"Stuff?" I asked as we descended the stairs.
"Herbs, crystals, candles. Stuff like that. There are some spell books and a few shelves of premade potions too,” Meri said. "I think there are a few cases of Diet Coke as well."
We got to the bottom of the steps, and I flipped on the light. The basement was not what I was expecting at all. The dirty, gray stone floor that I'd remembered seeing once when my dad had left the door open had been replaced by warm terracotta tiles. When I stepped into the main area, there was a bar with black leather stools. Behind the bar was a small refrigerator, a two-burner stovetop, pizza oven, and a microwave. On the other side of the large room was an area with a huge leather sectional sofa and a big screen television hanging on the wall.
"Did the Aunties put this stuff here?" I asked.
"Nope. Your parents didn't take it with them because they haven't finished the basement at the new house yet."
"You could throw quite the party down here."
"That was the idea. Your Mom thought about using it for entertaining,” Meri said. "Follow me."
He walked to the other side of the basement where there was a turn into another section. There were four doors. One was to my left, two to my right, and the one straight ahead in a brick wall.
"I take it that's the one that goes into the tunnels?" I said and pointed to the one in the brick wall. It had several heavy locks on it.
"Yep," Meri answered.
The door to my left was open, and I could see inside. It was a small guest bathroom.
"And these two?" I said and walked over to the doors on the right.
"This one is the witch pantry,” Meri said and walked past the first one. "This is the utility closet."
Inside the utility closet was a sump pump, a new-looking furnace, and an even newer-looking water heater. At first, I wasn't sure there even was a water heater in the utility room because they'd installed one of those tankless instant models. It was up off the floor on the wall, and Meri was right. It even said on the side of it in big letters that it was operated by a safety pilot light. There was a little window that allowed me to look inside and see that it was lit.
"Why did you do that?" I asked the house. "It wasn't very nice."
Just then the lights went out in the basement and I was left standing in nearly pitch-black darkness. The only light at all was the tiny glow from the pilot light window.
"Good job,” Meri said.
"Sorry,” I said. "Illuminae."
An orb of light appeared in front of me, and it stayed there as I exited the utility room.
"That was pretty good,” Meri said. "I could have done that too."
"But you didn't. You just groused."
"Whatever."
"I think I'm going to go to bed now,” I said. "Maybe the water heater will be working again in the morning."
"You could always use magic,” Meri said.
"I don't know. It seems safer to maybe call a plumber."
"That's not going to work if it's just the house being mean to you."
"Okay fine. If it's still not working in the morning, I'll try. My confidence in doing anything other than this orb isn't high, though."
The orb of light I'd conjured lit our way back upstairs. I was pleased to find the power still on in the kitchen, and with a wave of my hand, the light orb disintegrated into a wisp.
Bone-deep fatigue gripped me at that point, and all I wanted to do was fall into my new bed. Meri followed me upstairs, and I climbed into the king-size four-poster bed. The sheets were fresh and had the lightest scent of lavender.
I grabbed my phone from my purse and set an alarm for six the next morning. I didn't have any reason to get up early other than I wanted to be prepared for whatever the day brought me.
Just before I set the phone down, I got a text message from a number I didn't recognize.
Hey, Kinsley. This is Thorn. I just wanted to make sure you got home safe.
"That's interesting,” I said to Meri. He'd curled up next to me on the bed already.
"I doubt it, but what?" Meri asked.
"Thorn just texted me to make sure I got home safe,” I said and started to respond.
"Figures,” Meri said. "I hope that one is smarter than his father."
"What?"
"Never mind."
"Okay."
I did. Thank you for checking in. I typed. I wasn't sure what else to say. It felt like I should say something else, but it escaped me. Good night. That seemed okay.
Good night. Let me know if you need anything.
I was just about to respond again when Meri interrupted.
"Don't you dare text him back again. Leave him hanging," Meri suggested.
"That seems rude."
"You told him you made it home safe. Leave him wanting more."
"For what? Wanting more what?"
"Just put the phone down and go to sleep, Kinsley. Trust me here."
I really, really, really wanted to text Thorn back again, but I decided to listen to Meri. He was my familiar after all, and it was his job to protect me. He wouldn't lead me astray.
I hoped.
Chapter Five
The next morning, I was awakened by the sensation of Meri licking my eye. "Oh, gawd. Meri! What are you doing?"
I reached for my phone and it was an hour before my alarm was due to go off.
"I'm hungry,” Meri said.
"What? You woke me up because you want breakfast?" I asked. "It's five in the morning."
"I'm a cat. What do you want?” I said and jumped off the bed. "Oh, and the bathroom is flooded."
"What?"
I sat straight up in bed and looked over. Sure enough, there was a half inch of standing water in the bathroom and it was soaking into the carpet.
I scrambled out of bed and stomped through the water into the bathroom. The rain shower head was on full blast, and there was the towel I dropped covering the drain.
When I pulled the towel out of the way of the drain, the water started to go down, but very slowly. I reached up to turn the water off, and the knob just spun.
"No. No. No,” I said as the water continued to gush out of the shower head. It was coming out with such force that the pipe was actually vibrating. I was afraid it was going to burst.
