The Cat's Meow (14 page)

I might have confirmed he was the reason behind all this doubt, but his white knuckles around the wheel indicated that he already knew. I allowed the silence to settle in, quieted my mind, and attempted to relax.

After a few long, awkward minutes, he asked, “Do you enjoy your employment with the coven?”

I turned my head, gawking at him. “You want to have small talk?”

“Why not?” A hint of frustration deepened his voice, but he never looked at me. “The silence is heavy.”

The silence
was
heavy, because of him, of what he didn’t tell me, and of the secrets between us. How peculiar to feel such a strong connection to a warlock I hardly knew, yet the pull I felt toward him was as if I had already learned all I needed to know. “Yes. I enjoy it. It’s my job. Do you?”

He nodded, his eyes still trained on the road, but he shifted in his seat. “Mm-hmm.” Turning on the left turn signal, he slowed and headed down a side street. “I enjoy the adventure.”

“A thrill seeker,” I muttered. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

Now he smiled at me. “Are you being a smart-ass, Libby?” At my unashamed nod, he laughed, and then he turned his attention back to the road. “You must have the same love for adventure if you enjoy your job.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I picked a few pieces of lint off my jeans and dropped them onto the floor. The engine hummed while Kale picked up speed. “I’m not big on adventure, danger, or anything of the sort, but I’m loyal to the Goddess.”

His head jerked to me and he considered me for a minute before he looked out the windshield again. “In what way?”

I sighed, staring out into the dark night at the houses with their porch lights on. “She gifted me and I accepted.”

“That’s why you work for the coven? Not because you want to but because of the Goddess?”

I turned in my seat and pulled my leg up underneath me, and the coolness of the leather seat brushed against my arm. “Well, part of it was my mother. She’d slug me if I didn’t follow in her footsteps.” I shrugged. “But it’d be selfish of me to have my gifts and not use them.”

The side of his mouth curved up in a half smile, yet he never took his eyes off the road, and he made another left turn. “Which is why that warlock, Edwin, bothered you?”

“It’s an insult to have gifts and waste them.”

He looked at me in haste, his eyes hard and serious. “I couldn’t agree with you more.” Then he took a hard right. There seemed to be a message behind his look, in that statement, but what else was new—I was left in the dark.

Silence settled within the car…
again.

A hundred questions raced through my mind. Some demanded answers. Others frustrated me because they would remain unanswered.

Another long ten minutes passed while Kale weaved his way through Charleston’s streets before he broke the silence. “You’re quiet tonight.”

I angled my head as it rested on the headrest, noticing on the speedometer as his heavy foot pushed my SUV past city speed limits. “You want more chitchat?”

He frowned. “Does the idea really bother you?”

Stupid warlock!
“Of course it would, because the conversation is one-sided.”

He paused a moment, thoughtful with furrowed brow, and then he said, “Ask me a question you know I can answer.”

Wasn’t that a very cryptic thing to say? It appeared he wanted me to know him and dammit I wanted to, but I heard his message clear enough: some things were off-limits—things that had been ordered to remain a secret, like why I had a Sentinel working alongside me. “Are you always this elusive?”

“No.”

“This is a new development in your personality?”

“Very new,” he replied flatly. “Next?”

I looked out my window. Kale had taken us into the historical part of Charleston, and it was pretty. Every house was from the Victorian era, and all had been renovated to stand in their old glory. I nibbled my lip and tapped my fingers along my armrest to think up appropriate questions when suddenly I blurted out, “Are you married?”

Kale slammed on the brakes. My seat belt locked and the tires squealed to a halt, and then he turned to me with an arched eyebrow. “You
cannot
be serious?”

My cheeks warmed since clearly I had insulted him, and I could see why. He’d flirted with me and touched me, of course very innocently, but nonetheless the implication was there for more. “Um…”

“Libby.” He shook his head slowly and his eyes were dark like the night. “I don’t like how you view me.”

