I bobbed my head and pretended to take a sip from my glass.
Virginia’s casual smile faded at once. Even the soothing green of her eyes appeared to sharpen in an instant. “Our witches’ feuds are ours, too. We don’t have any autonomy in their world. So if our cats are fighting, then we are, too.”
I coughed and set my sweet tea on the coffee table. It seemed there was no need to keep up appearances if she was going to wear her hostility on her sleeve here.
“Are you sure?” I asked with a frown. “It just seems so silly. Shouldn’t we witches and familiars stick together?”
“That’s not our decision. Now that we’ve met, I hope you’re satisfied. You may finish your tea and leave.” Virginia drained hers in a single gulp, then wandered off down the hallway and let herself into a private room.
I had to act fast. Something told me if I wasn’t gone by the time Virginia came back, I might not be able to get away. How quickly she had transformed. This frightened me. Would I one day become like her, too? Was this the life my witchy cat had cursed me to live in choosing me as his familiar?
Desperate to get out of there and fast, I knocked my purse onto its side with my heel, trying to make it look like an accident in case anyone was watching. Then I bent down and grabbed it, taking care to shove the journal as far back as I could.
Satisfied with my work, I took my still full beverage to the kitchen and dumped it down the sink drain, then let myself out into the yard and bolted for my waiting car.
So much for diplomacy.
Whatever our cats’ problem with each other, the two felines would just have to find a way to work it out for themselves.
14
I thought about my strange encounter with Virginia the entire drive home. How she had transformed from pleasant to frightening in the quickest of moments. Merlin had said that familiars themselves don’t possess magic, but Virginia’s personality shift had felt wholly unnatural. Did Luna bespell her somehow?
And, more importantly, would Merlin do something similar to me?
I didn’t like this one bit. Was it too late for me to tell him “thanks, but no thanks” and leave him to find someone better suited to lifelong magical servitude?
I had a feeling that no matter where I ran to, Merlin would find me and drag me back. And other than being a little rude, he hadn’t done a single thing to hurt me. In fact, he’d promised to protect me, at least when it came to Harold’s murder investigation.
Whatever the case, he and I clearly needed to have a long talk before he asked anything more of me. Lesson two said that I was supposed to trust him, but he needed to trust me, too. And he needed to offer some kind of guidebook into my new life if he expected me to assimilate.
Yes, we would have a nice long chat, provided I could find him. I took a deep breath and pushed open the door to my home, more than ready for a heart-to-heart.
But I didn’t find Merlin waiting for me.
Instead, the house had been ransacked during my brief visit with Virginia. I’d only been gone half an hour, tops, but cushions had been torn off the couch, chairs overturned, the whole nine yards.
Thinking fast, I grabbed a broom from the front closet and proceeded deeper into my house with the end raised like a baseball bat.
“Who’s there?” I called as my eyes darted all around. Who would burgle me in broad daylight? And why? I didn’t have anything good.
Suddenly the broom flew from my hands and whipped back around to pin me against the wall.
“Where is it?” a lanky white cat demanded, tiptoeing toward me. Luna.
“Let me go,” I cried, struggling against the broom, but Luna’s magic proved stronger than my muscles.
“Not until you tell me where it is!” She stopped about a foot in front of me and unsheathed the claws on one paw. “Tell me right now!”
I could play dumb and pretend I didn’t know what she was talking about, but it seemed easier to give in to her demands. “The journal?” I asked.
Her glowing green eyes widened. “So you admit to the theft?”
“I admit I took it, but I also brought it right back. I’m sorry.”
“You have no idea what you’ve done. What trouble you’ve caused.”
“Again, I’m really sorry. Please let me go?” I begged meekly.