PIERCE ROBERTS STARED at me from across the living room. He perched near the foyer, his arms crossed as he leaned back against the wall. Mary Lowe and Mike Crandall sat on either side of the couch. Bryant Baylor stood near the plush brown chair Ford loved. Maybe he could smell his son on that particular piece of furniture. Tanya sat in the other chair, one that was firmer but complimented Ford’s.
In other words, my chair.
I took a drink of coffee, hoping to wash the bitter taste from my mouth.
My dad stood by me as we faced the lot of them.
Finally, Mary Lowe broke the silence. “We would like to help you, Chief Kinsey.”
“Why?” I asked.
My question took her aback. “In the past eight months, you have saved this town from two major disasters. Mundane crimes, which in the past have been ignored by the police force, are now being solved. While there are still tensions between the shifters and witches, I’ve also seen a lot of progress. Your implementation of partnering a shifter with a witch or warlock out on patrol has helped Paradise Falls realize a steep decrease in severe injuries and fatalities during police calls.” She looked me in the eye and gave me a thin-lipped smile. “In other words, while you are abrasive, undiplomatic, and a general pain in the ass, you have been good for our town.”
My mouth dropped open. I closed it. It dropped open again. “That was surprisingly honest.”
“Yes,” Mary said. “It was.” The corner of her mouth tugged up in what I could swear was a genuine smile.
I nodded to her. “I can work with that. Do the rest of you feel the same?”
There were general mutterings of agreement, except from Bryant and Pierce. I stuck my tongue out at Pierce, and his face reddened.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m ready to listen.”
“Good,” my dad said. “Tanya brought her copy of the familiar rules.”
I nodded. “Ford says that Bryant might be able to sort through all the double speak and find a way to circumvent the HFC’s ruling.”
Bryant gave me a strange look, but said, “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Excellent.” My dad turned to Mary Lowe. “You get your best trackers out in the woods where Lupitia was last seen. There’s too much territory for Haze’s police force to cover.”
Mary stood up. “I’ll start the phone tree and have my people gather at the edges of the park. We will work our way in. Do you have something of hers that we can scent?”
“There’s a cat bed in Tiz’s room, will that work?”
She nodded. “Yes. That will do.”
My dad addressed Mike Crandell next. “I need you to recruit some of your more trusted people to spy on the High Familiar Clowder.”
Mike nodded. “I have a few who I can rely upon.”
Bryant and Mary both raised a brow, giving Crandall appraising looks.
The weremole smiled. “We’re small, but we’re effective.”
“And now for Pierce,” my dad said. He sounded annoyed. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only one Pierce affected that way. “Pierce, I’d like you to develop a rapport with the clowder’s witches. Maybe feel them out to see if any of the HFC members can be swayed.”
“I’ve already told you that I want no part of this plan of yours, Kent. I’m only here to voice my concerns once more about this decision to assist your daughter in this matter. Unlike the other members of the coalition, I don’t think Chief Kinsey has been an asset to our town. On the contrary, I think she’s a menace.”
Bryant Baylor stood up. “You are a member of the coalition, which means you are bound by any vote. Majority rules. You were outvoted.”
“We already had this discussion, Pierce,” my father said. “We agreed—”
“You agreed,” Pierce countered. “It’s easy to go up against the High Familiar Clowder when you have nothing to lose. Tanya and I both have familiars. We risk the HFC taking them away if we interfere. They don’t like to be defied.”
“I may not have a familiar.” My dad walked over and stood next to me. He put his arm around my shoulder. “But I have plenty to lose if things don’t work out.”
Awww! “Thanks, Dad.”
“You got it, pumpkin.” He looked around at the group. “We have fifty-three hours and twenty-eight minutes before Hazel’s seventy-two hours are up. Check in if you find something. If not, meet here tomorrow morning at seven—”
“Eight,” I interjected.
“Eight,” Dad agreed. “I’ll bring bagels.”
“And donuts.” I smiled.
Dad kissed my cheek. “And donuts.”
Tanya gave me a once-over. “You might want to skip the donuts until you get your powers back.”
I glared at her. “I was just starting to not hate you.”
She grinned. “I don’t hate you either.” She grabbed my dad’s arm. “Let’s go, Kent. Bryant,” she told the bear alpha, “let’s meet at the coalition building at noon. I’ll bring my book.”
After quick, perfunctory goodbyes, the six of them departed, and I was finally alone with my aging body, along with its little idiosyncrasies.
“Awesome.” I moved my pity party into the kitchen.
Tizzy materialized onto the center island. “Are they gone?”
“Where have you been? I was worried.”
She glared at me, then shrieked. “What has happened to you? You’re hideous.”
“Don’t be mean.”
“I’m just teasing. For a human, you’re aging remarkably well. Other than the bruise, of course.”
“You might have to get used to me with graying hair and wrinkles.”
“Goddess forbid, Haze. That’s what hair dye and Botox are for.”
“Har har.” I reached out and stroked her tail. Tizzy looked like she’d gained a couple of years in age too. Her fur was less shiny, her nail polish was chipped, and there was a dullness in her eyes I’d never seen before. “We’re really in a mess, aren’t we? Any news on Ludicrous.”
