“Nazid.” I caught him two feet above the ground and levitated him over to me.

  “What’d ya do that for?” He wiggled around, which didn’t do him any good.

  With a flick of my wand, I rolled him over. “So you can get help.” I locked the cuffs over his wrists.

  Roy sagged into the ropes. “And I ruined it all, like last time.”

  My respect for the medical professional who would deal with him until he sobered up increased. This was giving me a headache, and it had only been a few minutes. “It’s fixable.”

  And I was fairly sure it was. He hadn’t hurt anyone or done permanent damage to the property. Maybe this job wouldn’t be there for him, but another would be.

  “Those chocolates. Didn’t smell the booze.”

  I rotated him so his feet touched the ground. “You’ll know better next time.”

  Roy made no effort to stand up. He let the ropes and levitation spell support him as he stared at the floor. “Wanted a pick-me-up after running that guy off. Had a bad look about him, and kids come here. Almost stepped on that cat… poor thing.”

  “What guy and what cat?” I knelt and tried to get Roy to look at me. “It’s important, Roy. What guy? What cat? Do you have cameras?”

  He shrugged. “Black cat. Creepy guy. Ran him off from the front and then found him out back. Told ’im to leave. Cat scratched him. He ran off.”

  “Can you remember anything else?”

  “Orange eyes.”

  A high, drunk clurichaun was my new, least favorite witness. “The cat?”

  He nodded.

  “I’ve got good news for you, Roy. None of this was your fault.” I took down the shield over the door and levitated him out. “That cat had you feeling poorly before the chocolates. And you kept those kids safe.”

  “Lost my sober chip.”

  “I’ll write a note to your sponsor. You were drugged, and then you drank. Not your fault.” I kept reminding him of that as I handed him over to the waiting paramedics. As soon as they had him secured, I removed the bindings and cuffs.

  I turned to look for Porter, but he and the young adults were gone. Well, that blew that part of my plan. I didn’t have the authority to go asking for video.

  The ambulance drove off.

  But the hell cat was magical.

  A quick call to dispatch, and they knew I’d be around. They also told me Porter would be back soon. He was dealing with a nearby call.

  The laser tag storefront was in the middle of a long strip, so I went through the building. Along the way, I returned the doors to their original size. The hinges were broken, but those were cheaper to replace than an entire door.

  Out back, a dumpster sat against the building between the door I’d come out of and another. A sign over the second door said LASER TAG, so it went to the arena. The pavement extended enough for a sizable truck to get through before abutting an embankment with pine trees. A cool breeze ruffled the trees and carried with it the murky mix of spoilage, rot, and mold that came with dumpsters.

  Down the line, the backs of all the shops were mostly the same, with slightly different signs, boxes, and pallets. Sure enough, most of the shops had cameras. Porter could talk to them about reviewing the footage and getting a picture of the creepy guy. It wasn’t logical, but I hoped he was the murderer and that this would tie up the case. That would end my October nicely.

  Orange eyes peered out from under the dumpster.

  I knelt down and held out a hand. “If you’re who I think you are, you can understand me. We haven’t officially met, but I’m Michelle. I think you might be able to help me catch a killer.”

  The cat crawled forward, poking its head out. It had the same black and the same brilliant orange eyes. Its ears perked forward.

  “Someone keeps killing people, draining their blood, and you might know who they are, what car they drive, and what they look like. We could use that information to catch them.” I edged closer.

  The cat scrunched itself back under the dumpster.

  “I’ll be around here for a bit longer. Tonight, I’ll be at Kennesaw University’s Halloween Festival.” I eased back. “Lots of people will be there. You can show up in either form. All I care about is catching this murderer.”

  Meow.

  Not the most helpful answer. “I’m going back inside. If you don’t want to talk to me, go to a police station. Ask for Officer Jerry McKade or Officer Miguel Rodriguez.”

  The cat stared at me.

  “Please.” I got up and took a wide path around the dumpster.

