any of the clues before? I mean, the ass end of the car is sitting lower by at least a few inches.”
“Did you just call me fat?” His face wedged between the seats.
“No. I want to understand how you can fake being small.”
He smiled. Too many teeth in it. “Magic. Now drive, chauffeur witch. And not too fast so I can enjoy the scenery.”
“Have you always been this demanding?” Only to answer myself. “Yes, yes you have.” My own fault. I’d spoiled him as a kitten.
The crash site proved harder to find than expected. I drove by it twice before Grisou snapped, “Would you stop going back and forth? It’s right there. How blind are you?”
Apparently plenty because I never imagined the humped snow windrowed on the shoulder hid the site of an accident. One month of winter weather had concealed the marks of the crash.
The sharp winter air filled my lungs as I exited the car. It didn’t have the freezing terror of the Chill, just a cleansing cold.
Grisou stalked alongside me, stopping by a massive tree, the bark mangled. I brushed the snow away, revealing the damage and the clinging specks of paint. Had this been an accident?
Could someone have made us see something that wasn’t there? But why? Was it about getting rid of me or Kane? I had to wonder because no one ever finished the job in the hospital.
My cat stalked into the forest and only stopped long enough to mutter, “Are you coming or not? You know I could be at home sleeping by the woodstove.”
“Yes, your majesty,” I muttered.
“That’s more like it, although I prefer ‘your eminence,’ accompanied by a freshly opened case of tuna.”
“Would you like me to address you as your highness, too?”
“You do realize the favor I do you by allowing you to serve me.”
Every single meme I’d read about cats. True. So very, very true.
My cat moved farther into the woods than I liked before stopping. “This is where his trail ends.”
“Whose trail?”
“The other person in the car.”
“Wait, you mean we’ve been tracking Kane this entire time?”
“I’ve been tracking. You’re merely stumbling after me.”
“Keep up that attitude and it will be dry diet kibble, you oversized furball.”
“I heard that.”
“Good. I want to know how you can follow anything. It’s been a month. It’s snowed and stuff. Surely there’s nothing to track.” Just because a Flintstone-sized cat talked to me didn’t mean I’d take its words as gospel.
“I’m lying. Let’s go home.” His tail lifted, and he was ready to march off, only I didn’t follow.
I glanced around then up. In the movies shit always dangled from branches. Nothing popped out, but I noticed something interesting. Lots of broken twigs and branches. I glanced around at the trunks and saw one was splintered.
“There was a fight here.” The more I looked, the more I could see a series of different colored auras. Only one of the streamers flowed almost black. It meandered alongside the tracks I’d left. Looking behind, I noticed a sizzling silver thread ran out of me in an ethereal filament.
I blinked and waved my hand at it. The thread remained. “What do you call that?”
“The stuff I follow.”
“Essence of people?” I ventured.
“You could just stick with time-honored scent.”
“This is more than smell, though.” I reached to touch a thread, and my hand went through it, making it ragged and wispy.
“What happened?” I asked.
“You’re messing it up, like those who took him.”
Rather than ask what he meant, I looked around again, this time unravelling the threads from each other. The dark thread didn’t leave the clearing.
“If a scent disappears, does that mean the person is dead?”
“Not always. He lives.”
“So where did Kane go?”
“No idea. His trail just stops.”
“That doesn’t help me.” Frustration built in me.
“What are you going to do then?” my cat taunted.
“I want him back!” I clenched my fists. I wanted something to go right for once. I wanted to feel as if I were in control.
A mist appeared amongst the tree trunks.
Grisou’s hackles rose, and he rumbled, “Danger.”
“No duh.” The syllables frosted, but I wasn’t about to run. This was the first time I’d encountered The Chill in the daytime. Had it expanded its abilities? Would I finally meet the threat?
“Who are you?” I shouted. “Show yourself!” The words dropped like icicles that shattered in the silence.
The tendrils of cold whispered, but I couldn’t understand. I did feel a longing. To let go. To allow The Chill to invade me.