Anica had no breath to waste on Julie. She was in a tug-of-war that had to go her way. She yanked harder and there was a loud crack. The plastic carrier, which wasn"t very st.u.r.dy to begin with, came apart.
Jasper exploded out of it, scratching anything in his way.
Anica made a grab for him and felt his claws dig into her arm. Then he launched himself from the cab to the sidewalk.
"Stop him, Julie!" Anica cried.
But Julie wasn"t quick enough. Jasper darted around her and raced down the sidewalk, with Anica, Julie and Edna in hot pursuit. A block later, they all stopped, panting.
Jasper was nowhere in sight.
Edna leaned over and put her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "See? See what you"ve done?"
"What I"ve done?" Anica longed to put her hands around the woman"s chubby neck and squeeze. "If you hadn"t interfered, Jasper would still be safe in my apartment!"
"It"s my fault." Julie looked miserable, even more so because her mascara had smeared, turning her into a frightening sight indeed. "I shouldn"t have let Miss Shoumatoff through the door in the first place, but she seemed so sure of what she was doing. She brought the carrier and tuna, and then the door was open and I was afraid Orion got out. But he didn"t."
"It"s not your fault, Julie, it"s all Miss Shoumatoff"s doing." Anica glared at the older woman.
Edna was unrepentant. "Since you weren"t handling your responsibility, I took on the job."
Anica clenched her jaw. A shouting match in the middle of the street wasn"t going to accomplish anything. She shouldn"t have left Jasper, or she should have asked Lily for help instead of putting that kind of responsibility on her young neighbor. This was her fault, all of it.
She pulled her cell phone out of her purse and speed-dialed her sister.
Lily took a while to answer, and when she did, she sounded groggy. "What"s up?"
"Jasper got away."
Lily gasped and seemed instantly more alert. "What do you mean, got away?"
"It"s a long story, Lil. But I"d really appreciate it if you"d come over and help me look for him. Come to the front of the apartment and then call me. I"ll give you my location at that point. I need to keep looking."
"Sure, I"ll help. I"ll make up a thermos of coffee and be right there."
"Thanks, Lily." Anica snapped the phone closed. "All right. You two are free to go home."
"I want to help you look for him," Julie said. "I feel partly to blame."
"Julie, you"re not. Truly." Anica was the screwup. How she hated to apply that label to herself, but there was no avoiding it.
Julie sidled closer. "Even if I"m not to blame, I want to help. I looked through your bookshelf, and I-"
"All righty, then! You"re helping! Thanks!" Anica needed to get Julie off that topic immediately.
"I"ll look, too," Edna said.
Anica faced Edna and prayed to Hera that she could control her temper. "I don"t want you to. He won"t come within a mile of you, anyway."
"That"s nonsense. He didn"t know where I was taking him."
Anica couldn"t tell her that Jasper had understood every word and had been convinced that if Edna won the tug-of-war he"d be robbed of his family jewels in short order. She couldn"t blame him for running. "You"d be surprised what animals know," she said.
Jasper hunkered down in an alley next to an old metal trash can and tried to figure out where he was. The alley mostly contained Dumpsters and large plastic garbage bins, the kind a truck could lift with a mechanized arm. But for some reason, this normal-sized trash can was sitting here, too.
He wanted to orient himself before he did anything. The world looked completely different when you viewed it from twelve inches off the ground. He could get a better view from on top of the trash can but then he"d be more visible, and he sensed being visible might not be the best thing for a stray cat.
That"s what he was now, a stray, and the thought sobered him quite a bit. He"d run on pure instinct, knowing he had to get away from the woman who planned to de-ball him. Freedom had felt great for about the first five minutes, but now he wasn"t sure what ground he"d gained. The potion might still work, but becoming naked in the middle of the city with no ID could be a problem.
That was a.s.suming the potion worked, but what if it didn"t or only worked for a little while, like last time? If he separated himself from Anica and her sister, he might end up stuck this way forever. He desperately needed to get back to Anica"s apartment, while making sure the Shoumatoff woman wasn"t anywhere in the vicinity.
If Anica came looking for him, that would be better than him trying to get back to the apartment. She might, but then again she might figure finding him would be nearly impossible. The city had lots of alleys, lots of places where a cat could hide if it didn"t want to be found. She might give up the idea as hopeless. She might be relieved to be rid of him, to be honest.
