Chapter 23
Acab dropped them all off on the front doorstep of the Sphinx’s building in downtown Toronto.
The sun was still brighter—and hotter—than anything Caspar ever remembered feeling, and he was glad he’d thought to grab the baseball hat Malek had given him.
William and Natasha ran right up to the front list of occupants, searching for Cassandra Delacroix, while Caspar hung behind.
“You okay?” Malek placed a hand on the small of Caspar’s back.
Caspar curled into the touch and smiled.
Malek’s concerned look wasn’t just about the sun.
Or the jewels Caspar kept close in his pocket, next to the spell from Twigs.
Malek was asking about last night and the way they’d tangled themselves together before finally falling asleep.
“I’m fine. A little bummed you weren’t in bed this morning when I woke up, but I understand.”
Malek opened his mouth to say something, but William called them over. “Ninth floor. There’s a C. D. listed as the occupant. I’m thinking that’s it.”
“So buzz in.”
Natasha was already blasting the buzzer nonstop. “I am. Maybe she’s deaf?”
“And blind? Yeah, that’ll be the day. A blind prophet.” Caspar laughed, but soon doubled back and grew serious. “Oh, God. What if she’s blind? The big ass sunglasses would make sense and—”
A voice crackled over the intercom. “Yes?”
“Are you blind?” William asked.
“William,” Malek said, aghast. Caspar could feel Malek’s tension beside him.
Caspar could only laugh at the entire display as it rolled out in front of him.
This must be what it’s like for parents with small kids.
When Caspar was young and asked for a brother or sister, his mother Luna used to tell him that it wouldn’t happen because it would even the playing field too much.
Any parent who ever had more than two kids was asking for trouble, since the children now outnumbered the authority figures.
Caspar wanted to whisper to Malek that they wouldn’t pick up any more strays so they wouldn’t be outnumbered, but the voice crackled through the intercom again.
“Oh, sweetheart. I’m not blind, but you’re obviously dumb.”
“Hey,” William said. “I didn’t mean—”
“We’re sorry,” Natasha said. “I’m Natasha Bhaduri, and my friends and I were wondering if you were the person we’re looking for. Do you have a cat?”
“I do. A hairless sphynx. Why?”
“Then I should tell you that Jocasta sent me,” Malek said. He stepped closer to the intercom, ready to repeat himself, but the voice came through.
“You should have led with that fact, deary. A friend of Jocasta is a friend of mine.”
The door lock popped open. William grabbed the handle first and headed inside, followed by Natasha, Caspar, and Malek.
When they reached the ninth floor, Natasha led the way as if she’d been there before.
She knocked, and seconds later, an older woman with the same bright red hair and sunglasses as on the card opened up the door.
“Afternoon, all. Come inside and put your shoes on the rack over there.” She extended a hand into her small apartment, gesturing to a multicoloured rug where an already ungodly amount of shoes lay.
She wore a yellow dress with the same “EYE SEE YOU” phrase stitched onto the front.
Her tights underneath her dress were candy-striped.
Everyone mumbled a hello as they took off their shoes and headed into the living room area.
Plants hung from window boxes along her back wall and flowers were arranged on many of the tables, the vases surrounded by doilies.
The living room was wallpapered with constellations, while the kitchen’s wallpaper seemed to have botanical diagrams. Bookshelves lined the walls, with many of the ancient spines bearing titles in languages that Caspar could not read.
The apartment was somehow dark, yet Caspar could see everything perfectly.
The apartment was also cramped with all five of them among the old woman’s many trinkets, yet it was somehow spacious.
When a cat jumped from an elegant red chair in a corner and darted across the room, everyone gasped.
“The Sphinx!” William called. “Hey, come back! We need to talk to you.”
“Introductions first. I’m Cassie,” the woman said. She pulled her glasses down over her nose. No glaucoma, no hearing aids. Aside from the fact that she looked to be about one hundred years old, she wasn’t blind or deaf. She also wasn’t a shifter and the cat wasn’t her other form.
Natasha gestured to the rest of the group. “This is William, Caspar, and Malek. He’s the one that knows Jocasta.”
“Ah, yes. I think she’s mentioned you.” Cassie extended her hand, and Malek shook it with a visibly weakened grip.
“She has? What has she—”
“Oh, nothing that’s worth repeating right now, since I believe this is a business call. Can I get anyone anything?”
“Your cat,” Caspar said. “We have to ask it some questions.”