Oh shit, very much pissed him off. “It was a simple question and nothing to go brake-happy over. Besides, what do you expect? I know little of you and if you don’t like how I view you, then tell me the truth so I don’t have to guess.”

He stared at me with a firm look before he focused back on driving again. “No, I’m not married, not dating, and completely unattached.” His head whipped to mine so fast it surprised me it didn’t spin off. “You?”

Could my cheeks be any hotter? “No.”

He visibly settled back into his seat. “Next.”

I wasn’t too blind to see how upset it would’ve made him to find out I was attached, nor was I ignorant of my heated reaction to the idea that it mattered to him. Once again, we were stuck sending these mixed signals and I’d rather get unstuck, especially considering
this
warlock I liked, but was what he showed and told me now real?

Letting that go, I racked my brain to think up some more questions and avoid anything off-limits, such as the real reasons he came to Charleston. Plus, any personal questions I’d already asked and gotten a flat refusal about. Finally I settled on, “Wherever you used to live…”
At the Alchemy.
“Did you like it there?”

“I was content,” was his reply.

Damn, I wouldn’t get any more out of him in that regard, so I moved on and tried to outsmart him. “What was the Alchemy like?”

Kale grinned at me. “My
coven
was a good bunch and fiercely loyal. I’d give my life to protect them.” I snorted at his correction, more than annoyed he didn’t fall into my trap. He turned onto another street and accelerated. “Probably much like you feel.”

His reply didn’t shock me. I might not know much of Kale Griffin, but the strong qualities in him stood out regardless of the hidden bits. “Do you feel guilty that you left them, especially because they probably need you now? I imagine you’re one of their strongest.”

He attempted to hide his flinch, but not enough that I didn’t notice it, and then he cleared his throat. “I was assigned to come to Charleston. They will have to make do without me.”

“Right, because you’re a new
Ward
here in Charleston,” I grumbled, but I liked that it seemed to bother him to withhold information from me. At least I wasn’t the only one frustrated, even if it made no sense why he withheld the truth.

Not wanting to go down that road since it got me nowhere, I gathered my thoughts, and then an idea struck me that would explain why a Sentinel arrived in Charleston. “Did the Alchemy hear whispers of the rebellion and you came to Charleston because you knew it would hit here?”

“No. I. Did. Not,” was his tight-lipped reply.

Dammit, there went that idea, and it raised the worry that maybe he had been more involved in this matter than I’d like to admit. If my coven didn’t bring him here to help with this matter and he hadn’t known about it before he came, then why did it seem so personal to Kale?

I settled back into my seat, frustrated. Why had I expected him to elaborate? “So, you do plan to stay in Charleston, then?”

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye and a little smile curved his lips. I instantly hated that I asked. Was it so obvious I secretly hoped he’d say yes? He finally said, “That remains to be seen.”

“Depending on what?”
Damn you, curiosity!

His smile slowly vanished. “If I die tomorrow night.”

The air was sucked right out of my lungs. I didn’t expect him to say that, anything but
that.
“You think you could?”

He lifted a lazy shoulder. “The threat is strong enough to worry for everyone’s safety. Not only my own.” With my heart up in my throat, I nearly bit out a command for him to slow down when he eased off the gas pedal, and then he stopped in front of a red brick two-story Victorian home and turned to face me. “This is exactly why we’re here: so if I don’t make it out, you do.”

There he went again with his confusing ways. So secretive and hidden behind this wall I couldn’t break, but then he’d say something incredibly sweet showing that his biggest concern in all of this was me. This warlock didn’t make a lick of sense. “That’s not reassuring.”

“I’m not here to reassure you.” His voice became ice cold. “I’m here to keep you alive.”

Chapter Thirteen

“I’m not here to reassure you. I’m here to keep you alive.”

How many times could I possibly replay Kale’s statement? How many ways had I spun those words in the last seconds to try to make sense out of them? Too damn many. Was Kale—a Sentinel—here for
me…
to protect me? No matter how I turned this around it appeared that way, but why?

