A Witch's Halloween, page 21
Her eyes locked with mine. “You can’t tell anyone. It only goes on that form. They can’t know. You can’t go asking extra questions about how I died. That situation isn’t resolved.”
I dropped the pen. “First, I won’t tell anyone. You have my word. Second, if it’s that important, it doesn’t have to go in the file.”
This was why I’d agreed to be the next premier. She needed help. I could help. I could be there for her while she adjusted. I could find another hell cat for her to talk to, or a therapist, anyone who could help her acclimate to her new life.
“I need to say it.” She squeezed her eyes shut. She whispered her clan and her name.
“Then the accident… You were one of the ones…” I couldn’t say the rest. I’d heard the story on the news. Everyone had heard the story. With Elron’s family in town, the police cases and the wedding, I hadn’t paid much attention. Ethel’s office had advised me on what I should say if asked, but I hadn’t gotten details. “We can’t write that down. It would get out. It’s too soon.”
“I know.” She squeezed her eyes shut. Tears leaked out. “I had to tell at least one person. I couldn’t not say.”
“And I won’t forget.” Not sure what else to do, I brought over a box of tissues.
She dried her eyes. “Sorry. I told myself I wouldn’t cry. That’s not my life anymore.”
“But it was, and it will always be part of you.”
“Do you know if… the others from the accident…” She sucked in a breath. “Are they like me?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. And I can’t ask. That’s their business unless they want to be known.”
She wiped her eyes again. “It’s better if I don’t know. It’s better we don’t meet, if there are others.”
While she processed, I checked the boxes on the paperwork indicating her past was to be left alone. That left two big questions before we could proceed with the paperwork. When I looked up, she was watching me. “Are you ready?”
She nodded.
“Where do you want to live, and what is your new name?”
“East of the Mississippi. My clan—” She huffed. “My old clan doesn’t come this way much. Smaller town.”
“I have a list.” I scooted a paper over to her. “The premier’s office has connections in each of those places. We can get you set up and support you while you start your new life.”
She handed it back to me. “Could you pick? I don’t know anything about them.”
I moved the list to the side. “I’ll narrow it down.”
“That leaves the name then.” She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. “I never thought about naming myself.”
“At least pick a temporary name. Calling you ‘hell cat’ feels odd.”
Her mouth quirked. “Just call me Cat.”
“Cat? C-A-T?” I had to work to keep a blank face.
She shook her head. “K-A-T.”
“Kat it is.”
“You didn’t write that down.” She tapped the form.
“Oh.” Awkward. “I thought it was temporary. Kat is what you want?”
She shrugged. “I’m a hell cat. Why not own it? Kat Hellsdaughter.”
“Bold. I like it.” I couldn’t help but grin as I wrote it out. “Any middle name?”
“Nah. Why mess with perfection?” She smiled cheekily but toyed with the hem of her shirt. “Will I be in a clan?”
I leaned back. This would be easier if I knew exactly what had happened with the accident, rather than the headlines. “Up to you. I can find you a place either way.”
Her gaze lowered to her hand. “I’m not—I don’t.” Kat huffed. “There are rules, and they keep churning in my head as I try to figure out what I can and can’t say.”
“You don’t have to decide right now.”
Kat shook her head. “It’s more… Promise you won’t act on anything you interpret from what I say.”
“On the earth, I swear I will not take any action based on what you say unless other forces bring me into the situation.” It was the best I could do. The clans held my vows, as did my family. I wouldn’t break my word to them.
“Good enough.” Kat smooth out the hem of her shirt. “I’d rather not get involved in another clan’s problems.”
I made a note. “No clan. Easy enough.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “I thought you’d ask more questions.”
“Of Kat Hellsdaughter? The first hell cat I’ve personally met? No. I’m here to make this easier for you, not harder.” But curiosity might kill me if I didn’t find the time to look up her old clan and the accident.
“Thank you.” She gave a slight smile.
“You’re welcome.” My phone chirped. A glance confirmed the message. “The police officers are here. Are you still willing to meet with them?”
Kat inhaled and then nodded.
“Here or a different room in the Lodge?”
“Here.” Kat’s shoulder’s tightened.
In her shoes, or paws, I wouldn’t be eager to talk to them either. “You’re under the protection of the premier’s office now. And they are good men. It’ll be okay.”
“Nothing has been okay lately,” she whispered as she nodded.
I replied to Rodriguez’s message. In the couple of minutes we had, I cleared off the table, including moving her paperwork to my workroom. Unless there was a surprise in the interview and somehow she’d committed a crime, her past and her future were none of their concern.
A polite knock cut through the room. Kat closed her eyes and sucked in a breath.
“It’ll be fine.” I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but she didn’t open her eyes. With a mental shrug, I opened the door.
Rodriguez and Jerry stood side by side, both holding giant cups of coffee. Jerry gulped his coffee and caught my gaze with bloodshot eyes. “I’ve had two hours of sleep. Is this worth my time?”
