“You need me to do what?” I had to have heard Gordon wrong, because so far, I couldn’t figure out why I was here.
That monstrous fire of doom I’d envisioned?
One low, metal building belched an increasingly large plume of steam and smoke as the firefighters soaked it with three hoses. For a moment, I’d felt a mass of spells in there: lights, colors, illusions, and other holiday magic. All of that was gone now. A draining spell had eaten all of it and itself while I was getting Gordon’s attention. For once, someone had stored and transported magical items according to regulation.
A smaller building to the side had flames coming out of the windows. A second fire crew was dealing with that, which left the various vehicles. A twin-engine cargo plane sat rather close to the burning buildings. A few ground vehicles for moving cargo or people were abandoned, and of course there were the fire engines.
None of which needed my attention.
Gordon crossed his arms over his chest. “Round up the bat cats.”
“That’s a job for animal control.” I really shouldn’t say no. Billable hours were billable hours, but I’d had enough fun with flying chihuahuas to last a lifetime.
His eyes closed. “I’d call them if I could.”
“If your phone’s broken, you can use mine.”
Gordon rubbed his face. “Jerry is at the courthouse. A giant unshrunk in the middle of a trial. Animal control is busy. Two tractor-trailers carrying chickens overturned. The birds are everywhere.”
Not compelling enough. “I’m not an animal wrangler.”
“You captured the flying chihuahuas. How is this any different?”
“They had magic! They went through riot shields and barked fireballs.” I waved my hand at a circling bat cat. “These are your average critters. Find an elf.”
“I tried.” His words came through clenched teeth. “Paeesin!”
I blinked. This was different.
“Now?” Came the bellowed response.
“Now!” Gordon barked.
Arms crossed over my chest, I stared at Gordon. There was a murderer on the loose. These flying nuisances were the definition of not-my-Narzel-blasted-problem.
A disheveled elf, his icy blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, strode over with a scowl. He pressed a pad against his left arm. Bright white bandages stretched from his wrist to his elbow on his right arm. “What?”
“Michelle, Paeesin.” Gordon motioned between us. “The only elf not on another call.”
“Unless it’s life or death here, I’m getting stitches.” Paeesin pealed back the pad to show two sets of four lacerations. Three of the wounds bled freely. He pressed the pad over them. “And before you ask, I grew up in the city and studied diplomacy and weaponry. Not cat wrangling.” He spun on his heel and marched back to the medic.
“Point taken.” I told Gordon. My head tipped toward my car. “Can I get a healing charm for him and some supplies before I start?”
Gordon nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I have to catch the beasties.”
And that was going to be fun. I knew basically nothing about bat cats. Would a trick like the meat spell I’d used on the chihuahuas work? Cats were obligate carnivores. Bats had a range of diets from blood to fruit. For all I knew, these bat cats only ate fruit.
Would that make them fruitivores? It didn’t sound right.
I popped open the truck, got a few minor healing charms out, and retrieved the trusty fake steak. Armed for bat cats, I stopped by the ambulance. A drop of magic activated the charm, and I gave it to Paeesin.
“Sorry,” I said. “My argument with Gordon shouldn’t have included you.”
He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. “Not your fault. Those older than dirt elves make it impossible for the rest of us. I turned twenty-four last week, but I look the same as one of those ancient bastards.”
That wasn’t entirely true. He still had some filling out to do, but he wasn’t wrong either. “Anything I should know before I tangle with them?”
“Dodge the claws. Watch your back. They like to team up for ambushes.” He exhaled and opened his eyes. “This charm is great. Thank you.”
“Take care of yourself.”
“Watch your back!” Paeesin called after me.
“Got it.”
What I didn’t have was a good plan. My first choice was to try the trick with the meat. I didn’t give it high odds. With my notoriously good luck, these things would only eat the summer fruit of some exotic plant. A quick search on my phone provided zero useful information. Different species had different diets, and more than one of those species had black coloration.
And there were two big questions that needed answers. I found Gordon where I’d left him. “Is there a cage?”
“Doesn’t latch.” He pointed at a steal cage.
