By the time Constantine walked Eric out, I was on the floor, staring at the ceiling. My clothes were covered in sweat, and I couldn’t move a muscle. I looked like a hot mess. I heard Constantine thank Eric and mention something about seeing him Saturday. I hoped it wasn’t this Saturday. I doubted I would be able to walk by then.
I was still staring at the ceiling when Constantine came over and glared down at me. Trust me—it will scare the hell out of you to have a talking cat three inches from your eyeballs.
“Wake up.”
I couldn’t help it. I jumped. He was way too close not to be scary. I sat up, staring down at him. Constantine looked as if he were smiling at me. The nerve of that cat. He was devious.
“I’m up. No need to yell.”
“Who said I was yelling? Good job today, Isis. In a few weeks, you’ll be able to defend yourself in a fight.” Constantine sounded really sure of himself.
“Sure, if those witches don’t kill me first.” At the rate they were going, that could happen sooner rather than later.
“Stop being so dramatic.”
“Constantine, you know I’m right. If Bartholomew hadn’t showed up last night, they probably would have killed me.”
“But he did show up. What’s your point?” Constantine sat down next to me and did his sphinx pose.
“He could have been hurt.” I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.
“We’re in this together, remember?” Bartholomew had walked over from his practice area.
“This is really dangerous.” I was pleading, but they just looked at each other.
“We work for Death. It comes with the territory. Good news—your order is here.” Bartholomew looked like a kid on Christmas morning. He enjoyed changing the topic.
“See, things are looking up. You got presents. I need to make a few calls. You need to stop by the Cave tonight.”
I had no idea what Constantine was talking about. This Cave thing sounded sketchy.
Constantine headed upstairs without an explanation while Bartholomew and I headed toward the shooting range. Three large crates were lined up against the wall. Bartholomew made his way toward the first one and popped the lid. A couple of new M16s were inside the crate, with sights and extra magazines. I really didn’t want to kill anyone, but I was really tired of getting beaten up.
“Are you sure you’re not an arms dealer?” It was hard not to smile at Bartholomew.
He took a bow and smiled.
“Nice job.”
“Thank you. I got extra ammo. If these witches are as strong as we think they are, bullets might not stop them. At least the effort will take its toll, especially if shot from multiple angles.”
I had asked Bartholomew to research special ammo. I wasn’t sure what damage this would do, but we needed all the help we could get. Bartholomew proceeded to show me the rest of the goods. He was good.
Chapter 23
The morning flew by, and I wasn’t sure what we had gotten done. I tested every weapon Bartholomew had ordered. I ensured the sights for all the guns were accurate and that I could handle each one. I was out of my league with spells and one-on-one combat, but at least I knew I could handle an assault rifle. I was tired of bringing knives to gun fights, as they said in Texas. To make things legit, Bartholomew sent the paperwork for my concealed gun permit. While everyone in Texas had guns, I didn’t want to go to jail for hiding mine.
After my intense weapons session, Bartholomew and I went over maps of Texarkana. For a small town, this place was really spread out. There were too many weird buildings to hide people and just odd locations. We didn’t have time to go door to door. Downtown was looking like the best setting, out of the way and with some abandoned locations. I was not too happy about searching any of them alone. Bartholomew suggested asking Sexy-Butt, a.k.a. Officer Eric, for help. At this rate, I would take any help I could get.
Constantine was working his magic to get me into the Cave. I still had no idea what that was, but I wanted to find Angelito before I headed out. Thursdays at Abuelita’s was still the weekday special, and we served only dinner. Doors were opened at 4:00 p.m., so I knew Abuelita would be at the shop already. Angelito normally showed up by three thirty. I had at least an hour to get some info from Abuelita before he showed up, and then I could nail that lazy bum. I couldn’t believe he had set me up.
I pulled up to Abuelita’s, and this time I parked in the back. I didn’t want anyone seeing Bumblebee. I also didn’t want anyone blowing it up. I was sure Constantine would turn me into Swiss cheese if something happened to his ride. Life was not fair when a cat had a better car than I did. I was not normally an angry person, but every time I thought about the Whale, fantasies of vengeance filled my mind. I really wanted to shake the hell out of those witches.
“Hi, Abuelita!” I shouted even before I walked into the building. I wasn’t scheduled to work, so I didn’t want to scare her to death. Or worse, have her shoot me.
“Oh, Isis, what are you doing here?” Yeah, huge blessing I yelled. Abuelita was pointing the shotgun directly at me.
“I was looking for Angelito and wanted to check up on you. Are you OK?”
Abuelita was like a rock—nothing could disturb her strength. Today she looked haggard. Older than ever, and even her normally tight hair was out of place. Not messy but with hair falling out of the bun.
She took a deep breath and looked around. “Well, when you see him, you tell him I need to talk to him.”
“You haven’t seen him? Abuelita, you live in the same house with that boy. How is that
