Page 34 of A Skirl of Sorcery (The Cat Lady Chronicles #3)

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

It was three hours before Thane opened his eyes.

I had laid his inert form on my bed, given him several drops of the same alder-stirred mixture that Keres had swallowed, and waited by his side.

Tiddles waited with me, her ginger-furred body quivering with anxiety.

She refused to take her eyes off Thane and every time he stirred or his breathing changed, she lifted her head and tensed.

As soon as his eyelids fluttered open and he could focus his gaze, she’d moved onto his chest. I wasn’t sure if it was because she needed to be close to him or she wanted to make sure he stayed where he was and didn’t try to get up.

Either way I was glad she was there; her presence would calm Thane and another pair of eyes was always welcome.

‘Hey,’ I said softly.

He exhaled loudly. ‘You’re alright. Thank God, Kit. Thank God you’re alright.’

I wasn’t the one in serious trouble. ‘Shh,’ I said. ‘Don’t try and talk too much. You need to rest.’

Thane clearly wasn’t listening. ‘When I saw you on the ground, I panicked. Are you hurt?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘It was the same bastard who stole Keres’ ban sith voice, wasn’t it?’ His tired green eyes roved across my face. ‘Did they … did they … did they…’

I didn’t look away; Thane deserved my direct gaze. ‘Not from me.’

The faintest shadow crossed his face then his nostrils flared. ‘Oh,’ he whispered.

I leaned forward. I had to be sure. ‘Thane? Your wolf. Is it…?’

‘Gone.’ He looked more stunned than appalled. ‘There’s a hole in my heart. An emptiness.’ He gave a strangled noise and I squeezed his hand tightly. Tiddles was already licking his chin, her small pink tongue rasping across his stubble.

I was still holding his eyes with mine. ‘I’ll get it back, Thane. I’ll get your wolf back.’ I drew in a breath and met his eyes.

Thane was already shaking his head in alarm. ‘No. Don’t do it. Kit, don’t you fucking dare do it.’

Of course I’d do it. ‘I give you my word I will bring your werewolf back.’

‘Goddamnit, Kit!’

I picked up the cup holding Fergus’s brew. ‘Here. Drink as much of this as you can, it’ll help with the aftermath.’ From what we’d gleaned about the Barrow pack, Thane would be able to hold out for far longer than Keres but he would still suffer. My heart wrenched. ‘Drink it all,’ I told him.

He was a better patient than I expected and he drained the cup dry before leaning back against the pillows. ‘So empty,’ he murmured. ‘So tired.’

‘Get some rest. Sleep is the best thing for you.’

‘You’re an idiot, Kit.’

‘I know.’

‘You shouldn’t have given me your word.’

I shrugged. ‘It’s too late now.’

‘Don’t leave me.’

This time I didn’t reply.

‘I need you, Kit.’ His eyelids were already closing again.

‘I need you too, Thane.’ Which was exactly why I had to go. I turned to Tiddles. ‘Don’t let him leave this room.’

Her ears twitched. I nodded grimly, then pulled back my shoulders and strode into the kitchen.

Bin was seated on one of the chairs with He Who Crunches Bird Bones curled up on his lap.

‘We’ve got about forty minutes before dawn,’ I said briskly.

‘It’s already too late for you to return to Green Humbleton. You’ll have to stay here.’

He nodded. I knew he wasn’t pleased by this outcome but he wasn’t surprised by it. As soon as I’d found Thane’s unconscious body, Bin must have expected something like this.

‘Before that happens,’ I continued, ‘you will show me where this house is.’

He Who Crunches Bird Bones flicked his tail, opened his eyes, stretched out his front paws and jumped onto the floor.

‘Now?’ Bin asked.

I nodded. ‘Right now.’

‘What if you’re attacked again?’

‘Then I’ll resist again.’

‘What if I’m attacked?’

‘I’ll help you.’ I waited. I knew Bin would make the right decision; I didn’t need to force him into it.

‘Okay.’ He stood up, his face a dark, unyielding mask. ‘Let’s go.’

We slipped out of the front door. When I reached the garden gate and unlatched it, Bin murmured, ‘We’re being watched.’

Dave was on his porch. His face was shrouded in darkness but I didn’t need to see his features to know his eyes were on us. I raised a hand, he raised one back. ‘How’s Keres?’ I called softly.

‘Really good. She’s feeling better and she’s been moving around. I checked on her just now. I’m heading to bed for a kip.’ He paused. ‘What’s going on with that wolf of yours?’ He must have seen me hauling Thane home.

If I told him what had happened it would make it true, so I said nothing and simply waved. Dave, who was far smarter than he usually let on, didn’t say anything more. Instead he pointed into my garden: all five of my cats, even She Who Loves Sunbeams, had come outside. Oh.

‘No,’ I said firmly. ‘Go inside.’

None of them moved.

I folded my arms and glared. There wasn’t so much as a flick of a tail in return. Bloody hell. ‘Nothing will happen right now. This is about locating an address. Nothing more, nothing less.’

Five unblinking pairs of eyes gazed at me.

