Authors: Amber Benson
Tags: #Fantasy, #Contemporary, #Fiction, #General, #Fantasy fiction, #Fiction - Fantasy, #Science Fiction And Fantasy, #Fantasy - Contemporary
Cat's Claw (41 page)
So, as the two of them—plus Bast—went outside to prep the spell, I waited in the kitchen with Senenmut.
in the overwhelming brightness of the kitchen’s recessed lighting, the poor guy looked like he’d just gotten hit by a Mack truck. His eyes were lusterless in his ashen face, and dark smudges circled them like desiccated leeches. The defeated slope of his shoulders belied the misery that was eating him from the inside out.
“Want some hot chocolate?” I asked. Senenmut only glanced at me blankly. It occurred to me after the fact that the guy had probably never even heard of hot chocolate before.
“It’s really good. I’m gonna make some anyway, so you can try mine, and if you like, I can make you some, too.” I said, my maternal instincts kicking in.
Senenmut nodded but didn’t look very excited at the prospect of this “hot chocolate” I was offering him. As I bustled around the kitchen, pulling milk from the refrigerator and cocoa powder from the ridiculously overstuffed pantry—I guess one never knew when one was gonna have to feed an invading army—I tried to keep an eye on the morose Egyptian. He sat hunched over a faded white wooden stool that was pushed up against the center island, his face in his hands. He didn’t move as I poured the milk into a pan and set it to heat on the stainless steel Viking range that was the jewel of my mother’s kitchen.
“I cannot believe that Hatshepsut was aware of Mustafa’s treachery,” Senenmut said, his voice so low that I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or to himself.
I waited, stirring the pan as the milk began to simmer, and figured that if it
were
me he was talking to, he’d let me know when he wanted an answer.
were
me he was talking to, he’d let me know when he wanted an answer.
“I thought that I knew her . . . and the woman that I loved would not have betrayed me so willingly.”
I took two white china cups and saucers from the cabinet and poured some milk into each one.
“Maybe her need for revenge was greater than her need for human love,” I said softly.
“I do not think so,” Senenmut said gravely, looking up at me for the first time.
I didn’t answer as I stirred a couple of spoonfuls of cocoa powder into one of the cups of milk and set it in front of him. I did the same for myself, then took the stool beside him.
“Maybe you just didn’t know her as well as you thought you did,” I said, taking an exploratory sip of my drink—which was delicious—and trying not to burn the roof of my mouth at the same time.
Senenmut watched me sip my drink, then looked down at his own cup of hot chocolate.
“You said I could try yours first.”
I shrugged.
“I lied. It’s cocoa. I promise you you’re not gonna want to share it, either.”
This made Senenmut smile, but only for a moment, then the smile disappeared as quickly as it had come.
“Do you really believe that it is a good idea to bring Hatshepsut and her Minx to your home?” Senenmut asked, sniffing the cup of cocoa curiously before sipping it.
“I don’t think I have any choice,” I said. “I either confront them here, where I have a little support, or at my tiny apartment, where I don’t.”
Senenmut nodded and took another sip of cocoa.
“This is very good.”
“Cocoa’s the one thing I’m pretty good at not screwing up,” I replied, pleased that Senenmut liked my little hot chocolate pick-me-up.
We sipped our drinks in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. It was really nice not to be alone as I waited for Clio and Jarvis to summon Hatshepsut and her Minx.
Out of nowhere, Senenmut said, “Do you trust Bast?”
I picked up my cup and drank what was left of my hot chocolate then I stood up to put my cup and saucer into the sink.
“No, I think she’s up to something—and I also think she’s got some kind of weird hold over Jarvis and my sister.”
Senenmut nodded.
“Yes, I think that you are right, only—”
He paused, thinking.
“What? Go on,” I said.
Senenmut shook his head.
“It may be nothing—” he started to say, but was interrupted by a faint knocking sound. Startled, I turned around to find Clio standing at the window in front of the kitchen sink, gesturing for us to come outside.
