Murphy's Fury

  * * *

  A few minutes later, Cassandra pulled into the driveway of a glamorous hotel. Jasmine stared out the passenger side window while she tried to swallow her stomach. She looked at the fancy hotel rising high above her head and imagined that the roof was scrapping the bottom of the clouds. The front lobby was a huge glass window supported by white marble columns. What she could see through the windows looked like little meeting places surrounded by climbing ivy and water fountains. This was the poshest place she’d ever seen. She opened her eyes wide and grinned with delight when she thought they would be staying there. Maybe my luck is changing. This place doesn’t seem so bad. I wonder what the catch is. She didn’t have long to wait. Cassandra threw the car back in gear and flew up the driveway before whipping around the corner. Behind the hotel sat a little groundskeeper’s shack half hidden in a wild tangle of bushes.

  Cassandra shifted the car into park and half turned in the driver’s seat. “Here’s your stop.” She glanced in the rear view mirror at the demon huddled in the backseat. “Are you alright, beastie? You look a little green.” She shrugged her shoulders before Jeff could answer and hurried on with her explanation. “Hunny Bunny said you’re supposed to be the caretaker for this assignment.” She turned back to Jasmine, done with the demon. “He wouldn’t tell me what you were supposed to be doing. Did you play one of your juvenile tricks on him?”

  Before Jasmine could answer the other Fury, Jeff reached around the passenger seat and lifted the cat into the back seat. Irritated at being dismissed and annoyed that he was irritated, he snapped, “I’ll keep her with me until we sort it out. Thank you for the ride.” He opened the door and slipped out, shutting it silently behind him. He carried Jasmine to the front door of the cottage and paused long enough to watch Cassandra leave before heading inside.

  The car sped away with a squeal of tires and a shower of gravel. Jasmine wiggled in Jeff’s grip and yowled until he put her down.

  “That dang Fury knows what I’m doing here and she’s not telling,” Jasmine hissed, pacing in front of the cottage door.

  Used to the Fury’s temperament, Jeff opened the door to the cottage and went inside, leaving the cat to vent. One look inside was enough to have him wishing he could go back outside and vent with her.

  The one room cottage was small. Smaller than the studio apartment he’d had on his first assignment. It didn’t even boast a kitchen. There was a mini-fridge in one corner, a table and chair set under the window and a door in the back. That was it.

  “Isn’t there a bathroom in this dump?” Jasmine stuck her head around the corner of the door and decided she didn’t like what she was seeing. “Where’s the bed?”

  Jeff walked to the wall opposite the window. “I think its right here.” He reached for a hole in the wall and pulled. Half the wall came forward and down; a couple of wooden legs stuck out and supported the newly revealed mattress.

  “You have got to be kidding me.” Disgust dripped from Jasmine’s tone. Cautiously, she jumped on the bed and walked across; picking up her feet with every step. With exaggerated care, she leaned over the edge afraid the bed would swing back up and take her with it. She studied the hinges, what she could see of them, before jumping back to the floor and crawling under it.

  Jeff walked to the back door half afraid it would be a path ending at an outhouse. He was pleasantly surprised to find a king-sized bathroom hiding behind the wooden façade. A small window, barely large enough to crawl through provided enough light for him to see the light switch without having to bat blindly at the wall. He flicked the switch and light flooded the room showing him that whoever had this place before did like the little luxuries. A double shower stall and a bathtub large enough to swim in dominated the far wall. A vanity, sporting double sinks and a mirror hogged the other wall. Something’s missing. I see a sink and bathtub but where is the toilet?

  “Where’s the commode?”

  Jeff looked down at the cat winding her way between his legs. “Where’s the what?”

  Jasmine looked up at him as if he was stupid. “The commode,” she repeated. When his blank look didn’t change, she tried again. “The toilet?”

  “Uh…” He glanced around the bathroom again. Where is it? If Jasmine finds it first, she’ll lord it over me for eternity. That’s too long. In desperate relief he spied another door next to the window. Hand outstretched, he marched across the tiled floor and grasped the door knob. He flung it open with all the flair he could manage and stood in a ‘ta-da’ pose for the Fury’s praise.

