“When I died in a fire, I didn’t know I’d be reborn as a hell cat. I didn’t know I’d be born in a fire.” She looked through Jerry and Rodriguez. “It was so loud, and I had to get out. I remembered—”
She swallowed hard. “Before. It wasn’t until I’d gotten away from everything that I started to think at all. I didn’t feel right. The world was so big, and the color was off. I thought it was from the smoke.
“The next part sounds odd to a human or witch, but I had to follow this compulsion. The next bit is a jumble. I felt a wrongness, and at the center, what I can only term evil. A vampire was following a woman, and I knew he would kill her. I tried to stop him, but when I reached for my magic, it was different. He stumbled away. She ran into her house, and I realized I was a cat.”
She blinked and was back in the present. “I tried to change but couldn’t. I felt the evil again, but I couldn’t figure out how a cat could stop it. The compulsion was pulling me in so many directions. The more I tried to block it, the stronger it got. I had to go after the vampire again, but I was too late. I hid, but the compulsion forced me over to a house with a giant spider. I was acting on instinct by then, more cat than human. When the girl was safe, I ran off. The compulsion faded during the day but came back the next night. I had to follow it.”
“It wasn’t until later that I could think rather than react. Then it was too late to save the first victims. I was dealing with the unicorn curse when I felt the third die. I knew then I had to stop the vampire, but I still didn’t know how to change back or who would believe me if I did.”
She sighed. “The transition... it sounds pretty in the stories, but it’s frightening. Two fires, suddenly I’m a cat. I don’t have food or shelter. I don’t understand my own abilities.”
Kat shook her head to clear it. “I almost stopped him with the fourth victim. I knew I had to do something different, but I wasn’t sure what. I followed him to the college, with a couple of minor detours along the way. You know what happened at the college.”
The men were still jotting down notes, so I gave Kat a moment before I asked the question we all needed to know. “Did you know you were causing the Dionysus effect?”
“Not until the curse.” Her shoulders rounded. “That was a mess. When I tried to drive the curse back, I made them loopy and then I couldn’t get them out.”
Jerry was the first to set down his pen. “Ms. Hellsdaughter, thank you. You didn’t have to talk to us, and we greatly appreciate it. You’ve already filled in the gaps. Could I ask a few questions?”
Kat nodded.
Over the next hour, Kat picked Kaden out of a photo lineup. She also correctly identified the first two victims and the fourth. She hadn’t been there for the third and wasn’t willing to guess when offered a set of pictures.
When it became clear she didn’t need me, I stepped into my office to make some calls. I tossed up a one-way shield, so I could hear them but they couldn’t hear me. Jerry and Rodriguez were as polite as I expected, even when asking Kat to go over her movements and whereabouts the second time.
I took the time to go through different property options with the premier’s office. We settled on a furnished cabin owned by the clans. The last resident had moved out a few months ago, and it was about as far as Kat could get from her old clan. I had them make arrangements for it to be opened up by our local representative. While coordinating her new home, I submitted the first few pages of her paperwork. It would be enough for them to get funds set aside for her.
By the time I was done, the interview was over. I saw the men out and promised to update my reports. I’d finish them after Kat was settled.
Kat and I spent the rest of the morning on paperwork but finished before lunch. I brought back a tray from Landa. My phone rang at the end of lunch, and I excused myself to take the call while Kat returned the tray.
The office had moved quickly; they wanted Kat settled. No doubt because of the minor issue of her old life. Since it benefited everyone, I went with it.
She came back, a bemused look on her face and a canvas bag over her shoulder. “Any idea why Landa loaded me up with a full set of clothes she says she has to spare in my size, and enough food to last days?”
I slung my purse over my shoulder. “How would you like to start your new life?”
Kat blinked and looked at her feet. “I’m wearing your shoes.”
“And a good thing they fit you. Those sneakers were always loose in the heel on me.” I tipped my head toward the door. “Shall we?”
“You’re just saying that, right?” She pointed down. “About the shoes?”
“Ah, nope. I bought them two years ago, wore them a few times and then replaced them. Those are yours.”
She looked at the red shoes and then at me. “You’re not joking about my new life either.”
I kept my voice soft. “No. You can stay here if you want. Landa has plenty of room. The premier’s office will support you the same no matter what you chose.”
Kat opened her mouth and then closed it again. Finally, she looked at me. “And if I need help?”
“I am never more than a phone call away. Neither is the premier’s office.”
“Okay.” She jerked her head in a nod. “Where is my new life?”
“What if I show you?” I opened the door and motioned for her to follow me.
Looking perplexed, she trailed after me as we went through the lodge and into the parking lot. I led her over to a nondescript sedan. Two waters filled the cup holders, and a suitcase sat in the back seat along with a small cooler. I knew, because I’d arranged it, that a larger cooler sat in the back. A phone sat in the passenger’s seat, and the keys were in the center console.
“What? When?”
“This morning. I can take you to your new life right now. You can start your new life here, in your own apartment. This car is yours if you want it. If you don’t, we have funds set aside for you to pick out your own.” I couldn’t stop smiling. The wonder on her face made up for how horrible October had been. All that fighting, all that misery, and now I could do some good.
“I–I don’t know what to say.” She walked around the car to the passenger side. “Is that my phone?”
“Yes.”
Kat pressed a hand over her mouth and shook her head. “I never… I thought it would be me, alone against the world.”
“You’ll only be as alone as you want to be.”
Her eyes locked with me. “Take me home.”
I slid into the driver’s seat and cranked the car. “It’ll be a few hours, get comfortable.”