“I think it’s time,” Senenmut finished instead, leaving me to wonder exactly what it was he was going to say before Clio interrupted him.
As we left the safety of the kitchen—and the comfort of our hot chocolate—my Egyptian friend’s comment about Bast stayed with me, scratching at my brain like an itch that wouldn’t go away.
twenty-six
Clio was unusually quiet as Senenmut and I followed her across the grounds toward the cliff’s edge, the roaring of the waves below us like white noise in my head. I guessed everyone was feeling kind of tense, because the usual joking banter Clio and I would’ve fallen into was replaced by silence as we moved toward the benches. I wrapped my arms around myself, my mohair sweater not even pretending to keep me warm. I realized I should’ve grabbed a jacket before we went outside, but I didn’t think anyone would take too kindly to me running back to get one.
It was already cold out—and the buffeting winds only made it worse, whipping the longer strands of my hair into my face, stuffing my mouth with the foul taste of dog drool and sweat.
Yuck!
The only light came from the fullness of the moon, which hung round and distended above us, making me wonder what exactly it was we were about to give birth to by inviting Hatshepsut and her Minx to Sea Verge.
Even though he
was
acting kind of weird, I trusted Jarvis implicitly, and since he had signed off on the experiment, I wasn’t worried about biting off more than we could chew. Still, once they
did
arrive—and under false pretences, mind you—how they heck were we gonna contain them? The Minx in its Mustafa form had already proven to be a wily adversary—and I didn’t know
what
Hatshepsut would do once she laid eyes on her long-lost lover, Senenmut.
was
acting kind of weird, I trusted Jarvis implicitly, and since he had signed off on the experiment, I wasn’t worried about biting off more than we could chew. Still, once they
did
arrive—and under false pretences, mind you—how they heck were we gonna contain them? The Minx in its Mustafa form had already proven to be a wily adversary—and I didn’t know
what
Hatshepsut would do once she laid eyes on her long-lost lover, Senenmut.
Things could go to Hell in a handbasket pretty damn quickly if we weren’t careful.
Senenmut took my hand as we got closer to the cliff’s edge—and my first thought was that he was just being friendly—but when he gave my fingers a metacarpal-crushing squeeze, I had to stifle a yelp. I looked over at him angrily, not sure what game he was playing at, but he merely shook his head, his eyes wide with fear. He indicated with his head, and I followed his gaze. Jarvis and Clio had encircled the benches with a fine white powder that I couldn’t place but guessed was crushed bone.
“What is it?” I hissed at Senenmut, but he only squeezed my fingers harder to shut me up as Clio turned to see what the trouble was. I flashed her a wide smile, which she seemed to accept.
“All good,” I said. “Just tripped over myself for a minute there.”
This got another harsh squeeze from Senenmut, who had slowed his pace down to half speed, pulling me with him as he decelerated.
“Fine,” I mumbled under my breath. “Don’t tell me what’s going on.”
But by then, I was starting to feel kind of nervous about the scene that lay ahead of us, too.
I spied Jarvis standing just within the circle of bone powder over by the cliff’s edge, Bast sitting primly on his shoulder. That was so
not
a Jarvis move. Still, even with my growing misgivings, I forged ahead, glad that I at least had Senenmut in my corner.
not
a Jarvis move. Still, even with my growing misgivings, I forged ahead, glad that I at least had Senenmut in my corner.
“What’s with the circle?” I asked Clio as we neared our destination.
“It’s for the spell, silly girl,” Clio replied.
Her voice was light, but it worried me that she chose not to turn around and look at me when she spoke. Besides which, what seventeen-year-old girl living in the twenty-first century
ever
used the term “silly girl” in reference to an older sibling? I would’ve expected that kind of terminology from Jarvis, but Clio?
Never
—no matter
how
many Paris Hilton reality shows she decided to watch.
ever
used the term “silly girl” in reference to an older sibling? I would’ve expected that kind of terminology from Jarvis, but Clio?
