Chapter 6
Quoth
Idrop my dried cranberry, and watch from my perch above the front door as the mystery girl wanders further into the shop. Mina remains glued to her hiding spot on the upper landing, her eyes wide with terror.
Mina’s panicked thoughts swirl around in my head. She’s here. Why is she here? Ashley doesn’t read. The only times she ever set foot in Nevermore Bookshop were when she was meeting me after school.
So this girl – Ashley – is an old friend of Mina’s. But no one should ever look so afraid and angry at their friend. What did this girl do to hurt Mina?
I want to peck Ashley’s eyes out. But that won’t make the best impression on Mina.
I settle for flying up and perching on the balustrade, thinking I’d stay nearby to help her in any way I could.
Mina seems to reach a resolution about how to deal with Ashley’s presence.
She kneels on the carpet and creeps backwards until she’s hidden from view in a shadowy corner.
She peers down through the slats in the balustrade as Ashley wanders through the downstairs rooms, humming ‘Red Right Hand’ by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds under her breath.
Mina’s freaked out, I whisper to Heathcliff inside my head, hoping that Mina is too distracted to hear us talking. She knows that girl.
I’m on it, he thinks back.
Heathcliff stomps into the hallway, where Ashley is fingering my row of mounted trophies, her features twisting with delight.
She’s wearing the kind of trendy, edgy clothing that Mina loves – a short, pleated skirt and black chiffon blouse with bishop sleeves, paired with black lace-up boots with stiletto heels that could put a man’s eye out… and probably have.
“If there’s an ereader in that fancy purse of yours, you can turn around right now,” Heathcliff growls from behind her, making the girl jump.
Mina stifles a laugh with the back of her hand.
“Relax, man. I’m just here to look at some books.” Ashley shoves past him, her stiletto heels clacking over the wooden floor as she moves toward the staircase. She’s not intimidated by Heathcliff, which makes me even more wary of her.
I lean down to watch her, my wings unfurling a little in case I need to swoop down and attack her. An eyeball pecking is still on the table.
Ashley’s heels clack-clack-clack up the stairs.
Mina scrambles across the rug, past the Sociology section, and into the next room, where she dives behind the velvet chaise lounge.
She covers her mouth, trying to keep out the dust back there so she doesn’t sneeze.
No surprises – Heathcliff isn’t really one for dusting.
Ashley steps onto the landing, her fingers brushing along the Sociology shelves. As she leans in to examine the books, not a single strand of golden blonde hair falls out of place. Her blood-red lips purse as she reads titles under her breath.
Interesting. The Sociology section isn’t exactly the busiest shelf in the store. I know this because I often store my treats behind the books, and only on one occasion has a customer fainted after removing a book to discover a small pile of mouse guts and gold trinkets.
My eye catches a black streak flying up the stairs. Of course, that blasted cat senses mischief and has to get involved. Grimalkin’s toes click over the floor as she pads over to Ashley, tail high in the air, hunting for pats.
“Oh, what a cute kitty.” Ashley kneels to stroke the traitorous feline. Grimalkin circles her legs, the tip of her tail curling over like a periscope, purring hard as she probes the possibility of treats.
Suddenly, Grimalkin’s eyes light up with feline mischief. She darts out from between the girl’s legs and barrels into the next room, heading straight for Mina’s hiding place.
No, bad kitty!
I unfurl my wings and leap off my perch, soaring up the staircase and landing silently on top of the Sociology shelves just as Ashley walks toward the chaise lounge. “Kitty?”
Mina shrinks back into the narrow space, her face panicked. Good kitty, just pretend I’m not here, her thoughts scream. Go back to smooching Ashley or cleaning your own arsehole. There’s a good girl—
I debate if I have time to fly down there and shoo Grimalkin away, but Ashley’s too close – it will only draw more attention to Mina’s hiding place. I can only watch, heart in my throat, as Ashley bends down to pat Grimalkin and the furry Judas bounces right on top of Mina’s head.
“Mew, mew, mew!” Grimalkin chatters happily as she bats Mina’s bangs with her paw.
Mina freezes.
Don’t look at me. I’m not here, her thoughts scream.
My heart burns for her.
But it’s too late. Ashley stares down at Mina crouched behind the chaise, covered in dust, a spiderweb clinging to her hair. Grimalkin trots between them and jabs Mina with her paw, demanding pats.
“Omigod, Mina, honey! What are you doing behind that sofa?”
“Um, hi, Ashley.” Mina scrambles to her feet, her cheeks reddening as she brushes dust off her clothes. “I was just… reshelving some books. I work here now.”
“In this fusty old place? But why?”
The question does something to Mina. It’s subtle, but with my keen eyesight, I pick up the stiffening in Mina’s joints. Or perhaps I have such an understanding of wounds of the heart that I can sense them in others.
Why? After you blabbed my deepest, darkest secret so you could steal my dream job out from under me, I couldn’t get another job in the fashion industry, which means I couldn’t afford my shitty Manhattan apartment, so I had to come back here with my tail between my legs, and I’m now sleeping in my childhood bedroom surrounded by towers of wobbleators.
Her thoughts fall into my skull, unbidden.
