I hadn’t even needed to use the bathroom yet when Kaye walked back through the doors.
Interesting.
The mall had closed not long after my bath, and now all the assorted shoppers had left. Bay had gone, too. Yes, everyone had left--everyone but the cats. And me.
Or so I’d thought.
That same nosy agent from before entered a short while later and peered around the semi-dark room, likely looking for me. Wow, she was a persistent one.
Fine. I’d talk to her. It’s not like I had anything better to do.
Stretching, I stuck my head out of the little cubby I’d been hiding inside. It sucked being in there, but it wasn’t the worst. I had a bunch of fur stuck to me that was not mine, and it was mildly stinky inside, but I’d been left alone, which was what mattered most.
“There you are,” Kaye said, a small smile creeping across her face. “Wanna talk?”
I cocked my head at her and then nodded once.
Before she could pick me up, I jumped down off the cat tree, marched toward the exit, then sat and waited patiently for Kaye to open the door.
She got the picture, quickly opening the door for me so I could walk through and jump up onto the table that stood just on the other side.
Oh, wow. I could jump higher than I’d realized. Cool.
Kaye pulled one of those little collars out of her purse. I lifted my chin while she attached it. “There,” she said. “Now you can talk.”
That much was a relief. “Why can’t I wear a collar like this all the time?” I asked.
Kaye sat on the little rolly stool and tutted. “Because part of your sentence is that you have to live fully as a cat. But without you scratching my back, I can’t scratch yours. Get the picture?”
She’d returned to ask me to work with her yet again. She wanted to make me a snitch, but I refused to let that happen. True, I’d had a moment of weakness earlier, but the majority of the day had gone fine after that. I’d stayed in my cubby and bided my time. It would be a boring three years, but still better than working for free or being a narc.
“If you come help me,” she continued, “I can make life a lot easier for you. Be honest now, didn’t you hate today? Do you really think you can take another 1,094 just like it? Because that’s how long it will be with your sentence.”
I sniffed but didn’t speak. I couldn’t let her know that she was getting to me, much as I desperately wanted to hold a long, intense conversation with someone, or to sing at the top of my lungs, or to maybe even scream until the sun came up.
I kept silent and blinked my big green eyes at her slowly.
Kaye sighed and scooted closer. “Moss, c’mon. Don’t be so difficult. I could really use your help. There’s a wizard who is shifting into mythical creatures and charging humans money to see said creature. I have to catch this guy. It will be a lot easier with you on my side.”
I couldn’t help myself. I laughed. “That sounds like a great scam. Pretty ingenious if you ask me.”
Kay’s expression flattened. “Not funny. He’s causing a ruckus and it’s too likely to expose magic to the humans. Even you understand that wouldn’t be good.”
She was right about that. I was considered a dark magic user, because I could create glamours. It was somehow bad to wield glamour. Whatever. But dark or light, none of us wanted humans to know what we could do. Exposure would be a disaster.
“I do. But I’m not helping you.” I stuck my nose in the air. “You might as well go back home.”
Oh, how desperately I wanted to go with her. I could’ve probably convinced her to treat me like the prince I was, maybe even bribed her into compliance. But doing so would’ve meant turning my back on someone like me. He was probably just some dude trying to get by in life. What did it matter if he scammed a little money from the humans?
I wondered if I did help her… could she get my sentence reduced? Sort of like a human plea deal. That was how I got popped. My buddy gave me up to the human cops to reduce his sentence. It had all happened before the magical law enforcement got involved or they wouldn’t have offered him a deal. They probably would’ve found a way to get him to talk without giving a reward.
The judge had mentioned rewards for good behavior. Knowing that sadistic old man, he’d probably just meant I’d get tuna or something.
No. I couldn’t. I wasn’t letting them trick me into being their stooge. “Will you ask them to transfer me back to Maine?” I asked. That jail was a far cry better than this. At least I would’ve had a room to myself. My own toilet. Not a giant room full of felines.
Kaye shook her head. “Sorry. No can do.”
I stood on all fours and turned my back on the agent, twitching my tail at her. I wouldn’t let myself speak again as I jumped off the table and walked out of the room, all the while biting down on my sandpaper tongue.
“Stop,” Kaye said sharply.
Knowing what she wanted, I complied. I swear it almost pained me when she took off the collar, took away my voice.
When I went to tuck myself back in my cubby, I found that some fat tabby had taken possession. I jumped up to that level and glared at him.
But he was a big cat. And looked mean as heck.
“Okay, big guy,” I muttered. “I’ll find somewhere else.”
All the other halfway decent spots were already occupied by cats of all stripes. And usually more than one.
Seriously?
By the time I figured out there were no beds left, Kaye had shut and locked the door behind her.
Fan-freaking-tastic. I curled up in the middle of Bay’s desk on a piece of paper and sighed.
Three years. I could do this.
Yeah, maybe if I kept telling myself that, eventually it would prove true.