by Sonia Parin
Luna pressed her little nose against the window. “It won’t be the same.”
Lexie tried to steel herself against the little voice full of yearning.
“Look, they have Game Indulgence. It has quail, pheasant and duck. This is the one my sister eats.”
“Yeah, well... she’s a feline companion to a fully-fledged High Chair and lives in Mackenzie Hall and you live in a cramped apartment with a witch in training on a tight budget.”
“Must you remind me how far I’ve come down in the world?”
“From what I remember, your ex owner... companion was a drunk,” Lexie muttered and looked around to see if she could hail a cab. Huffing out a breath, she turned. “All right. One can for lunch.”
Luna sprinted inside the store. Lexie followed and strode around gazing at aisle after aisle of pet paraphernalia. She didn’t dare look at the price tags. In fact, there weren’t any price tags displayed.
When she reached the back of the store, she found Luna sitting at the counter, a couple of large bags beside her.
What are you doing... and what’s all this?
They have efficient staff here. I pointed and they bagged it.
I said one can.
I couldn’t decide.
How am I supposed to carry all that?
Luna gave her a wide-eyed look meant to melt hearts.
“Oh, she’s so cute.” The sales clerk gave her a scratch behind the ear and then she rang up the total.
Moments later, Lexie stood outside on the pavement, holding two large carry bags. “I just spent our entire weekly grocery money on you.”
“You took me to see a shrink.”
“And you’re going to milk that for all it’s worth?”
“I’m earning my keep.”
“How so?”
“I noticed something you didn’t.”
“What?”
“We’re being followed.”
Chapter Two
Someone had been following them?
Lexie edged toward the sitting room window and peered down at the street. “What’s taking Jonathan so long? I called him half an hour ago. And what’s the use of having a guardian if I don’t even know how he can help us?”
“He bears witness.”
Surprised to hear Luna answering her, she asked, “Did you say something?”
“I said—” Luna had a leisurely stretch. “He bears witness.”
“To what?”
“To you.”
“Is this your way of showing off, Miss summa cum laude, know it all graduate of the Lauriston Academy?”
Luna rolled her eyes. “You are a witch. Anyone in their right mind will deny the existence of witches, but you exist. Therefore, Jonathan bears witness to a fact. In days of yore—”
“In days of yore? In days of yore? Where do you get this stuff from?” Lexie pranced around her apartment. “La-de-la. Oh, in days of yore, when knights roamed the countryside and engaged in daring and romantic quests...”
“If you’re quite finished.”
Lexie stifled her laughter and nodded. “By all means, carry on.”
“As I was saying, Jonathan’s kinsmen would recount tales as a way of documenting heroic acts. Stories were passed on from kinsman to kinsman, generation to generation. He is a chronicler. Anything and everything you need to know about Mackenzie Coven and your deeds is at his fingertips.”
“My deeds?”
“Or misdeeds.”
“But he’s never around.”
“That’s what you think.”
“Are you saying he spies on me?” Had he been the one following them? No, surely not. That wouldn’t be his style.
She’d met Jonathan soon after she’d settled into her East Village apartment—her tongue-in-cheek answer to the coven’s ridiculous requirement that all its members live within nature in small towns or villages. Now that she thought about it, the coven must have pre-empted her insubordination because, while she’d never asked, Lexie suspected crossing paths with Jonathan had been prearranged by the powers that be.
Like her, Jonathan had been trying to distance himself from his duties. Like her, Jonathan had failed. And... like her, he hadn’t quite given up trying to find a way out.
Or... had he been pretending all along?
“I wouldn’t call it spying,” Luna said, “He absorbs information by osmosis.”
“I see... Osmosis... Back in a sec.” Lexie held up a finger and strode toward her bedroom. Moments later, she returned. “So... he unconsciously assimilates information—”
“You went into your room to look up osmosis in a dictionary.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you didn’t know what it meant. And don’t try to deny it. I know you keep a dictionary hidden in the back of your closet. You should bring it out into the open. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Feeling a flush of heat rising to her cheeks, she swung away. “What happened to giving me the silent treatment?”
“The compulsion to speak is far greater than my need to punish you with my silence.”
Lexie swung back around again. “You were punishing me? What did I ever do to you?”
Luna looked away. “Can we put it behind us?”
“You don’t remember.” And she wasn’t about to remind Luna about her numerous grievances.
Lexie strode back to the window. Everything out there looked normal. People going about their daily business. Some without a care in the world while others appeared to carry a lifetime’s worth of worrying on their shoulders. Seeing a For Sale sign in an apartment across the street, Lexie wondered if she should go in and have a look at the place. The whimsical thought faded... She’d been living in her apartment for a few years and, unlike her neighbors who came and went, she had no reason to look for something else. She only had to walk a couple of blocks to get to her job at O’Connor’s Bar... not that she’d been showing up lately... “Did you know a new store had opened across the street?”
“Betsy’s Party Delights,” Luna nodded, “She designs after five dresses.”