My brows shot up. “It will be if you mind your manners. She’s hesitant enough as it is.”
“Sorry. It’s been a terrible night.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “They staked him before sunrise.”
I stepped into the hallway.
“Had to be done,” Kat said.
I hesitated with the door only open an inch.
Jerry closed his eyes and swore. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
Kat tugged the door out of my hand. “I already knew.” She motioned for them to come in. “Michelle was right. We need to talk.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry,” Jerry said.
“McKade, right?”
He nodded.
“I’ll explain, come in.” She glanced at Rodriguez. “You too.”
We settled around the table, and I caught Kat’s eye. “Would you like me to get things started?”
“It should be me.” She took a steadying breath. “My new name is Kat Hellsdaughter. I suppose I should start with my rebirth.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“When I died in a fire, I didn’t know I’d be reborn as a hell cat. I didn’t know I’d be born in a fire.” She looked through Jerry and Rodriguez. “It was so loud, and I had to get out. I remembered—”
She swallowed hard. “Before. It wasn’t until I’d gotten away from everything that I started to think at all. I didn’t feel right. The world was so big, and the color was off. I thought it was from the smoke.
“The next part sounds odd to a human or witch, but I had to follow this compulsion. The next bit is a jumble. I felt a wrongness, and at the center, what I can only term evil. A vampire was following a woman, and I knew he would kill her. I tried to stop him, but when I reached for my magic, it was different. He stumbled away. She ran into her house, and I realized I was a cat.”
She blinked and was back in the present. “I tried to change but couldn’t. I felt the evil again, but I couldn’t figure out how a cat could stop it. The compulsion was pulling me in so many directions. The more I tried to block it, the stronger it got. I had to go after the vampire again, but I was too late. I hid, but the compulsion forced me over to a house with a giant spider. I was acting on instinct by then, more cat than human. When the girl was safe, I ran off. The compulsion faded during the day but came back the next night. I had to follow it.”
“It wasn’t until later that I could think rather than react. Then it was too late to save the first victims. I was dealing with the unicorn curse when I felt the third die. I knew then I had to stop the vampire, but I still didn’t know how to change back or who would believe me if I did.”
She sighed. “The transition... it sounds pretty in the stories, but it’s frightening. Two fires, suddenly I’m a cat. I don’t have food or shelter. I don’t understand my own abilities.”
Kat shook her head to clear it. “I almost stopped him with the fourth victim. I knew I had to do something different, but I wasn’t sure what. I followed him to the college, with a couple of minor detours along the way. You know what happened at the college.”
The men were still jotting down notes, so I gave Kat a moment before I asked the question we all needed to know. “Did you know you were causing the Dionysus effect?”
“Not until the curse.” Her shoulders rounded. “That was a mess. When I tried to drive the curse back, I made them loopy and then I couldn’t get them out.”
Jerry was the first to set down his pen. “Ms. Hellsdaughter, thank you. You didn’t have to talk to us, and we greatly appreciate it. You’ve already filled in the gaps. Could I ask a few questions?”
Kat nodded.
Over the next hour, Kat picked Kaden out of a photo lineup. She also correctly identified the first two victims and the fourth. She hadn’t been there for the third and wasn’t willing to guess when offered a set of pictures.
When it became clear she didn’t need me, I stepped into my office to make some calls. I tossed up a one-way shield, so I could hear them but they couldn’t hear me. Jerry and Rodriguez were as polite as I expected, even when asking Kat to go over her movements and whereabouts the second time.
I took the time to go through different property options with the premier’s office. We settled on a furnished cabin owned by the clans. The last resident had moved out a few months ago, and it was about as far as Kat could get from her old clan. I had them make arrangements for it to be opened up by our local representative. While coordinating her new home, I submitted the first few pages of her paperwork. It would be enough for them to get funds set aside for her.
By the time I was done, the interview was over. I saw the men out and promised to update my reports. I’d finish them after Kat was settled.
Kat and I spent the rest of the morning on paperwork but finished before lunch. I brought back a tray from Landa. My phone rang at the end of lunch, and I excused myself to take the call while Kat returned the tray.
The office had moved quickly; they wanted Kat settled. No doubt because of the minor issue of her old life. Since it benefited everyone, I went with it.
She came back, a bemused look on her face and a canvas bag over her shoulder. “Any idea why Landa loaded me up with a full set of clothes she says she has to spare in my size, and enough food to last days?”
I slung my purse over my shoulder. “How would you like to start your new life?”
Kat blinked and looked at her feet. “I’m wearing your shoes.”
“And a good thing they fit you. Those sneakers were always loose in the heel on me.” I tipped my head toward the door. “Shall we?”
“You’re just saying that, right?” She pointed down. “About the shoes?”
“Ah, nope. I bought them two years ago, wore them a few times and then replaced them. Those are yours.”
She looked at the red shoes and then at me. “You’re not joking about my new life either.”
I kept my voice soft. “No. You can stay here if you want. Landa has plenty of room. The premier’s office will support you the same no matter what you chose.”
