The Curious Case of Cat and Cupid [manxman]

Chapter One

Wednesday, February 8th

The hideous sensation of unseen eyes on me made my skin crawl.

I stood behind one of the shelves facing the floor-to-ceiling windows of the front of my shop, and I felt certain I was being watched. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight, leaving me to wonder if someone was violating me on a visual level. I peered around the other side of the shelf, sitting down one of the charms I'd finished dusting under as I squinted, trying to see through the blackness outside.

"Looking for something?"

I jumped and whipped around to glare at Scott.

He sported a shit-eating grin that exposed his perfect teeth. "What're you looking at?" Standing a little straighter, he peered over the shelf to look outside with a frown.

I smacked him. "Some friend you are, asshole."

Scott snorted. "You can't afford to be choosy with your friends. Besides, you know you love me."

I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to comment on his jab. It was a common one, but that only attested to its truth. With him and Nina as the only two friends, my options truly were limited. "Do you see anything out there?" I asked, walking around the shelf to get a better look outside.

"I thought you weren't worried about that banshee," Scott said..

"I'm not," I said. "You know just because half the realm is in here for protection charms or spells against the banshee doesn't mean I'm going to follow along with it. I just felt like someone was watching me."

Scott folded his arms over his chest. "Come on, Jude. I know things have been tough lately. Hell, even Nina's worried about you."

"There's no reason to worry about me. A little depressed? Maybe. Miserable enough to warrant a misery-hungry banshee coming after me? Eh, not so much." I walked around him to dust the front of the shelf.

Scott was a wonderful friend, and he typically had my best interests in mind. Despite his good intentions, my patience was wearing thin, and if I had to stand there and listen to him talk about any of the shit that had happened with my ex-boyfriend, I didn't think I could handle it. Having the man I'd thought was the love of my life habitually cheat on me and leave me like it was nothing to him was torture enough.

"Jude—" Scott cut himself off, frowning as he looked toward the window. "Did you hear that?"

I raised a brow, turning to look outside again. I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't worried about the banshee. However, knowing that there was a banshee running loose, trying to find someone miserable enough to feed from, and there were strange noises outside... There was also the fact that no matter how hard I peered into the darkness outside, I didn't see a thing.

My shoulders grew taut. My spine straightened as I took a step back, frowning deeply at the door as a soft scratching raked against it. If the creature were to burst into the shop right then, I probably could've handled whatever it was. If I couldn't, then Scott was there as backup. Even so, that didn't entirely quell the fear building in the pit of my stomach. Forcing myself to look away, I shot a questioning glance at Scott.
"You know, maybe you should close up shop a little early tonight," he said.

I shook my head. "Nina's coming to pick up an order around ten. She needs her stuff for one of her midnight meetings."

"Gods, what is she up to this time?" Scott grinned, turning away from the door as his shoulders began to relax, momentarily forgetting the noise.

"Hell if I know. I stopped asking her. If the cops show up here, I don't want to be the one that gives them the info to convict her."

He chuckled. "You know, one day, I'm gonna marry that woman."