Angel's Ink (35 page)

Just past the door, a Russian blue cat shimmered into existence. It bent its head and briefly licked the fur on its chest before darting off the porch and through the flowers in the front yard. A second later it vaulted over the small white picket fence and ran across the street where it disappeared behind a yellow house.

“Okay, go now,” Sofie said.

I didn’t question it or hesitate. Quietly shutting the door behind me, I slipped off the porch and jogged to my car parked a couple of houses down the street. Jerking open the driver’s-side door, I tossed Sofie inside and slid behind the wheel. I was vaguely aware of the cat jumping from the front to the backseat where she leaned up against the window and meowed forlornly.

“Mae!” Sofie plaintively cried as I revved the engine and pulled away from the curb. I didn’t look back as I drove out of the subdivision and headed for the nearest highway on-ramp.

“She’ll be fine,” I said, trying to reassure her. Unfortunately, I had more than I could deal with on my plate already. I didn’t want to add concern over an old woman looking for her lost cat. “I can find a way to get her a new cat.”

“Thank you,” Sofie whispered.

As we slipped into evening traffic and headed back to my tattoo parlor, I turned my thoughts back to more pressing issues. “What was it back there?”

“Not sure,” Sofie said as she jumped back into the front seat and curled up. “But there were two of them.”

“How did you know they would go after you?” I asked, thinking of the decoy she had sent running off the front porch and across the street.

“I didn’t. I sent a similar image of you running out the back of the house and over the fence for them to chase as well. They took the bait and I’m not going to question it.”

“I’m sorry about this. I didn’t mean to drag you into my problems. I know you had a comfortable life.”

Sofie stretched out her paws, extending her long sharp claws, while yawning. “It was a life. It’s better this way. I had grown fond of Mae and I didn’t want her hurt should someone decide to finish me off.”

“Where will you go now?”

Sofie gave a soft chuckle as she curled up again. “I’m your pet now, Gage.”

“What?” I cried, jerking the wheel at her announcement. I quickly righted my bulky SUV again in the center lane before I plowed us into a semi. “I don’t think so.”

“They wouldn’t have come looking for me if I hadn’t helped you. You cost me a home, so I think it’s only fair that you provide me with a new one.”

“I’m not very good with pets. I could never keep my goldfish alive,” I hedged. I really didn’t need a cranky old witch trapped in a cat’s body prowling around my apartment. I still had to deal with the grim reaper and Simon. My life expectancy wasn’t looking that great, and I didn’t want to worry about keeping a cat alive.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” she purred.

I frowned as I switched lanes, passing a slower car as it signaled to leave the interstate. This had not been a part of my plans for the day. “I also don’t do mind control. I’m not going to be your puppet.”

“I have no plans to do such a thing to you.”

“Or my friends?”

“Or your friends,” Sofie repeated, sounding a little put out.

“Fine,” I huffed. “You can stay at the tattoo parlor for a while until we can figure out something else. I’ve got a lot of balls in the air right now and I don’t want to worry about your safety or happiness.”

“I’m stuck in the body of a cat, Gage. How much trouble could I be?” she demanded, sounding more than a little irritated with me.

“You’re a witch. That in itself is trouble enough.”

Sofie softly purred from the passenger seat as she stretched out on her back and closed her eyes with a look of contentment. She seemed to have gotten over her separation anxiety regarding her former owner relatively quickly. “I’ll behave. Now roll down the window. I want to feel the wind through my fur.”

I pushed the button on my armrest, lowering the passenger-side window while trying to keep my attention on the busy road before me. For the first time I wondered if I had been duped. I had never sensed a presence at Sofie’s house, but then I trusted her more honed skills and years of experience. Could she have grown tired of her old life and wanted something more entertaining? Or was she now trying to keep an eye on me for her own purposes?

A sigh slipped from my parted lips as I slumped behind the wheel, squinting against the setting sun. It didn’t matter for the time being. I was now the proud owner of a beautiful cat that could tell me exactly what it was thinking. Things were not looking up.