Tizzy frowned. “Nothing. I can still feel the power between us, even if I can’t feel where she is, which means if the HFC has her, they haven’t severed our bond yet.”
“About that. You knew she’d joined her power to yours, didn’t you?”
Tizzy bobbed her head. “About a month after she’d moved in. We were playing cuddle sticks one night, and wham, it was like our souls joined together. I’d never felt anything like it. At first, I just thought it was our love, but the first time I performed magic I shouldn’t have been able to do…”
“Like apparating.”
“For example,” she said. “I knew something else was going on. Lupitia was freaked out when her tie to Romy completely vanished. She called the prison then and found out Romy had killed herself.”
“Her death was a suicide?”
“Yes.” Tizzy clasped her hands together. “Lupitia cried for days. I guess Romy couldn’t take being in prison. It was too much to be without magic and Lupitia.”
“Wow.” It made me feel a little guilty for being so crappy to the cat. “Why didn’t you tell me, Tiz?”
“I didn’t want her sent away to be reassigned. She’s my Helen of Troy, and like Paris, I would fight a war to be with her.”
“That’s very romantic, Tiz, but you still should have told me.”
“I know.” She crawled up my arm and buried her head under my hair. “Speaking of romance, what happened between you and the Care Bear last night? He left this morning looking more frowny than usual.”
“It’s complicated.”
“I do complicated. Spill.”
“I told him that if our mate scent doesn’t come back, he might be off the hook with me.” I felt a sharp tug on my hair. “Ouch.”
“You really do need a keeper, Haze. That bear may be a constipated pain in my tail, but he would die for you.”
“Yeah, when it was magic holding us together. Without it, what do we have?”
“Look at us. Two peas in a pod. Blowing up our life, one bad decision after another.”
“At least we’re together.”
She rubbed her nose against my neck. “I’m scared, Haze.”
“Me too.”
“You’re always such a comfort,” she said dryly, then swished her tail in my face.
“I miss Lily.” I stroked Tizzy’s tail as it curled around my throat. “Do you miss Lily?”
“I miss Lily so much,” my familiar said, “but I don’t miss that monster she calls a dog.”
“Smooshie is sweet.” I smiled at the memory of my short visit to Moonrise shortly after Lily got settled into town. Lily’s loveable pooch had been aggressively friendly, but I’d never seen my friend look happier.
She poked me with a claw. “Smooshie tried to eat me.”
“She was just playing with you, Tiz.”
“That vicious beast played me right up the nearest tree.” Tizzy crawled down into my lap and curled into a little ball.
“I’d love to hold you all day, girl, but I’m not getting any younger.”
“That statement has never been truer.”
“Do You Believe In Magic” chimed again.
“I used to love that doorbell,” I said.
“I’m out of here.” Tizzy disappeared.
I sighed. Heavily. I wished I could disappear as well. “I miss magic.”
“Open the door, witch!” Leonidus yelled. Damn, he had some lungs for a munchkin. “I know you’re in there.”
I walked to the door slowly, because—jerk. I would not be bossed around by a wad of cotton with a mouth.
When I finally opened the door, the minuscule kitty looked ready to demolish tiny cities with his rage. “Can I help you, cutie-pants?”
His body vibrated like a massage pillow. “Quit calling me cute!”
Bored with the banter, I asked him, “What do you want?”
“The High Familiar Clowder has sent me to fetch you.”
“Tell them they can pull the stick out of your butt and fetch that.”
“Do not push me, witch. You know what I’m capable of.” He narrowed his eyes at me, Goddess, making him even more precious. At that moment, I realized the appeal of cat videos in social media.
I smiled.
“Do not smile at me!”
“That’s going to be a tough one,” I admitted. Power choked me and drove me to my knees. “Hey, that hurts, cotton swab. These new human joints suck, so quit slamming me to the ground.”
“Enough, Leo,” a woman with a platinum-blonde, A-cut bob said. “We’re supposed to escort Ms. Kinsey to the clowder, not damage her.”
“She won’t stop calling me cutesy names, Pearl. You know I hate that.”
“You are cute. After two hundred years, you think you’d be used to people fawning over you.”
“It doesn’t mean I have to like it,” he said to his witch.
On a good day, I might find their banter adorable, but this wasn’t a good day. “Uhm. I hate to interrupt your conversation, but can I get up now? Seriously, these knees ain’t what they used to be.”
“Sorry,” the woman said. From head to toe, she was dressed in black, a stark contrast to her almost silvery hair. “I’m Pearl Vickers. You’ve met Leo. He’s my familiar.”
“Lucky you,” I muttered as I struggled to my feet. “Why does Team Familiar want to see me?”
“We aren’t told why they want anything.” Pearl’s tone sounded a little disgruntled. “Our job is to enforce their wishes, not have an opinion about them.”
“I see.” Questioning them would get me nowhere, better to just see what the kitten brigade wanted. Besides, I might learn something useful. I sighed with resignation. “Let me get my shoes on and grab my purse.”