Hedgewitchin' in the Kitchen Read online

  “Let’s get you inside the truck where it’s warm. I brought you something to eat.” He placed a hand on her back as he ushered her toward the truck.

  Lucifer yowled and leapt toward Adam. It shouldn’t have surprised her. He’d been jealous the last time they’d met Adam. Now that Lucifer wasn’t human, he would surely feel even more threatened.

  Abigail shouted, “No! Lucy! Stop! He’s a friend.”

  Adam darted back as Lucifer tried to acquaint the boy with his claws. Abigail chased after Lucifer, scooping him up into her arms. A low growl rumbled in his throat, but he retracted his claws.

  “Behave,” she whispered in his ear.

  “You named your cat after that boy?” Adam asked.

  Lucifer hissed. It was probably the way he said “that boy” that offended him.

  “No.” Abigail regretted her quick reply. It was better to let Adam think she’d named a cat after someone. Then again, perhaps a Morty wouldn’t suspect a person could be turned into a cat.

  Adam escorted her to the truck, giving the cat a sidelong glance. He hesitated at the door, his hand on the handle. “It isn’t safe to bring a feral cat into my truck. He’ll probably freak when I start driving and try to attack me.”

  She looked to the open back of the truck where Grace had made her and Lucifer ride. “We can sit in the back.”

  “I’m not going to make you sit in the back. It’s too cold and wet out.” He frowned. “You should leave that cat here. We can’t bring him to Aunt Grace’s house. She’s allergic.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “But I love him. He’s all I have left.” She backed away, unwilling to part with Lucifer.

  Adam shifted from foot to foot in agitation, his brows furrowed. He reached out as if he wanted to hug her but drew back as Lucifer’s claws extended again.

  “Stop,” she said, poking Lucifer. “This is just making things worse.”

  After a moment, Adam waved her closer. “How about you wait in the truck for me while I get something from the store? Hold him on your lap until I get back.” He left her inside the truck to eat a sandwich he’d packed for her. A few minutes later he returned with a plastic crate with a lid.

  “It’s a cat carrier,” Adam said.

  Lucifer turned his nose up at it. Abigail suspected it had to be the most demeaning thing ever to be treated as a cat. She placed him inside, feeling like she was locking away part of her soul.

  Adam took Abigail to Grace’s house. When Grace returned from her meeting, she welcomed Abigail into her home and greeted her with the same warmth she had before. Her hair was grayer, but she looked very much the same.

  The only sticking point for Abigail was when Grace insisted Lucifer sleep outside.

  “But I can’t survive without him. And he needs me.” Abigail didn’t want to be ungracious, but she had to make Grace understand. “It’s too cold outside, and he’ll freeze. He isn’t used to the cold.”

  “What about the garage?” Adam asked with a smile. “He could stay in the garage at night.”

  That was Adam, full of smiles and compromises.

  Abigail started her new life in the Morty Realm. Grace insisted Abigail go to school and get her GED because that was what was required in this world. When Abigail wasn’t studying or helping with chores, she assisted Grace with her landscaping business. Lucifer accompanied Abigail, much to Grace’s consternation.

  At night, Abigail snuck out to the garage to suffer through the cold with him so he wouldn’t have to bear it alone. Sometimes when no one was home, Abigail took out an alphabet board she had made, and Lucifer pawed at letters to spell out words.

  Mostly he complained about Adam, who was living in one of the rooms.

  Lucifer stayed out of the way when Abigail carried him to work with her and was on his best behavior when in the presence of their new adoptive mother. Abigail knew that if she was to ever help Lucifer with his problem, she would need herbs. He helped her dig up the earth for her garden, and Grace marveled that he minded Abigail.

  It was only when they were alone with Adam that he hissed and acted out.

  “I’m going to start leaving you home if you keep on like this,” Abigail threatened.

  He must not have believed her. She didn’t quite believe herself either until she did leave him home as she went to work with Adam one day. Lucifer sulked for days afterward.

