Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Tiny fairies zipped through the air, weaving through the air currents like glittering dragonflies.
I scanned the area, keeping an eye out for Beckett or Leo, but there was no sign of either vamp. Silas hadn’t come back or tried to contact me, and I hoped he was better at social cues than the vampires and got the hint.
Cat had sent me her phone number in a follow-up message, so I sent her a text to tell her I’d arrived.
Brown hair. Glasses. Table to the left after you pass the hostess stand.
I schooled my face into neutral disinterest and went inside. A quick smile as I passed by the hostess, and then there she was.
Cat stood up when she spotted me, a small smile on her face.
She was shorter and curvier than me, with a mass of light brown hair piled atop her head in a messy bun.
She wore a pair of wide-legged ankle jeans and a beige tank top with a duster-length blue cardigan.
Her glasses were leopard print and framed sparkling blue eyes.
Cat had a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and full lips.
As criminals went, she was stunning.
And extremely familiar.
I would know because I’d met her in a bar and the sneaky shit had gone home with Leo.
“Blaze?” What the hell?
“Hi, Alex.” Cat/Blaze looked far more relaxed today than she had the other night at the bar.
I stared at her, dumbstruck. Should I be pissed off? I felt more confused than anything.
Cat snorted. “Sorry. I had to check you out first before I arranged to meet. Just in case.”
I opened my mouth and snapped it shut just as fast. My eyes narrowed. “In case of what?” I said quietly. “I’m the one who has the most to lose.”
“Exactly,” Cat said. “People with the most to lose tend to be a lot more dangerous than the little guy.” She pointed to herself. “I coordinate your shipping. Undoubtedly important, but if anything gets lost, you lose money. If things go wrong, guess who you’re coming for first?”
Did this chick have PTSD from the mob or something? “So, you pulled that whole elaborate date scheme on me just to see if I was unstable?”
Cat rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, there was no scheme. He really was my date. I just happened to set the location to a place I knew you’d be.” She shrugged. “I’m all about efficiency.”
And apparently possessed zero shame about her stellar cyberstalking abilities. I made a mental note to scrub my devices after this meeting, just in case she’d installed something or spelled my phone. “What if you were the unstable one?” I asked.
Cat laughed. “Well, we’re all a little unstable these days, but that depends on the type of instability.” She held up a finger. “I’m a great friend.” Another finger went up. “I’m a whiz at tech. But I’m also too curious for my own good, and I’m on at least one government watch list.”
She grinned and pulled me in for a hug. When she spoke, her voice was low, meant only for my ears. “The least we can do is a hug. We’ve broken the law together multiple times, haven’t we? That’s worth far more than a handshake.”
She smelled like electronics with a touch of berries, an odd scent but not unpleasant. Her hair tickled my nose.
I blinked at her and pulled back. Cat was quite simply a whirlwind.
She laughed at my befuddled expression. “It’s nice to finally meet you properly.” She lowered her voice. “Now sit down and tell me why the hell you’re messing with angelic magic.”
I would get to that, but not before we plowed through a round of appetizers.
Once we’d been served, Cat idly munched on a fried pickle and asked, “What is someone like you doing running a dark apothecary out of your basement?”
I almost clammed up until I realized Cat was literally the only person I could speak to about this.
She knew everything I was doing and hadn’t ratted me out yet.
Even still, I had that itchy feeling at the back of my neck telling me to run away, go home, and bury myself in a pile of blankets until the world went away.
But this time, I batted that feeling away. What would it matter if Cat knew the reasons why? She knew almost everything else.
“I want to open up a brick-and-mortar apothecary,” I admitted. “All above board stuff.”
Cat’s eyebrows went up. “Here in town?”
I nodded. “Next to Three Little Beans.”
“Good spot,” Cat remarked. Her expression lit up. “Oh! There’s an empty building there. Is that the one you’re saving up to buy?”
“It is.” I couldn’t wait for that day to come.
“Oof. I’m surprised the city hasn’t condemned that place yet.” She grimaced. “Or a developer hasn’t snapped it up yet.”
I did my best not to fidget, but Cat was intelligent. “Oh my gods,” she said with a laugh. “Did you spell that building?”
I winced.