It was totally plausible that I was way off and he wasn’t here for me at all, and his protection was simply as personal as he suggested. I thought back to the reason he’d come—the death of the cats. Though he hadn’t seemed interested in the case, had he? He never brought it up to Bryon and he hadn’t commented on it since. More than anything, it’d been proven the situation with the cats wasn’t dangerous, and it appeared they weren’t related to anything in the Alchemy mess, but it was still peculiar that he hadn’t considered it.

I rubbed my eyes as a headache loomed. The worst part in all this, I wanted to trust Kale and not doubt him as I had, which was another oddity. I trusted Peyton and my mother, and no one else, especially a
warlock
. Wasn’t that the strain threatening to rip me apart? Mom said to trust him, so I should since it had been a direct order from my coven, even if it came from my mother. His life, who Kale really was, shouldn’t interest me, and yet…it did.

Kale exited the SUV and came around to the sidewalk. I got out and shut the door behind me, staring in awe at the house. Whoever lived in this home was stinkin’ rich—my entire house would fit into their living room.

He handed me my car keys, and then he approached the house, heading up the porch steps to the sweeping veranda with tall white pillars. Just as I caught up with him, he knocked.

A second later, the door opened to a woman in her early fifties, and she wore her age well. Her charcoal-colored hair dusted with silver pulled into a bun, and her body dressed in a long blue summer dress. She resembled a woman who cared for herself, and her soft gray eyes were kind.

“Hello, Kale.” She smiled, and there was a glaringly obvious warmth coming from her.

“Nice to see you, Magdalene.” He leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “I hope you’re well.”

“As well as could be expected,” she said in an equal tender voice. “And you?”

I bit my lip to avoid my outburst demanding answers. Oh yeah, she knew more about this—about Kale—than I did, but what else was new? Everyone seemed to, and that was far beyond infuriating. Especially considering that if my mother couldn’t tell me the truth, a witch I had never met before wouldn’t either, so what was the point in asking her? I wouldn’t continue to beat my head against that unbreakable wall.

As if Kale read my thoughts, he turned to me. “I called Magdalene when you were talking to your mother to fill her in on our situation. She said I could bring you here, because she thought she could help you.”

“Oh,” was my reply, more than happy I didn’t lash out at the witch before I knew the facts—all these secrets were making me snappy.

Magdalene’s gaze slide from Kale to me and her expression lit up. “You must be Libby.” She offered her hand, and I shook it as she said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard quite a lot about you.” I narrowed my eyes on Kale, and he chuckled as Magdalene added, “All good things, m’dear.” She opened the door for us to enter. “Please do come in.”

I followed Kale in and shut the door behind me as Magdalene headed toward the kitchen at the back of the house. A large staircase was straight ahead, typical living room to the right, dining room to left, all furnished in a grand scale.

The kitchen was much like the rest of the house with the old feel, but had been renovated with all the fancy fixings. Kale took a seat at the hardwood oak kitchen table, and I joined him.

The witch strode around opening cupboards, slamming them shut a second later, and then opening more. “I thought some tea would be nice,” she said, and continued to search.

I raised my eyebrows at Kale, and he shrugged. Magdalene didn’t live here, that much was obvious. Surprise, surprise. Another thing I should ask about, but knew I wouldn’t get a real answer to, so I kept my lips shut and simply watched her fight her way around the kitchen.

Magdalene finally found the teacups and the kettle. Within a few moments she made the tea, and then joined us at the table. I put some sugar and milk in mine. Kale drank his black, as did Magdalene.

Silence settled in as all eyes turned on me. I sipped my tea, enjoying the sugary warmth sliding down my throat, then returned their glances in hopes someone would say something.

After another long few minutes, I couldn’t stand it any longer and I lowered my teacup to the table. “If you two are waiting for me to talk, it’s pointless. I sure as shit have no idea why I’m sitting here or what you plan to do. Or are we just here for a staring contest over tea?”

Kale coughed into his teacup.

Magdalene smiled, her eyes creasing and creating more wrinkles around the corners. “I suppose you wouldn’t know what this is all about, would you?”