  Only because of the respite from his companionship did Adam dare to venture closer to Abigail. He took her out to dinner, and they went hiking in the forest. She enjoyed his friendship and thought him to be a kind person, but she closed her heart to the idea of more.

  She’d been staying with Grace for four months when Adam kissed her. They were in his truck coming home from a job site an hour away. He stopped at a traffic light and stole a kiss, a great big grin on his face afterward. An overwhelming tide of joy and fear mixed with guilt and yearning filled her. She didn’t want to like him; she was saving all her love for Lucifer. She wouldn’t allow Adam to distract her from that.

  She shrank away. “I’m sorry. I think I’ve given you the wrong idea.”

  The smile faded from his face. “Oh.”

  She wrapped her arms around herself and stared out the window the rest of the trip, barely able to contain her tears. Once they reached Grace’s, she locked herself in her room and didn’t come out for dinner. She couldn’t stop crying. Never before had she felt so alone.

  Grace knocked on her door to tell her she’d wrapped up her plate of food, but she didn’t pressure Abigail to leave the room. Abigail only opened the door when she heard Lucifer meowing outside. He wasn’t supposed to be in the house, and he’d get in trouble if he was misbehaving.

  She opened the door to find Adam standing there. It was hard to say which was more shocking, that Lucifer was permitting Adam to hold him without clawing his eyes out or that Adam had brought him inside despite Grace’s ban.

  “I told him you might need him,” Adam said. “He always makes you feel better.”

  He did. It made Abigail feel that much more guilty that she couldn’t return Adam’s affection after such a kind gesture.

  Lucifer jumped into her arms and cuddled against her. She buried her face in his black fur, hiding her expression from Adam.

  “I’m sorry I offended you earlier. It wasn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable.” Adam cleared his throat, and it looked like he might cry himself. “Can we just pretend I didn’t kiss you?”

  Abigail stared down at Adam’s stockings. She nodded.

  “You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?” He swallowed, the sound an audible clunk in his throat. “Where is Lucy? Why didn’t he come with you?”

  She didn’t answer his question. There was no way she could without sounding crazy.

  “Has he asked for you to wait for him?” Adam asked.

  “Not exactly. But I am waiting for him.”

  Lucifer’s tail twitched.

  Adam was friendly with her for the next few weeks, but it was clear there was a wall that separated them now. He went away for college, though he wrote letters and visited in the summer. In his letters he asked if she was still waiting for Lucy.

  She said she was.

  The following summer, he worked for Grace’s business again. When he asked Abigail out to dinner, she accepted and left Lucifer at home. She tried to pretend he wasn’t attempting to woo her. Each time he placed his hand on her arm, she could see the yearning in his eyes to do more. Adam was in love with her.

  The night Adam proposed out back as they sat on the rusty children’s swing set behind Grace’s barn, Abigail tried to give the ring back to him.

  “You don’t know anything about me,” she said. He’d only kissed her once. How could he know he wanted to marry her?

  “I’m willing to learn if you’ll let me.” He took her hands in his and stared into her eyes. “Come back to Portland with me. We can live together be
fore we get married. You can see if you can put up with me and my corny sense of humor. If you don’t like Portland, or you decide you don’t like me, I’ll take you back to Aunt Grace’s.”

  “I can’t.” All she could think about was Lucy. Her gaze darted to the shadows, wondering if he was watching.

  “Don’t say no yet. Think it over for a day or two.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Please, Abby.”

  It was the “please” that convinced her not to give the box back to him yet, to at least pretend to think the matter over, even though she had decided she couldn’t betray Lucifer.

  She retired to her room early, mostly so she could be alone and cry. Lucifer meowed from his perch on her windowsill until she let him in. He went straight for the alphabet board under her bed, dragging it out. Abigail had no doubt he would have something to say about what had happened.

  She dried her tears. “I suppose you heard.”

  He snorted indignantly, as if to say, “Of course.”

