Slay Ride (The Slaycation #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Cat

S now rushes past the living room window that overlooks the backyard. I don’t want to see snow right now, though. It’s a reminder that I’ll probably miss the winter retreat next week, which means I’ll also miss another chance to get my first kill.

I rip the curtains closed, and the silver hooks squeal across the black metal rod. Kindra looks at me with dark, narrowed eyes that relax when she sees the cup of coffee in my hand. I hand it to her, and she drags her judgmental gaze back to her laptop screen.

“You aren’t on the clock, Cat. You can chill for once,” she says.

“I can’t chill . I’m waiting for an important email.”

Kindra turns to look at me, her black waves bouncing around her face. “The audition?”

“Not just any audition. It’s for a supporting role in a local production of Cats . This could be my big chance, Kindra. I might finally break out.”

Kindra licks her lips and closes the laptop. “Isn’t that a musical? I didn’t know you could sing.”

“We’ll find out if I can as soon as I get that email.”

Kindra looks at me with a stony gaze that I’ve grown to love. “You don’t know if you’re good at singing? That’s like jumping into the ocean when you aren’t sure you know how to swim.”

She has a point, but I’m not exactly tone deaf. I also have a dance background, so that should win some brownie points...as long as they don’t fact-check and realize I took a class once when I was five, then never returned.

I begin to pace the living room. Nervous energy pulses through my body, and I need some way to relieve it. My heels tap on the worn hardwood floor with each step. Kindra hates incessant noise, so it’s not a surprise when she spins around and bites my head off.

“Can you stop making that sound?”

“Walking?”

“Yes, walking. Go take off your shoes if you’re going to tap dance all over your fucking house.”

Her abrasive tone should damage my fragile feelings, and a few months ago, it might have. Now I know her, though. Her fuse is short, and she’s a bit grumpy a lot of the time, but she’s my best friend and I love her, regardless of her poor attitude.

Not everyone can pretend to be happy all the time.

Kindra takes a deep breath and sheds the coil of metal surrounding her persona. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m struggling with an impossible story for work, plus the prep for the winter retreat, and I’m over it. Listen, it will all work out how it’s supposed to.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“We deal with it, Cat. Just like we deal with everything else.”

I hate that she’s right, but she is. The part is either mine or it’s not, and pacing incessantly won’t change the casting director’s decision.

Maybe it’s best if I’m not on that list. Rehearsal schedules might interfere with work, and I have bills to pay. Or maybe I’m just not cut out for acting. Like everything else in life, maybe this is just another thing Cat Novak can’t do.

As I sit on the sagging couch, my phone buzzes. I nearly drop it as I maneuver it out of my pocket. An alert stares up at me. One new email.

And it’s from the production team.

My thumb drops on the banner, and I’m taken to a lengthy email that details the practice schedule and call times for each cast member. I skim through the list, but I can’t find my name. I wasn’t even considered for the ensemble cast. Not even as an alternate.

“I didn’t get it,” I say, my voice unusually meek. I fight back burning tears. Kindra may be my best friend, but she’s also my longtime idol, the Heartbreak Killer, and I hate crying in front of her.

“Oh, fuck. I’m so sorry.” Kindra comes and sits beside me. She isn’t the touchy-feely type, but she knows I am, so she wraps an awkward arm around my shoulder. “They don’t know what they’re missing out on. But hey, look on the bright side. Now you can come to the winter retreat!”

I appreciate Kindra trying to make me feel better, even though comforting others isn’t her strong suit. Missing the retreat was the one downside to potentially being cast in the play, so at least I still have something to look forward to.

“Bennett for sure isn’t coming, right?” I ask. If he changed plans and wants to attend, I’ll just stay home with my cat.

“He’s still in Florida. Ezra talked to him yesterday, and he said he’d rather drink a cyanide cocktail than step foot in snow.”

“I hope he forgets his helmet while he’s riding around on his motorcycle.”

“Cat! Bennett is obnoxious, but no one wants him to die.”

She can speak for herself. “He fed me his fruity girlfriend, Kindra. It’s still too soon.”

“Fair,” Kindra says with a laugh.

And her laugh makes me laugh. The temptation to cry fades away as I remember that as long as I have my friends—and the opportunity to commit a justified murder—then I’ll be okay. There will be other auditions...if I can find the will to subject myself to more defeat.

“Can I bring Shorty to the retreat?” I ask.

The sound of shredding fabric reaches our ears, and we turn our attention to the massive black cat climbing up the curtain. With his ears pressed back and his eyes wide, he looks like a tweaking meth-head.

He lets out a languid yowl as I stand and try to pull him from my ripped curtains. He flails and writhes in my arms, scratching my skin.

“He’s just so friendly,” I say.

Kindra is staring at me, so I pretend he wants love so that she won’t realize he’s an absolute terror sometimes. I bring the clawing psycho up to my shoulders to hug him, and his needle nails puncture my shirt and drive under my skin.

Instead of screaming, I smile at Kindra, which probably looks more like I’m gritting my teeth. Because I am.

“Put the damn thing down, Cat.”

There is no putting a cat like this down without getting clawed to shit, so I pull him away from me and drop him from waist level. Like a shadow demon, he zips along the edge of the room and tucks himself beneath the couch.

“Why did you call the biggest fucking cat I’ve ever seen Shorty? That thing came from something part dog.”

“I named him after Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia.”

“Of course you did.”

“I didn’t know Kindra Amato then or I’d have named him after you.”

“How are the things that come out of your mouth equal parts weird and sweet?”

“So can I bring him?”

A black ball of lightning shoots across the floor, pauses, then launches itself at the curtains again. Shorty isn’t doing himself any favors. He’s actually a very sweet cat when he isn’t primed for destruction, but of course Kindra is here to see this side of him.

She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. “Since Bennett isn’t going, I don’t see why not. I’d be concerned he might ‘lose’ your cat in the Alaskan wilderness. If Shorty rips up curtains at the cabin—or anything else, for that matter—you’re on the hook for it, though. Just remember that.”

That’s a fair trade, so I nod.

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay about the audition?” Kindra asks. “It’s okay to not be okay.”

“I know, but I’m fine. What’s one more for the growing pile of rejections?” I force a laugh and flop onto the couch again. “Besides, I didn’t want to miss this retreat, and now I don’t have to. If I’m not meant to be an actress, maybe I’m meant to be a prolific killer.”

What I don’t say is that I’ve had doubts about that as well. Bennett blocked my kills at every turn on the island, but even if he hadn’t, I’m not sure I’d have gone through with it. The last thing I want is for Kindra to think I’m a failure at literally everything, but that’s a real possibility if I choke again.

“Hey, quit biting your nails and get over here and look at wallpaper swatches with me,” Kindra says. “I have to leave for the flight soon, and I need to pick up the supplies as soon as I land in Alaska.”

“You’re heading up early?”

She nods and turns the laptop toward me. “I’ve left Ezra to his own devices for two weeks, and I’m worried he’s bungled it. Want me to go ahead and book your flight? I’ll give you the window seat.”

For the first time since getting that shitty email, I smile. “I’d love that.”

I can worry about auditions and how my life is a mess when I get back from the trip. For the next week, I have only two missions: get my first kill and kiss Maverick Eaton.