Perilous Paws (Kitten Witch Cozy Mystery Book 8)

by Corrine Winters

  Ember felt a surge of hopeful energy sear through her body. Cedric was right. Just because things were bad didn’t mean they couldn’t get better. Especially with some help.

  “You’re right. I just hope whatever hope we can render doesn’t traumatize her further.”

  The drive back into Caucherie seemed ponderous and miserable. A sense of trepidation and doom gnawed at Ember’s gut. She looked out the window, watching the brilliant green landscape flash past, golden sunlight lending an Eden-esque quality. Yet her mood failed to improve, as it often did when she took the time to appreciate nature.

  They pulled into the station lot at last. Ember noticed an unfamiliar car, a candy apple red two door sedan, parked in the visitor’s designated spot.

  Cedric held the door for her as Ember entered the air conditioned cool of the station’s interior. A tall, familiar seeming woman glanced up from a People magazine, hope writ large on her mocha skinned face.

  “Ember? Ember McNair?” The woman stood up, red-dyed curls bouncing as she strode forward with her hand outstretched.

  “Simone Labeux,” Ember said, a small smile stretching her lips. “Long time no see!”

  “Well, I only recently finished grad school and moved back to town.”

  Cedric walked up, cocking an eyebrow. “You two know each other?”

  Ember nodded. “Simone Labeux, this is my husband, also the Sheriff, Cedric Jamison. Cedric, this is my old friend Simone Labeux. We used to be in a coven together.”

  “Light magic only,” Simone said firmly as she shook Cedric’s hand. She cocked an eyebrow. “So, a shifter, huh?”

  “Wolf shifter, to be exact,” Cedric said. “I guess you can read auras as well as Ember can.”

  “Probably not. She always had more of the talent than I did.” Simone’s face fell into a somber mask. “I’m sorry to rush through pleasantries, but we have urgent matters to discuss with regards to April Ditkowitz.”

  “I understand. My office is this way.” Cedric gestured for Simone to accompany them. They settled in Cedric’s spacious office, dominated by his hand carved wooden desk. Ember and Simone sank into the comfortable chairs facing opposite, though Simone quickly stood up once again to hand Cedric a packet.

  “Last evening, April was doing homework with her foster parent, Crystal Methany.”

  Ember winced. “Crystal Methany? Who decided she was fit to be around children?”

  Simone cocked an eyebrow. “She’s been clean for a while now, Ember. And we can’t afford to be choosy when placing a child, especially a troubled one like April.”

  Ember closed her mouth, mind swirling with anger.

  “Uh, you were saying they were doing homework, Simone?” Cedric interjected.

  “Yes. Around seven PM, Crystal reported that April started speaking in a strange voice. She then demanded to be allowed to leave and return to her mother’s house to collect a stuffed giraffe she calls Mr. Snuggles. When Crystal refused, April jabbed a pencil into her hand.”

  Ember flinched away from the photos of Crystal’s puncture wound. Cedric picked it up, his face crossed with a troubled frown.

  “Do you think she mimicked the crucifixion on purpose, Simone?”

  “Maybe. If she were possessed by a demon or entity that conforms to Judeo-Christian archetypes. More likely, it was just a convenient target.”

  “Have you sensed the presence of a possessing entity, Simone?” Ember asked.

  Simone pursed her lips. “I’m not clear on that. As you said before, April has been through a lot. The Wraith used a dark magic ritual on her that left a taint. Took its toll. The girl’s spirit might be primed to accept visitations now.”

  “What does that mean?” Cedric asked.

  “It means,” Ember said grimly, leaning forward in her seat. “That April is now a Medium.”

  “What’s a medium, exactly, in this context?”

  Simone chuckled without much mirth. “You should know, Sheriff. You married one.”

  Ember shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “A Medium can see and talk to spirits. That’s the most basic level of it, and as far as I’m willing to go. However, some Mediums invite spirits to possess them.”

  “That sounds dangerous,” Cedric said.

