Page 48 of Cheater Slicks

“Do you have seizures or something?” The nekomata wrinkled her nose. “That can’t be good for you.”

Kierce and I exchanged a puzzled glance, but it was clear she hadn’t heard the commotion.

Once I caught my breath, I asked, “Can you see spirits?”

The heavy plastic bangles on her wrists clanked together as she toyed with a bit of frizzy hair. “Yes.”

I had my doubts—there were definite gaps in her perception—but I only needed her help figuring out what happened here. And now I knew enough about that I considered her side of the bargain fulfilled.

“We appreciate your help.” Kierce tucked me under his arm, helping me support myself, or maybe he wanted to keep me stuck to him so I couldn’t indulge in the temptation of grave-dirt uppers on my way out. “You’ll receive your first shipment on Monday.”

With a hop, she hit the ground, her form compacting into a calico cat that sashayed away, tail held high.

After she was out of sight, Kierce helped me to the stone bench she had vacated.

“Do you think we can trust her?” I was grateful for a place to sit. “I get the feeling she was lying. Not about everything, but here and there. For one thing, I don’t think she can see spirits.”

“I’m not sure.” He tilted his head in a birdlike way. “Her perception is different than ours, for certain.”

“Too bad Anunit isn’t here. She could confirm whether it’s a divine animal trait. That’s what nekomata are, right? Felines touched by divinity?”

“Nekomata can be created by something as simple as a god stroking a hand down a beloved cat’s back.”

“Ah.” I tried picturing Buttons, Dis Pater’s beloved pet, as a cat god but couldn’t. “So, the divine touch can be literal.”

A loud squawk alerted us to an incoming messenger. Or, based on how she cuddled Kierce after landing on his shoulder, maybe she was just jealous and wanted pets. With Badb, I had given up predicting her motives.

Especially since she and Kierce could communicate while she was in the air, making landing for updates moot.

“She says there are spirits in a mausoleum at the rear of the property worth talking to before we go.”

“Okay.” I pushed to my feet. “Let’s check them out.”

“Are you up for it?” Concern sat heavy in his voice, but we couldn’t risk talking about it here. Dis Pater could have ears everywhere. Though, I suppose, Kierce counted in that number too. An unsettling reminder I could have done without. “I could go if you need to rest.”

“No rest for the weary.” I offered him a hand up, smiling when he put no weight behind his pull as he stood. “We need answers. Preferably before midnight. I want to try our luck extracting Vi tonight.”

“All right.” He jerked his chin at Badb, who nodded then flew away. “She’ll guide us.”

A few rows away, we came across a mausoleum stacked nine high and nine wide with vaults. Before health and life insurance gained popularity, it was common practice to belong to a benevolent society that provided members’ families with cash for funeral expenses and resting places upon their deaths. Badb landed on the cross topping this battered example of a society tomb, and her flight earned us the attention of four toughs who looked like they ate small children rolled into their breakfast burritos. Or had, when they were alive.

Prickly magic radiated off the marble into the surrounding air, brushing against us as we drew closer. The steady pulse of it convinced me the structure had been warded recently. Perhaps in the last week. That must have been what caught Badb’s attention.

The musclebound spirits, oddly enough, exuded similar energy signatures.

“Keep moving, lady.” Tough One cracked his knuckles. “This ain’t no sightseeing tour.”

“You heard him.” Tough Two elbowed his friend. “Feel free to tip your guide, though.”

“How about you lift that shirt?” Tough Three suggested. “I got some beads for you, if you do.”

Faster than he could smirk to his buddies, Kierce palmed Three’s throat and squeezed until the spirit’s eyes bulged in shock. Souls got used to the idea they were untouchable by the living. Kierce was simply reminding him he wasn’t as impervious as he thought. “What are you guarding?”

“You can’t just waltz in here and—Gack.” Tough Four dangled, his feet scrabbling above the dirt, while Kierce held him aloft by his collar. “Put…me…down.”

“The thing is, fellas, my boyfriend takes offense to perverts asking his girlfriend to flash them.” I pretended to sympathize. “You guys don’t strike me as the kind of men who are hired for their brains, so I’ll point out what you should have noticed from the start. We’regods.”

Okay, fine. So, I spent a lot of time telling people I wasn’t a god and neither was he. But these toughs had no clue what we were, or they would have hesitated. Maybe not dropped their routine, since I was sure it had proven effective in the past, but hit pause for a second or two.

---