The alley opened onto a side street lined with dumpsters and fire escapes.
It was empty.
We stood there, breathing hard, the sun shining down on us. Samuel and I scanned the rooftops, the doorways, the shadows between buildings.
The cat was gone.
All that was left was a lingering oily trace that soon faded in the wind.
23
THE GROUNDSKEEPER’S POODLE
Samuel calleda meeting in his office late that afternoon.
Barney was already inside when I traipsed in with Bo, the vampire’s gaunt frame draped in the leather chair opposite Samuel’s desk. Didi occupied the other chair, her coffee clutched like a weapon. Gavin, who’d come into the office late, was perched on the settee, his tail curled around his ankles and a fire extinguisher within arm’s reach.
Samuel looked tired.
That made two of us. I’d spent the rest of the day chasing Delaware shell companies through a digital maze that would have given my former employers migraines all while Melody’s whispered warnings turned over in my mind.
Bo settled quietly at my feet as I took a seat. The Husky had been subdued since the cat chase that morning.
With Didi already in the know, Samuel and I gaveBarney and Gavin the condensed version of what had happened at Melody’s house and Bean Me Up. I also related where Bo and I had previously spotted the black cat.
Barney listened without expression.
Gavin’s horns started smoking halfway through and didn’t stop.
“According to Ellie, that cat had a vampiric scent,” Samuel said.
Barney frowned. “You can trust a newborn vampire’s nose.”
Samuel leaned his elbows on his desk and steepled his hands beneath his chin. “Arthur Holt told us the Black Chalice Rite grants its user the ability to assume the form of another supernatural creature or animal.”
Gavin’s nostrils sparked in alarm in the strained silence.
“You think the black cat is the witch you’re after,” Barney said quietly.
“It would explain many things,” I said. “Bo and I sensed something off about her when we first saw her at Coven Headquarters. She was probably there to keep an eye on Melody.”
Didi’s fingers had gone white around her cup. “If this woman can assume other forms beyond a cat, that’s a significant problem. She could impersonate anyone.”
We glanced at one another, the implications settling over the room like a cold draft.
“The Marchefords were a dead end. And everything we’ve uncovered so far keeps pointing back to what theThornwicks tried to do all those years ago,” I said, my chest tight. “It has to be them or someone connected to them.”
Didi hesitated before nodding. “It’s starting to look like that from where I’m sitting.”
Samuel turned to Barney. “I want you to work with Didi and Gavin. Dig into the Thornwick family records. Property deeds, Alliance archives, coven registries—anything that tells us if any Thornwicks are still alive and where they might be operating from.”
Barney’s dark eyes were unreadable. “The Alliance archives on the Thornwicks would be in the restricted section. I’ll need Cornelius to authorize access.”
Samuel dipped his head briskly. “I’ll handle Cornelius.”
“I’ll start with the coven registries.” Didi rose. “The incident about the Thornwicks was scrubbed from the records after their exile, but the historical information about their family should still exist.” She paused at the door. “If there’s a property somewhere that everyone’s conveniently forgotten about, the old land deeds will show it.”
Gavin hopped off the settee, his tail swishing with nervous energy. “I’ll check the county clerk’s office. Even supernatural families have to register property with the human authorities.”