“No wonder I didn’t notice.” She wore jeans and tops. Anything else... well, she didn’t have any real need for anything else. When she did, someone else seemed to supply it.
“I should try Octavia again.” Her personal assistant would know what to do about this ridiculous business. “There must be a way out of seeing the shrink and participating in this absurd team-building workshop. If worse comes to worst, I’ll have to contact Mirabelle, maybe even Catherine, but I still haven’t forgiven her for the tongue twister fiasco... and Mirabelle might actually have had a hand in all this.”
Octavia.
Luna inspected her paw and gave it a quick lick. “She can’t hear you.”
“Huh?”
“No one can hear you.” Leaping up onto the table, Luna put her paw on the scroll that had found its way into the apartment that morning. “Read the fine print.”
“An appointment has been scheduled... blah, blah... Or face the consequences... and wrath and even more blah, blah. Oh, here we go. You will refrain from engaging the assistance of colleagues or minions... Minions? Who do they think they are? If I want to engage with my minions—”
“Do you even know what minions are?”
“Of course I do. And I’m sure Jonathan and Octavia would object to being referred to as such.”
“Just so we’re clear, I’m not your minion.” Luna raised her chin. “I am your feline companion.”
“So you keep saying.” Lexie had another quick read through the scroll. Earlier that morning, when she’d tried to ignore the edict, it had become assertive, following her around the apartment... almost as if herding her toward the door. What would the scroll do to stop her from getting help? Surely it didn’t have the power to bind her. “Just who do they think they are?”
Luna averted her gaze as she murmured, “The disciplinary board. They’re the ones who have th
e power to bind a witch. I’d hate to say it, but reading between the lines, it looks like resistance is futile. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re responsible for having us followed as a way to ensure we attended our appointment.”
Lexie paced around the sitting room. “People who include fine print tend to have tricks up their sleeves. But there have to be options. Some way around this.”
“We could go along and treat it as a game. And if we do,” Luna continued in a forced perky voice, “We need to decide how we’re going to play it.”
“You want to establish ground rules? If we go to this thing, we’ll be expected to work as a team. That’s the bottom line. That’s the game.”
Luna grumbled. “More work and no pay.”
“Well, with that attitude, I suppose we could play the rebel card. You know... be uncooperative and disruptive...” That would come easy to Lexie but Luna tended to follow rules.
“On the upside, they are bound to feed us.”
Lexie snorted. “I’d rather not entertain false expectations. Remember what happened at the Lauriston Academy.”
A flash of light had her stumbling back.
“The gateway has opened,” Luna announced in an awed tone.
“The what?”
“Read the fine print below the fine print. A gateway will be provided for your convenience. You are to be ready at precisely midday.”
“Someone’s pushing their luck. First they issue an edict ordering us to see a shrink, then they have us followed and now—”
A gust of wind swept around her sitting room.
“Hey. Stop that. You’re messing up my apartment.”
Luna scrambled up to her arms. They were both lifted off the floor and drawn toward the bright opening in the middle of the sitting room. Before Lexie could complain about not having enough time to even grab her leather jacket, a dazzling display of bright lights danced around them.
“Hey, what are they doing?” Lexie swatted one that got too close for comfort.
“Taking your measure, I think...” Luna said as they were swept away by a nebulous haze.
Overwhelmed by the sensation of being cast adrift, she held Luna tightly against her.
“You’re suffocating me.”
Lexie loosened her hold.
“Don’t let go of me.”
“Make up your mind.”
“Why are you yelling?”
“Because you’re yelling.”
The dancing lights around them faded and they were swallowed by a fathomless darkness that carried them forward.
“Are we about to hit warp speed? Shouldn’t someone make an announcement?” Lexie asked.
“And say what? Tighten you seat belts?”
“I’ll never complain about landing in the closet again. At least I’m in charge of getting myself there,” Lexie yelled just as the darkness dissipated. Adjusting her eyes to the sunlight, Lexie looked around. They stood in front of two massive stone pillars, a set of wrought iron gates opening in silent invitation. “That wasn’t so bad but I’ll never get used to this hocus-pocus.”
“Your mom is the High Chair of the American Continent and all Circumferential Domains Pertaining to the Mackenzie Coven. You grew up with this.”
“I actually lived by the ignorance is bliss motto.” Lexie wobbled slightly. “Out of curiosity, what do you think will happen if I click my heels and try to get us back home?”
They both looked down at the ground and watched it shifting.
“I don’t think we have a choice in the matter.”
“We’re... what would you call this?” Lexie asked matter-of-factly, “Levitating?”
“I think wafting would be more precise. Levitating means to rise or cause to rise and hover in the air. And we are definitely moving forward.”
“We? I’m not doing anything. This is being done to us. And please and thank you would have been nice. What if I wanted to linger by the gates and admire the... the view of the mansion and the trees?” As they wafted past the gates, Lexie heard them ease shut with a firm clung. “I swear if Mirabelle had anything to do with this, she is in big trouble. I’ve had enough of being thrust into impossible situations. She needs to give me a heads up. And... And training.”
