Page 33 of Cheater Slicks

“No wonder you didn’t want me to see your room.” I retrieved a lancet from my pocket and pricked my finger. I daubed his forehead with blood then pressed my palm to his skin. “It’s the gaudiest thing I’ve seen in my life. Who has gold slippers? And is that…? No. That’s not a gold chalice.” I thrust my awareness into him, searching every corner. “Do you stir gold flakes in your bedside water pitcher too to make your poop sparkle?”

A heavy hand landed on my shoulder, a silent comfort, as Jean-Claude waited for me to accept what he already knew.

“His soul is gone,” I announced to the rest of the room. “Just like the others.”

* * *

More than anything,Rollo acted as a secretary for Vi. A savage one. For him to have been struck down in his office, when he had been fine earlier, there must be a clue within those four walls. But an hour later, I hadn’t found a single one.

Aside from his water pitcher, there was no food or drink in the room. The glass that matched the set was turned upside down on the same ostentatious serving platter as the pitcher, indicating he hadn’t drunk from it.

None of the tidy papers, calendars, or notes hinted at what happened to him while he no doubt paced and cursed my name. That was how I remembered him spending most of his time while I lived here anyway.

“Whether he registered it or not, he figured out how the others were afflicted.”

“Yeah.” I turned to find Harrow standing in the doorway wearing a severe expression. “Looks that way.”

Too bad we had no clue if what truly caused the affliction was in this office or, by process of elimination, if he encountered it elsewhere while he was out bartering for information from his network of magically inclined neighbors. Other than the tidbits he shared earlier, I couldn’t find a thing about those conversations or who he had them with.

“I can stay if you need help.” He soaked in the potential crime scene. “If I told Chief Leer?—”

“No.”I screwed my eyes shut. “Sorry about biting your head off, but I don’t want him in my business.”

“That’s probably for the best.” He wiped a hand over his mouth. “Okay. Well. I better head out.”

“Tell Carter I said hi.” I hadn’t texted her out of fear she had elected to give Josie the boot on my advice. If that happened, the next boot I saw coming would be the one Josie used to stomp my face in. “I’ll walk you out.”

“That’s fine.” He waved off my offer. “I know my way.”

Still, for the sake of manners, I trailed him out into the hall.

Just in time to spot a shadow wriggle toward his jacket where it hung over the arm of the couch.

“Nope.” I lunged for it, closing my hands over leathery hide. “You’re not sneaking off with him.”

“I would not abandon you, Frankie Talbot.”Anunit nosed his pocket.“I simply wished to give him a token of my regard.”

“I’m not ashamed to admit,” he said, leaning down to my ear, “I would have screamed like a clown jump scare at a horror house if I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out that…thing.”

“I like that body very much.”Her beady eyes bored into him.“I may wish to use it again.”

Harrow’s swallow was audible when I passed along her warning, and I chuckled when he took a healthy step back.

“I think she heard you.” I leaned in too. “I would get while the getting’s good if I were you.”

For his sake, I scooped up his jacket and handed it to him. I sat with Anunit, frowning at the glue ring around the crown of her head, while he called for the elevator. I waited until the doors closed behind him to eye her with curiosity. “You gave him your hat?”

“For him to remember me by,”she said slyly, her tail swishing with feline amusement.

“Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem. He’s never going to forget you.” I rubbed her tiny scalp, but the super glue didn’t budge. “Not that I haven’t enjoyed the company, but I have my hands full. Can we start guardian lessonsafterI figure out how to march the parade of souls back into their bodies?”

“Life will always be complicated for you. It is the way of things.”She climbed onto my thigh.“I will stay. I will help, if I can, but you must open your mind. You cannot view the world as you have, or you will be as a rabbit fleeing a hawk. To protect your family, Frankie Talbot, you must become the hawk.”

“The best defense is a good offense,” I murmured, turning over her advice.

Footsteps thumped behind me, and Josie leaned over the back of the couch, putting us cheek to cheek. “You and Rollo get along as well as oil and water, but this still has to hurt. Are you doing okay?”

“Okay is relative these days.” I was functioning, and I felt good about that. “How about you?”

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