  “Not always. Mongolian priestesses allow themselves to be possessed by nature spirits which offer guidance and wisdom. Many of the stories of the saints can be chalked up to possession by a benign but foreign spiritual power.”

  “In most cases,” Simone said, steepling her fingers before her “Ember or I could exorcise the possessing entity. In April’s case, that would be a temporary measure at best. She needs to be coerced into shutting the door in her mind that the being or beings uses to take control.”

  “How is that even going to work?”

  Simone sighed. “Not easily. And not overnight. It would require April being in a stable environment around foster parents with a strong understanding of magic and practice in the usage thereof. A marathon, not a sprint, with the right people…”

  Simone looked pointedly at Ember. Ember set her jaw hard and nodded firmly.

  “I understand,” Ember said.

  “I don’t,” Cedric looked between them. “What’s going on?”

  “April is coming home with us,” Ember said.

  Twenty-Two

  Ember glanced over at April as the first grader scribbled on a sketch pad in the back seat of the cruiser. “How are you doing, kiddo?”

  “Good,” April said, seeming as ordinary as could be.

  “April,” Cedric said, a bit gruffly to Ember’s estimation “you know we have to talk about the way you hurt Mrs. Methany.”

  April stopped scribbling on her page. She returned to the task a moment later, filling the eye of a demonic looking figure red. “That wasn’t me. That was Munkilok.”

  “It was you, April. It was your hand that did the deed. Legally that makes you responsible.”

  “Munkilok doesn’t like Crystal.” April flashed her haunted eyes up at Ember. “He doesn’t like her at all.”

  The radio grew staticky, drowning out the sounds of Huey Lewis and the News. Cedric fumbled with the knob until the music returned. Ember felt a strong swell of the presence inside of April when she talked about Crystal.

  In order to coax it out, she decided to continue that line of questioning.

  “April, honey, why doesn’t Munkilok like Crystal?”

  April pursed her lips. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you like Crystal?”

  `April shrugged.

  “April, you’re not going to get in trouble for telling the truth. Okay?” Ember swallowed hard. “Do you like Crystal?”

  “She yells a lot and she’s mean,” April said. “She says she has a secret door in the basement where she locks up all the bad kids who didn’t listen.”

  “Why doesn’t Munkilok like Crystal?”

  “You should ask him that,” April said, her lips turning into a frown.

  “Why is that?”

  April made a come-hither gesture with her hooked finger. Ember leaned in and April whispered into her ear with Cheeto-tinged breath.

  “Because I’m not allowed to swear.”

  Ember cocked an eyebrow. “Does Munkilok swear?”

  “Uh uh. He likes to smoke, too. And he’s bulletproof and doesn’t have to follow anybody’s rules. And he says if people are scared of me or don’t like me, then that’s their problem, not mine.”

  Ember flinched. Cedric’s face creased in alarm. “Munkilok doesn’t sound like a very nice person.”

  “Munkilok protected me and stayed with me when everybody else left,” April said. “I want him to be with me for always.”

  The radio squealed, this time the static seeming to form electronic laughter.

  “April, be careful saying things like that. Sometimes you can make pacts with people like Munkilok without knowing that’s what you’re doing.”

  April frowned. “What
’s a Pact, Miss Ember?”

  “It’s like a deal, um, a contract you make. Sometimes they’re very, very hard to get out of.”

  April’s face contorted into a sneer, taking Ember aback with its scornful ferocity. “Eh, why don’t you stop condescending to the kid for five seconds, barmaid. You’re not Miss-Perfect-TV Mom, so knock it off.”

  Cedric gaped and nearly swerved off the road. Ember cocked an eyebrow and didn’t flinch. “Munkilok, I presume?”

  “No, just Munkilok. Not Munkilok-I-Presume. Look, you’re softballing everything for April when there’s no need.”

  “There’s darkness in the world she would be better off not knowing about until she’s older,” Ember said firmly.

  Munkilok laughed, bouncing up and down in April’s body with glee. “Darkness? April stared into the darkness itself, and the darkness stared into her.”

  “You’re talking about the Wraith’s ritual,” Ember said.

