The Accidental Familiar (Accidentally Paranormal Series Book 14) (21 page)

How did she find out what really happened to Yash?

Avis? Would he have more objective insight? The very thought repulsed her.

She’d like an explanation for
that
, too. Why did Avis make her want to drive a stake through his eyeball?

Tucking that emotion away, Poppy attempted a rational approach—get in touch with Avis and grill the dick until he was puking the information she needed. She didn’t want to go behind Rick’s back, but there wasn’t anyone she was aware of closer to him than Avis.

So that settled that.

Not to self. Make a date with a dick.

J
anuary nudged her shoulder. “You okay?”

“I think my eyeballs might fall out of my head, but I’m mostly okay.” The microwave clock read three a.m., and they’d been scouring old books and the Internet since shortly after nine.

“Now if that happens, I
know
I can put them back in your head,” January joked, tucking her hair behind her ear and stretching her arms.

Poppy gave a tired laugh, rubbing her hands over her eyes as she slid her upper body forward on the island countertop, letting her head rest in her arms. “Being a familiar is hard.”

January stopped surfing some website about spells and gazed at her. “In all this madness, I forgot to ask how you’re holding up, Poppy. It’s not like you came into this already a paranormal. You have to be in shock.”

“I don’t know if shock is the right word. I guess finding out some of this stuff is real was definitely shocking, but when it happened, there was this weird feeling in my gut. Like I knew what Calamity was saying was true. You know? I dunno. I can’t explain it. I’m suddenly getting all sorts of weird vibes I never had before.”

Leaning into Poppy, she rested her chin on her hand. “Want to share?”

“Do I get a free session if I do?”

January laughed, taking a bite of a chocolate chip cookie Arch had made a batch of in order to keep busy. “Gosh, I just can’t shake the damn therapist thing, can I? Is it the glasses?”

“It’s definitely the glasses.”

“So the vibes? What’s happening? Tell me.”

Maybe it would be good to just tell all. Spit it out and get ’er done. “I feel things. All sorts of things, especially relating to Rick. For instance, I feel his deep sense of loyalty to his friend and partner, Avis. As another example, I knew Nina could be trusted almost from the moment I met her. I know something’s going on with Wanda she can’t identify. I knew Familiar Central was real. I knew—”

“Wait. Back up. You can feel Rick’s emotions? Are we talking literally?”

Now she tensed, sitting up straight. “Is that a bad thing? Wrong?”

“No. No. But it’s unique for such a new relationship. As familiars, you get to know your assignments over time. Sometimes there isn’t even a connection at first. I’ve had my familiar Farley forever, and every once in a while I still stump him. To feel emotions like someone’s loyalty and trust so instantly is huge, Poppy. It means you have the gift of intuition, which only enhances my thought you two were fated.”

She knew a little about what that meant after watching some movie or another. Or was that empathic? All these witchy catch phrases were too much to absorb.

“So now I’m an intuit, too?”

January smiled, warm and so supportive, Poppy’s heart clenched. “Yeah. And it can be pretty great. It has its pitfalls, too, I’m told. Not everything is rosy.”

There was validation in that sentence. Maybe she wasn’t so crazy after all. “Okay, so can I confide something in you then? Will you promise to keep it just between us?”

“As long as it does no harm to you or others, yes. Of course. I’m here to help in any way I can, Poppy. No matter what.”

She sucked in a breath. “Good, because this has been killing me from the moment I met Rick’s partner, Avis. He’s bad juju. I can’t pinpoint why, I have no proof to back it up, but I feel it, so strongly it almost doubles me over.” She pointed to her sore gut and reiterated. “
Feel
it.”

“Oh boy,” January muttered. “A man and his best friend are delicate issues. Definitely presents a problem. Maybe it’s all the other stuff going on mingled with these feelings?”

“Like the aura stalking me?”

January paused, giving her a thoughtful look before she said, “Could be. Sometimes everything gets muddied, and you need to isolate each incident with some critical examination.”

“That makes complete sense. A meltdown of my senses is a good explanation, but I have one more question.” Poppy explained her apartment building and Mr. Rush and all her neighbors, and the definite feeling something was very wrong at Littleton. “Could those waters be muddied, too—because I’m so upset that everyone is skipping off to greener fields like they didn’t spend most of their lives at Littleton?”

