Page 37 of A Skirl of Sorcery (The Cat Lady Chronicles #3)

Chapter

Thirty

Keres was moaning faintly from the corner of the room. I glanced at Slasher and Dinsbury; their eyes were closed but they wouldn’t stay that way.

I turned to Leighton’s body. The grey sphere had dropped to the floor by his side. I left it where it was then raised his arm and draped it across his chest to conceal the stab wound. I wiped the blade of my curved dagger and returned it to its sheath.

Keres was the first to recover fully. There was a large bruise on the side of her cheek and she was moving stiffly, but the return of her ban sith voice was more than enough to spur her into speedy consciousness.

I helped her to her feet and looked into her eyes. ‘Follow my finger,’ I ordered, moving it from left to right. ‘You might be concussed.’ She did as I asked. ‘What’s your name?’ I demanded.

‘Keres Johnson.’

‘What are you?’

She smiled. ‘A ban sith. And I’m fucking proud of it.’

She would be alright, but I was still squinting at her. ‘I don’t think that all your magic has returned to you.’

‘It’s enough – more than enough. I’m fine now. I’m myself again.’

‘You’re sure?’

Keres nodded. ‘Oh yes.’ She gave me a long, very direct look. ‘I can see what you’ve done, Kit McCafferty,’ she said. ‘I can see what you are.’

I took a wary step backwards. She placed her finger to her lips and smiled again, although this time it was tinged with sadness.

Slasher groaned and sat up. Despite all she’d been through, her scarlet lipstick hadn’t smudged or smeared. Magical setting spray, I guessed; whatever it was, it was extraordinary.

She rubbed the back of her neck, looked around and turned pale when she saw Jimmy Leighton’s body. She glanced at her hands and the empty black-linen bag she was holding, then she swallowed.

‘It’s okay,’ I said quickly, in an attempt to keep her calm. ‘The threat has gone.’

Arthur Dinsbury stirred and immediately touched his chest. He gulped in air and passed a hand in front of his eyes. ‘What was that?’ he whispered. ‘What the hell happened?’

I gave them a quick precis; it was the least they deserved. ‘Jimmy Leighton has been attacking people and ripping the magic out of their bodies. Keres was one of his victims.’

Dinsbury looked blank. ‘Who’s Keres?’

I just managed to avoid rolling my eyes.

‘I am,’ Keres said.

He looked down at his shoes. ‘Oh.’

‘We came here to confront Leighton,’ I continued, ‘then you showed up. He came home and tried to take our magic souls. Fortunately he didn’t succeed.’

‘I threw that powder in his face,’ Slasher whispered.

Arthur Dinsbury turned to her. ‘I helped.’

I watched them both but was careful to say nothing.

‘We did what we had to do,’ he added more firmly.

Slasher nodded. ‘I already knew he would die. That’s why…’ she flicked a glance towards Keres ‘…that’s why I was singing.’

‘We were all singing,’ I said, trying to be supportive.

Slasher didn’t notice. ‘That stuff that came from the box,’ she said to Keres. ‘That was your magic, wasn’t it?’

‘I think so,’ Keres replied in a small voice.

‘It’s in us now? Forever? Will we be like you?’

‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged helplessly. ‘I have no idea.’

Slasher looked at Dinsbury. ‘I think I wouldn’t mind so much if we are. When I knew what was happening to that man … when I saw what was inside him, I knew it would be…’ Her voice trailed off.

‘Beautiful,’ Arthur Dinsbury said. ‘Cold and terrifying but beautiful, too.’ Death wasn’t always beautiful, of course, but nobody needed to hear me say that aloud.

Slasher walked unsteadily towards Keres and held out her hand ‘My name is Suzanne.’ I supposed that counted as an apology in her world.

Keres was a better person than I was. She shook Suzanne’s hand warmly. ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘It’s nice to meet you.’

Arthur Dinsbury did the same. ‘We should get out of here,’ he said, when the awkwardness between the three of them became too much. ‘Call the MET or something.’

‘Good idea,’ I said briskly. I pointed to the staircase. ‘Lead the way.’

As soon as Dinsbury and Suzanne had left, Keres grabbed my elbow. ‘You let them think that powder killed him, but it was you. You ended that man’s life.’

‘I’m not sorry he’s dead.’

‘Neither am I.’

I nodded. ‘The truth about how Jimmy Leighton died will soon be revealed, but it won’t do those two any harm to believe that they killed a man for a few hours.

Absorbing some of your magic has altered their perspective, and believing they’re responsible for the end of someone’s life will solidify their new outlook. ’ Or so I hoped.

‘I don’t suppose your neighbours will think of you as capable of killing,’ Keres added. ‘He was a fucking bastard,’ she whispered.

I looked at the white bone boxes that surrounded us, the boxes of death. ‘That will be even more true when the full extent of his actions come to light.’

Keres glanced at his corpse. ‘Why did he do this?’

‘We’ll probably never know, except that he was a nasty wanker who enjoyed other people’s suffering and liked collecting weird shit.’

Keres pursed her lips then she shrugged. From the top of the stairs, there was a very loud miaow followed by another and another and another and another. ‘I told you lot to stay outside!’ I called.

Keres smiled. ‘Maybe it’s time you introduced me properly to your furry family.’ Maybe it was.

Back on the ground floor, I glared at the five cats, scolded them all in turn – and then fussed over each one in the manner of their choosing.

Keres held back nervously, but when She Who Loves Sunbeams padded up and nudged her shoe with her pink nose, she crouched down and offered her a pat.