“What sort of training do you think would have been appropriate for this situation?”
“Practice in an anti gravity chamber.”
They continued to drift forward and were then set down on the grass. She looked around and not seeing anyone, she focused on her closet and tried to get them back home. Nothing happened. “I guess we’re here for the long haul. Which should give me enough time to discover who’s behind all this and when I do...”
“Welcome to Gainsborough Mansion.”
Lexie swung around. “Who said that?”
“If you please, follow the path to the house. You will then be guided to your suite.”
Lexie swung around again, but didn’t see anyone.
“I suggest we do as they say,” Luna murmured, “You don’t want to get on the wrong side of a voice.”
Lexie set Luna down and cast her gaze around the expansive lush green lawns surrounding the mansion. There were several cars parked at the side of the building but she didn’t see a single soul around. Surely a place this big would have staff scurrying about in attendance.
“What if this is a test?” Lexie raked her fingers through her hair. “The shrink said crossing those pillars would forever change our lives. This is a team building exercise. Do we engage our brains now? Do we do as the voice says or do we question it? Is there a hazard up ahead I can’t see? Are we about to walk into a trap?” Her voice hitched. “And, changing subjects at a rate of knots, the shrink also said you hadn’t been talking for days. Who, aside from you and me, knew that?”
“You’re flapping your arms and you only do that when you’re flustered. If there’s a voice, there must be eyes somewhere. And if we’re being watched, what sort of impression do you think you’re making? Remember, deep breath. Embrace the indifference.” Luna hummed. “Hang on...”
“What?”
“You’re right. The shrink did say I hadn’t talked in days, so... Who’s been around the apartment to notice?”
“No one that I can think of.” During the last few days, they’d both sunk into a mulish dark mood, slumping around the place, grumbling but not talking to each other. On the occasions when their gazes had met, they’d both swung around and had headed in opposite directions.
What had that been all about?
“You’re going to blame me.” Luna sniffed the air. “I can sense it all building up. Your finger of blame is twitching.”
“It is not.” Lexie curled her finger into the palm of her hand. “However...”
“I knew it.”
“Ever since we returned from the Lauriston Academy you’ve been in a grumpy mood.”
“Me? What about you? Yesterday you didn’t get out of bed until midday.”
“And I had to shove you out of the way. You were right there with me, missy. The last few days have been like a bad episode of the Odd Couple, and I’m talking about the original show, not the new one.”
“I suppose you think I’m Felix.”
“Just because you preen incessantly doesn’t mean you’re neat and tidy. We’ve both been Oscar Madison...” And just as well no one had come around because they’d both been so cranky, they would have bitten anyone’s heads off first and asked questions later. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you, you’ve got a bit of tape stuck to your tail...”
Luna lunged for her tail. “Where? Where?”
Lexie bent down and removed it.
“How long’s it been there for?”
Lexie shrugged. “A couple of days.”
“All this time I’ve had that stuck to my tail and you didn’t say anything? I’m going to get you back for this.”
“Oh, yeah? What are you going to do?”
“I’ll... I’l
l draw squiggly eyebrows on you while you sleep.”
“I’d love to see you try. You don’t have thumbs so you can’t hold a pencil.”
“I’m a feline companion to a witch. You think I don’t have powers?”
Frowning, they both clammed up and growled at each other.
Deep breath. Embrace the indifference.
After a few moments, they both visibly relaxed.
“Sorry about the tape,” Lexie apologized, “I’m surprised you didn’t feel it.”
“I... I might have felt something, but then I got distracted and forgot about it.”
“Admit it. You couldn’t be bothered taking it off.” Soon after returning from their recent stint as wannabe sleuths, they’d both sunk into a state of sluggish idleness. Were they experiencing a lack of direction or had all the excitement of going up against the rogue witches been too much for them? Lexie hoped they hadn’t become adrenalin junkies.
“It would certainly explain a lot,” Luna remarked.
“Are you reading my thoughts?” Lexie sighed. “Yeah, I know. You can’t help it. We’re connected. But you could at least pretend.”
“Maybe someone’s cast a spell on us,” Luna continued.
Lexie wished she could blame someone else for the friction that had been sparking between her and Luna, as well as the general apathy they’d both been displaying, but she knew she couldn’t.
For some time now, they had been headed toward some sort of eruption. Luna had been complaining endlessly about job descriptions and duty of care and her sister, Venus, getting far better treatment all because Mirabelle gave her feline companion gourmet cat food... and Lexie had matched her with her own grievances about Mirabelle constantly dragging them into perilous situations and her favorite pizza joint blackballing her for no apparent reason...
Mostly, it had been Luna complaining... bemoaning the circumstances of her new life.
Luna glanced up at her. “You make me sound like a sourpuss.”
“Quit reading my thoughts. You don’t see me prodding around your head.”