“That’s definitely a possibility, Poppy. You’re almost extra-sensitive at this point. Maybe you’re picking up on everything as you adjust to this way of life. I mean it’s pretty big. Everything that’s happened up to this point has been nothing less than life-altering.”

Wiping the crumbs from her cookie into her hand, Poppy considered. “So an overreaction?”

But January’s shake of her head was firm. “No. I wouldn’t say that. Never doubt your intuition entirely. Don’t dismiss, but it could be a magnification because this Avis sounds like a misogynistic swine.”

She laughed, but it was tinged with this inexplicable bitterness she couldn’t shake off. “Oh, he’s all sorts of cheerio and tut-tut,” she replied in her best British accent. “But since I met him, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling he’s a creeper.”

“Then revisit them often. Don’t let them go, but keep your eyes and ears peeled. Call me if you need me. Always. Okay?”

Relief to have confessed her feelings flooded her. She’d needed to confide in someone. But there was still more. “Also, one more thing.”

“Shoot,” January said.

“I like Rick.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you like your warlock?”

She’d been battling this feeling all night. How was she going to spend the rest of her life with a man she found wildly attractive and not somehow inject that into everything she did?

“I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t like him quite in the way I like him. I like him in the biblical sense. In biblical proportion.”

January blanched, but it had a sympathetic vibe. “Is this making it difficult to do your job as his familiar?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure when I should be helping him, I shouldn’t be ogling his body parts while I do. If I’m to do right by him, I don’t know that I can if my advice is clouded with my dirty-dirty thoughts.”

“Damn, you’re a good person, Poppy. You know that, right? I can think of some who’d continue on and guide with a manipulative slant in their favor. But not you. You should be really proud of who you are—of your integrity.”

Poppy’s cheeks went red. “Don’t give me too much credit here. I
am
the person who purposely sent a check to the electric company made out to my water company to stall my electricity being shut off.”

January giggled. “That’s called survival, not manipulation. Your integrity remains intact.”

“So what happens to me if I confess to Familiar Central? Do I still go to the Bad Place? Calamity said I shouldn’t complain ever.”

“You’re not complaining, honey, you’re owning your feelings and doing what’s in the best interest of your assignment.”

“But does it still mean the Bad Place?”

“I’m going to be honest here, I don’t know, but I promise you this, I’ll go with you when you talk to them. I’ll be your advocate, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep you out of the Bad Place if this is what you really want to do.”

“It’s kind of the right thing.” She hated it, but it was unfair to Rick to do anything else.

“Promise me something though? Let’s wait until after Halloween, okay? Let me get past this blood moon thing, and I’ll take you on my broom personally.”

“Shut up. You have a broom?”

“She does not have a GD broom!” Nina called from the other side of the room, pushing her hoodie from her face to glare at them.

Now Poppy laughed, despite her misery and fear of the unknown. “I’ll wait then.”

“You’re an angel.”

“And you’re really nice, January. Everyone is really nice. Thank you. I appreciate your advice.”

January hitched a thumb over her shoulder to where Marty, Nina, and Wanda were cleaning up the debris of her attack. “These three and Carl are something, aren’t they?”

Her heart warmed, growing tight in her chest. “Yeah. They really are.”

No matter what happened with Rick, she knew she’d remain in touch with these people for as long as she walked this earth.

And even if that meant giving up the position as Rick’s familiar, she was still walking away with something good in her life, and that was so nice.

* * * *

Poppy sat in the diner across the street from Littleton for her meeting with Avis while Nina and Marty sat a couple of booths away. Wanda sat in the park with Calamity, watching Littleton, her eyes far away.

In the interest of honesty, she’d told Rick she was going to continue to do her part as his familiar and get to know the people in his life. That included his employees and Avis.

She’d even managed to inform him without a sneer when she’d said Avis’s name. So while Rick went to check on her neighbors and tidy up last-minute details for the demo, she’d taken the opportunity to invite Avis for coffee.

And he was fifteen minutes late. Five more and she was going to hunt him down and choke him with a happy “cheerio.”

Marty tapped her wrist and an imaginary watch, mouthing, “Where the hell is he?”