  Jasmine took one look at the demon’s pose and decided to have some fun. She reached for the new gem on her collar, the amethyst, and stared at the doorway. Layer by layer she built an illusion over the doorframe. It took a little work and she was starting to lose her concentration before she remembered the lack of magic in the collar. Too late to regret it now, she thought. “Very nice,” she purred. “You found the back exit. I was looking for something a bit more closed in.”

  Jeff flushed at the sarcasm in her voice. He turned and looked around the door he held opened. There was a cute little garden with a gravel path leading from the doorway around the corner. He looked closer. There was something off about it. A flickering at the corner of his eye caught his attention and he leaned closer to the doorframe, trying to see what it was.

  Afterward, he couldn’t say what had warned him, but he ducked as something brown sailed through the air where his head had been and landed with a splash. The illusion blinked out and he had to stifle a laugh at the miserable expression on Jasmine’s face. “I think you found the toilet.”

  Jasmine laid her ears back and hissed at him but he only laughed. It was hard to take her seriously when she was dripping toilet water. She climbed out of the bowl, and with all the dignity she could muster, squelched her way out of the bathroom and into the main room of the cottage.

  It took Jeff about two seconds to realize that he hadn’t raised the bed. He raced for the bathroom door but was too late. Jasmine sat in the middle of the bed with her back to the bathroom, cleaning the water from her fur.

  Before he could make more than a threatening gesture at the cat, the front door swung open and banged into the wall. Jeff faced the door and felt his mouth drop at the dream standing in the doorframe. Long mahogany waves, surrounding a heart shaped face, fell down the back of a little white sundress that left little to the imagination. He was appreciating how little he had to imagine when the vision held out her hand.

  “Oh good, you are here. I thought I saw a car drive around back. I’m Ms. Benson, Alexzandra Benson. You’re the new groundskeeper?” She didn’t wait for him to answer before plowing on with her thoughts. “Would you care to walk around the grounds while I fill you in on what your responsibilities are?”

  All Jeff could do was nod. He forgot the wet cat in the middle of his bed. He forgot that the Fury had no clue about her assignment and he should be helping her. He forgot everything. All he knew was that the vision in front of him wanted to walk with him.

  Before Jasmine could jump down from the bed, Jeff and Alexzandra disappeared, closing the door behind them. The Fury growled. How dare he! Why did I have to be stuck with the demon who falls for every pretty face? If he doesn’t come back and open this door, I’ll…I’ll… She didn’t know what she’d do but whatever it was, she knew he wasn’t going to like it. It occurred to her that Jeff might still be suffering the after effects of Cassandra’s vamping earlier.

  She paced around the tiny room. If she wanted out, she’d have to find her own way. Three circuits later, the door was still tightly shut but Jasmine finally remembered the window in the bathroom. That exit was still open. She raced for the window and jumped. Good thing there’s no screen on it. That could have been messy.

  Once outside, Jasmine trotted around to the front of the shack. Sure they couldn’t have gotten that far, she headed for the back of the hotel.

  Twenty minutes later, Jas
mine wished she’d stay in the shack. Three squealing fluff balls flew at her. She hissed and arched her back, all her hair standing on end. She turned around, intending to run for shelter but the fluff balls surrounded her. A sharp tug on her tail had her spinning one way and something grabbing her back paw spun her the other way. Feeling her heart thud against her rib cage, she looked desperately for an escape.

  She yelped when a vise closed around her belly, lifting her out of the midst of the fluffy whirlwind.

  “Back off, you brats. Leave the poor cat alone.”

  “Aww, Uncle Aaron.” The fluff-balls separated into three nearly identical girls in matching poufy, red dresses complete with the crinkled underskirts that made the top fabric stand almost straight out. If Jasmine had to guess, she would have said they were about five years old, but what did she know about children? Especially children that resembled poodles.

  Aaron tucked the cat into the crook of his elbow and pointed toward the nearest door with his free arm. “Go, before I tell your mother you escaped your nanny again.”

