Despite the urgency of my question and the fact that it was a pretty great one to ask, Fluffikins failed to acknowledge it.
Perhaps he would have, but one of the liaisons immediately hopped to her feet and placed a hand on each of her ample hips. “Why wasn’t the entire board informed? I personally would have loved to hear about all this before it all hit the fan.”
“Apologies, Connie,” the cat drawled. Was he actually sucking up to her when he was the one in charge? “Lila preferred that as few people as possible know about the plan to preemptively end her life. As you know, it’s the ultimate sacrifice and highest duty for a Town Witch to die protecting her town. She knew what needed to be done, and she didn’t want anyone trying to change her mind.”
“But she knew.” Connie pointed at Greta accusingly. Her growled words sent a shiver right through me. They didn’t exactly sound human, but what else could they be? “What does this decision even have to do with her department? Nothing, that’s what!”
The cat’s patience had now worn thin. He sighed and rubbed at his forehead with a paw. “You know very well, indeed, that as the liaison of Schools, Greta is the most equipped to handle situations that impact the future. Besides, Melony is young, still a student herself. At least once this summer is over, she is expected to head to the Academy and begin—”
“That’s not happening now, obviously,” Greta interjected with a sullen expression.
“And Parker was informed,” Fluffikins continued as he directed an unhappy glare at Connie, “because the impending crime fell directly into his role as liaison to the Force.”
“Still, Commerce would have liked to be notified,” Connie pouted, refusing to back down.
“Agriculture, too,” the plain-looking middle-aged man beside her chimed in. Excluding me and Parker, he appeared to be the youngest in the group by at least two decades.
Everyone’s eyes sought out the centenarian in the business suit.
“Nah,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Cemetery is good. We prefer not to handle them until they need us to.”
“Cemeteries?” I whispered to Greta.
“Yes, it’s one of the five essential regional departments.”
Now having heard a few new departments mentioned in rapid succession, I started a mental checklist. The PTA board had Police, Schools, Commerce, Agriculture, and Cemeteries—then there was the Town Witch and Fluffikins, of course. Whatever he did.
I decided to come right out and ask him. “Everybody here has a job, even me, although I’m just a temp. What’s your role, Mr. Fluffikins?” I used the Mr. assuming he’d be more likely to answer my question if I showed him some respect in asking it.
“Why, I’m the Diplomat, of course. It is me who is in charge of this region as a whole.” Well, I guessed that made sense. Little by little, I was starting to get it, but…
“I just have one question, though. Actually two. Wait, it’s three.”
He rolled his paw to signal for me to go ahead.
“Okay, so first, where’s Parker? Also, how do we stop Melony? And if you have time, please explain why this place is called the Paranormal Temp Agency. It seems like nobody here is a temp except for me.”
“Parker will be here as soon as he can if he can, and once we have him here, Melony will no doubt come to us. It’s the best-case scenario since we have the global magic source to protect us.”
I glanced up toward the ceiling where the glittering atmospheric magic had settled in like a heavy pink fog.
Fluffikins continued, “You’re our only temp currently, but make no mistake, we have quite the revolving door of helpers.”
“If that’s the case, why not hire more people to your board on a full-time basis? Is it because you don’t want to pay benefits?”
Across the table Connie chuckled, making her over-sized bosom bounce. I couldn’t tell if she liked me or not, but I could definitely tell she wasn’t a fan of Fluffikins.
The cat rolled his eyes before fixing them back on me. “The magical balance is in constant flux, and thus our needs change. A majority of magic users keep their abilities discreet and go about to live a mostly normal human life.”
“So it’s only you guys who are supercharged?”
“We’re the strongest,” Greta said, “because we’re able to use our abilities regularly. Practice makes perfect, after all.” Now she finally sounded like a teacher. As I got to know everyone better, it was easier to understand how they fit into their roles.
“Okay, so let me see if I’m understanding this correctly,” I said. “Most people don’t have magic, and most of the people who do have magic don’t really use it.”
“Yes, other than instinctively as you saw during our orientation last night,” the cat supplied.
Had that startling display of elemental wrath really only happened last night? Wow. It took me a second to process that before moving on.
“The liaisons are the strongest magic users because they use their powers regularly,” I surmised.
“Yes, that’s right,” Greta encouraged.
“Okay, so then why are we all so afraid of this Melony chick? She’s only—what?—eighteen?” I shuddered at the realization that I could practically be her mother. Thank goodness, I wasn’t.
Everyone watched and waited for me to push forward with my train of thought, and so I did.
“She’s not a liaison, which means she is not a regular magic practitioner. We know she has some, because of the confrontation Greta and I had with her, but—can someone please explain this next part—why is a room full of the region’s most powerful magic folk hiding from a little girl?”