  Closing the door behind me, I sighed. So much for a helpful hell cat. Assuming that was the hell cat. It could’ve been any black cat with orange eyes. I wouldn’t know the difference.

  I took my time going back through the building. The past week I’d felt useless. Until now, I hadn’t been confronted by how much only working magical cases had shielded me. The frustration, the limitations—I’d never noticed them because they weren’t there.

  Not knowing the best way to use my powers or how to combat a spell was entirely different from having nothing to work with. That’s where everyone was with the murders. Which was miserable. There had to be useful evidence; we just hadn’t found it yet.

  Bold talk coming from a woman who used magic. I didn’t autopsy each body, hunting for clues. I didn’t talk to families and friends. I got to walk up, poke around for magic, and leave.

  Only this time I was there, trying to figure it out with everyone else, and it wasn’t working. No matter how many times I went through the cases, there weren’t any connections between the victims. They’d all been alone at night. Tons of people were alone at night, but the killer had picked these four. Why?

  Why drain them? It wasn’t a ritual harvest to fuel blood magic. I would’ve found spells.

  Officers had been coming up with theory after theory. None of which worked. Almost all of them would have evidence if they were true. Evidence that was in short supply.

  I went out the front and closed the door behind me. Someone would need to get in touch with the owner or building manager so it could be properly locked.

  A police car rolled up and parked across two spaces. Porter got out. “Sorry about that. Had to round him up.” He motioned over his shoulder.

  Through the window, I spotted a middle-aged man.

  He looked at me with cold eyes and smiled.

  A shiver worked its way up my spine.

  I walked over to Porter, keeping him between myself and the man. “Was he a creepy guy freaking people out?”

  Porter lifted a brow. “The clurichaun mentioned him.”

  “Said everything went wrong after he drove off a creepy-looking guy.” Roy had been right. The guy made me glad I had magic. “First from the front of the store and then from the back. A cat scratched the guy too.”

  “I noticed a nasty set of scratches on his hand.”

  “Any chance he’s been the one killing people at night?” I held my breath. Please let it be him so we could solve the case.

  Porter shook his head. “Only released from jail last night. Stalking.”

  “So much for that idea.” More of a hope, but still. “Roy cooperated in the end. He was under the influence of magic before he started drinking. This wasn’t his fault.”

  “Put it in your report. It’ll get to his boss.”

  That was easy enough. Proving the hell cat’s involvement was a different issue. It shouldn’t come to that, but if it did, I’d be in an awkward spot. “Done.”

  Porter checked on Mr. Creepy, who was sitting in the car staring in my direction. “I’m waiting for the manager to come lock up. Owner is out of town. Unless there’s more for you to do, you can go.”

  My phone rang. I thanked Porter and got in my car. “Oaks Consulting. This is Michelle.”

  “It’s Gordon, can you come over to the airport?” Sergeant Gordon rumbled. Gordon oversaw Cobb county’s Magical Response unit, which include Jerry and me. “If you can help, I’d be grateful.”

  I stared at the plume of smoke. The fire. “I’ll be right there.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “You need me to do what?” I had to have heard Gordon wrong, because so far, I couldn’t figure out why I was here.

  That monstrous fire of doom I’d envisioned?

  One low, metal building belched an increasingly large plume of steam and smoke as the firefighters soaked it with three hoses. For a moment, I’d felt a mass of spells in there: lights, colors, illusions, and other holiday magic. All of that was gone now. A draining spell had eaten all of it and itself while I was getting Gordon’s attention. For once, someone had stored and transported magical items according to regulation.

  A smaller building to the side had flames coming out of the windows. A second fire crew was dealing with that, which left the various vehicles. A twin-engine cargo plane sat rather close to the burning buildings. A few ground vehicles for moving cargo or people were abandoned, and of course there were the fire engines.

  None of which needed my attention.

  Gordon crossed his arms over his chest. “Round up the bat cats.”