  With pouting lips and fake tears, the girls trudged back toward their room and their nanny. Aaron didn’t stand around long enough to make sure they went where they were supposed to go. He held the cat to his side and using his free hand, scratched under her chin. He smiled when a rumbling purr started. “Now, where did you come from? Do you belong to the new gardener?”

  Jasmine just cocked her head to the side and watched him out of one eye. It wasn’t like he really expected her to answer him, so she stretched out her neck and meowed at him.

  Aaron laughed, “Was that a yes or a no?”

  “What are you doing with that filthy animal?”

  The voice came out of nowhere. In surprise, Aaron whipped around, nearly dropping Jasmine in his haste. Standing behind them in the middle of the gravel path were Jeff and the woman from earlier.

  Filthy? Who is she calling filthy? I cleaned myself before coming outside. She sniffed haughtily at the woman and then glared at Jeff. Just had to come back, didn’t you? She looked closer at the retrieval demon. He seemed more disgusted and less stunned the more time he spent in Alexzandra’s company.

  “Close your mouth, Aaron.” She glared at him until he started to shift his weight. “And stop fidgeting. Honestly, what did she see in you?” She turned on her heel and tucking her hand onto Jeff’s arm, steered him away. “And get rid of that thing,” she called over her shoulder.

  That was too much for Jasmine. “Thing? Did she really call me a thing? Filthy was bad enough but a thing?”

  A talking cat was one too many shocks for Aaron. He froze, which was a good thing for Jasmine. If he’d been able to move, he would have dropped her. “Wh…what did you say?” He glanced down at the cat cradled in his arms.

  Jasmine batted her eyes at him. “Meow?”

  Did she just say meow? Aaron shrugged, thinking he was hearing things. Mumbling something about too much stress in his life, he continued on to the groundskeeper’s shack.

  “You know,” he said to Jasmine, the talking cat thing forgotten. “I wish I could keep you, just to drive that old bat crazy. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I asked her daughter to marry me.” At this point he realized he was talking to a cat. He looked around, making sure no one was watching before shrugging his shoulders. “Look at this. I’m talking to a cat. I must really be going crazy. What do you think?” he asked, wrapping his hands around Jasmine and lifting her to his eye level. When she just looked at him, he burst out laughing. “As if you could answer me. If you could say something other than meow, I’d be surprised.”

  “Surprised?”

  Aaron gaped at her. This time he’d seen her mouth move. This is crazy. There is no way a cat just talked. Maybe Alexzandra is right.

  “Would you please close your mouth? You look like a stranded fish.” Jasmine wiggled in his hands. Lifting one back foot and hooking in on his wrist, she pushed. His hands opened and she dropped free. Glad that he’d stopped in front of the shack, she sat back and looked at the door. When it didn’t open magically, she looked over her shoulder. Aaron was doing something weird. She didn’t have the patience to witness his breakdown so she called to him, “Hello? The door?”

  “Oh, right. Sorry.” Aaron automatically reached out his hand and turned the doorknob. When the cat disappeared inside, he closed the door behind her and then went back to trying to figure out just what the heck was going on.

  Jasmine jumped on to the windowsill and watched Aaron wander aimlessly away. Something she hadn’t felt in centuries filled her; a sense of just meeting her assignment, but she shook her head. There was no way she was here to avenge Aaron. He was not a scorned woman by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe he’s the soul I’m here to collect. Belatedly, it occurred to her she could have checked.

  She jumped from the window onto the bed and made her way to the pillows. She curled up and stared at the blank wall where the bed was stored during the day. She tapped a paw against the emerald on her collar. A map appeared on the empty wall. Jasmine frowned at the flickering edges before remembering she hadn’t had time to recharge her collar.

  She ignored the flickering as best she could and looked for the colored dots that were her target and assignment. She growled in frustration when nothing showed. She zoomed in on her location, checking to see if her dot was on the map. She quickly found her blue dot but blinked in surprise at the pale yellow, nearly white, dot moving away. That has to be Aaron. But he’s too light. Daddy Dearest wouldn’t let anyone collect him until he’s been corrupted. Damn, this is going to be a long assignment. A dark orange dot, above and slightly to the right of hers, nearly covered the entire hotel. She’d missed the dot because she’d thought it was the hotel. Now there’s a soul Daddy Dearest would love. It’s huge. She sighed, lusting after the orange dot. Maybe I can take that one, too.