Kat opened her mouth and then closed it again. Finally, she looked at me. “And if I need help?”
“I am never more than a phone call away. Neither is the premier’s office.”
“Okay.” She jerked her head in a nod. “Where is my new life?”
“What if I show you?” I opened the door and motioned for her to follow me.
Looking perplexed, she trailed after me as we went through the lodge and into the parking lot. I led her over to a nondescript sedan. Two waters filled the cup holders, and a suitcase sat in the back seat along with a small cooler. I knew, because I’d arranged it, that a larger cooler sat in the back. A phone sat in the passenger’s seat, and the keys were in the center console.
“What? When?”
“This morning. I can take you to your new life right now. You can start your new life here, in your own apartment. This car is yours if you want it. If you don’t, we have funds set aside for you to pick out your own.” I couldn’t stop smiling. The wonder on her face made up for how horrible October had been. All that fighting, all that misery, and now I could do some good.
“I–I don’t know what to say.” She walked around the car to the passenger side. “Is that my phone?”
“Yes.”
Kat pressed a hand over her mouth and shook her head. “I never… I thought it would be me, alone against the world.”
“You’ll only be as alone as you want to be.”
Her eyes locked with me. “Take me home.”
I slid into the driver’s seat and cranked the car. “It’ll be a few hours, get comfortable.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It went off without a hitch. Everything was perfect. She liked the look of the town. It was small, but not far from Greenville, South Carolina, so she could go to the city if she wished. The cabin was cute and not too isolated.
Even the dragon showed up at just the right time. I left as Kat started unpacking. She hummed to herself quietly as I closed the door behind me. Flying home, I wiped away a few tears of my own. She hadn’t expected a fraction of the help, and there was more if she needed it. All in all, a perfect day.
Or it would’ve been if I hadn’t seen my soon to be in-laws as soon as I landed. I thanked the dragon and sent them on their way. They didn’t need to be here for the inevitable family squabble.
For once, they didn’t run over, yell, or start demanding wedding concessions. No, they let me walk all the way over without a word.
Elron pulled me close, his hand resting at my waist. “Is it done?”
“She’s settled. I don’t think it’s done.” Not with her former clan, and not for her. Those compulsions to hunt evil weren’t going away.
“They have something to say.” He focused on his parents. “And then Michelle has more work.”
“Sadly, true. Today’s errand took me away from the reports. The police need those.” I forced a slight smile. “But I have a few minutes for family.”
“We only need a moment.” Erwin gathered himself. “Thank you for saving Eve.”
Enor patted his arm. “We never thought, well, that she would run into danger like that. We could not get there in time. Thank you.”
“You will always have our thanks.” Erwin bowed his head. “We did not think you would risk yourself for Eve.”
“She’s family. Of course I would help her. I would do it again.” This was worse than the yelling and fighting. At least I knew what to do with them when they demanded handmade apple wine.
Enor held out a soft package wrapped in tightly woven linen. “We found spider silk, enough for your dress.”
Narzel.
“Thank you.” I forced the words through clenched teeth. “It will be a wonderful addition to the wedding.”
“It was not woven on the spring equinox, but it is silver spider’s silk.” Enor’s words tumbled out. “It should do nicely.”
“Mother,” Elron pitched his voice low. “As Michelle said, it is a wonderful addition to the wedding.”
Enor smoothed her tunic. “It was the least we could do.”
I had no idea what to say.
“Mother, Father, Michelle needs to get back to work. We’ll see you for dinner.” Elron waited long enough for them to agree before guiding me away.
I held on to the package of spider silk and tried not to think about how it felt to walk into a spider web.
Elron took me to his apartment. He took the spider silk and set it to the side. “I have snacks, and I would like the story if you have time.”
“Shouldn’t we look at that?” I motioned toward the silk.
He shrugged. “All silver spider’s silk looks the same. Spring Equinox or not.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
Elron untied the twine, and the linen fell open. Ice-silver cloth spilled out and slid toward the floor. Elron caught it, lifting a shimmering cloth nearly the same color as his hair.
It was beautiful. Too beautiful to dye to match the traditional colors of a witch dress. My fingers brushed across the cloth. Unlike spider webs, this was soft. It didn’t cling to the skin but slid freely. “I didn’t expect it to be soft.”
“Their silk is softer, but still strong. A knife would not easily cut this fabric.”
“We have to use it, but not for my dress. I’m not dying fabric that unique.”
Elron folded the silk and repackaged it. “Perhaps Dorthea will have a solution.”
“Hopefully.” When people talked about weddings, they didn’t put nearly enough emphasis on the stress.
Though most of our stress had to do with my position. If the clans didn’t matter, we could just get married, ceremony be damned.
“How is the hell cat?”
“Well enough.” I followed him into the kitchen. “She’s settling into her new home.”
Elron set out a tray with finger foods. “What can you tell me about her?”
“Not much.” I snagged an olive. “She swore me to secrecy about her old life, for good reason.”
