I pointed a shaky finger at Fluffikins, who was still seated on the sofa in front of me. “You killed my landlady. She was your… your colleague, if not your friend. Why should I listen to anything you have to say? And why should I help you?”
“I didn’t kill her,” the cat said in that strange breathless way of his, not so much as lifting paw as he regarded me calmly.
I, however, continued to shout. “But you hired the killer. That makes you just as good as.”
He stood and stretched. “I don’t have time to debate this with you, Tawny, so I’ll cut straight to the point. Do you want more people to die or not?”
Honestly, I just wanted this to all go away, but despite all the magic involved in this horrible situation, that didn’t seem to be an option. “I still don’t know why I’m a part of this. Can’t you just go away and leave me alone?”
“We never meant to involve anyone outside of the board,” he admitted with a sad shake of his head. “But when you stumbled upon Lila’s body, we had no choice but to bring you in.”
“You knew I didn’t kill her. This whole time, you knew!” I sputtered. “And since you’re the one who ordered the hit, I’m willing to bet you know who the real killer is, too. So, why make me a temp? Why give me magic at all?”
“We took you in for your protection. The rest of it was a ruse, to misdirect anyone who showed up to sniff around Lila’s murder with the hopes of gaining her magic. And, look, that’s precisely what happened. You would have been a target, no matter what, having shown up yesterday morning.”
“You made me a target!” This was the one point I just couldn’t get past. Even though I’d accidentally walked onto the scene, there had to be countless other ways to keep me safe. Giving me magic seemed mighty extreme, especially since they hadn’t done much to teach me to use it. What was the whole point?
“You were already a target,” Fluffikins shouted back, losing his calm for the first time since the conversation had started. “Playing into it bought us all time, but now that time has run out. We can’t stand here arguing. We need to act while we still have time!”
“I don’t understand. If Melony isn’t coming for you or for me, then who is she after?”
“She’s going after the actual killer, the person who absorbed the town magic. She wants it for herself by any means possible. We need to get to him before Melony does.”
“To who?” I demanded, stomping my foot. The more Fluffikins explained, the less I understood. “Who are we rushing off to save now?”
“The person who killed Lila Haberdash. Barnes.”
My mind kind of exploded then. Fluffikins had ordered Parker to kill Mrs. Haberdash? I really wanted to know the why, but I also believed Fluffikins when he said our time was running out.
I still had to ask. “Parker killed her? Why? Why would he do that?” My voice trembled as I tested these words aloud.
“Because it’s what Lila wanted,” he admitted. His chest heaved with the weight of this revelation, making the little white patch bob within the mass of black fur.
I raised an eyebrow at him. I believed what he was telling me, but that didn’t mean I understood. A part of me doubted I’d ever fully understand, no matter how many questions I asked. “She wanted someone to murder her?”
“Yes, and she trusted us to get it done right.” He hopped off the couch and landed by my feet.
“None of this makes any sense!”
Fluffikins stared up at me with bright golden eyes that seemed to see right through me. “Can you please just trust me on this? We’ve lost too much time already. Do you want to save Barnes or not?”
I’d seen the look in Melony’s eyes as she first questioned Greta and me and then charged out of the house with that enchanted hat. She was out for blood. Parker’s blood.
And I also knew deep in my gut that Parker was an okay guy. He’d been kind to me and seemed earnest in wanting to help me. Even if he’d been the one to get me mixed up in this whole magical business—which I still did not appreciate, by the way—it didn’t mean he deserved to die for it.
“But how can I help? I’m just a human,” I mumbled, feeling so useless in that moment.
Fluffikins’s eyes twinkled. “Ah, but you have magic now. What do you say? Join the good guys?”
Well, what choice did I have now? The stakes felt much higher now that someone I knew and liked was in jeopardy. I sighed and nodded. “If you’re sure you need me and that you’ll keep me safe, then I’m in.”
“Great. We’ve already wasted more time than I’d prefer, but luckily Melony is a low level witch. She’ll have needed to travel by the traditional means, so we still have time to beat her to our destination. Follow me.” The cat ran to the door and let himself outside.
I followed after, wondering if I was crazy for agreeing to help with what little information I’d been given.
“Now grab my tail,” Fluffikins shouted into the still morning sky.
I crouched down, closed my eyes, and clenched that tail like my life depended on it. The soft fluffy appendage turned hard in my grip and then it started to grow. When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer holding onto a tail but rather a broomstick, and I was no longer standing in my front yard.
I was flying.