Before she could respond, the hippy girl wafted over, pulling her long, coppery dreadlocks back, revealing a kitchen-yellow cloth headband. “I’m sorry, can I help you?” Her voice was soft and timid. Mouselike.
Caitlin sized her up and squared her shoulders, clearly stating she was vastly superior to the waif in front of her—despite the willowy redhead easily besting her by six inches. “We’re here to speak to Hazel. Who are you?”
“I’m Allison. And I’d be happy to help you in any way you need.”
“Allison?” Caitlin’s voice lost some of its bravado. Not that I could blame her. She was already thrown off by seeing her ex this morning, and now hearing her name in this place surely didn’t help.
“Yes. Is there something you need?” She swiped at her hair again. The tendrils were thick and stiff and fell back to their original places instantly.
I stepped forward, but Caitlin cut me off, her control regained. “We need to speak to Hazel. Can you get her for us?”
Allison shook her head, her face giving off a little cringe like she expected Caitlin to explode. Smart girl. “No, I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Well, can you call her, then?”
Another shake. “No, I’m sorry. I can’t. Hazel died, but I can help you if you need anything.”
My breath caught in my throat as I gasped. Clearing it, I stepped around Caitlin. “What do you mean Hazel died? I just saw her four or five days ago.”
“Are you family? I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, but she—” Allison’s voice cut off in a gasp of her own as her watery blue eyes looked up to meet mine. “Oh! It’s you!”
“What happened to Hazel?”
“I… uhm…” The girl backed up nervously, letting out a squeak as her backside ran into the counter. “Hazel wasn’t… well, you see….”
“Allison!” The sternness in my voice surprised even me, but too much was on the line to waste time being nice or polite. Every second this girl stuttered around was another moment who-knew-what happened to Cynthia.
Allison looked up again, wide-eyed at my voice. Even Caitlin looked at me appraisingly.
“What happened to Hazel?”
“I… I…” She looked past us out the window, as if trying to find help. Apparently not finding any, she brought her attention back to me. “I’m sorry. I know who you are, but I can’t tell you what happened to Hazel. I just know she’s dead. I wasn’t told any more than that.” She cowered like she thought I was going to strike her.
For some reason, I knew she wasn’t being forthcoming, which was kind of surprising, considering how afraid she seemed of me. It told me she was even more afraid of something or someone else. Probably a bunch of somethings or someones, considering she was working at the Square.
I tried another tack. “If you know who I am, then you can tell me the same things Hazel could’ve.” She started to shake her head, but I pressed on. “Why do they want me to go to the Vampire Cathedral?”
Her headshaking stopped, and her brow knitted. “The Vampire Cathedral?”
“Yeah. You said you knew who I was, so why do they want me there?”
“I only know you’re powerful and not to be harmed. I don’t know anything about the Vampire Cathedral.”
Just like I was clear she knew more about Hazel’s death, I was also certain she truly didn’t know anything about me being called to the Vampire Cathedral. Hell, maybe she didn’t know they were the ones pulling the strings in the Square.
Caitlin found her voice once more. “Listen, you little bitch, we don’t have time for this shit. Either tell us what happened to Hazel and what the vampires want with Finn, or I’ll show you what real power looks like.” She let her eyes travel down the girl’s clothes and back up. “I’ll show you what powers a real witch has.”
If she thought this girl’s outfit was bad, it was a good thing she hadn’t met Hazel in her Halloween-witch getup, complete with a fake wart on her nose. She took another step toward the cowering witch.
I grabbed her arm. “Come on. She doesn’t know anything, and what little she does, she won’t be telling us.”
Caitlin gave me a dirty look over her shoulder. “She will when I’m done with her.”
“As intimidating as you are, there’s a lot worse things in this Square than you and me.” I tugged her arm, expecting to have to drag her out of the store. If I could.
To my surprise, she yanked her arm out of my grip, turned, and marched over to the door.
Once outside,Caitlin turned and started to say something—probably chew me out for bossing her around—but I cut her off. “Hold on. I need to check out one more thing. Real quick, I promise. Then we can go.”