The cage was three feet tall, three feet wide, and five feet long; more than large enough for several bat cats. The door hung open, and the latch in question had sheared off. I could make the cage function for my purposes, but they’d have to secure it before transport.
“We can tie it closed,” Gordon said.
I nodded. “And how many bat cats?”
He winced. “We don’t know. The tag came off while they were moving the cats from the building.”
“Great.” I summoned my wand. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Thanks, Michelle.” Gordon backed away.
Two bat cats lazily circled above us, twisting between the two plumes of smoke. The fires seemed to be under control, and I was a respectable distance away.
It only took a moment to add a one-way shield spell to the cage. I could put bat cats in, but they couldn’t get out.
The spells on the meat took a little longer. After a short debate, I ended up making the meat smell like tuna. If these beasties had cat taste buds, they’d be over here in no time.
One minute turned into two and still no bat cats.
“Narzel.” I stripped the spells from the meat and set about recrafting them. Maybe a fruit this time. But which fruit?
I went with orange because it was a fruit I liked and could recreate. This time, I added extra power to the scent spell and gave it a shove to help it spread.
A minute ticked by. The cats should be able to smell the fruit.
Two cats still circled the smoke. Neither showed any inclination to come over this way.
Narzel blast it. I could do this the hard way. As long as it got done and no bat cats were injured it would be fine.
I aimed slightly in front of the closer cat bat. “Sowil.”
A room-sized shield snapped into place. From the inside, it should’ve looked opaque. I held my breath.
The bat cat slowed, banked, and then hovered in the air.
I shrank the spell down and levitated it over to the cage. The bat cat disliked every part of the transfer. It clawed at the spell but didn’t do any damage. It went into the cage before I removed the shield from around the bat cat.
One down. Some number to go.
The second cat was as easy to capture as the first. If I’d known where the others were, I’d be feeling confident. Only I couldn’t see any others. I couldn’t sense them when I spread out probes because they weren’t magical. If I wanted to use magic to find them, it would have to be a tracking spell. Hair from one of the bat cats would focus the spell, but it wasn’t worth a pint of blood.
A metallic crash sounded from behind me. I spun around, only to have the ground shake. I crouched down. The roof of the metal building had caved in, and fresh flames shot into the air.
“Back! Everyone back!” A firefighter ushered everyone away.
Officers, airport employees, and all the other people who ended up at emergencies crowded closer to me. I pulled the spell off the meat and broke the circle on the ground. It wasn’t working anyway.
I double-checked the spells on the cage and went in search of Gordon. It felt like half the airport was out here watching us. After a couple of minutes of searching, I found Gordon talking to a firefighter.
He excused himself. “Michelle, do you have the bat cats?”
“Two. I have two bat cats. Someone shipped those bat cats, and someone is expecting them. You have to give me a count of how many I should search for.” The cage seemed big for two bat cats, but what did I know?
“I’m trying. I cornered a manager person before Paeesin tried to capture the bat cats. They were going to look through their records and get back to me.” He glared at the tower. “Should’ve been back by now.”
“Hunt them down.” A swell of magic caught my attention, and I pivoted toward the smaller building. I hadn’t given it much thought earlier, not with the bat cats in plain sight, but it wasn’t as small as I’d thought. While it wasn’t as tall as the other building, it was still fairly long. The flames were concentrated in the side of the building closest to the other fire.
I swore and ran after the fire fighter. “There’s magic in the building! Magic in the fire!”
Heads turned my way, but the magic was growing. It would mix with the fire before any of us could stop it. I couldn’t put my power in the mix without risking being pulled in when the spell mixed with the fire.
A side door flew off its hinges, landing ten feet away from the building. Two men crawled out of the door, a yowling black cat hot on their heels. And it was an actual cat, not a bat cat.
“Hell.” I pushed my way over to a fire engine and whistled. “Hell cat!”
“It’s bat cats or regular cat, ma’am.”
Ignoring the comment, I crouched down.
The hell cat trotted over, ash falling from its coat with each step. It rubbed itself against my ankle, leaving a soot smear.
“That’s nice.” I scratched it behind the ears.
A hiss sounded from above me.