  “That’s a job for animal control.” I really shouldn’t say no. Billable hours were billable hours, but I’d had enough fun with flying chihuahuas to last a lifetime.

  His eyes closed. “I’d call them if I could.”

  “If your phone’s broken, you can use mine.”

  Gordon rubbed his face. “Jerry is at the courthouse. A giant unshrunk in the middle of a trial. Animal control is busy. Two tractor-trailers carrying chickens overturned. The birds are everywhere.”

  Not compelling enough. “I’m not an animal wrangler.”

  “You captured the flying chihuahuas. How is this any different?”

  “They had magic! They went through riot shields and barked fireballs.” I waved my hand at a circling bat cat. “These are your average critters. Find an elf.”

  “I tried.” His words came through clenched teeth. “Paeesin!”

  I blinked. This was different.

  “Now?” Came the bellowed response.

  “Now!” Gordon barked.

  Arms crossed over my chest, I stared at Gordon. There was a murderer on the loose. These flying nuisances were the definition of not-my-Narzel-blasted-problem.

  A disheveled elf, his icy blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, strode over with a scowl. He pressed a pad against his left arm. Bright white bandages stretched from his wrist to his elbow on his right arm. “What?”

  “Michelle, Paeesin.” Gordon motioned between us. “The only elf not on another call.”

  “Unless it’s life or death here, I’m getting stitches.” Paeesin pealed back the pad to show two sets of four lacerations. Three of the wounds bled freely. He pressed the pad over them. “And before you ask, I grew up in the city and studied diplomacy and weaponry. Not cat wrangling.” He spun on his heel and marched back to the medic.

  “Point taken.” I told Gordon. My head tipped toward my car. “Can I get a healing charm for him and some supplies before I start?”

  Gordon nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I have to catch the beasties.”

  And that was going to be fun. I knew basically nothing about bat cats. Would a trick like the meat spell I’d used on the chihuahuas work? Cats were obligate carnivores. Bats had a range of diets from blood to fruit. For all I knew, these bat cats only ate fruit.

  Would that make them fruitivores? It didn’t sound right.

  I popped open the truck, got a few minor healing charms out, and retrieved the trusty fake steak. Armed for bat cats, I stopped by the ambulance. A drop of magic activated the charm, and I gave it to Paeesin.

  “Sorry,” I said. “My argument with Gordon shouldn’t have included you.”

  He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. “Not your fault. Those older than dirt elves make it impossible for the rest of us. I turned twenty-four last week, but I look the same as one of those ancient bastards.”

  That wasn’t entirely true. He still had some filling out to do, but he wasn’t wrong either. “Anything I should know before I tangle with them?”

  “Dodge the claws. Watch your back. They like to team up for ambushes.” He exhaled and opened his eyes. “This charm is great. Thank you.”

  “Take care of yourself.”

  “Watch your back!” Paeesin called after me.

  “Got it.”

  What I didn’t have was a good plan. My first choice was to try the trick with the meat. I didn’t give it high odds. With my notoriously good luck, these things would only eat the summer fruit of some exotic plant. A quick search on my phone provided zero useful information. Different species had different diets, and more than one of those species had black coloration.

  And there were two big questions that needed answers. I found Gordon where I’d left him. “Is there a cage?”

  “Doesn’t latch.” He pointed at a steal cage.

  The cage was three feet tall, three feet wide, and five feet long; more than large enough for several bat cats. The door hung open, and the latch in question had sheared off. I could make the cage function for my purposes, but they’d have to secure it before transport.

  “We can tie it closed,” Gordon said.

  I nodded. “And how many bat cats?”

  He winced. “We don’t know. The tag came off while they were moving the cats from the building.”

  “Great.” I summoned my wand. “I’ll do what I can.”

  “Thanks, Michelle.” Gordon backed away.

  Two bat cats lazily circled above us, twisting between the two plumes of smoke. The fires seemed to be under control, and I was a respectable distance away.

