Witch Risen: A Paranormal Adventure (Bad Tom Series Book 2) (9 page)

Her eyes widen. She's catching on.

"I did her such a nice service with my potion, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did."

"Go on then, say my name."

"Yes, you did," she says, then continues with emphasis, "Eunice. But how…"

"How have I ever done anything? With a strong will and a huge amount of power. Now, fetch me tea. Then call that useless daughter of yours and get her over here. We're going to talk."

An hour after the daughter arrives with her nails half-painted, I'm no wiser than I was before. Neither of them know anything about Tom or Kevin's relationship with Cassie. Neither of them know what Robert won't let Kevin do. They do report that certain members of the coven have been on the outs under the new leadership and have been subtly discouraged from attending. Maureen and Dora have felt unwelcome along with Zelda and her spawn, although Dora was never a special follower of mine. She didn't like Natalie much, though. But everyone else was certainly team Gillian, and I'm sure
they
were just waiting for me to pop off.

None of this makes sense. But at least I know where my followers stand. With a little prompting, they'll be back in the coven at the full moon to lend "Cassie" their support when she asks for it. I doubt that Natalie would actually block them from the circle. Subtle has no power against the direct approach.

What was that song about the moon Tom liked so much in the seventies? He would sometimes dance me around to it when he wasn't blaming me for his lot. I remember; I feel a bad moon a'risin'. My, oh my. Poor Natalie. That moon is rising soon.

My black fur blends in to the shadows in the narrow space between Eunice's big Victorian and the smaller one next door. Both of them are converted shops now—no one in Giles wants to live that close to each other. Too many secrets in this town. Who would want the neighbors listening in? Eunice is one of the few owners who still lives in the downtown area.

When she walks past the break between houses, I pull Cat in as small as he'll go and try to disappear into the patch of darkness around me. Cat alarms me with an impulse to dart out behind her and catch the hem of a pants leg as she passes, but I distract him with the thought of his blue bowl inside the house, imagining the fishy scent of his favorite glop. It's a good thing Cat's impulses can shift like leaves in the wind. He settles again, dinner on his mind.

I know Natalie promised that Eunice won't be able to sense me now, but I'm still not willing to take any chances. What Cassie told me about her has sharpened the edge of fear I've been living with since my caring girlfriend turned away from me that night in the attic and a devil turned back.

I look out from around the corner when enough time has passed, and Eunice is well down the street. At the corner, Robert greets her and they enter The Diner of Earthly Delights together.I've got my cell phone strapped to my collar so Robert can contact me.

I considered using the invisibility suit, but there's no way to test if it works on Eunice without potentially giving myself away. Better to assume that since she created it, she's also immune to its effects.

I can't believe I'm counting on Robert to make sure this thing goes off without a hitch. If she balks and heads home too soon, the only thing between me and slavery is his arthritic thumbs tapping me out a text in time to get me out of there before she arrives. Although he's been the soul of hospitality since I started staying at his house, and I know I owe him, I still can't fully trust him.

I'm swift as I run around the house and leap to the window Eunice usually leaves open for Cat. Cat is ecstatic. He's still thinking of dinner. He's going to be disappointed today. We leap into the parlor, and I head him toward the stairs instead of the kitchenette.

He cooperates until I get to the top of the stairs, but he decides he's focused long enough now and bats at the phone swinging around on his collar, hoping to take a break for some fun on the landing. Too bad for him it hangs in too close to our body, and he can't quite figure out how to reach it.

Whose idea was it to combine a tiny typewriter with a tiny phone and make people carry them around, anyway? The alarm function is useful, but I don't need to carry an alarm clock, or a phone, or a typewriter around all the time. If someone needs to talk to me and it's important enough, I'll respond to a message as soon as I can. And if it isn't important, why bother? I don't understand why everything has to happen the minute you think of it. Cassie says I'm too "old skool". I have no idea what that means.

Cassie. Always there in my thoughts. Cat's pulled me off the point again. I focus and say the shift words in my head:
good Tom
. After the transformation, I fumble with the stupid keyboard on the phone to send Robert a text, "I'm in."

He sends back, "crfl."

Sure. Whatever that means.

I glide up the stairs and into Eunice's old room. Cassie had redone it, but it's back in full Eunice mode now. The spare set of bedding has returned from its attic storage spot, bringing with it Eunice's satin and velvet debauchery. I freeze for a minute, terrified. She's preparing herself for me again. All the reds that Cat can't see are back in place. They were her special treat for me whenever she let me be a man.

Like hell. Not going to happen. I go to the closet and start sifting through what's stored there. I find nothing. I was sure this would be where she'd put the box now that she's back to nest in her lair. As important as it's turned out to be, she'd want to keep it close.

I look under the bed, but it's not there. The same with the other two bedrooms. Cassie's room is how she left it. Mine is still as empty as it was when I moved into hers.

I've got to go prowling through the rooms downstairs to try to find it. I don't want to. This house feels like a cage again instead of the home it had become.

My hand goes to my neck for the phone, just to reassure myself my early warning system is still in place.

My heart skips a beat.

It's not there.

But where? Where is it? I can't leave it in the house. I have to find it.

I rush back to Eunice's room, and there it is in the middle of the red and blue flowered, oriental carpet.

