Part 8 (2/2)
Caffeine seemed like the last thing Lily needed, but Anica wasn't about to deny her what she asked for, not after walking into her shop and finding it spotless. She'd locked Jasper in the tidy storeroom, making sure the door was truly locked and not just closed. He'd be fine there sleeping in the suitcase until the morning rush was over.
Her employees could handle the business after that, and she wasn't worried about more visits from fairies. Besides cleaning the place from top to bottom and replacing all the supplies, Lily had restored the protection spells that would keep Wicked Brew safe from both magical and nonmagical break-ins.
Anica realized that her apartment protection spell probably wasn't working, either, but she couldn't bring herself to ask Lily to fix that, too. Lily was already bouncing off the walls in reaction to the magic she'd done so far. Another protection spell would put her on ma.s.sive overload and increase Anica's debt exponentially. Anica already owed her sister a lot. And Lily reminded her of it every five seconds.
”Hey, sis.” Lily motioned her over. ”What say you and me do lunch later and maybe go shopping? We haven't shopped together in ages.”
Anica recognized the attempt to create more of a bond between them, which she'd welcome under different circ.u.mstances. ”Nice idea, but I can't.”
”Why not? You have good help around here. You can leave the shop for a while.”
Until that moment, Anica had forgotten the other side effect of Lily doing major magic. She couldn't hold thoughts in her head for more than ten minutes. Anica lowered her voice. ”Jasper, my new cat. Remember?”
”Oh, right, right. Jasper. I forgot about him.”
”He drank that special stuff this morning. I don't know how it might affect him.”
Lily glanced around at the bustling shop. ”Oh yeah!” She looked up at Anica. ”I'm getting s.p.a.cey, huh?”
Anica nodded.
”Oh, well.” Lily stood and grabbed her backpack. ”Think I'll hit the department stores by myself. I could use some new clothes.”
Guaranteed she'd max out her credit card. Anica couldn't stand by and let that happen when it was her fault Lily was in this condition. ”Hey, come home with me instead. I'm almost ready to leave.”
”What'll we do at your place?”
Anica thought fast. It had to be something active, something Lily loved to do. Anica knew in her heart what it had to be, the area where she'd always been weak and Lily was strong. ”I want you to try teaching me to dance . . . again.”
”That didn't go very well back in high school. You stomped off in a huff.”
”I promise not to stomp off this time, and I'd really like to learn.”
Lily got a devilish gleam in her brown eyes. ”How about salsa?”
Anica tried not to wince at the image of her attempting salsa. She was so bad at dancing. ”Sure, if that's what you want to teach me.”
Lily grinned. ”It most definitely is. I'm smokin' when it comes to salsa.”
”And I'm not.”
”I know.” Lily looked smug. ”This role reversal is working for me, sis. When can we leave?”
”Give me five minutes to make sure Todd and Sally are on top of everything around here. Then I'll go get . . . the suitcase, and we'll leave.”
”What suitcase?”
Anica spoke in an undertone. ”The one with the cat in it.”
”Oh, that's right! I keep forgetting about that.”
Anica envied Lily her forgetfulness. Anica was afraid that even after Jasper changed back into a man-and he would, because she was determined to make that happen-this incident would haunt her forever.
Jasper wanted to do nothing but sleep, but that didn't seem to be his destiny. First he was carted back to the apartment in the suitcase, and n.o.body could sleep through that jolting experience. They made one stop, and from the smell of the place and the rustling of thin plastic, he identified it as the cleaner's. At least he'd have clothes to wear when he transformed.
Back in the apartment with both sisters, he endured a whirlwind of cleaning conducted mostly by Anica. She wouldn't let Lily help by using the wand, which made sense if working magic made Lily hyper. Consequently Anica hauled out the vacuum, which was the signal for Jasper and Orion to dive under the bed, where they had a hiss-off.
Fortunately Orion didn't try to chase Jasper out from under the bed, which seemed like the only spot to hide from the monster vacuum. Jasper tried reasoning with himself that it was only a vacuum cleaner, a tool he'd used himself a million times. But he'd been a lot bigger then. And he hadn't had a tail that could be sucked right into that roaring machine.
He and Orion seemed to bond over their mutual fear of the vacuum cleaner. Jasper was relieved that they'd reached detente. He'd hate to have to fight Orion and avoid the vacuum at the same time. A cat could only handle so much stress, especially when he was desperate for a nap.
As a man, Jasper had never been a napper, and yet that seemed to be all he could think about as a cat. He wanted that cozy corner of the sofa where he'd started his snooze earlier that day, before the whole suitcase trip, fairy vandalism and magical restoration deal had interrupted his shut-eye time.
Finally the vacuum noise stopped, and he ventured out just as a Gloria Estefan tune blasted from Anica's CD player in the living room. Orion stayed under the bed. Maybe the orange tabby didn't care for Gloria, but Jasper had always kind of liked her music.
He crept down the hallway and peered into the living room, where Lily was putting on a salsa demonstration that nearly set fire to the carpet. Jasper recognized the s.e.xiness displayed by Lily during the dance, but he was more interested in Anica, who stood in the kitchen doorway, gazing at her sister with obvious envy.
He hadn't known Anica long enough to find out if she liked to dance. It didn't really matter, because now that she'd hexed him they were so over. He had no reason to be curious about the dancing habits of a woman he had no intention of dating ever again. He should just find a cozy spot somewhere and take that nap he'd been promising himself.
Instead he settled down right where he was and watched to see what would happen next.
”This isn't the best alb.u.m for dancing,” Lily said. ”But it'll be okay for starters. Next time I'll bring some of mine.”
”I don't think the music matters when you're as uncoordinated as I am,” Anica said.
”Of course it does! Everything matters.” Lily stopped dancing and glanced down at her sweat suit. ”Even the clothes matter. Let's go see what we can find in your closet.”
”That's way too much trouble. I don't want to change clothes for this.”
”Come on, come on.” Lily beckoned to her sister as she started toward the hall. She paused as she spotted Jasper. ”Looks like somebody came out from under the bed.”
”It's been about five hours since he drank the potion, Lily. Don't you think we should see some sort of change in him by now?”
”I don't know. I'll take a closer look.” Lily crouched down next to Jasper and peered at him. ”Sorry, sis. He's still very much a cat.”
Anica came to stand beside her. ”I know, but I wish we'd see something that shows he's changing back into a guy.”
”Too bad you don't have cable. We could test him by putting him in front of ESPN with a bowl of beer and a package of Cheez-Its.”
Jasper hissed his disapproval.
Anica laughed softly. ”I don't think he appreciates your stereotyping him like that.”
”Oh, bite me, Jasper.”
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