She shrugged, giving the waitress her order for coffee, even though her stomach was still in complete turmoil, and it wasn’t just because she’d hacked up a demon last night.

When the doors to the diner swung open, bringing with them a chilly breeze, Poppy intuitively knew it would be Avis striding through the cluster of white vinyl booths. She knew because he gave her a chill like no other.

Don’t let your feelings cloud your judgment, Poppy. Stay aware, but stay cool.

Rolling up the sleeves of her flannel shirt, Poppy took that thought to heart as she waved to Avis with a half-smile.

“There you are! How delightful to be asked to coffee by such a dish!” he exclaimed, way too cheerful and exaggerated for her taste. But objectivity was the name of the game here.

She wanted to find a redeeming quality in Avis—for Rick. “Hey, thanks for meeting me.”

His eyes widened, his grin following when he reached over and patted her hand. “Anything for Rick. That you’re not hard on my eyes makes this little meeting a plus. So what can I do for you, Poppy McGuillicuddy? How can I make your transition into familiar-hood with Rick easier?”

You could start by letting go of my hand, thus removing this feeling I’m somehow dirty.
Pulling her fingers from his, Poppy tucked them in her lap and decided to get down to business. She wasn’t going to pussyfoot around with him.

“Tell me about Yash.”

Avis’s shift in position was ever so slight, the change in his face, the clouding over of his eyes just as brief. And then his face went sad, almost comically mournful. “My poor chap Rick. I suppose he told you what happened?”

“He did.” And that was all she was saying. She was curious to hear Avis’s take on Yash, and she didn’t know why a statement from him made a difference, but there was this voice deep inside that told her it did—that he might have vital information about the familiar.

He sucked in his cheeks, giving his face an unintentionally long, menacing look. “You’re a woman of few words, aren’t you, Poppy?”

Leaning her chin on her hand, she purposely wanted to show him she was relaxed. “I just believe in getting to the point. So what was Yash like?”

Pressing his hand to his chest, he sighed. “I loved Yash as much as Rick did. When he all but disappeared, I was heartsick.”

Liar!
The word flashed before her eyes with such clarity, Poppy almost ducked, and the smarmy, ugly tentacles clawing her insides latched on tighter.

“But he took your money, too, didn’t he?”

Avis blustered, yet his eyes were cool. “That’s almost irrelevant. The money wasn’t so much a betrayal as the lies. I thought Yash had Rick’s best interests at heart always. He was Rick’s closest confidant. I didn’t know if Rick would ever recuperate after such an agonizing break in trust.”

“So you believe Yash stole ARMD’s money and took off without a word? Just like that? It seems so out of the blue. So random after being with Rick for so many years. Why would he do such a thing?”

Leaning back against the booth, Avis nodded solemnly as his fingers toyed with the paper napkin. “Tell me something I don’t know. No one was more surprised than I, except for maybe Rick himself. We were both blindsided. But I’m not one hundred percent convinced Yash’s intentions weren’t true.”

Her eyes zeroed in on Avis’s handsome face, alarm bells singing their song. “Meaning?”

“Meaning I think it was something more. Something he couldn’t tell anyone. Something utterly
dreadful
.”

Cue evil music. Avis was just shy of maniacal laughter as he used the word “dreadful.” Yeah, Poppy didn’t doubt whatever had happened to Yash was dreadful, but were there no clues? No telltale signs?

“So you think something nefarious happened to him? How does that explain the missing money?”

Avis rubbed his hands together and grinned. “Nefarious is such a tasty word. And frankly, I don’t know. Call it my gut.”

“So you believe in Yash’s innocence?”

“Will this conversation be all about Yash? I thought you wanted to get to know
me
,” he teased, batting his eyelashes.

As the waitress dropped her coffee in front of her, granting her a reprieve from Avis’s question, he dismissed her offer to take an order.

Adding sugar to the dark liquid, she stirred, deciding to keep her acting shoes on when she answered him. Summoning her best Jessica Rabbit smoldering gaze, Poppy winked. “I guess it depends on how interesting
you
are. Are you more interesting than a familiar who steals millions of dollars and betrays the boy he’s virtually raised? For instance, this woman Rick mentioned who broke your heart just before you began attending Princeton. We could talk about that…”