The hell cat backed away, hissing just as loudly.
A shadow blocked the sun as a bat cat came swooping out of the sky.
“No, you don’t. Sowil.” I caught the bat cat two feet off the ground. It skidded off the bottom of the shield, hissing and scratching at the barrier to get to the hell cat.
The hell cat relaxed and went back to rubbing against my ankles.
I lifted the shield up higher and turned it opaque before rubbing the hell cat’s head. “What do you say to giving me a hand? You seem to draw out the bat cats, and I need to catch them before they go through a jet engine.”
Meow.
“I’ll take that as agreement. I need to put this one up, and then we’ll get started.” I gave the hell cat one more pat before getting to my feet.
With the bat cat levitated ahead of me, everyone moved out of the way. The hell cat trailed after us, tail high. At the cage, it only took a moment to pop the bat cat inside. The hell cat circled the cage. The three bat cats vied for the best position to hiss and swipe at the hell cat. I turned their shield opaque too. Enough was enough.
The hell cat sat next to my feet.
Kneeling down, I gave it a pat. “What if I levitate you, and you can run around, drawing the bat cats out? I won’t let them hurt you.”
Meow. The hell cat bumped my hand with its head.
“That’s agreement.”
Meow.
Standing up, I crafted the levitation spell, one that would give the cat more ability to control its position in the air. The spell took shape, and the hell cat hung four feet off the ground.
“Four bat cats!” Gordon bellowed. “There were four.”
“One left,” I yelled back.
The hell cat turned and trotted off.
“Stay where I can see you,” I warned.
The only answer was a twitching tail.
Wand ready, I watched the cat trot toward the building. I hoped this worked. My reserves weren’t what they used to be, and I needed to save some magic to hunt the murderer.
The hell cat paced back and forth beside the building. If there was a bat cat nearby, it didn’t show itself. After its third lap, the hell cat turned and stared at the building. Then it took off at a run.
Nothing I could do from here to help. Both cats would have to take care of themselves.
A shadow broke away from the smoke, swooping down and vanishing behind the building. A moment later it rose up again.
I started the shield spell, but the bat cat went behind the building before I could get it out. Next time I had to be faster.
The hell cat rounded the corner of the building at a flat run.
Magic ready, I waited.
The bat cat sped through the air after the hell cat. I had one shot before it was in position to attack the hell cat.
“Sowil!”
The bat cat bounced off the front of the shield, toppled to the bottom, but it was back on its feet in the blink of an eye. I yanked it over and got it in the cage. Gordon was waiting and as soon as the last cat was inside, he closed the door and padlocked it shut.
I stripped the magic off the cage and did a count. Yup. All four of the bat cats were in the cage.
The hell cat bumped my shoulder.
“Are you ready to be on the ground again?”
It drifted down until it was only a couple of inches from the asphalt.
I unmade the spells.
The hell cat fell the last inch to the ground.
“If you’d shift, it would be a big help.” I weighed my words carefully. The police and I needed the cat more than it needed us. “I think you have the key to catching the murderer, and I want him behind bars.”
The hell cat turned and trotted off.
“So much for teamwork,” I muttered.
Gordon, not one to waste any time, already had four gloved officers carrying the cage off to a truck for transport.
Moving slowly, I collected my things. Today had been no-stop casting, and I needed a nap if I was going to make it through the evening festivities. With three holiday celebrations, it was a packed night, though I shouldn’t need any magic for it. The spells for the festival had been taken care of ages ago, and my parents could create any lights we wanted this evening.
Gordon found me stowing my gear in my car. “Thank you. I know this isn’t your thing, but I appreciate it.”
“Sorry for the attitude. The past few days have been nonstop emergencies.” I closed the trunk.
He nodded, the afternoon light catching on the bags under his eyes. “I know that feeling. We’ve all been stretched thin. Rest up, and send the bill.”
“You got it.” I turned my phone off and headed home.
On the way home, I prayed. I prayed we’d find the killer before they claimed another victim. I prayed I could get in a nap before taking on Enor or Erwin. Mostly, I prayed for a peaceful night. Tricks deserved a birthday without fighting. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?