SEVENTEEN

 

“Seeing that guy set my nerves on edge,” I said, as Jared unlocked the door to our room.

“Stay focused on our reason for being here. Always remember, it isn’t the encounters out in the open you have to worry about.” He looked at me, lips pressed together in worry. “Not that I want to have any encounters at all.”

“So, who do you think he was, Kendra, Pharzuph or Allocen?”

“Hard to say. All three are Raksashas, and if I know my Raksasha etiquette—what there is of it—they’re honor bound to warn you before attacks begin. I haven’t had any direct warnings, just a damned Tartaros Buzzard after my ass.”

“Kendra warned Olivia at Hazel’s white witch meeting, but she didn’t warn me.”

“Olivia, her kids and I are her targets.” He put his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. “Mark my word, Miranda, before the evening’s out we’ll not only have a direct warning, we may have an attack immediately afterwards.”

As he swung the door open, I saw my cat curled up in a tight knot in the middle of our bed. “Merle, where did you come from?”

She opened one eye. “Home. Where’d ya think?”

Jared laughed as he closed the door.

“Why’re you here? You knew I was here with Jared.”

Merle slowly rose on her back feet, arched her back and kneaded the coverlet. “Your point is what? I’ve been around him before.”

“Has she ever,” Jared said. “She used to sleep with us back in Salem. Most of the time she was around my head.”

I frowned. “I don’t remember that.”

“That’s because she only did it after we’d finished, um, talking and fell asleep.”

Merle jumped up from the bed and walked over to us, wrapping herself around my ankles. “I’m very disssscreeet. Don’t look, don’t tell.”

“Whatever. You still haven’t said why you’re here. Come to that, how’d you get here?”

“I was bored. Uncle Paddy’s left to visit that new young thing he’s seeing. Hazel’s out with Josh. And I couldn’t find Ali or Zeke. They must be catting around, those slick fast-meowing two-timers. So, here I am. You were tricky to find, though. I portaled into five rooms before I found your clothes.” She sat on her haunches and licked her paw, then rubbed it over her head. “Watch out for those two staying next door. Talk about kinky, the wrist restraints were still tied around the bed knobs.”

“Wonderful,” Jared said. “With our luck we’ll be listening to the bed frame crashing into the wall all night.”

I smiled. “I’ll try to take your mind off it.”

“There you two go again.” Merle sighed. “Just like felines. All you think of is sex. Go on, I don’t care. Do whatever you want to do. I think I’ll just go do some more exploring around this house, see if there are any handsome manly cats slinking around and meet you here after dark.”

We watched as she vanished before our eyes, momentarily leaving behind her Cheshire cat-like smile.

I grinned at Jared. “She so loves ‘Alice in Wonderland.’”

“I guess that makes me the White Rabbit. Hurry up, we’re late for a very important date.”

“Where are we going?”

“To the Intercoastal Wine Company for some wine and cheese and then out to dinner for seafood.”

I chuckled. “Maybe I ought to come to Wonderland more often.”

* * * *

 

The Intercoastal Wine Company looked exactly like its name said. Racks of wine lined the walls. Long tables and some small ones near the windows beckoned you to sit and sip a vintage. This night they had cheeses from a nearby specialty store on a table for nibbling, along with a list of suggested wines.

“How many types of wine do you sell here?” I asked the sommelier.

“We have close to a thousand.”

I grinned up at him. “One thing for sure, your patrons won’t ever get bored.”

“I think we want to try this Jacuzzi Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma.” Jared winked at me. “We have fond memories of a whirlpool.”

“Is that really the name of the wine?” I grabbed his wine list and studied it. “It seems more like a gimmick.”

“Actually the name is a family one, an old family from Italy,” Our wine steward said. “They have an impressive Italian stone villa between Napa and Pataluma and own two wineries, Jacuzzi and Cline located across the street from their home.”

“Let’s get that one,” I said.

