Brewer slapped his palm on the top of his car. “We just agreed that we weren’t going to split up, and yet here we are, splitting up. Again.”
“There are just too many estate sales to hit,” Kaye replied with a shrug. We’d taken as little time as we could spare for lunch, but the day wasn’t over yet.
“I don't see what choice we have,” Kaye continued when Brewer refused to budge. “It’s not like we’re not sending the non-magic users off to fend for themselves this time. I think we’ve learned that lesson a couple times over now.”
“Yeah, whatever you say.” Brewer finally acquiesced and left our car to head to the rental he shared with Johnson that was parked a few spots away. “But remember,” he called as he walked away, “if you run into Garrison, do not make any contact. Get out of there as quickly as possible and call us.”
Kaye rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but this isn't my first rodeo.”
“Okay, that’s enough in-house bickering,” Johnson piped up. “Try to remember we’re all on the same team here.”
Kaye flashed Johnson a grateful smile, but he wasn’t done yet.
He stepped forward and dropped his voice. “Look, I get it. You need this win, and you know I’ve got your back. But Godwin, you’ve been sloppy on this case. Get it together, man.”
I could feel my ears flattening in irritation. Where did he get off talking to Kaye like that? I mean, sure, I went off on her and Amy after the dog park, but that was just…
Well, whatever it was, that didn’t matter. Johnson couldn’t talk to Kaye like that. Not on my watch.
Unfortunately, I got caught up in thinking instead of doing, giving Johnson ample time to walk back to his car, open the door, and slide into the driver’s seat.
“Do you want me to drive?” Amy offered.
“Sure, that’s fine. We just have to—“ Kaye’s phone interrupted her before she could say anything more.
“Go get the others,” she whispered to Amy before answering.
“This is Godwin,” she said as Amy hustled after the others. “Have you got another magical object for me? Yup… Uh-huh… Right… Sure thing… Send it to my phone… You’ve got it. Bye.”
She hung up and looked up at Johnson and Brewer expectantly. “Get in with me. We’ve got a freshly cursed object on our hands.”
“What do we know?” Johnson asked as Amy pulled out of the parking garage and Kaye programmed the address into her GPS.
“Only that a chandelier was somehow making everyone fall asleep.” Kaye let out a little laugh. “This guy is creative. I'll give him that.”
Yup, never a dull moment with this one. I, however, was more than ready to be done with him.
Our merry gang arrived at the house twenty minutes after getting the call, and we found the front door sitting wide open.
Kaye pulled out her wand, which she usually only brought out when dealing with the riskiest of situations.
Brewer had a wand, too, which he didn’t hesitate to swish about dramatically.
Weird. These things were supposed to be rare, and now we just randomly had two of them with us?
“Everyone, stay behind us,” Kaye whispered, putting out one arm to act as a barrier.
I was more than happy with my position in Amy’s arms. “No way am I diving headfirst into whatever this thing is,” I murmured to her. “I really don't even know why we're tagging along on this one. Frankly, I could have used more time to recover from the incident with the you-know-whats.”
We were good for recon and sometimes even having Kaye’s back, but seriously, when real magic was involved, Amy and I were little more than glorified spectators.
Amy chuckled quietly. “There are worse alternatives.”
Very true.
I eyed the ramshackle house with trepidation. “This isn't the sort of place you would expect a chandelier,” I pointed out. “Not trying to sound stuck up or anything, but c’mon.”
“Maybe they’re trying to repurpose it,” Amy suggested. “Some people love doing that kind of thing.”
Hmm. The home was a typical mid-eighties split-level, with white eyelet curtains and a red front door to match the red garage door. Middle class Nirvana.
Amy and I stayed back a respectable distance and followed the wand-wavers to the upper floor, while Johnson pulled up the rear.
Kaye stood at the entrance to the living room.
And sure enough, an ornate, crystal chandelier sat in the middle of the room, not hanging from the ceiling or even wired up, judging by the loose connections dangling from above. Still, blue flames flickered merrily at the top of each fake candle, and five people lay passed out in various poses nearby.
A police officer in full uniform even sat drooling with his head slumped on a retro sofa.
“Don’t look at the flames!” a small voice squeaked out, startling us.
As one, we spun around, searching for the source of the strangled cry.
I hopped out of Amy’s arms and made my way towards the kitchen where I found a little girl nervously peeking around the corner. The poor thing was terrified.
With my best purr, I pressed my head against her tiny palm and rubbed against it, doing my best to put her at ease.
Amy approached slowly and crouched down in front of her. “Can you tell us what's going on out there?”
“My mommy bought that candle thingy at a yard sale,” the girl said. No doubt it had been an estate sale, but this child was maybe six, so she got a pass on not knowing the subtle nuances of secondhand shopping. “When she brought it home, it started burning that bright blue color. And then everyone went to sleep.”
“How is this kid still awake?” I asked.
Amy repeated my question, and the little girl smiled nervously.
“I got a new dolly at the yard sale, and I went to my room to play with it. When I came out a little later, I found everyone sleeping.” She pointed at the group of people in the living room. “So, I called 911. But I'm not supposed to play with fire, so I stayed away. When the policeman came, he looked really close at the fire, and then he fell asleep, too. I was about to call 911 again, but then you guys came in. You do know you’re supposed to knock when you come to someone’s house, right?”
“That’s right, sweetie.” Amy smiled encouragingly at the little girl. “Don’t worry, we’re going to take good care of your family. So why don't you take the kitty cat to your room and wait for us to come get you? We know how to fix this faulty chandelier.”
“Traitor,” I said in a sour voice.
Amy just grinned slyly at me. She knew exactly what fate she’d just condemned me to, and she was loving this, too.
Without much more hesitation, the child plucked me up like a sack of potatoes and carried me to her bedroom. As soon as she shut the door behind us, she said words that I had hoped to never ever hear in the entirety of my life.
“Let’s dress you up for a tea party, Kitty!” She giggled and pulled a lacey dress off one of her dolls, then stuffed me into it.
I don’t know how long I was stuck there, playing babysitter at that tea party of doom, but it was long enough for her to force me into a bonnet, dress, and even—I’m ashamed to admit it—a frilly apron. She’d moved on to clipping bows of various sizes and colors into my fur when Kaye finally came to my rescue.
“Sweetheart,” she said, reaching into her bag as she slowly crossed the threshold, “if you'll look right here, I'll be able to explain what happened with the chandelier.”
Kaye blew her magic powder, then took the little girl's hand and pulled her into the living room where she proceeded to explain that the family had fallen victim to a gas leak.
Given the young age of the girl, it would’ve been easier to tell her that this had been magic at work. But, it was a good thing that the heroic police officer arrived when he did so that he could turn off the gas stove in the kitchen and save the day.
No doubt he would get a medal.
I deserved a medal for putting up with that little girl’s version of dress up.
And then we departed just as quickly as we’d arrived, leaving a very confused family and a plain, un-cursed chandelier in our wake.
This time, there was no point in taking it with us. We’d already learned that we couldn’t track our exposer using the objects.
And he also knew already that we were on to him.
Now we just needed to finish this thing fast before we lost the chance.