“No, I haven’t a clue.” I exhaled loudly enough that they both heard my exasperation. “If you wouldn’t mind, can we get a move on? The tea is nice and thank you, but no offense, I’m not in the mood for a friendly visit. If you haven’t heard, Charleston has a fuckload of trouble coming our way, so we must hurry.”

Kale’s mouth dropped open and he stared at me, incredulous.

“What?” I retorted. He was damn lucky I was being this nice since my inner bitch was right on the tip of my tongue. I looked at Magdalene, waving her on. “Why am I here?”

Her smile beamed and eyes twinkled. “Spunk you’ll need, m’dear, in this world of warlocks. It’ll serve you well.”

Kale jerked his head toward the witch, and warned her with a look.

I studied him at
that.
She clearly said something she wasn’t supposed to—hard lines appeared on his face and Magdalene’s cheeks flamed in color. Now that was curious, a
world of warlocks
.

“I’m sure your coven is full of them,” Magdalene corrected, and blinked innocently at me. “They can be quite a handful.”

Nice attempt to save her mistake, but it did nothing to rectify her error. “A world of Sentinels just like Kale, you mean? Sentinels who swear my friends and family to secrecy as to who he really is? I certainly hope there isn’t a world more like them. And my coven doesn’t have warlocks like him, so can we skip the part that you’re pretending to talk about my coven when you actually mean the Alchemy?”

Magdalene’s cheeks turned bright red.

Kale stiffened, the only indication that what I said affected him, and after a long pause, he stated, “Let’s move on.”

I snorted. “Oh, yes, lets, ’cause we know how big your avoidance issues are. Wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

A slow eyebrow arched at me in challenge, yet Kale remained silent.

After a long stare-down, Magdalene cleared her throat, dragging my attention to her, and she eyed me a moment. I leaned back in my chair to get away from her examination. Her stare felt like she looked right into the depth of my soul, as if my insides were now on the outside and she picked her way through them.

After another long, awkward pause, she smiled at me, and then nodded at Kale in a knowing way. Without another word, she left the room to leave me staring at Kale. He didn’t speak, but he didn’t need to—I read his tension. Whatever her up-to-something smile was about, it became clear it held meaning, and Kale looked at me in a challenging way again that dared me to speak so he could shut down my thoughts.

I wouldn’t try since he’d proven that when
that look
arose on his face, it would only end with a seduction I didn’t want.

So, there we sat in a total stare-down until Magdalene returned, carrying a large book covered in white lace. “You know,” she said in a soft voice, returning to her seat, “I wondered when I’d pass this along, and to
whom
.” She smiled, all traces of her earlier embarrassment gone, and slid the book along the table to me. “Consider this your first lesson. Read this, dear, and learn from it. There are spells in here that won’t work for all, but I suspect will work for you.”

I glimpsed down at the book, taking another sip of my tea, and then lifted my head to Magdalene. “Why?”

She leaned forward and tapped my nose with her index finger as if we were close friends or even family. “The Goddess makes it so. I sense her within you and also feel
specialness
in you, so she’ll grant you use of these.”

Okay, so she held the ability to gauge someone’s powers, and that explained her weird examination thingy—she had looked through me, right into the center of my magic. As I stared at her now, I couldn’t help but note a connection to her, a pull of sorts, and almost familiarity. “Are you an Enchantress?”

She finished off the sip of her tea, nodding over the rim of her mug. “I am.”

While that explained the draw to her, the
specialness
she talked of confused me. Sure, I’d received the highest levels of education through the coven and from an Enchantress who worked for the Alchemy, but that didn’t make me
special
. Perhaps I had altered a few spells, which seemed to impress Kale—something I’d done deliberately—but I figured that made me a good Enchantress.

Truth enough, in the years I’d worked for the coven I’d become more intimate with my magic, allowing me to produce stronger spells, but didn’t all Enchantresses do that?

From the way it appeared now, maybe not.