Chapter 28

D
riving toward the parlor, I found myself wishing I had dropped Sofie at Trixie’s place for a while until I could figure something out. I really was no good when it came to animals and I didn’t want Sofie at my apartment. I stopped at a red light and frowned. But if someone was still looking for Sofie, dropping the cat at Trixie’s would only put the elf back in danger. The light changed and I pressed the gas pedal, jumping across the intersection. The parlor would have to do for now. I stopped briefly at a pet store to pick up some odds and ends before parking behind the shop.

I trudged down the wooden stairs to the apartment on the second floor. Balancing everything in my left hand and on my hip, I unlocked the door. Sofie shot inside ahead of me, sniffing around the living room as I followed. I quickly set up food and water bowls in the kitchen, and was secretly grateful when she told me that she used the toilet rather than a litter box. My stomach had turned at the thought of cleaning up the droppings of a witch in cat’s garb.

Pulling my cell phone out of my back pocket I glanced at the time before shoving it back in place. It was just after eight o’clock. I had some time to set things up in the tattoo parlor before Tera was to meet me. Turning back toward the door, Sofie jumped up on the sofa and stood on the arm nearest the front door, watching me with expectant eyes.

“Are you leaving already?” Sofie asked.

“I’ve got another appointment tonight that I can’t miss. I want you to stay here until tomorrow and then we’ll try to figure out something more permanent.”

“This isn’t your apartment?”

My eyes darted away from her face, and it was only when her front paw brushed against my arm that the words jerked out. “No. I own the building and sometimes stay here, but this isn’t my apartment.”

Sofie’s eyes narrowed to thin yellow slits. “Are you thinking that you can just dump me? I warn you—”

“Geez, no! I’m trying to find a good place for you to live. My apartment isn’t it.”

“Well, don’t think you can just forget about me. I’m not going to let you. Besides, it seems like you could use a little help with your life considering all the messes you’ve gotten yourself into. I have some experience in dispensing good advice and direction to the young.”

It was a fight not to roll my eyes at that announcement. Sofie had decided to become my own Jiminy Cricket with fur. A little magic advice would be appreciated if I was to go up against Simon, but I had a feeling that Sofie had no intention of limiting herself merely to the teaching of spells. No, this nosy cat was going to meddle in my personal life because, while in the Ivory Towers, she had been the only one to have any kind of motherly attitude toward the apprentices. Meddling was who Sofie was.

“My life is not a mess,” I grumbled, pushing away the nagging thought that the claim was a blatant lie.

“Honestly, Gage, you’ve got Simon chasing you and you’re on the least-favorite list of the members of the council. Heaven only knows what other scrapes you’ve gotten into. And you’ve got no girlfriend. You’re a handsome, talented young man. You should have a girlfriend.”

“How do you know I don’t have a girlfriend?” I demanded, feeling more than a little silly glaring at a cat. The fact was that I might have a girlfriend. Trixie and I hadn’t had that exact discussion yet and it wasn’t one that I was particularly looking forward to considering that I had hung myself and threatened her brother on the same day, but I was hoping that our arrangement was more than a “friends with benefits” kind of thing.

“Because you said you had an appointment tonight. Not a date,” Sofie pointed out, batting one paw at me for emphasis.

I ran a hand roughly over my face. I was wasting time that I needed to get things settled before Tera arrived. Focusing on Sofie, who was once again waiting for me to respond to her accusation, I frowned. This could be the last time I’d see Sofie if things didn’t go well tonight.

“Look, I’ve got to take care of something important this evening,” I started, my voice thick and heavy. “If . . . if things don’t go well, I’m going to leave a note in the parlor explaining everything. I will ask my friend Trixie to take care of you. She’s a very sweet, wonderful person and I know she’ll watch over you. I would just like you to promise not to use mind control on her. She doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.”

Standing on her back paws, Sofie rested her front paws against my chest so that her face was closer to mine. “What’s going on?”

“It would take too long to explain and I don’t have the time. Just promise me no mind control.”

Sofie dropped back down to the arm of the couch, sitting on her haunches as she stared up at me. “I promise.” I didn’t think a cat could look worried, so it might have been something in her voice telling me she was. I forced a smile on my lips as I reached up and scratched the top of her head. I suddenly jerked to a stop when I realized that I was treating the witch like a cat, but to my surprise she leaned into my hand, closing her eyes as she purred deeply. Apparently she wasn’t opposed to a little physical attention, just like a regular cat. This was going to get more than confusing.