Never
—no matter
how
many Paris Hilton reality shows she decided to watch.
“I’ve never done a summoning spell before,” I said, “but it seems kind of weird to have to use ground-up bones just to make what amounts to a toll-free long-distance call.”
Senenmut and I had reached the edge of the circle, but instead of following Clio inside it, we had each made an unconscious decision to stay as far away from the bone meal-covered part of the ground as possible.
“You have to step inside the circle for the spell to work, Callie,” Clio said, beckoning me forward.
“I don’t think so,” I replied, my feet staying firmly where they were.
“Why not, Calliope?” Jarvis said—using my given name again—as he reached up to stroke Bast’s neck. “The spell won’t work if you don’t step into the circle.”
“Step into the circle,” Clio said, more resolutely.
“Yes, step into the circle,” Jarvis chimed in.
“Would you guys
please
stop with all the repeating,” I groaned. “You’re giving me a headache.”
please
stop with all the repeating,” I groaned. “You’re giving me a headache.”
Senenmut squeezed my hand again, forcing me to look away from Clio and Jarvis.
“What?” I hissed, annoyed.
“Don’t look them in the eye,” he whispered.
“Why?”
He sighed.
“You ask too many questions, Calliope Reaper-Jones. Just . . . don’t do it.”
“Fine,” I said, exasperated.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clio lean forward to whisper into Jarvis’s ear.
“Whatcha talking about?” I asked innocently, and they both quieted down instantly. I waited for one of them to answer me, but neither of them seemed inclined to speak.
In the end, it was Bast who replied for them.
“What they say about you is true, Calliope Reaper-Jones,” she purred, her tail swishing wildly against Jarvis’s shoulder.
“Thanks, I guess,” I said, not sure if that was a compliment but deciding to take it as one anyway.
“It is not a compliment,” Bast hissed at me, jumping off Jarvis’s shoulder and landing gracefully on the grass, her long, dark tail twitching as she slunk toward me.
I so do not like that cat,
I decided for, like, the millionth time.
I decided for, like, the millionth time.
“You are impetuous and impertinent,” Bast continued as she crossed the circle and jumped up onto one of the benches, her brown coat a dusty charcoal in the shadowy moonlight. “And you have no respect for those who are vastly superior to you.”
“What? Like you?” I snorted. “You’re a cat, lady. You walk on four legs. So go suck on an egg because you’re no more
superior
to me than you are to anyone else around here.”
superior
to me than you are to anyone else around here.”
She hissed at me, flashing a set of razor-sharp incisors that glinted pale white in the moonlight.
“No matter,” Bast said, calm again. “You’ve done exactly what I wanted you to do. And you’ve made the whole thing so much easier than I even expected.
“To ashes with you!” Bast suddenly hissed at Clio and Jarvis. They both turned to look at me, terrified.
“What the hell—”
I started to say, but my words were cut off by a flash of green light so bright that I had to close my eyes to keep my retinas from being scorched. Even with my eyes closed, I couldn’t escape the terrible
roar
that filled the night, nor could I drown out the cacophony of agonized screaming that followed.
I started to say, but my words were cut off by a flash of green light so bright that I had to close my eyes to keep my retinas from being scorched. Even with my eyes closed, I couldn’t escape the terrible
roar
that filled the night, nor could I drown out the cacophony of agonized screaming that followed.
When I found myself able to see again, I discovered that the whole area within the circle was glowing in shades of electric lime. I watched, horrified, as the lime green light enveloped Jarvis and Clio, their bodies flaming a bright shade of purple as the spell Bast had cast began to melt the skin right off their bones.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was like being trapped in a bad dream or watching a horror movie in slow motion. You know what’s happening, but you’re utterly helpless to do anything about it. I tried to make my feet move, to run forward and save my sister and my friend, but I was rooted in place, unable to make my body do anything I told it to. It was like the weight of the whole world was pressing down on me, holding me rigidly in place.
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