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Not bloody likely, I thought. “Vinca, have you ever considered that your intuition might be a little off?”
She frowned. “Of course not. Nymphs are known for being excellent at prophecy. Don’t mock what you do not understand.”
“Anyway,” I said, trying to change the subject. “I had to deal with him, but by the time I got back to the booth, you were gone.”
She smiled. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I’ve just never had a roommate. Can we start over?”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “Listen, I really need to go talk to Giguhl.”
She frowned a bit at the mention of the demon cat. “Okay, I’ll get some drinks, and when you come back you can tell me all about this sexy hexy.”
I let that go as she disappeared into the kitchen. I took a moment to gather myself before I confronted the pissed-off furball in the other room. No doubt about it, I was going to get the tongue-lashing of a lifetime. I had a few things to say to him, too.
I opened the door to my room expecting mayhem, but what I saw instead was Giguhl lounging on the bed, licking his paws. I shut the door and walked in slowly.
“Okay, I’m going to try to remain calm. And you’re going to give me some answers, got it?”
He paused from his licking to give me a disdainful sniff. That was as close to acquiescence as I was going to get.
“What the hell were you thinking out there?”
“That I needed to pee and someone forgot to take me for my nightly walk before she left.”
“Crap, you’re right. But did you have to pee on her plant? Couldn’t you have gone into the bathroom and used the tub or something?”
“Look, lady, I saw an opportunity for freedom and I took it. It’s not my fault I’ve been stuck in this freaking floral crypt for two days. Cats need freedom to roam, you know?”
I rolled my eyes. “Does this roaming also include shredding furniture?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes.”
“And the pillow humping?”
“I have needs!”
“You can’t do that shit here, Giguhl. She’ll make us leave.”
He sat on his haunches and glared at me. “You can’t expect me to just sit around here all the time trapped in this room. It’s bad enough I’m trapped in this furry carcass. Talk about insult added to injury.”
“Speaking of which, why is that? You could have changed back to demon whenever you wanted, right?”
He looked down and pawed at the bedspread. “Not exactly.” He mumbled something I didn’t catch.
“Come again?” I said, moving closer.
He sighed. “I said, I can’t change back. I tried and it didn’t work.”
“Why not?”
“I think it’s because you told me to stay in cat form unless you told me otherwise.”
“I’m not following.”
He looked up. “I think that when you survived the test, I kind of became your minion.”
“What?”
“Yeah, see normally only the summoner has power over me, but somehow it switched to you—or some of it did. It must be related to your surviving when I staked you.” He paused to give me a look to let me know he still thought that was weird. I agreed, but I had bigger issues than trying to overanalyze what most vampires would consider a blessing.
“Anyway,” he continued, “I basically have to do what you say.”
A laugh escaped my lips. “Now that’s funny.”
“I’m glad you find it amusing.”
“Let’s test it. Giguhl, change back to a demon.”
A burst of green light and the smell of singed hair filled the room. Waving a hand in front of my face, I squinted through the smoke. When it cleared, Giguhl sat bare-ass naked on the bed, scowling.
“Ack, cover yourself.” I grabbed a pillow from the floor and threw it at him. “Now I’m going to have nightmares.”
He caught the pillow and placed it over his lap. “It’s bad enough that I have to obey your every command—let’s not add insults to the mix.”
“Sorry. It’s just so weird. I’ve never had a minion before.” He huffed and crossed his arms. “Aw, come on. It’s only temporary.”
He looked up. “Oh? Have you found the mage who summoned me yet?”
An image of Adam’s face flashed in my mind, along with his ridiculous deal. “Not yet. But,” I said when Giguhl’s face fell again, “I have another plan.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to find a reversal spell and send you back myself.”
Giguhl snorted. “Right. Good luck with that.”
“Hey! I’m half mage, so I have to have some powers, right?”
“Pardon me for not being more excited about playing guinea pig while you test out your latent magical skills.”
“Look, I’m doing the best I can here.” But was I? One call to Adam right then and Giguhl could go home. But I had no interest in paying the price for the mancy’s help. Assuming he was telling the truth.
“In the meantime,” I said, changing the subject. “You’re going to have to behave yourself. If Vinca kicks us out, it could jeopardize my mission.”
“And that’s another thing,” Giguhl said. “Seeing as how I’m your minion and all, don’t you think it’s time you told me about this secret mission?”
“No.”
“Come on, Sabina. Who are we going to kill?”
“First of all, what makes you think I’m going to kill anyone? And second, if I was, what are you going to do, pee on them?”
“Please, you’re an assassin. It’s highly unlikely you’re here to take in the sights. And second, I have powers you haven’t seen yet.”
“What powers?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
“You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?”
He didn’t respond, just smiled, revealing pointy yellow teeth.
“Look, I need to get back out there. Change back into a cat.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but before a sound came out, the room sizzled with electricity and the green cloud returned. When it cleared this time, Giguhl the cat sat on the bed glaring at me. “That hurts, you know.”
“Sorry, but I can’t imagine Vinca would appreciate a naked demon strutting around her apartment. I promise I’ll take you on more walks. And I’ll let you out when Vinca’s not here. But you can’t go around acting like an animal.”