Slipping out of the apartment, I stomped down the wooden stairs and then went around to the front door of the parlor and inside. I locked the door and didn’t bother to turn on the lights in the front of the shop. I didn’t want to draw the attention of anyone who might be walking by. We all had a number of friends who frequented the bars in the area and I didn’t want to take the chance that someone might stop by for a visit. Weaving in the dark through the chairs in the back, I headed to the room in the very rear of the building, where I shut the door and flipped on the light. I retreated to my storeroom in the basement and retrieved the vial of Styx river water and carefully carried it back up to the main floor.

Setting the vial on the middle shelf of the large cabinet that dominated the far wall, I quickly turned and searched out a plastic pipette and a plastic cap for the ink. I soundlessly gathered the last of the equipment I needed, pulling it all together on the shelf with the water. When I got Tera situated on the table, I didn’t want to worry about running around to get my supplies. I wanted everything on hand so that I could get the job done quickly.

As I placed the sealed packet of needles next to the paper plate, petroleum jelly, and stack of paper napkins, I looked down at my hands and found them shaking. My heart was pounding in my chest and my breath was coming in short rapid bursts, as if I had been running. Wiping away the sweat that had started to bead on my forehead, I walked over and sat down on a stool while flexing my hands. I needed to calm down. I wouldn’t be able to work if my hands were shaking.

I didn’t want to do this. It wasn’t right for Tera to be given immortality because of a careless mistake on my part, because no one should be immortal in this world. Yet I didn’t want her to go rushing to her death either. There had to be some kind of middle ground. She was young and sweet, and should be allowed to live out her life to a more natural end in her seventies or eighties.

Leaning forward, I dropped my face into my hands. People died every day—young and old. It wasn’t my job to decide who got to live and who had to die. I was more than happy to leave that to my visitor the grim reaper. I didn’t envy him that job. Did he even have a life? When he wasn’t running around reaping souls, did he have time off to play golf or date?

I rubbed my face to clear my thoughts of the strange bent they had taken and rose to my feet. There were things I still needed to get done. Glancing up at the clock as I entered the main room, I had about thirty minutes before Tera was to arrive. I flipped on the light and grabbed a couple of sheets of blank paper from the printer before sitting on one of the stools. Laying the paper on a thick book on my lap of tattooing designs and techniques, I started a letter to Trixie and Bronx.

It was with a weary sigh that I explained everything. I briefly admitted my warlock background, warned of the danger of the basement, detailed the mess I had made with Tera and the promise I had made to Chang. I didn’t want them going into the basement should I be killed, but I asked that they allow Chang to try. I trusted the old man to not only get past my defenses, but to also pay my friends a fair price for the items that he would find. I was on the third piece of paper when I finally got around to asking Trixie to take care of Sofie and explaining what little I knew of the witch’s problems. I told them where to find my will, which left them the tattoo parlor if I had been killed or was missing for more than eighteen months. I concluded with telling Trixie to demand that Chang find her a proper fertility relic that would help with her problem in exchange for the items in the basement. Unfortunately, I had no fix for Bronx’s current situation and I only hoped that Reave would release him if I was no longer around to torment.

Looking over the letter, I felt a swell of disgust rising in my stomach. My life had been quickly detailed over three pages in brutal, unflinching honesty. It was a mess. There was no mention of the family I hadn’t seen in a decade, no tender words for Trixie, or even an apology for hurting her and Bronx. There was nothing telling my two best friends in the world how much they had meant to me and my sanity over the years. There just wasn’t time.

A knock on the front door jerked my head up. Walking over to the doorway leading into the lobby, I motioned toward Tera, who was peering through the glass, that I would be there in just a minute. Turning back toward the tattooing room, I folded the thick letter twice and wrote on the outside “Read If I Don’t Appear by 9
P.M.
” That would give me twenty-four hours to clean up the mess I had created of my life and Tera’s. If I succeeded, I would be able to get back to the shop and destroy the letter before anyone saw it. Laying the letter on the chair that Trixie used for tattooing, I looked over the room as I reached for the light switch. There had been so much laughter here. Before I had decided to dabble in the realm of life and death.