“You mean me, right?” Cassie said. She shifted her glasses down her nose again, a flare in her eyes. “Because I’m the Sphinx.”
“Oh. Right. Of course you are.”
“Oh, precious,” Cassie said. “Did someone tell you I was a cat? Did someone tell you the Sphinx was?”
“No. Of course not.” Malek stared daggers at Caspar. “That would be silly, to think you’re a cat!”
“Well, sillier things have happened here. I suppose I’m partly to blame.
I got a sphynx cat thinking he’d be some kind of kin, but all we do is bicker.
” As soon as Cassie said this, the cat poked his head out from underneath one of the sofas and meowed.
“Yes, yes, I’m talking about you. I suppose I don’t like to correct the assumption that I’m a cat when it comes up casually because, well, it makes me sound more mythic. ”
“So the cat is not magic?” William asked. His gaze was affixed on the hairless animal in the centre of the couch. “It won’t—”
“He,” Cassie corrected. “And we’re all magic in our own ways, dear. So yes, Edie over there is magic. His name is short for Oedipus.” Cassie raised her brows above her glasses and leaned forward conspiratorially. “Get it?”
Caspar seemed to be the only person who laughed. “Totally, just my humour.”
“Good. Oedipus isn’t psychic, but he does love his momma.
” Cassie picked up the cat and placed him in her lap as she sat down on the couch.
He purred like a car engine as she stroked his head.
“So, if you’re all here to see me, how about we take a seat?
I’d usually offer some tea, but you all seem very eager right now. ”
“We’re just looking for answers,” Malek said.
“Aren’t they all? What makes your quest so different from all the others?”
“Well…” Malek did his best to summarize the situation with the missing trinkets, his family legacy, and his time in the Summerland.
William took the spot farthest from the cat, by an open window and a cactus plant, while Natasha sat as close as she could.
Caspar sat next to Malek, but kept his eyes on the small black orb around the cat’s neck.
“We need to find these missing trinkets in order for me to have my full power again. Right now, we only have the blue guitar and the ring.” Malek gestured to the ring on Caspar’s hand. They’d left the guitar in the apartment under the same protection spell Twigs had given them.
Cassie slid her glasses down her nose to examine the ring on Caspar’s hand, curling her finger to tell him to come closer. When he did, she made the motion again.
“I can’t get any closer without getting in your lap,” Caspar said. “Is that what you want…?”
“I want your ring, son. But a lap dance wouldn’t be bad.”
“Um.” After a quick glance to Malek, Caspar took off the ring and handed it to her. She held it in front of her green eyes and slid it on her finger. Malek shuddered like his name had been called, but since he was bound to Caspar, Cassie’s touch was just that—a touch, and not a promise.
“Oh. I know this,” Cassie said. “Give me a moment, dearies, and I’ll see what I can do.”
Cassie drew her hands under her chin as if she was praying. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply, and stayed like that a long time. Caspar had never been so grateful to have Natasha around, especially as Cassie began speaking in verse and Natasha took down everything she said.
In the beginning, time was a circle—
light and dark bled into one another, making silver and gold.
This metal refuses to be melted down. Spread from garbage
to the islands, to false prophets, and now a new myth—
time has been saved. It is okay to move forward.
Plucked from a Picasso painting, the enchantment filled the air
and was owned by a collector—then lost in a bet
and sent across the country, locked away in a fairy-tale palace
without a key to set it free. So Picasso must paint. And paint again.
You found your voice in the next object, given to you for a kiss,
but you held back all your secrets until you knew the right words to say.
The songs on the radio never end here. But the lighting’s new
And so should you trade something for bone.
Magic is all around now, like time
and roses. But can you ever see beyond your royalty?
Le chateau magique. Temps a Oublié. Peut-être, peut-être…
None of this makes sense without your family.
Cassie nodded as she completed her chant. She tossed the ring back to Caspar. “There you are, deary. Enjoy.”
“That’s it?” Malek asked. “A random song?”
“A riddle,” Cassie corrected. “And yes, that’s it. All the answers you need are there. Tell Jocasta she still owes me a car for the one she smashed back in Nipissing, but otherwise, I serve her.”
“Will do.” Malek rose from his seat, his face forlorn.
“Uh, thank you for your time, Cassie,” Caspar said, rising like Malek. “If we have any questions about the riddle, will we—”
“You’ll be able to solve it yourself. You have always been an industrious boy, Caspar.”