Page 45 of The Dark Hiss of Magic
‘I told Madeleine that she needs to get the contract signed as soon as possible before the Hightowers change their mind,’ murmured a stiletto-wearing woman.
I paused. I still hadn’t entirely discounted Quentin Hightower from these bloody events.
‘They’ll get to it,’ her companion replied. ‘They’re only distracted because their son and heir tripped, fell into the Tweed and caught a cold.’
There was a loud snicker. ‘That man is such a fucking idiot.’
‘Thank goodness he’s not on the council,’ came the rejoinder. ‘Birthright only gets you so far.’
‘Head first into a shitty river, if you’re Quentin Hightower.’
I picked up my paws and kept moving. There was nothing to be learned here.
‘You know we only have a small sample,’ a man wearing tan-brown loafers said.
The woman next to him, in kitten heels and skin-tone tights, sniffed. ‘All the more reason to give me some so I can try to propagate some seedlings.’
‘Brockensworth has already tried to do that and failed. The leaves alone aren’t enough. We need the seeds.’
I veered around his feet. There was a pair of shiny black boots ahead that I had a good feeling about.
‘Hasn’t Jackson come up with the goods yet?’ said Kitten Heels, with a definite whine.
I froze.
‘Apparently not. It’s probably why he’s not shown up to dinner tonight. He’s too afraid to face us with his incompetence.’
‘The man has to eat.’
‘He lives off chicken noodles. You’ve smelled his office, right?’
I gave an involuntary purr, far louder than I should have done, but thankfully it appeared to go unnoticed. Bingo.
Chapter
Sixteen
Ileft the dining hall far more quickly than I’d entered it. I might not know where Fetch Jackson was but now I knew what to look for – or rather what tosmellfor. My stomach grumbled. Bring on the chicken chow mein.
The witches’ offices were on the third floor where the magical security would be far stronger, but I refused to believe I couldn’t access them. I’d come this far; I couldn’t give up now.
I returned to the main landing and headed for the next set of stairs. Shit: a trio of witches was descending and there was no way I could avoid them. It was too late to hide, so I’d have to play cat and brazen it out. I swallowed hard and started to climb.Nothing to see here, I projected.Just a little cat out for a walk in the scary witches’ council headquarters. Miaow.
It was the young witch in the middle who spotted me first. ‘Hello, kitty!’
Her companions turned. ‘What’s that moggy doing here?’ the one on the left asked suspiciously. Damn it: she clearly possessed several thousand more brain cells than the other witches I’d encountered so far.
‘I’m allergic to fucking cats,’ complained the male witch on the right.
Excellent. I swerved and headed straight for his ankles.
‘Shit!’ he exploded, jumping backwards.
I couldn’t let him get away that easily. I leapt upwards and wrapped myself around his lower legs, purring loudly. He kicked out, but I was canny and jumped up another step to avoid his foot. Then, because he’d annoyed me, I launched myself upwards and dug my claws into the fabric of his cloak so I could scramble onto his shoulder.
‘Get off!’ he shrieked. ‘Get off me!’
His two companions were laughing hysterically. ‘It’s … just … a … cat … James!’ said the first one.