Oh, Mina, I’m so, so sorry. I try to think quietly so she can’t hear me. That’s not fair. Just say the word, and I’ll peck her eyes out.
Also, I’ll have to ask Morrie what a wobbleater is. I often misunderstand human things because I live most of the time as a raven.
Mina doesn’t say any of her thoughts out loud.
She wrestles with her composure as her heart-wounds pass across her pretty features.
She arranges her face into something that might’ve meant to appear neutral, but comes across as a grimace.
“I needed a job. I have a lot of spare time these days, so I thought I’d come visit my mum. You?”
“Marcus got a paper cut last week, so he’s convalescing in Martha’s Vineyard.
He’s decided he hates the entire January collection or something, so the office is a dead zone while we wait on his designs, and New York is so expensive.
” Ashley rolls her eyes. She’s completely oblivious to the way Mina feels around her.
So Mina knew Ashley as a kid, but she was also in New York with her.
“You know what he’s like. He’ll be gone for a week or more, and then we’ll have to work twice as hard to catch up in time for Paris.
I thought I’d take the opportunity to visit my family and sublet my apartment to save some money.
That’s why I’m here, I wanted something to read because I forgot how dull it is in Argleton. ”
I recognise the look burning in Mina’s eyes – it’s the same murderous rage Heathcliff wears when he contemplates beheading customers who ask for books to be colour-matched to their home decor.
Mina wipes a smudge of dust from her elbow and glares at Ashley. “It must be weird for you, having that apartment all to yourself.”
“Mina… can’t we talk about it? Oh, no. Bad kitty.” Ashley’s eyes shift down to Grimalkin, who tugs on the side of her purse. She unhooks the cat’s claws and shoves her away.
“Sure, we can talk about it. I’m so glad you’re back to rub it in my face that you blabbed to Marcus and anyone who would listen about my eyes and cost me not just my dream job but any other job in fashion.”
What?
That’s what she meant by blabbing her darkest secret?
That’s horrible.
Oh, Mina.
That explains so much. It explains why someone as brilliant as Mina came to Heathcliff begging for a job. It explains why she hid from Ashley, and why she’s been hiding her deteriorating eyesight from us.
“I was drunk. You know what I’m like. You can’t shut me up!
I know you think I did it on purpose, but it’s really not true.
” Ashley glances at the stack of books on the ground, up to the dim pendant light that serves as the room’s only illumination, then back to Mina.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea, you working here? ”
She delivers the words innocently enough, but the barb sticks in Mina’s skin. She stares down at Ashley’s boots. “It’s just temporary,” she mumbles. “Until I can save enough funds to go after another internship down in London. Unless you plan to slander my name around there, too—”
“But, Mina,” Ashley leans forward and stage-whispers. “Isn’t it too dark in here for you? And being surrounded by all these books, wouldn’t it just drive you mad?”
Mina locks her jaw. “I’m fine, actually.”
“I only ask because I care. I really do.” Ashley flips her hair over her shoulder. “I only said what I did to Marcus because I was concerned—I said, get down, kitty!”
“Meeerrww!”
Grimalkin, annoyed at the lack of attention being paid to her, launches herself off the chaise. Her claws sink into the leather of Ashley’s purse, and she clings there. Mina grabs the black cat around the belly and whisks her away before Ashley hurts her.
“Look what she’s done!” Ashley glares in horror at the puncture marks in her bag. “This was a gift from one of my sponsors, and I haven’t even photographed it yet. They’re going to be so pissed.”
Grimalkin reaches up and licks Mina’s nose, her whiskers twitching. Mina hugs her to her body. The cat looks up and flashes me a look that almost has me believing she did it on purpose.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do here.” Mina shoves a book on the shelf at random. “I can recommend some picture books that are just your level.”
“Mina—”
Grimalkin climbs on top of Mina’s shoulder and hisses at Ashley.
I admire her ability to read the situation.
That cat isn’t a shifter like me. She doesn’t know what was going on.
She’s simply responding to Mina’s distress.
But Mina has only been in our lives for a day, and Grimalkin is already attuned to her.
Mina Wilde fits in Nevermore Bookshop.
“Bye, Ashley,” Mina mutters without looking up.
“You just ran off after the job announcement. We didn’t even get a chance to talk—”
“I have nothing to say to you.” Mina looks up then, and her green eyes meet mine. I catch the shimmer of tears pooling beneath them. She points at me. “If you need someone to talk to, try him. He loves it when you quote ‘The Raven.’”
“Oh, he’s cute. And if you mean that silly poem you used to recite all the time, I think it’s burned into my memory.
” Ashley rolls her eyes and holds up her hand, clicking her fingers as if that might entice me to approach.
A little Heathcliff rage bubbles up inside me.
“‘Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, over many—’”
Mina winks at me.
I’ve got you, Mina.
I spring into the air and let forth another lethal package, exactly on target.
SPLAT.
“Argggh!”
Ashley flings up her hands to shoo me away as I fly straight at her. She rushes for the stairs.
I settle onto the curtain rail as the shop door slams behind her. Mina grins up at me. “Thank you, bird.”
Anything for you. I wink back at her.