  “It did a lot more than just dye a streak of her hair white. April saw into what is, as far as your pitiful perspective is concerned, the bowels of Hell itself. You think you’re doing her a favor by being protective. You’re not. And that’s why she needs me. So there’s one being in the entire Universe who isn’t lying to her.”

  Ember chewed her lower lip. “You think you’re helping her, don’t you?”

  “Look, Chesty, I am helping her. Don’t like that, piss off.”

  Munkilok fled deeper into April. The girl blinked several times, then picked up her paper and crayon.

  “You’re going to have to exorcise that thing right away,” Cedric said.

  “It’s not that simple, Cedric. April has to want Munkilok to leave, and it sounds like they’ve grown rather attached.”

  “All the more reason for you to get rid of it.”

  “We’ll talk about this later,” Ember glanced worriedly at April.

  They pulled into the driveway of old Mickey’s place. Formerly a worker in the salt mines, he’d used his retirement fund to buy twenty acres of land outside of town. Then he’d filled it up with barns and sheds and even tents filled with what most other folks called junk.

  Once in a while the antique hunters would come around and he’d part with a few things, but for the most part the old man was happy with his hoard.

  “April, do you want to see some cool, old stuff?”

  “Yeah,” April said, her eyes lighting up with childish glee for the first time Ember could remember.

  April skipped on ahead, peering into the sheds and gaping at the treasures within. Cedric hovered near Ember, his lips a thin, tight line.

  “She’s awfully thin,” Cedric said.

  “Sometimes possessing entities discourage their hosts from eating, but I don’t think that’s what’s at play here. I hate to admit it but cutting her off from Munkilok right now might do more harm than good.”

  “I’m not sure I agree,” Cedric said, his gaze growing hard. The approach of old Mickey caused him to soften his expression. “We’ll talk about this later.”

  Mickey hobbled up on a cane, offering his hand for a shake to both of them. “Hey, Sheriff. Hanky Bob says you might be interested in taking that old Datsun off my hands?”

  “Hanky Bob told you right. Lead the way.”

  Old Mickey’s wizened face contorted into a scowl. “Hey, girl, don’t go touching that!”

  April glanced over, one hand resting on an old-fashioned pump handle faucet.

  “Take it easy, Mickey, she’s just a kid,” Cedric said.

  “Kids today don’t know the meaning of the word discipline,” Mickey moved over toward April, waving his cane in the air. “Back in my day, we knew better than to go around just touching everything. Now get away from there. Go on, git!”

  Munkilok sneered up at Mickey. “You get,” he said in his raspy voice.

  “Oh dear,” Ember said, belly tightening in knots.

  Twenty-Three

  Ember moved to intervene, a protective spell on her lips, knowing she’d never make it in time. Munkilok growled at Mickey, making a dismissive gesture with April’s arm. Mickey lifted into the air and flew back as if he’d been plucked by giant, invisible fingers.

  Ember finished her spell and stiffened the air molecules around Mickey’s body until they clustered into a density relative of foam rubber. Mickey bounced along the dirt path until Cedric caught him, helping the old timer to his feet.

  “Are you all right?” Cedric asked Mickey.

  “I think so,” he said. “What happened? Did I fall again?”

  Ember felt a stab of guilt, but took the opportunity presented to her. “Yes, you did.”

  “Well, serves me right for getting all worked up about a kid messing with my stuff,” he said, shaking his head. “I seem to be alright this time. Last time I dislocated my hip.”

  “You’re a lucky man, Mickey,” Cedric said.

  “Come on, April,” Ember said, taking April’s hand. “Let’s not touch Mickey’s things without permission.”

  “Let go of me, barmaid,” Munkilok hissed.

  “Get control of yourself, or I’ll banish you.”

  “You don’t want to do that. Besides, that man was scaring April.”

  “That doesn’t mean he deserves to get hurt.”

  “I was protecting her from him.”

  “You need to learn about scale. And stop digging her fingernails into my hand. That’s playground nonsense and you and I are too old for it.”