  She took up a pen and paper and wrote down the letters that Lucifer batted at so that she could spell out the words he meant to say.

  “Does he make you happy?” Lucifer asked.

  She sighed. “You’re the love of my life. I don’t want to be with anyone else.” It felt like a lie on her lips. She liked Adam. If she didn’t guard her heart against it, she could fall in love with him.

  Lucifer pointed to the letters with his paw. “I want to see the ring.”

  Abigail took out the box and showed him.

  “He has poor taste in jewelry,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes. “You would say such a thing.”

  “I won’t blame you for marrying him. I’ll be happy for you.”

  “No, you won’t. You’ll be miserable.” Abigail swallowed, thinking of the alternative. “We should go back to Baba and see if she’ll turn you back.”

  “No. I’m never going back. I’m staying here with you. If you want to marry Adam, I’ll put up with him.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Abigail said. “I’m not ready to think about marriage yet.”

  The next day at breakfast, Adam said, “Just in case it makes any difference, I made sure the apartment I’m renting has a policy that allows cats.” His mouth curved upward in the start of a smile. “I won’t make Lucy sleep in the garage like Aunt Grace does. And there’s a patio. You can plant an herb garden in planters outside.”

  Aunt Grace set down a forkful of blueberry pancake Abigail had made. “Do you mean to tell me you’re trying to bribe my Abby into moving in with you?”

  Adam grinned.

  Abigail liked how Grace called her “my Abby,” like she was family. She’d been with Grace for a year, and she had shown her more love and affection than Baba ever had.

  Grace shook her head at her nephew and turned to Abigail. “You make that boy marry you first before you agree to move in with him.”

  “I don’t think I’m ready to be married just yet.” Heat flushed to Abigail’s face.

  Grace leaned in conspiratorially. “Then tell him he’d better do a good job courting you, eh?”

  Adam grinned. “It sounds like I’d better give Abigail gifts of chocolate and flowers.”

  Grace nudged Abigail with an elbow. “More like cat food and flea collars.”

  Abigail shook her head, but she laughed in spite of herself.

  Later that night Abigail found a small box under her pillow. Inside was a pink collar with rhinestones spelling out the name “Lucy.” When she showed Lucifer, he hid his face under his paws.

  The way to Abigail’s heart was through her cat.

  Adam stayed to work for Grace during the summer. When he returned to Portland, Abigail and Lucifer left with him. Abigail MacQuillan became Abigail Lawrence shortly after.

  * * *

  Using magic was dangerous business in the Morty Realm, and Abigail had been drained, which meant she had nothing left to use. It didn’t stop her from going to used bookstores and New Age shops in search of spells that might cure Lucifer of his curse. Over the years, Abigail sought out others who she thought might be Witchkin. Many of those she found were charlatans who would have swindled her out of her money if she hadn’t known how to spot real magic when she saw it. Worse yet were those whom she encountered who possessed genuine magic, but who didn’t understand how to use it.

  To use magic in the Morty Realm without constructing wards to disguise it was worse than not having it at all. The Fae could claim such people, and what they did to Witchkin was worse than death. Over the years, Abigail’s magic started to return in small bursts, mostly related to the growing and preparation of plants to use in potions. She couldn’t help wondering how much the return of her affinity might be Lucifer’s influence, his passive magic strengthening the little she had left. She took care to hide what she was from Morties and Fae alike. When Adam and she adopted two children—Witchkin, though he didn’t know it—she protected them with wards and infused potions to keep their magic dormant. Always she kept Lucifer near to amplify her abilities.

  As the years passed, Lucifer’s temperament grew surlier. He tolerated her children less as teenagers and provoked other people’s tempers like an ornery old man. Though he comforted Abigail after her older daughter died and when Adam died in a car accident three years after that, Lucifer often came and went as he pleased. She kept her alphabet board out so he could speak to her, but he rarely had anything to say. When he did, his answers were curt, matching his temperament.