“We have a 2006 bottle available. Hold on, and I’ll go get it in the back.” He walked off and came back with the wine and two glasses. He held it out for Jared to look at. At Jared’s nod, the man popped the cork and handed it to him. At his okay, the steward poured a small amount through an aerator into Jared’s glass.

Jared took a sip.

The sommelier smiled. “This particular wine has a strong blackberry flavor, vanilla and caramel undertones with a slight aroma and taste of oak.”

Jared swished the wine in his mouth then swallowed. “Ah. This one’s bold with a lingering aftertaste. She has enough to draw you on first glance and long-lasting flavor to hold you close as her taste burns down your throat and into your heart.”

The sommelier’s eyes widened. “It’s a pleasure serving someone with your knowledge. Do you work in the wine business?”

“No, just a lover of fine wines.”

“It’s one of his many talents.” I glanced back at Jared in appreciation. After the man left, I giggled. “Were you talking about the wine?”

“Of course not.” He took another sip from his glass and his eyes narrowed sexily. “That description was all about you.”

Just then, the door to the wine store opened, and Farley walked in. Seeing us, he quickly made his way to our table. “Thank God I found you!”

“What’s wrong?” I braced for bad news, hoping nothing had befallen Olivia or her family.

“Nothing yet, but I’ve had a vision and it’s spooked me. Luckily, it showed me where you were staying. And since it was dinner time, and you love wine, I figured I’d start at the best wine shop in town.”

Frowning, Jared set down his glass. “What’d you see?”

“A man with red eyes who’s hiding his true identity, a cobra.”

“A Raksasha,” I said. “What’s he doing?”

“Hiding in your room.” Farley exhaled. “It looked like he slithered under your door. He was semi-solid. Sort of like…”

“Smoke?” Jared glanced up from pouring another glass of wine, a scowl on his face.

“Exactly!” Farley’s face lit up. “How did you know?”

“Lucky guess. Have a seat. Would you like a glass?””

“Thanks.” He grabbed a free chair and joined us. “This guy’s plan is to wait until you’re both asleep. Then he makes his way toward you, Jared, holding a Bowie knife in his left hand.”

“What happened next?” Jared sipped his wine, seemingly unfazed. Me, I’d lost all desire for anything other than Ariel.

“It looked like there was some kind of skirmish. I even heard a yowl, maybe from a cat?”

“Merle and perhaps Caterine,” I mumbled.

“How did you smuggle Merle into your room and who’s Caterine?” he asked.

“Long story. What happened then?” I flinched as my voice wavered.

“That’s all I could see. I’m sorry. I can’t ever seem to see the end of anything.” Farley stared down at the table.

“It’s okay.” I patted his hand. You’ve given us a lot of helpful information. We also know the demon who’ll attack us isn’t Kendra.”

“How do you know that?” Jared asked.

“Olivia said Kendra held a scalpel over her in the last life. In her right hand. She’s not left-handed. So what do we do now?” I asked.

Jared shrugged. “Might as well get a bite to eat. We haven’t been confronted yet. Come on, Farley. You might as well tag along and find out if you can see a demon in his actual form. It’s possible because of how your demon was removed.”

“I saw mine.”

“That’s different,” I said. “But being a psychic, you may see something. Plus we owe you dinner, at the very least, for this warning.”

Minutes later, we were seated at Brett’s Waterway Café on South Front Street.

“Food!” I scanned the menu. “Demon or no demon, I’m hungry.”

“I’m going to stick with the fried grouper fingers,” Jared said. “You can never go wrong with anything caught less than two hours ago.”

“Clams for me.” My stomach growled.

Farley grinned. “I hope you quasi-vegetarians don’t mind if I have surf and turf.”

“Just as long as it’s not too rare,” I told him. “It reminds me too much of the Raksashas’ hunger for close to raw beef, no veggies, no carbs.”

