any time. Keres’ life was on a clock.

I refreshed the jug of water by her bedside and went back downstairs. When I walked into the kitchen, Thane was leaning against the counter saying, ‘ …and please, Tiddles, behave yourself. We’re guests here.’

The ginger cat sniffed balefully.

‘Have you run out of cat caviar?’ I asked.

‘I’m saving the rest for tomorrow,’ Thane said. Tiddles offered me a narrow-eyed look. ‘I can only find four of your five, but I’ve said hello to them all in turn.’

‘He Who Roams Wide will be out and about.’

Thane nodded then looked at me more closely. ‘How’s Keres?’

‘Much the same.’ I met his eyes. ‘Not good.’

He stepped forward and drew me into a tight hug. ‘We’ll sort out the trows’ landlord tomorrow,’ he murmured. ‘And then we’ll know more. We’ll find whoever is behind this.’

‘Yes.’

‘You’re Kit fucking McCafferty,’ he declared.

‘I am. And you’re Thane fucking Barrow.’

‘I am. Keres is lucky to have us on her team.’

I wasn’t so sure about that but I didn’t disagree.

The corners of his mouth quirked up. ‘I’m lucky to be on your team.’

That part was definitely true. I grinned, then I hooked my arms around his neck and kissed him.

Tiddles growled from her place on the table, though it was a half-hearted effort for her. This was a fait accompli and we all knew it. She huffed faintly, jumped onto the floor and padded away.

Thane deepened the kiss, his hands reaching for my waist so he could pull me in closer. I allowed it for a moment then I stepped back, pulled my T-shirt over my head and dropped it to the floor. It was followed immediately by my sports bra.

‘Bathed in moonlight,’ Thane whispered, watching me.

He gave me a questioning look and I nodded.

He moved closer, dipped his head and trailed hot kisses from my neck to one breast then the other.

His tongue lapped gently at my nipples, circling each one with agonising slowness, while the base of his thumb caressed the long silvered scar along the edge of my ribcage.

‘Knife?’ he asked.

‘You’d think so, but actually it was a parasol.’

‘With a concealed blade?’