Gasping, I stumbled back, nearly backing into Kull as I took in the state of my apartment.
The couches had been sliced open, their stuffing lay in heaps around the room like lumps of snow. My lamp was smashed and glass littered the floor. The cabinets and drawers in the kitchen were all open, their contents spilled onto the counters and floors. Even the fridge had been ransacked. Lunch meat and eggs were strewn about or smashed on the kitchen floor.
“Does it always look like this?” Kull asked.
Ugh. “No, it doesn’t always look like this,” I retorted. “Someone must’ve broken in.”
After stepping over the glass, I entered the living room. Most of this stuff didn’t matter so much to me. It was all secondhand anyway, although I’d felt a sense of pride buying each piece with my own money. I had to admit I’d gotten attached to most of it, but it could all be replaced.
The only thing that couldn’t be replaced was Han.
If someone hurt Han, they would so regret it.
“Kitty, kitty, kitty,” I called as I walked into my bedroom. Same thing here. Mattress overturned. Blankets on the floor. Dresser drawers hanging open. I knelt and searched under the box springs, thinking that it would be a good place for a cat to hide, but saw nothing but a discarded sock.
No sign of Han.
Standing, I crossed to the bathroom, my heart racing as the truth sank in. Han must’ve escaped when the intruders had broken in. They’d probably scared him, and he’d taken off. He could be on the other side of the island by now. Or worse, hit by a car. He’d never been out there before. He wouldn’t even know cars were dangerous.
I raced through the apartment, calling for him and looking inside cabinets. When I found my phone lying on the living room floor, still plugged into the charger, peeking under the fluffy stuffing, I grabbed it.
Yanking it off the charger, I stared at the screen. My hands were shaking, which was dumb. I’d just endured a life-or-death battle with demonic creatures from a cursed world, but I was freaking out because my apartment had been broken into? It didn’t make sense.
Steadying my breathing, I focused on my phone. It would be okay; I just needed to call someone. The cops? Brent? Yes, Brent. He was a cop; he would know what to do. Plus, I prayed he had my cat. I pressed the speed dial and pressed the phone to my ear. Please, please, please have my cat…
Brent answered the call on the third ring. “Olive, thank goodness it’s you. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. What about my cat?”
“I have him. I got there this morning, and found him eating bologna off the kitchen floor.”
Relief washed over me. Thank goodness for small miracles. And bologna.
“Can I see him?” I asked.
“Sure, he’s hiding upstairs and I can’t coax him out. He’s pretty scared, to be honest.”
My heart fell. I’d always hated leaving Han behind when I went on these quests. I couldn’t help but feel this was my punishment for leaving him all the time. But what had happened to my place? Who had done this?
“You came over, I guess?” I asked Brent. “You saw what happened?”
“Yes. I got there this morning to feed your cat, but the place had been trashed. I called the cops. They came by and asked a few questions, but I don’t expect much to get done. Sadly, break-ins are a pretty common thing, especially in your part of town. I’m not in your jurisdiction, so there’s not much I can do, either.”
“So where do I go from here?” I asked.
“Nowhere. You’re at the mercy of the insurance company and the police force. I’m sorry, Olive.”
This sucked so bad. Whoever had done this was going to feel my wrath. Kull had already put me in a bad mood, and now this. But I had to keep moving forward. I had nowhere else to go.
“Fine,” I conceded, staring around at my ruined apartment. My magic was still nonexistent, yet I detected something in the room, something that shouldn’t have been there. It put me on edge and made fear run cold through my blood. All I knew is that I didn’t want to be here anymore.
“Brent…” I said. “I know this is asking a lot, but is there any chance I could stay at your place? Just for tonight?” It was a shot in the dark. I hadn’t been back to his place since we’d broken up. To be completely honest, I wasn’t happy with the prospect of going back now, except I didn’t feel I had much of a choice. Han was at Brent’s place and scared out of his mind. Besides, finding a pet-friendly hotel in Galveston during spring break was impossible. I had nowhere else to go. “Please?” I begged.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “But just for tonight, got it?”
“Agreed, just for tonight.” I paused, not sure how to phrase my next question. “I, uh, I’m not alone. Kull is here with me now, and he’ll have to come with us because I can’t leave him. He’s had some head trauma. Memory problems, you know. I can’t guarantee how stable he is. He could get violent. Just want you to be warned.”
Kull gave me a dark look.
“You’re fiancé?” Brent asked.
“Yep, that’s him.”
Brent sighed. Strangely, Brent and Kull had never gotten along. I had no idea why. “What kind of head trauma?”
“Well, he got attacked by a warlock who placed a curse on him and removed all his memories of me. He also seems to be disoriented and very confused.”
“So…fairy stuff?”
“Yes. Fairy stuff.”
“Fine. Whatever. Bring him along, too. He can stay upstairs with the cat. Anyone else I should know about? Want to bring