She clapped her hands with delight. “Holy shit! Good work. I’ve been past that place dozens of times and didn’t sense a thing!”
That spell was some of my best work. A combo of mild repelling spells, glamour spells, and one I had to hire out from a tech mage that changed the listing price every time someone logged on to look at the realtor site hosting the building.
I’d successfully held off a sale for a few months.
I was hoping I could hold it off for a few more.
I wasn’t dumb enough to think that I could get away with it forever, though. I was careful to erase my magical signature from everything, but there were still ways of tracking me down. Expensive ways, but a developer might not care about that if they were determined to sell.
“Thanks. I’m close to having enough.” With what Mom had left me, my wages from the coffee shop and the apothecary, even if the building sold, I’d still have enough to get something else. Maybe not outright, but I could lease.
Cat’s expression turned speculative, but at my questioning look, she waved me away. “Nothing. Just my mind running away from me.”
The server came back. We both ordered burgers and milkshakes, and as we waited, we passed the time chatting about anything and everything.
Cat was quick and funny, even more so now that she wasn’t pretending to be someone else, and I found myself relaxing around her. I wanted to tell her things, and that felt dangerous to me, even as I thought I might be able to trust her.
Neither one of us walked the straight and narrow, but I considered myself a good and decent person even with what I had brewing down in the basement.
There were too many people around for us to get into a down and dirty conversation about why I wanted the texts I’d asked her to help me find, but once the server brought over the check, Cat waved my money away and paid. “Come have a nightcap with me. We can get into the nitty gritty there. Cool?”
I blinked in surprise and checked my cell for the time, realizing just then we’d spent hours chatting over our meals.
I’d expected the night to be over the moment we left.
“Um.” This was more socializing than I’d done in years.
While I’d had a good time, she was still a stranger and going to a second location hadn’t been in the original plan.
Cat’s eyebrows lifted when I hesitated. “It’s cool if you want to end the night early, but it’s just a drink, Alex.
Nothing more. I have no nefarious intentions.
” The edges of her eyes crinkled with a smile.
“Besides, your apothecary brings in quite a lucrative side income. Why would I jeopardize one of my best customers?”
Her justification made sense and lined up with what I knew about her. Consistent to the bone.
I hitched my purse higher on my shoulder and nodded, burying my hesitation to take a chance. “Sure,” I said after a moment. “You have a place in mind?”
“Sure do. It’s a little out of the way, so we’ll have to drive. Want a ride?”
“My car is here. I can follow you.”
Cat rattled off the location and jogged over to her car, giving me a cheery wave before she got inside.
The place Cat recommended wasn’t much to look at from the outside. I pulled in beside her and stared for a moment, wondering if she was about to murder me and the nightcap was just an excuse to lure me to a dim area.
Cat got out and laughed when she saw my dubious expression. “Don’t look so freaked out. They make the best espresso martini in town.” She slung an arm over my shoulder when I walked around the car to join her. “There are far easier ways to kill someone than luring them to the middle of nowhere.”
“Um. Thanks for the reassurance. I think?”
Cat grinned and held open the door. “You’ll thank me for real once you taste these drinks.”
The bar was called Minnie’s, and the menu only had five drinks, two of them espresso-based. Cat chose a corner table at the very back, away from the bulk of the crowd and prying eyes. She chucked her bag into the booth and sat down.
“I hope you didn’t order that book yet because I brought you something.”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I wanted to look around at some of the offerings in the seller’s shop. He has some… eclectic things.”
Cat snickered. “Dude’s a real weirdo, but he knows what he’s doing.
The text I sent you is real, but I managed to procure this one a couple of days ago.
I’m not sure what you’re looking for exactly, but this is more of a beginner text.
” She slid a fabric-wrapped book over. “And,” she said as she pulled another smaller book out and placed it on top of the first, “this one is beginner Enochian.”
“Angel language?” I knew nothing more than the absolute minimum, just enough to get me through a small portion of the cord-cutting ritual where Enochian was required.
Cat nodded. “A lot of their spells are written in the language.” She grimaced. “It’s not easy to learn, and I’m not sure you can teach yourself with no starting point. But you never know.”
I stared at her, wondering when the other shoe would drop. “What do you want for these?”