I glanced at the book as I downed some more tea, curious in part, and hesitant too. Why should I trust this witch any more than I trusted Kale, which was not at all? But as I looked back into her eyes, something shone there in their depths, and I recognized it immediately.

The Goddess was strong within Magdalene, and tingles rushed through my blood in confirmation that the Goddess liked me being here. Since I was the only Enchantress employed by the Charleston coven, to be near another witch with the same gifts warmed me. Slightly odd too, because it made me realize now that the coven didn’t need two of us, and maybe that proved some of the
specialness
Magdalene spoke of. The coven employed many Wards, as well as quite a few witches with similar gifts, but only one Enchantress…only me.

I took another drink of my tea, and then I asked, “Where’d you get the book?”

“Many years back, I was gifted the spells from a fellow Enchantress.”

The Goddess flared to life in my body, sending a searing through my veins, and I almost rolled my eyes.
Okay, I get it. You like her and I should listen.

Magdalene continued with a smile, “It’s time to pass the spells on to someone who can use them. I’m an old witch and no longer work for the…coven.” I wasn’t deaf to her hesitation, nor was Kale—he stiffened, but she hurried along. “The spells are now yours. Make the Goddess proud.”

Once I finished off the remainder of my tea, I ran my hands over the lace cover of the book and it seemed warm beneath my touch. Tingles, as if my limbs had fallen asleep, soared through me making my breath catch, and I shuddered. The reaction always told me the Goddess approved, and right now she was ecstatic. I smiled, experiencing her happiness.

Without a doubt, she wanted me to accept the book, and I never questioned her guidance. While I didn’t exactly know what they could do for me, and I needed to investigate this further before I dove in headfirst, I believed in the Goddess’s nudge to listen to her. “Do you want me to return the book after we’re done with the case?”

Magdalene shook her head. “No, dear, the spells now belong to you.” Her smile was knowing, and held warmth I found myself trusting. “I’ve watched over the book until you came to me in need of it.”

I cocked my head, totally confused. “You knew I’d come?”

“Not
you
necessarily.” She finished off the last sip of her tea and leaned back in her chair. I detected no hint of deception. “But I knew one day I would pass it along. Just as you know one day you’ll do the same.”

Made sense and all, but one thing didn’t. “If these spells could help any Enchantress, why is this not part of the training?” In all the years I’d trained with both my coven and the Alchemy’s Enchantress, I’d never heard of this book. “Why wouldn’t you produce the spells so we could all learn from it?”

Magdalene’s lips thinned. “Not every Enchantress can use these spells, Libby. You are special
.
” Her gray eyes darkened, and all the warmth vanished to be replaced by her stern look. “These spells are yours and yours alone, until you find no use for them. When you gift the spells, you’ll do so with thought and care, and only give them to one who is worthy.”

I snorted at
that
ridiculous statement. “I’m worthy?”

Magdalene tilted her head toward Kale, and her features once again filled with tenderness. “Kale thinks you are.”

“Oh.” My cheeks burned, and I really did hate that; hated my fluttering heart at the thought of Kale speaking so highly of me, hated that I wanted to reach out and cup his face, kiss him, and say thank you. Even though Magdalene was there, it was obvious by the yearning in his eyes that he wanted me to.

After a short pause, Magdalene cleared her throat, aware of and amused by our heated exchange. “If that’s all then, I do believe you should leave. You have quite the task ahead of you and need to study.”

I tore away from Kale and noted that her eyes shone. “Thank you for this. Um…if it doesn’t work…or something…I’ll bring it back.”

Magdalene stood, cupped my shoulder, and gave a gentle smile. “M’dear, it will work. I have no doubt. Trust the Goddess; she’ll guide and protect you.”

With that, she strode toward the front door and I followed with Kale on my heels. His presence at my back burned my flesh, and his stare on me felt as if his fingers caressed the spots his gaze traveled.

Once Magdalene opened the front door, she turned. “Bring this one back to me, Kale.” Her voice sounded sharp, like the crack of a whip. “After the matter is dealt with, so I can have a longer chat with her.”