  It only took a moment to add a one-way shield spell to the cage. I could put bat cats in, but they couldn’t get out.

  The spells on the meat took a little longer. After a short debate, I ended up making the meat smell like tuna. If these beasties had cat taste buds, they’d be over here in no time.

  One minute turned into two and still no bat cats.

  “Narzel.” I stripped the spells from the meat and set about recrafting them. Maybe a fruit this time. But which fruit?

  I went with orange because it was a fruit I liked and could recreate. This time, I added extra power to the scent spell and gave it a shove to help it spread.

  A minute ticked by. The cats should be able to smell the fruit.

  Two cats still circled the smoke. Neither showed any inclination to come over this way.

  Narzel blast it. I could do this the hard way. As long as it got done and no bat cats were injured it would be fine.

  I aimed slightly in front of the closer cat bat. “Sowil.”

  A room-sized shield snapped into place. From the inside, it should’ve looked opaque. I held my breath.

  The bat cat slowed, banked, and then hovered in the air.

  I shrank the spell down and levitated it over to the cage. The bat cat disliked every part of the transfer. It clawed at the spell but didn’t do any damage. It went into the cage before I removed the shield from around the bat cat.

  One down. Some number to go.

  The second cat was as easy to capture as the first. If I’d known where the others were, I’d be feeling confident. Only I couldn’t see any others. I couldn’t sense them when I spread out probes because they weren’t magical. If I wanted to use magic to find them, it would have to be a tracking spell. Hair from one of the bat cats would focus the spell, but it wasn’t worth a pint of blood.

  A metallic crash sounded from behind me. I spun around, only to have the ground shake. I crouched down. The roof of the metal building had caved in, and fresh flames shot into the air.

  “Back! Everyone back!” A firefighter ushered everyone away.

  Officers, airport employees, and all the other people who ended up at emergencies crowded closer to me. I pulled the spell off the meat and broke the circle on the ground. It wasn’t working anyway.

  I double-checked the spells on the cage and went in search of Gordon. It felt like half the airport was out here watching us. After a couple of minutes of searching, I found Gordon talking to a firefighter.

  He excused himself. “Michelle, do you have the bat cats?”

  “Two. I have two bat cats. Someone shipped those bat cats, and someone is expecting them. You have to give me a count of how many I should search for.” The cage seemed big for two bat cats, but what did I know?

  “I’m trying. I cornered a manager person before Paeesin tried to capture the bat cats. They were going to look through their records and get back to me.” He glared at the tower. “Should’ve been back by now.”

  “Hunt them down.” A swell of magic caught my attention, and I pivoted toward the smaller building. I hadn’t given it much thought earlier, not with the bat cats in plain sight, but it wasn’t as small as I’d thought. While it wasn’t as tall as the other building, it was still fairly long. The flames were concentrated in the side of the building closest to the other fire.

  I swore and ran after the fire fighter. “There’s magic in the building! Magic in the fire!”

  Heads turned my way, but the magic was growing. It would mix with the fire before any of us could stop it. I couldn’t put my power in the mix without risking being pulled in when the spell mixed with the fire.

  A side door flew off its hinges, landing ten feet away from the building. Two men crawled out of the door, a yowling black cat hot on their heels. And it was an actual cat, not a bat cat.

  “Hell.” I pushed my way over to a fire engine and whistled. “Hell cat!”

  “It’s bat cats or regular cat, ma’am.”

  Ignoring the comment, I crouched down.

  The hell cat trotted over, ash falling from its coat with each step. It rubbed itself against my ankle, leaving a soot smear.

  “That’s nice.” I scratched it behind the ears.

  A hiss sounded from above me.

  The hell cat backed away, hissing just as loudly.

  A shadow blocked the sun as a bat cat came swooping out of the sky.

  “No, you don’t. Sowil.” I caught the bat cat two feet off the ground. It skidded off the bottom of the shield, hissing and scratching at the barrier to get to the hell cat.

 

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