I huffed. ‘Fine.’ As I stepped out of the gate alongside Bin, all the cats followed.

We walked ten metres. Bin glanced over his shoulder. We walked another ten metres and he glanced over his shoulder again. ‘Are they coming with us?’

‘It appears that way.’

The trow was clearly baffled. ‘Why?’

I considered my response. ‘Why did you spend so many nights breaking into houses and stealing?’

He pursed his lips. ‘To save my community.’

I smiled slightly. ‘There’s your answer.’

‘But they’re cats.’

‘Exactly.’

Bin frowned. ‘Don’t worry,’ I told him. ‘They can look after themselves.’ I did, however, glance over my shoulder and check on She Who Loves Sunbeams. Her whiskers twitched when she noticed my gaze. Somewhat mollified, I faced the front again. She wouldn’t do anything stupid – not unless I did.

Bin led me to the bottom of my street where the road forked towards the riverside market.

We both stiffened. I wouldn’t have been surprised if we were attacked again but this time nothing happened.

Bin pointed right. ‘This way,’ he said. He cast a nervous glance up at the sky, worried about the impending sunrise.

Trows weren’t vampires and he wouldn’t spontaneously self-combust, but he would find the effects of the early sun painful.

‘Is it far?’ I asked.

‘No.’

Good. Then I began to worry. What if this really was a wild good chase, as Thane had suggested? What if the bone box Bin had stolen from this place was simply an icky trinket? I drew in a shaky breath. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if this lead turned out to be a waste of time.

‘You did find hundreds of these bone boxes in this house, right?’ I asked.

‘Right.’

‘And they were all the same as the one you took?’

‘Mostly.’

I paused. ‘Mostly?’

‘Some had labels on them.’

‘Written labels? You didn’t mention that before.’

‘I didn’t think it was important,’ Bin said. ‘There were hundreds of boxes. Only a few had labels.’

Getting irritated with the trow wouldn’t help anyone. ‘What was written on them?’

‘Different things. House mouse. Field mouse. Dormouse.’

My heart dropped to the soles of my feet. Oh no.

‘Tea Rose. Garden Rose. Damask Rose.’

I stopped breathing.

‘I figured the guy was some kind of naturalist. A collector.’

Blood was roaring in my ears. This wasn’t right. The bone boxes were a dead end. I’d jumped to conclusions and…

‘Then I saw some of the other labels,’ Bin continued. ‘Wolf. Beta wolf. Alpha wolf. Leprechaun. Harpy.’ As I gasped and gulped in air, Bin shot me a curious look. ‘Are you alright?’

‘Yes.’

‘Because if you collapse in the middle of the street again, I’m out of here.’

‘I’m fine. Just peachy, in fact.’ I gave him a wide-mouthed, brilliant grin and he immediately recoiled. Ah. Too many teeth. ‘Just show me the house,’ I said. ‘Then your side of the bargain is over.’

He started to move faster. We passed the first and second streets on our left, but when we reached the third one Bin turned down it. I looked behind. Yep: all five cats were following us in single file. I inclined my head towards them to acknowledge their efforts, then plunged after Bin.

There were quite a few people around. In any other city in the country, that would have been unusual because it was just after five in the morning, too early for most joggers to get in their day’s exercise before work and too late for any but the most determined partygoers to be heading home on a week night.

But this wasn’t a typical city and the hour preceding dawn was rush hour.

In a way that was good because it meant that neither Bin nor I looked out of place.

Two hurrying vampires, one of them in bat form, passed us at high speed.

A heavy-set troll clomped towards us from the other end of the street and swung into a pretty cottage just before we reached him.

I caught a glimpse of a yawning dryad performing a sun salutation in her front garden alongside a smirking druid who was trying to mimic her movements and failing miserably.

‘There,’ Bin said. I jerked to a halt. ‘That’s the house.’

He pointed to number nineteen. There were at least three hundred houses along this street and for some reason I’d expected it would be further down. Number nineteen made perfect sense, however, because I knew exactly who lived here.

‘Jimmy Leighton,’ I whispered. I’d known all along that he was one of Bin’s burglary victims; all this time the bastard who’d destroyed Keres’ life – and quite possibly Thane’s, too – had been right here. I should have realised.

As I stared at the front door, my cats gathered at my feet and did the same. ‘Gotcha,’ I whispered. ‘How did you get inside?’

‘Back door,’ Bin said. ‘I picked the lock.’

I chewed on my bottom lip.

‘Can I go now?’ he demanded.

I didn’t glance at him. ‘Yes. Thank you. Let yourself into my house and help yourself to whatever you like. The fridge is stocked up and there’s a bed made up for you in the back room. You can rest there without being disturbed until sunset tonight.’

The trow scurried away but I didn’t watch him go; my focus was entirely on Jimmy Leighton’s property.

There was no point trying to get in through the same back door as Bin. Having already been burgled, Leighton would have ensured it was properly sealed against further intrusions. With luck the other entrance points wouldn’t be heavily warded.

There was one easy way to find out.

I glanced down at the cats. ‘Ready for some criminal activity, kitties?’