With a text.

From Robert.

Two words.

GET OUT.

The bell on the shop door jangles below as the door swings opens.

I turn off the phone and quickly affix it back to my collar. It better stay put this time.

I shift.

The only open window is downstairs. Why didn't I think of that before shifting? I'd have to run right in front of her to get to it. I don't have time to shift, open a window, then shift again to escape. And if I run across the landing to another room and she's already gotten to the stairs…

I'm trapped.

The closest place to hide is under Eunice's bed. Cat is hyped on my terror, the fur at the back of his neck standing at attention. I'm glad he's poised for a fight if something wicked this way comes. Anything can happen with Cat—he could be ready to snuggle up and purr instead of to fight. Thank the Goddess he goes along with me on this one. He doesn't always bend to me when he's in charge.

Cat stays put, listening, as Eunice prepares herself for bed, making evening ablutions, slipping one of Eunice's gowns on over Cassie's head. I watch her feet pull up from the floor as she finally eases herself into bed.

Any minute.

Any minute, I expect Cassie's head to appear suspended upside down, Eunice's smile on her face as she reaches under the bed to grab me, her preparations for sleep nothing but a sham.

Fortunately, Cat's heart is small. It doesn't thud loudly enough to get her attention.

The very thought of Eunice touching me with Cassie's stolen body makes me want to kill her. If I'd had the guts to fight her when it involved just me, I might have saved Cassie from all of this. But I was so determined to stay human and not give in to being the predator, the cat. Now, I wish I'd done it, treated her like Cat treats a mouse and gone at her when her guard was down. I'd take her out right now if I could do it without harming Cassie.

Instead, I'm stuck under the bed waiting for that monster to fall asleep. I keep Cat still and away from the warm body above by filling him with thoughts that the thing the human above most wants from him is for him to move around. Obviously, being a cat, his only real choice is to do the opposite.

After an hour or so, when the Cassie-thing's breathing has settled into a regular rhythm, I know I have to take my shot. I wish it was darker in here, but Eunice had the habit of keeping some light on in case she woke up hungry. Not so she could get down the stairs. So she could get to me. That kind of hunger.

I've never been as grateful for Cat's stealth abilities as I am right now. His cat's paws make no sound as I slip out from under the bed and make my way toward the door, my body low to the carpet, ready to spring and burst into a run if there's any sound behind me.

But there is no sound. Only Cat's heart racing to my fear. And tonight, fear doesn't cripple me. I travel swiftly down the stairs, out the downstairs window, and chase the darkness through the backyards of Giles as I head back to my temporary home with Robert.

The open window at Robert's place never looked so welcoming. I leap through and shift, get dressed, and head for the kitchen.

"Oh my Goddess. Tom!" Gillian leaps from a chair and charges toward me, arms outstretched to capture me in a hug.

Robert turns, too, and a small smile moves across his face. "Good to see you." He extends a hand for me to shake, and I take it once I extricate myself from Gilly's grasp.

I haven't been part of any kind of community for so long, it never occurred to me that anyone would worry about me. I probably shouldn't have stopped to let Cat hunt. And why are Gillian and Robert suddenly so cozy?

Gillian throws up her hands when I don't offer any information. "Well—where have you been? We were gutted. When Robert told me where you were and that you didn't meet him when Eunice went back to the house…." She stops then, halfway through pouring hot water into a tea cup, and looks up at me with a stern look. "You didn't just head to the woods for a hunt and leave Robert like that to worry, did you?"

I'm afraid to tell her that I did some of that. She doesn't need to know. But I've learned an important lesson if there's ever a next time. That's right, just like a kid—call if you're going to be late.

I give her mostly truth. "The phone fell off my collar, and I didn't know it was gone until it was too late. I had to hide under the bed until I was sure Eunice was asleep."

She's apologetic then. "Oh, Tom, I'm sorry. You must have been terrified." She sets a steaming cup of water in front of me with an herb-stuffed infuser sitting on top, filling the kitchen with the scent of roses. "That will calm your nerves if they need it."

Robert sits across from me and Gilly runs off to the kitchen to boil more water for the both of them. "She worries about you. You're still very important to her."

"I know. But not in the same way I was when she was young."

"No," he agrees. "Not in that way."

Why does he look relieved?

The shop bell rings to the first customer of the day, and in she comes, Gillian.

"Hello, sweetie! Are you feeling all better after the fainting spell on Thursday?"

"Fine. Yes." I really must find a way to discourage her from coming around every five minutes.

She pokes her head behind the shelves, then stoops to look underneath them. Her gigantic derriere confronts me when she does. Her mouthy end asks, "Still no Cat? Or is he just hiding today?" It's like she's taunting me. She pulls out the bag of treats she'd brought with her last time and unseals it. "The smell of these should bring him running if that's the case."

"Still hasn't returned, I'm afraid. Please let me know if you spot him around town."

"Of course, pet. I hope nothing's happened to him."

"Cat's tough. Granny Eunice used to say that Cat had nine lives and every single Cat since the sixties was the very same one! Imagine that. And Granny loved her Cat so. She used to say that having him around was better than having a boyfriend because all he needed was a little catnip, and he'd be eating out of her hand." I smirk as I enjoy my own private joke.