Soon He Who Crunches Bird Bones, He Who Must Sleep and He Who Roams Wide had joined her.

She Without An Ear stayed where she was. Frankly I’d have been concerned if she hadn’t.

I picked up the backpack in Jimmy Leighton’s hallway and found three bone boxes inside. Only one had a label: Lone wolf. I clasped it tightly. I was holding Thane’s wolf in my hands.

He would be alright. We would all be alright.

‘We need to get out of here,’ I said. ‘I have to get this to Thane as soon as possible.’ I took a couple of steps towards the front door then stopped. Hmm.

Keres looked at me curiously. ‘Is everything okay, Kit?’

‘Yep. Just … give a minute. I need to fetch something else from the basement.’

He Who Crunches Bird Bones miaowed. ‘It’s okay,’ I told him. ‘I won’t be long.’ I knew what I was doing.

I didn’t wait outside Leighton’s house with Keres, Suzanne and Arthur Dinsbury.

The news of a dead body in circumstances such as these would bring Captain Montgomery and other members of MET running.

Montgomery knew where I lived and he’d find me when he needed me. My immediate priority was my werewolf.

The moment I stepped across the threshold of my home, I knew that Thane was alert and conscious – mostly because I could hear him yelling at Tiddles through the bedroom door. ‘I’m fine! Get out of the way and let me leave!’ Several seconds passed. ‘Goddamnit, Tiddles!’

I smiled. That ginger cat was very impressive. It was tempting to linger in the hallway and continue to listen but it wouldn’t be fair. I knocked on the door and called, ‘It’s Kit. Can I come in?’

I heard a shuffling sound. ‘Yes! Come and rescue me from this damned ginger monster!’

I opened the door and stepped inside. Tiddles was on all fours, her tail whipping from side to side, her ears flat against her head and her claws at the ready.

‘I am not in denial about what’s happened to me, Kit,’ Thane said as soon as I walked in.

I gazed at his face. He looked better than when I’d left now that the initial shock had worn off and he’d had some sleep, but without the return of his wolf soul that recovery could only be temporary.

His tone softened. ‘I’m not pretending that everything is hunky dory but I feel alright. Neither you nor Tiddles can make me stay in this room like some sort of invalid.’

‘You should give your cat more credit,’ I said.

‘She couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Keres because of the magical residue left inside her after her ban sith voice was stolen, yet your wolf has been taken and Tiddles has been alone with you with the door closed for a couple of hours.

Whoever thinks that feline loyalty doesn’t exist ought to get themselves a Tiddles of their own. ’

She purred briefly.

Thane glared. ‘I cannot believe you’re on her side.’

‘Her side is your side.’ I looked down at the cat. ‘You may stand down now.’

Tiddles twitched her nose then she blinked at me and sat down.

‘Unbelievable,’ Thane huffed. ‘You know that trow is here? He’s asleep in the spare room. I can hear him snoring.’

‘You should be sleeping, too.’

‘It’s daylight.’ He squared his shoulders. ‘I don’t need to sleep. Let’s wake Bin up and find out where this magic-stealing bastard lives.’

‘Let him sleep. Bin has already done what we asked of him.’

Thane’s green eyes widened. ‘Great. What are we waiting for? We can go now. I’m ready – I feel good. We can take care of this bastard and retrieve my wolf magic, Keres’ voice and every other poor bugger’s powers.’

I tilted my head. ‘Uh…’

‘We shouldn’t delay, Kit.’

I removed the backpack I’d taken from Jimmy Leighton’s house from my shoulders, opened it and took out the bone box labelled Lone Wolf. I held it out to him.

Thane stared at me. ‘You’ve already done it.’

‘Yep.’

‘You’ve saved the day, retrieved the magic and…’

‘Killed the bad guy.’ I nodded. ‘Yep.’

His shoulders dropped. ‘Oh.’

I understood his disappointment because I’d have felt the same if I were him. He ran a hand across his head and managed a wry smile. ‘I never thought I’d be the one in distress who needed rescuing by a fair maiden.’

‘Stick around,’ I said cheerfully. ‘I’m sure you’ll get to return the favour one of these days.’

A low growl rumbled in his chest. ‘You can bet every curl of your purple hair that I’m sticking around.’

‘Good.’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘You’re not moving in, though.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

‘There won’t be marriage. Or a ring.’

Thane held up his hands. ‘Kit, I get it. I’m the same as you. Independence is to be cherished – but I’ll still be close by for as long as you want me.’

I was beginning to suspect that would be for a long time.

He looked at the box in my hands. ‘Can I have my wolf back?’

I handed it over. ‘Wait until I’m out of the room – Tiddles too – then open it. That’s all you need to do. Your wolf magic will find its way into your body. It knows where it belongs.’

The relief in his expression was stark but there was still a question in his eyes.

I was fully aware of what he needed to know.

‘There were many more boxes. Several were labelled as belonging to werewolves. It didn’t say which pack they were from but…

’ I took a second box out of my backpack and held it up.

‘I left most of them where they were for the MET to deal with, but I took this one.’

Thane gazed at the neatly printed label. ‘Alpha wolf,’ he said. He swallowed. ‘You think that box contains the wolf magic belonging to Ashina Barrow? To my mother?’

‘It seems likely.’ Suddenly I felt as if I were on shaky ground and my voice dropped even lower. ‘You know I’m very capable of being a hard-arsed bitch when the situation calls for it.’

Thane looked at me and I looked at him. Several seconds passed before he responded. ‘Yes,’ he said eventually. ‘I know.’