I wracked my brain trying to remember if there had been a toolbox in the utility room in the basement, or if I'd seen one anywhere else. Then I remembered that I had no idea how to fix plumbing, and I might make everything worse.
"Use magic, genius,” Meri said.
He was sitting in the bedroom watching me from the doorway. Well, not exactly the doorway. He'd had to move a foot or so back to avoid the wet carpet. If I didn't do something fast, I was going to have a huge disaster on my hands.
"Enough,” I said.
The water from the shower head stopped, and I heard the drain gurgle to life.
I rubbed my hands over my face and calmly walked over to the sink. As the freezing cold water drained away from my feet, the drain opening was low enough since it was an open shower that the entire bathroom could clear, I brushed my teeth.
"Dry,” I said as I put my toothbrush in the holder, and the wetness dissipated from the carpet instantly. "Let's get some breakfast, and I'm calling a plumber later."
Meri wanted salmon, which I found in the fridge. I wanted eggs, which there were none of. I closed the refrigerator door and opened the freezer. Inside there, I found pancake and sausage on a stick things that I liked when I was a kid.
"Do you think these are poison?" I asked Meri as I pulled two out.
"I think the house probably thinks you've had enough for today,” Meri said.
Sure enough, when I opened the fridge again, there was a carton of free-range eggs from a local farm on the top shelf.
"Thank you,” I said to the house. "Thank you so much for these."
Since Meri acted like he was starving, I got his breakfast first. Once he was fed, I put on a
pot of coffee and got a skillet. They were in the same place my mother had kept them when this was still her house. One more trip to the fridge netted me some butter. I clicked on the stove, put the skillet on the burner, and cut a tablespoon of butter from the stick. After it plopped into the pan, I stood there and watched it melt.
As soon as I cracked my eggs into the pan, the doorbell rang. "What?" I asked no one in particular.
It was early, and I hoped it wasn't any of my family already. I was expecting to see them that day, but I needed more time to prepare.
The doorbell rang again.
"All right, okay,” I said. "I'm coming!" I called out.
I opened the door ready to lay into whoever was ringing my bell so early, and found Thorn standing on my front porch. He was dressed in jeans and a gray sweater that accentuated his large, muscular arms. "I know it's early. I'm sorry,” he said. "I'm about to start my shift, and I wanted to talk to you before I got busy."
"It's okay,” I said. "Come in. I've got coffee going, and I'm making eggs."
"Oh, I can grab coffee and a stale donut at the station,” Thorn said as he stepped inside. "I'm not here to impose."
"It's no imposition at all. Let me throw a couple more eggs in the pan,” I said. "If you're here, and we're going to talk about police business, then you might as well eat too."
"Are you sure?" Thorn asked.
"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't,” I said. "We could have talked on the porch."
Thorn followed me into the kitchen and grabbed a coffee mug from the cabinet. He'd spent some time in Hangman's House. That was apparent. "Sorry if I'm being rude,” he said suddenly realizing that I wasn't my mother.
"It's okay. Pour yourself a cup and have a seat. I'll have these eggs ready in just a few minutes."
"Oh, I used to love those when I was a kid,” Thorn said as he eyed the pancake and sausage on a stick I'd pulled from the freezer.
I was a little embarrassed that he'd seen me, a grown woman, getting ready to eat them, but he looked so happy that I decided to go with it.
"Well, then I guess what we're having with our eggs is settled,” I said. "Go sit down, I'll bring the food over in a second."
"You don't have to wait on me,” Thorn said.
"I'm not," I responded. "But, you're a guest in my house, so you sit and I serve. I know it's long since out of fashion for a woman to serve a man his breakfast, but I don't mind doing things the old way sometimes."
"I think there are some feminists who would have an issue with that,” he said, but there wasn't any mocking or distaste in his voice.
I laughed. "I know, but feminism means doing what I choose. I choose to serve my guest breakfast. Now, scoot out of my kitchen before I take a spatula to your rear,” I said playfully.
And then my face turned as red as a beet. Not only had I just shamelessly flirted with him, but I'd been more forward than I'd ever been with a man. I barely knew him. Sure, it sort of felt like we'd known each other forever, but in reality, I'd met him the night before when he thought I was breaking into the very house where we were about to have breakfast together.
"I..." I stammered and couldn't get any more words out.
"Ha ha. You're trouble,” he said and walked over to the table and sat down. "Is this far enough away?"
There was a row of upper and lower cabinets with an open counter in between the main part of the kitchen and the breakfast nook. The cabinets acted as sort of a half or three-quarter wall between the areas, but you could still see the people on either side. It was technically still in the kitchen but technically out too.
"I suppose,” I said.
"So, what brings you back to Coventry?" Thorn asked in between tentative sips of his coffee.
"Divorce,” I said flatly. "But I presume you're just being polite asking and my mother has already told you all about it."
"I wouldn't say all about it," Thorn responded. "You married a high school sweetheart or something. I know you didn't go to regular high school all four years."
"Yeah, I had to leave school and do an online school instead because... I had some issues at the school."
