Merilee tried to stay awake as they drove out to Dick the Elf’s evil mansion. She couldn’t help herself, though. The movement of the car made her sleepy, and the heat from the seat warmer was exquisite.
Fortunately, Angelina didn’t seem to mind. She drove them smoothly, or at least Merilee didn’t wake up due to her sister taking any crazy curves or braking suddenly.
As soon as the car turned off, Merilee awoke. She stood and stretched immediately, arching her back to work all the kinks out, before flexing it.
It didn’t feel quite as good as it once had. It was still better than any sort of stretching she’d ever done as a human.
Angelina sat staring out the windshield, her eyes unfocused. “He’s increased the protection spells around the building,” she said slowly.
While Dick didn’t have the necessary strength to do all the magic he wanted, he had several other witches who acted as his minions, casting spells for him. His primary strength was still in foresight.
Hopefully, he’d never see this coming.
“Mrrow?” Merilee inquired.
“No, I don’t think I’ll ever be ready,” Angelina said. “I haven’t faced as many deaths as you have, to be so sanguine about it.”
Merilee twitched her tail, shrugging. They’d done everything they could think of to take care of that, if it happened. All of Merilee’s belongings had been given away. All of her bank accounts were now in Angelina’s care. Angelina’s will was up to date with special letters to their mom if the worst occurred.
She’d even included a few choice paragraphs about getting revenge, if the worst occurred.
They’d done what they could. Now, they needed luck as much as anything else.
“Mrrow,” Merilee said with as much confidence as she could muster.
Really. It was all going to be fine.
Angelina gave her a brave smile. “Let’s go see Dick, shall we?”
She pulled the backpack out of the back seat, then held it open for Merilee to crawl into. She’d changed the fabric out again, so that the entire back was transparent and Merilee could see out, watch behind them.
The air around Dick’s mansion was cool. The smell of the Mississippi River underlaid everything else. Wind blew through the nearby pines. Dusk was on its way, the sky turning lovely shades of orange and pink.
They had parked inside a small courtyard. Tall brick walls surrounded them, hard and uninviting. Even a magical cat would have difficulty scaling them. Two other cars were parked nearby. Merilee caught the scent of Sue, as well as a stranger.
Great. The gang was all here.
Angelina paused for a moment, taking one last deep breath, before she walked toward the door.
Dick must have been standing there, as Merilee didn’t hear the door open.
“Greetings, young one!” he said jovially.
Merilee was afraid she’d hurt something rolling her eyes.
“I’m so glad you’ve decided to rejoin our little family. Oh! And you’ve brought your sister, too! She’s really going to enjoy this evening,” Dick continued.
There was a surprisingly small amount of dust in the air. Old Dick’s cleaning spells did a better job down here than up in the tower.
The rank odor of his magic still spread over everything, like a thin coat of tainted oil that you could never quite scrub off.
The door that shut behind them was solid oak. Interesting how magical bars flung themselves across it, now that they were safely inside.
Those bars, unfortunately, would be effective both against people coming in as well as trying to leave.
The hallways itself wasn’t very well lit. All Merilee had was the impression of dark wood and closed-in spaces. Shelves with books and gross knickknacks like baseballs and trophies.
Eventually, they walked into a more open area, that actually had some light in it. Merilee smelled the presence of other people
“You already know Sue, right?” Dick said. “I know you had a little confrontation earlier. I need for you to get over that, though, and continue to work together.”
“I quit,” Angelina said. “I’m not going back there to work.”
“Fine by me, but you’ll be working together here, you know,” Dick explained. “And this fine young man is Chester.”
Merilee could smell his too greasy hair from where she was seated. His magic stank of rotten rosewater and those obnoxious “manly-men” body sprays. Ugh. He was a mama’s boy who’d been turned away from his mother, probably corrupted by Dick.
Angelina walked forward. Given the wince she gave, Chester must have tried to break her fingers with his “firm” handshake.
Merilee kept her growl to herself, but really, Chester, there were better ways to impress a woman.
“These two are going to monitor everything we do tonight,” Dick continued.
“You don’t trust me?” Angelina said.
Merilee liked the smile she heard in her sister’s voice.
“No, I don’t, quite frankly,” Dick replied.
Huh. Merilee was surprised that he’d be honest about, well, anything.
“You walked away from me,” Dick said. “And I know you didn’t come back fully willingly. So whatever little spells you have planned, or games you want to play, I want you to forget all about them. They aren’t going to work. Not on me. Not tonight.”
“I wouldn’t plan anything,” Angelina said hotly.
“No? You’ve been planning all week,” Dick replied. “You stink of magic. Your plans won’t work. You forget, I’m a Seer. Though I tend to focus on natural events, that doesn’t mean I didn’t spend a lot of time forecasting this evening.”
Merilee nearly purred. Good. They’d been planning on that.
They hadn’t necessarily been planning on the other two being present. Angelina did have a couple of backup spells handy, just in case someone came running in to save Dick from his inevitable fate.
They’d just end up using those sooner rather than later.
“We should get started then, shouldn’t we?” Angelina said with a hint of impatience.
Merilee found it interesting that Dick took a long pause before speaking.
“Leave the backpack here,” he instructed.
Luckily, they’d anticipated that.
“What, so you can cat-nap her? Hold her hostage? Continue to use her against me? No. Merilee comes with me. She’ll be safer that way,” Angelina said stubbornly.
“She stays in a containment field of my making,” Dick the Elf insisted.
Also good.
Things were going according to plan.
Which just meant that the really big screwup was going to happen soon.