  All the while, Abigail worked on finding a cure to Lucifer’s curse. When Clarissa left the Morty Realm to teach at a magical school, Abigail threw herself into finding a cure with renewed vigor. She was elbow deep in a clay poultice she had to hand stir in a cauldron, when the phone call came from Womby’s School for Wayward Witches. Abigail’s twenty-two-year old daughter had been attacked while working at a magical boarding school for at-risk youth.

  Abigail set down the phone, clay smeared across the receiver. In a panic she told Lucifer the news. He snorted in disgust. Abigail suspected his disgust was aimed at her.

  “I’m sorry. Your cure is going to have to wait,” she said, wiping her hands on a towel. “My daughter needs me right now.”

  The Unseen Realm, a dimension in between the Morty Realm and the Faerie Realm was the last place Abigail wanted to go, but she saw no other choice. As she had said, Clarissa needed her.

  The problem was Lucifer.

  Abigail didn’t go anywhere without her familiar. Not on a two-day road trip to Disneyland when her children were little—much to the protests of her husband and children, who would have preferred to leave her ornery black cat alone at home. Not on an airplane to visit her husband’s relatives, even though Lucifer refused to take sedatives, and he was mischievous enough to escape his pet carrier to stalk the dinner cart and an unsuspecting flight attendant.

  But this was different. This was another world she would be going to. One where she couldn’t protect him.

  Lucifer watched her pack from the hallway outside her bedroom door.

  “Would you prefer to stay home? I can get the neighbor to feed you,” Abigail offered. “Or would you prefer to come with me?”

  He sauntered forward and nuzzled his face against her leg by way of an answer. Sometimes Abigail wasn’t certain how much of the boy she’d once known remained in him and how much of him had turned feral. She yearned to be able to set him free of his curse, but it was possible that would take powerful magic and skills she didn’t possess.

  Abigail packed her suitcase full of earthquake cake brownies from her freezer, ingredients for kitchen alchemy, potted herbs, and flowers. She packed her cat in her purse—it was a very large purse—as she traveled via Amtrak, Greyhound, the city bus, and traveled from the realm of the mundane mortal world into one of witchcraft and wickedness.

  That was how she thought of the Unseen Realm, where she intended to go. It w
asn’t a surprise her adopted daughter, Clarissa Lawrence, had been hurt there. Now Abigail was returning to that ominous dimension that she had left behind.

  From the way Lucifer hid in her purse the entire bus ride, she knew he didn’t find it any more welcoming than she did. She hadn’t wanted to bring him back into the realm they’d escaped, but she didn’t want to leave him at home either. It was her job to protect Lucifer after he’d been cursed to remain as a cat for the rest of his days. She couldn’t take care of him if she was nursing Clarissa back to health.

  After she’d set out, Abigail chided herself for her rashness in setting out for the school. She should have made an infusion of lavender water infused with the essence of rose quartz that had been placed under a full moon to produce a calming effect. If she had given Lucifer a dishful before embarking on her trip, he might have been less anxious about witches, Fae, and other magical creatures who had hurt them both in the past.

  Abigail would have given anything to break the curse that had transformed him from a laughing, kindhearted young man into a cat. She would have sacrificed her fingers and toes if she thought it would help restore him. But Abigail didn’t think it would help. Magic could never be trusted to bring the results one wished for, especially when it was a mischievous witch working the magic.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Cat Got Your Tongue?

  As Lucifer launched himself into the air to attack the satyr, Abigail realized she hadn’t taken enough precautions—namely to protect everyone else from Lucifer’s temper.

  The satyr screamed and shielded his face as Lucifer attacked.

  “Lucy, stop! He isn’t a threat!” At least she didn’t think he was. Abigail left her suitcases by the side of the road and dove through the brush after her familiar.

  By the time she reached Sam and her cat, the satyr was rolling around on the ground, cowering as he covered his face.

  “No, Lucy! That isn’t nice.” She snatched him up.

  Immediately, he retracted his claws. He touched his nose to hers and snuggled up against her neck. He continued to eye Sam with malice.