  The empty circle that represented Jeff was just a pinprick next to the orange dot, but that clued her in as to who the spot belonged to. She waited until both were heading toward the shack before letting the emerald suck the magic back in. She curled up tighter on the pillow and pretended to be asleep.

  “I think that’s everything. Do you have any questions?” The voice floated into the room and Jasmine winced. The high-pitched nasally voice grated on her last nerve, but she was right. It belonged to the same person who had called her a thing. She felt a grin spread across her whiskers. She was going to enjoy annoying Alexzandra.

  She waited until the woman left and Jeff had closed the door behind him before stretching out, trying to reach both sides of the bed. “Well, that was informative.”

  Jeff sighed and stomped over to Jasmine. He flopped down on his back, barely missing the large wet spot in the center of the bed and threw his arm over his eyes. “That woman is a demon.”

  Jasmine laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “I guess it takes one to know one.”

  Jeff glared at her. “You didn’t just spend time in her presence.”

  “Not for lack of trying. Why do you think I was outside?”

  “That reminds me. There’s a no pet rule for her employees.”

  “Did you tell her I belong to you?”

  “Hell, no. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.” He rolled over and clasped his hands over the back of his neck. “The things she expects,” he whined. “No wonder she can’t keep a groundskeeper. Seven people. I’m expected to replace seven people. ‘Down-sizing’ she calls it.”

  “Seven people? Just how are you supposed to do that?”

  “By going to bed at four and getting up at five.” He pulled a scroll out of his pocket and held it over the edge of the bed. Holding one end, he let it unroll.

  Jasmine started laughing when the end of the paper hit the floor, rolled across the room and into the bathroom. “It’s a comedy gag. That is so … um… hellish?”

  Jeff scowled. “Please tell me you figured out what your assignment is so we can l
eave.”

  “I’m not sure. I checked my map and two dots appeared.”

  “Great,” Jeff interrupted.

  “Not great. There are two dots, one is a pale yellow, almost white and the other is a dingy orange.”

  “So you stay with the yellow and gather the orange. What’s the problem?”

  “The yellow dot is Aaron and the orange one is Alexzandra. I’ve never been assigned a scorned man before.”

  “Could it be a mistake?”

  “Murphy!” Jasmine jumped off the bed and stalked across the floor stiff legged and tail slashing the air behind her. “He strikes again. This is someone’s assignment, but it’s not mine. I am not a succubus.” She started to mumble her words until all Jeff could understand was a series of growls and hisses.

  “What does a succubus have to do with this assignment?”

  “Don’t you see? Aaron really is the target, but his dot is too pale. He’s supposed to be corrupted.”

  “Or maybe Murphy’s curse took a different turn.” He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

  Jasmine stopped in mid-step and looked over her shoulder. “How so?”

  “Think about. Why do you think that only women can be scorned? You should turn this to your advantage.”

  “But…”

  “I know, I know. Hell hath no Fury like a woman scorned. Don’t you think it’s time to branch out? What if you can get more souls by collecting for scorned men, too?”

  Jasmine blinked at him. That had never occurred to her. She wasn’t even sure she could work with a guy.

  “I know a good way to start,” Jeff grinned.

  Jasmine sat back, lined her front paws up, wrapped her tail around her feet, and waited. Jeff was on a roll and she wasn’t going to encourage him.

  Jeff felt his grin slip as Jasmine continued to stare at him. No one stares like a cat. If I had a soul, I’d be afraid she was looking at it. “Move in with Aaron. It’ll drive Alexzandra nuts… err, nuttier.”

  Jasmine smiled and walked toward the door. Her tail waved goodbye to the demon as she slipped through.

  Jeff stared at the door. He hadn’t opened it and he certainly hadn’t closed it. He shrugged his shoulders and flopped back on the bed.