Briefly he considered trying to make his way to his condo, but then he realized that wouldn"t work out very well, either. The condo, by his design, had bucket loads of security, including good locks and a state-of-the-art alarm. He wouldn"t be able to go inside.
His best bet was slowly retracing his steps to Anica"s apartment and then figuring out the easiest way to get in. Shoumatoff lived right down the hall from Anica. He"d have to be very careful.
"You mangy sonofab.i.t.c.h! Get away from there!"
Jasper looked around to see what mangy sonofab.i.t.c.h the guy was talking about. A brick whizzed by his head and smacked against the wall behind the trash can, and then another one hit the trash can itself with a loud clang.
He was the mangy sonofab.i.t.c.h? s.h.i.t. There was nothing mangy about him. But he"d better get the h.e.l.l out of there before he got beaned.
The brick thrower had a mouth on him. Jasper was impressed by the creative string of curses the guy sent his way. He didn"t take time to look, but from the sound of boots smacking pavement and the brick that landed inches behind him, Jasper decided that the guy had retrieved his bricks from beside the trash can and was firing them off again.
Scooting around a corner and down another alley, Jasper looked for a place to hide and spotted a partially collapsed cardboard box leaning against the side of a building. He ducked through the opening and heard a cat hiss. He was not alone.
Anica"s imagination ran wild as she pictured Jasper flattened by a truck, attacked by stray dogs, trapped at the end of one of the blind alleys that crisscrossed the downtown area. She"d taken one route, while Julie had gone in another direction and Lily in a third. They kept track of each other by cell phone.
Anica called Lily for probably the tenth time since they"d started looking.
"What now?" Lily sounded short-tempered. She probably needed more caffeine.
"Any luck?"
"Anica, I told you last time. I"ll call you if I see a black cat, any black cat." A blender whirred in the background.
"You"re in Starbucks, aren"t you?"
"Yeah, I stopped at Starbucks. You wanna complain about it?"
"No, it"s okay, Lily." Having her sister buy an espresso from the compet.i.tion was the least of her worries right now. "Are you sure there isn"t some way you could use magic to find him?"
"Not in broad daylight on a crowded street. I tried chanting a discovery spell on Michigan Avenue and a cop followed me for a block. I didn"t dare go down an alley looking for Jasper at that point or the cop might have taken me in for suspicious behavior."
"It"s been an hour. I"m scared that something"s happened to Jasper."
Lily"s tone softened. "I know you are, An. Don"t give up. We"ll find him. Gotta go. My triple shot is ready."
Anica closed her phone but kept it in her hand instead of tucking it back in her purse. Calling Jasper"s name, she continued down yet another alley lined with smelly Dumpsters. She was about to cross the street when her cell phone vibrated. She flipped it open, desperate for a sc.r.a.p of hope. Julie!
"I found him, but he won"t come to me."
Anica"s heart hammered. "It"s him? You"re sure?"
"Pretty sure. He"s all black, short hair, yellow eyes. His coat"s shiny. He doesn"t look like a stray."
"That sounds like Jasper. Now that he"s cleaned up, he"s a good-looking cat." A flash of Jasper wearing only two kitchen towels flashed through her mind.
"I"ll bet it"s him. He came close, but he won"t let me pick him up. He keeps going back to this cardboard box."
"Give me your location." Anica made note of where Julie was, disconnected and called Lily. "Stop at a deli and get a chicken sandwich."
"You want me to take a lunch break?"
"It"s for Jasper, in case we need an incentive. I think Julie"s found him." She told Lily where to go as she ran down the street, her black coat flapping in the wind. On her way to meet Julie, she prayed to every Wiccan power she knew that the cat would be Jasper and he"d let her take him back to the apartment.
Julie wouldn"t know what to say to him, but Anica had some ideas. Having Jasper escape had brought home the point that she couldn"t mess around with this anymore.
Jasper might have lost faith in what she and Lily could do about reversing the spell. He also might have lost faith in her determination to protect him from people like Edna Shoumatoff. That had been a total c.o.c.k-up, as Lily liked to say.
As Anica approached the alley, she saw Lily hurrying toward her from the other direction. Lily had chosen to dress for the search in hooker boots with three-inch heels, a slinky black jumpsuit and a red leather trench coat. She wore cat"s-eye sungla.s.ses decorated with rhinestones.