The man behind us suddenly stood to his full six and a half feet, then turned with a large piece of steak speared on his fork tines. As he faced us, a chill passed over me. His face was marred by a malevolent smirk, his eyes lit with an inner red fire. I swear, I thought I’d see smoke pouring from his nostrils. “How dare you insult me, Allocen, Duke of Hell?” He stuck his speared piece of steak under my nose. “Take this as your warning. You and your already marked lover. Your hours are numbered before I take my pay for your part in murdering my children.”

He changed to smoke, curled up in a spiral and rushed out of the restaurant, leaving the steak pinned to our table.

“Where’d that man go? And what’s that steak doing on our table?”

I smiled weakly. “So much for your seeing demons.”

* * * *

 

Jared leaned back into a chair on the Inn’s veranda. “Look on the bright side. We now know when and who’s attacking us.”

I shot him a glare then faced the sea. “That’s cold comfort. How do we know he’s by himself?”

“We don’t. But Kendra and Keara are cut from the same cloth. Both of them follow the British maxim, divide and conquer.”

“Meaning someone’s going to try to attack Olivia and/or the children at the same time?”

He sighed. “That’s my guess. I called and warned them while you were in the restroom at the restaurant.”

I leaned back in my chair and looked out into the starlit sky. It was hard to believe so much demonic shit was about to hit the fan. “How much you wanna bet the SAO has already arrived?”

He grinned. “Gregory said he’d called them yesterday and they’re already posted around the parameter of the house.”

“I suppose I should be worried about us. We don’t have any special forces.”

“You should know purrrfectly well I have something up my paw.”

I jerked at the sound of Merle’s voice. “Where are you?”

“Behind the fern.”

I looked around and saw her smile. It was the only thing illuminated next to the green fronds of the plant.

“How about materializing so I can see you?”

“Not so fast, Mirrrranda. Look around and see if you can find any more smiling kitties.”

I glanced around the porch.

“Over there.” Jared pointed at the ledge of railing.

I saw another toothy smile. One by one, I spotted them: on the table by the door, on the arm of the loveseat on the far side of the porch, another on the floor in the corner.

“How many of you are there?” I asked.

“Six.” Merle snickered as she materialized. “Naomi, Tatiana, Horace, Leroy, and you missed Jasper up on the top of the cabinet.”

As she called out the names, all the cats came into view. “These are our special forces, the Feline Intelligence Agency, or the FIA.”

“I’ve never heard of the FIA,” Jared said. “And in the 1600’s I was due to make guardian status.”

“We weren’t formed until the 1860s,” Merle said, in an indignant tone. “Ms. C seemed to think we’d come in handy during the War Between the States. And by the by, most angels aren’t aware of us because we’re covert, used as angelic spies for Ms. C to make sure you’re doing what you were sent here to do.” She winked. “We even spy on the SAO. There’s no love lost between the agencies of the angelic ranks.”

“So, can anyone see you?” I asked.

“Not unless we want them to,” Naomi said in a deep raspy Siamese voice. “The smiles are just our hellos to friendly angels.” She jumped down, her tail high in the air and pranced towards me. “One thing is for kitty-damn sure, demons can’t detect us. They detest us. The Dark Prince has been scarred for life and has put a price on that particular kitty’s head.”

“Scarred by whom?” I stared around the room. “Which cat?”

“By me,” Leroy purred, his tail flicking and hitting him in the nose. He extended a paw and a single razor sharp claw extended. “Who do you think Bad, Bad Leroy Brown was written about? He did use a little poetic license with the wording, but that Jim Croce was a walk-in par excellence.”

It took a moment for me to wrap my head around the thought that a cat, an angel cat, had clawed the DP’s face and now had a contract on his kitty soul. “Merle, why didn’t you let us know about this earlier?”

“Well, I didn’t know if they were on special assignment and I didn’t want to disappoint. So I just called on Caterine and got the scoop. We’re on duty and ready for a demon sighting.”

“I guess Jared and I need to go to sleep in a while and see if we can snare a demon.”

“He’ll never see us coming.” Merle and the others slowly vanished.