  Munkilok’s face twisted into a grin. “Ha! You’re right, witch. We shouldn’t have to fight. We should be able to coexist.”

  “Prove it by leaving right now, and don’t come back until we’re back at my house. Understand?”

  Munkilok grimaced. “Fine.”

  He fled from April’s features. Ember breathed a sigh of relief as Micky led them to the Datsun chassis.

  To Ember’s eyes, it didn’t look like much. Rusted and old, just the shell of a small pickup truck without engine, wheels, headlights, or much of anything, really.

  Yet, Cedric and Mickey talked excitedly about the frame as if it were buried treasure.

  “You’ve already got the wheel width you need to get plenty of torque for your money,” Mickey said. “Plus she’ll take a much bigger engine than factory standard.”

  “They built them to last in the 1980s, that’s for sure,” Cedric said. “How much do you want for it?”

  “Two thousand and she’s yours.”

  Cedric flinched. “Two thousand? That seems a little steep. I can find one in much better condition on the internet for a third of that or less.”

  “Yeah, but Hanky Bob said you needed it yesterday. Supply and demand, my boy.”

  April frowned. “That bad man is trying to cheat the Sheriff.”

  “It’s all right, they’re negotiating. It’s a thing people do when they buy or sell things.”

  “I think he’s mean.”

  Ember sighed, crouching down beside April. She remembered what Munkilok had said about not condescending to the child. “April, you’re going to run into a lot of mean people in your life. It’s sad but true. You have to learn to deal with them without letting their meanness get to you. It’s part of growing up.”

  “Why are so many people mean?” April asked, her waifish face a mask of despair.

  “Oh, honey,” Ember said, hugging the girl tightly. “I don’t know. I wish I did. But there’s nice people too. And sometimes, the nicest people seem mean at first. Everyone’s fighting something, April. You just have to fight a little harder than most.”

  Ember held her at arm’s length. April pursed her lips.

  “It’s hard to be nice, isn’t it?”

  “Sometimes. But when you’re nice, you get a little glow in your belly letting you know you’re doing the right thing.”

  “I’ve never seen a glow.”

  “It’s something you feel, but can’t see.” Ember straightened up. “Would you like to walk back
to the car?”

  “Yes, please,” April said.

  Ember turned around to face Cedric and Mickey. “I’m taking her back to the car.”

  “Okay,” Cedric said with a nod. He turned back to Mickey. “Three hundred, and that’s my final offer.”

  “You’re ripping me off, Sheriff.”

  “Hardly. I’m paying you a hundred more than the listed price in the Blue Book. You’re getting a good deal and you know it…”

  Ember took April back to the car. They got her fruit snacks out of the back seat and sat in the shade. April ate her snacks, feet kicking under her as she sat on an old wooden fence.

  “Ms. Lebeux said I was going to an orphanage,” April said.

  “Well, what would you think about coming home with me and Sheriff Cedric?” Ember asked hopefully. “Just for a little while. It’s totally up to you.”

  April scrunched up her face in query. “You’d let me come stay with you?”

  “Until we could find you a forever home, sweetie,” Ember said. “We’d love to have you.”

  April nodded. “Okay.”

  Ember smiled, but it drained away when Munkilok took control.

  “No way am I moving in with a cop and a witch,” he said. “Period, end of story.”

  “Here we go again,” Ember said, rolling her eyes.

  Twenty-Four

  Ember crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Munkilok. “Your threats don’t mean anything to me, Munkilok. You’re a minor entity at best, and you’ve already said you’re Focus is to protect, not harm your host.”

  “We don’t see eye to eye on what’s best for April,” Munkilok sneered. “And I’ll show you Minor entity.”

  Ember felt the shadow that was Munkilok’s essence bleed away from April. She watched as it raced up the slope to where Cedric and Mickey still haggled about the chassis.

  She swallowed hard as Munkilok embedded himself into the chassis. It leaped off the large tree it had leaned against, growing wheels composed of shadow stuff. A phantom engine rumbled as it raced down the hill toward Ember.