"You mean you gave some mean girls the what for,” Thorn said.
"You know about that?" I felt heat rising in my cheeks again.
"Yeah, and this is going to shock you, but I know it was magic and not some chemistry lab experiment gone wrong like the official story says,” he said and winked at me.
"Wait, you know..."
"Worst-kept secret in all of Coventry,” Thorn said.
"Did my mother tell you?"
"No, my dad did,” Thorn said and rubbed his chin. "He told me right before he passed. Sort of a deathbed confession. It ate at him his whole life what he left behind. At first, I thought it was just his mind going out because of all of the drugs and chemo stuff, but after he was gone, I felt drawn to this place. It was like an insatiable itch I couldn't scratch, so I applied to be a deputy. The rest, I guess, is history."
"Your father died of cancer? My mother didn't heal him?" I couldn't believe it.
"He didn't tell her,” Thorn said. "He couldn't bring himself to come back here begging for her help after the way he left her. I wish he had."'
"If she'd known,” I said.
"I know. She said the same thing,” Thorn said. "It's been a long time."
"I'm sorry."
"I'd like to say that we don't have to talk about such dark things, but I actually came here to talk to you about something just as dark," Thorn said.
"Why don't we eat first,” I said. I plated the food and took it over to the table. "One more thing."
I went to the pantry and got a bottle of maple syrup. There were small red ramekins right where I remembered them, so I poured Thorn and I each a serving of syrup for dipping our pancakes and sausage on a stick.
I sat down to eat, and Thorn tore into his. "This is so much better than the horrible coffee at the station and stale donuts,” he said. "Thank you."
"You don't look like you eat a lot of junk food,” I said and realized that probably sounded really flirtatious.
It was the truth, but I was being overly forward again. I couldn't help it, though. I just seemed unable to hold back around Thorn.
You just got divorced. I reminded myself. I'd sworn off relationships for good when my ex-husband and I split, but I found myself wondering if I'd been too hasty. I didn't know Thorn, but he was handsome. And I could tell he was kind. If there were men like him out there, then perhaps I shouldn't write love off. Jeez, Kinsley. You just met the guy yesterday.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Thorn asked when he finished the last of his food.
"I was just wondering who might have killed that Merrill Killian guy," I lied, but I was not going to tell him my real thoughts. I was thinking about how your biceps are so spectacular that they made me believe in love again.
"Well, I guess since we're done eating, we might as well dive into that," Thorn grimaced.
"Did you come here to tell me I'm not a suspect anymore, because that would be great."
"Unfortunately not, but I still don't think it was you. So I won't be investigating it that way, but you need to be wary. You're new in town, so people are going to think it was you."
"I'm not really new in town," I countered. "I did grow up here."
"Yeah, and you slipped out in the middle of the night when you were seventeen and broke your parents' hearts. That's going to be enough for some people to decide your guilt alone."
"That was kind of rude,” I said and felt myself bristle. "I guess it's fair, though."
"Hey, I understand. If my dad hadn't adopted me, I probably would have gone down a totally different path in life,” Thorn said.
"Wait, what?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Yeah, Thorn wasn't my biological father,” he said.
"You sound like you look just like what my mother said Thorn looked like,” I said.
"My mother ha
d a type,” Thorn said with a shrug. "That's why my dad thought he was my bio dad for so long. It was a shock when he found out he wasn't. I'd just started kindergarten."
"Wow,” I said.
"He didn't leave my mom when he found out. He swallowed his pride and stayed for me and my sister. My biological father signed away his rights to me, and Thorn adopted me immediately. Later, when my mom left him, he got custody of us kids. It wasn't always easy, but he made it work. I'm sorry. I have no idea why I'm dumping all of this on you. We just met, and I'm vomiting out some pretty personal stuff,” he said and straightened his back.
"It's okay. I don't mind at all."
"It always felt like I could just talk to your mom. I really shouldn't act like you are the same person, though."
"In a lot of ways, we are a lot alike,” I said.
"Headstrong," Thorn observed. "I get the feeling you're both good people too. Well, I know your mother is. I mean that I get the same feeling about you."
"Even though I ran off and broke my parents' hearts?" I asked.
"You came back when you were ready,” he said. "A lot of people wouldn't. My bio dad wouldn't."
"I didn't have much choice,” I said. "My ex got me fired from my job and left me broke. He was a real gem."
"Well, there aren't many job openings in a town this small, but I'm sure there's something."
"I was thinking of starting a business. I know that sounds crazy because I just said I was broke, but I'm trying to think of a way."
"There's a shop on the square that's for rent. It's super cheap because the place is supposed to be really haunted,” Thorn said.
"I'll have to go check that out,” I said.
"Maybe wait until things blow over?" Thorn offered.
"I'm just going to go look,” I said. "I promise I won't cause any trouble."
"You sure you can keep that promise?" It was playful, but there was still an edge to his voice.
"I'll do my best,” I said. "But, you said you came here to discuss the case?"
"I'm not sure that I said that exactly,” Thorn said. "One thing I wanted to do was get a look at your hands, and I've done that."
Black Magic Kitten Page 4