Sometimes Anica wondered if either she or Lily had been adopted, because they had such totally different styles. But at the moment she was grateful that they were in fact sisters and that Lily was willing to help, even if she grumbled about it. Lily held a paper sack in one hand and a Starbucks cup in the other. When she was within ten feet, Anica smelled the chicken.
"You got it. Great." Anica was winded and her words came out chopped and breathy.
"Of course I got it."
"I"m glad I met you before we go in there. Let me have the sandwich."
Lily handed over the bag. "You"re welcome."
"Sorry. Thanks."
"I"ve never seen you this rattled, not even when you lost the spelling bee in seventh grade."
"Look, a.s.suming the cat Julie found really is Jasper, I"ve decided what I need to do about him. I want to talk with him privately, so I wonder if you could distract Julie while I do that. I don"t want her to hear what I have to say."
Lily"s brows arched. "You"re going to promise to be his love slave after he transforms? Whoops, you"re blushing. Don"t tell me that"s it."
"No, that"s not it." Anica was embarra.s.sed by how positively she reacted to that idea.
"I don"t know, An. From the way you described his personality, he might go for that. It would be a whole lot better than having him trash your business reputation. And a whole lot more fun."
Anica looked her sister in the eye. "I"ll keep it in mind as an alternative." She wouldn"t consider such a manipulation, of course, but pretending she would, even for the shock value, sent l.u.s.t shooting through her system.
"I don"t believe you"d ever do it but I"m impressed that you didn"t lecture me for suggesting such a thing." Lily gazed at her with new respect. "This experience is having quite an effect on you. Welcome to the world of fallible beings, big sister. Life"s a lot more interesting here."
"I"m not sure interesting is the right word. Terrifying is more like it. Come on, let"s go see if Julie"s found our boy." She started down the alley.
"Your boy, Anica," Lily said. "Your boy."
He wasn"t her anything, but Anica didn"t bother to contradict her sister. During the time that he was a cat Jasper was her responsibility. She"d mucked that up, but no more.
"Julie," she called out. "Where are you?"
Julie came around the corner, her hands shoved in the pockets of the black pea coat Anica had insisted she go back for. She"d been ready to search the city wearing nothing but her skinny black pants and a long-sleeved black T-shirt. Anica was becoming fonder of Julie by the minute.
"He"s still here." Julie kept her gaze trained on a point on the far side of the wall, a spot Anica couldn"t see. "I"ve been keeping watch over him, but he won"t let me come close enough to grab him." She sniffed. "Is that chicken in the bag?"
"Yep. I asked Lily to pick up a sandwich in case we needed something to tempt him with."
"Smart."
Anica went around the corner to see the box. Her breath caught. There sat Jasper, gazing at her with his golden eyes. She wondered how others could miss the glow of human intelligence in those eyes. He didn"t look like an ordinary cat to her, but then she knew he wasn"t one.
He didn"t approach her. Instead he sat near the cardboard box Julie had mentioned and watched her. His nose twitched, which probably meant he"d caught the scent of chicken.
"It"s him, isn"t it?" Julie said.
Anica had forgotten the girl was there. By now Lily had joined them, too. "Yes, it"s him, all right. h.e.l.lo, Jasper."
Jasper didn"t even blink.
"He"s a very good-looking cat," Julie said. "Pretty sleek for being a stray. Do you think he belongs to someone?"
"No," Anica said. "No, I don"t."
"Well, yeah, I suppose him not being neutered is a giveaway. Most owners would have taken care of that by now. He looks like he"s at least five or six years old. I love cats. I would have one, but my brother"s allergic and he comes over all the time."
There was a spell for that, a combination of hypnosis and magic that cured pet allergies, but Anica would have to let Julie and her brother know she was a witch in order to use it. And she"d have to get her magic back.
"Julie," Lily said, "we haven"t met, but I"m Lily, Anica"s sister."
"Glad to meet you." Julie seemed a little dazed by Lily.
Anica didn"t blame her. Lily often had that effect on people.
Lily lowered her voice as if letting Julie in on a secret. "I think it"s best if we move back down the alley and let Anica see what she can do without all of us standing around."
"Oh. Sure, sure." Julie began retreating immediately. "That makes perfect sense."
"Besides, I want to ask you where you got those fabulous skull earrings."
"They belonged to my great-aunt."
Anica decided to think about that fascinating bit of news later. She waited until Lily and Julie were out of sight and their voices had faded. Then she pulled the sandwich out of the bag and took off the paper it was wrapped in.