Read Kick The Candle (Knight Games) for Free Online Page B

brush my hair. Instead, I ran my fingers through it and tucked it behind my ears on the way down the stairs. In my foyer, an elderly Japanese man in an expensive looking camel hair coat smiled at me from my father’s side.
    “Um, Dad? What’s going on?” I said through a forced smile.
    He cleared his throat and adjusted his briefcase in his hands. “We knocked, Grateful.”
    “I was sleeping.”
    With the professional demeanor worthy of a top real estate agent, Dad addressed his client. “Mr. Nekomata, will you excuse me for just a moment?” He grabbed my elbow and nudged me through the kitchen to the semi-private nook that led to the garage.
    “What are you doing here?” I asked.
    He leaned in close and whispered, “Grateful, I know you wanted to buy this place, and I turned aside Mr. Helleborine just as you asked, but it’s been over six weeks and you haven’t made an offer.”
    Helleborine was the name of the herb used to kill me during my last lifetime. I’d called in a favor from my dad when a “Mr. Helleborine” wanted to buy my house, sure that it was actually Julius threatening my seat of magic. At least this guy was human. There was a protective enchantment around the house that kept anything preternatural from entering without an invitation. “Why didn’t you call?”
    “Nekomata is a big spender. He’s been snatching up property all over the state, paying above market price. I told him I’d taken the place off the market temporarily. He showed up at my office today and paid me to show it anyway.”
    “He paid you to show him the house?” That was highly irregular.
    “Two hundred dollars, Grateful. I’m showing it. If you’d like us to wait a moment for you to leave, we will.”
    “Leave? No, I’m not leaving.”
    “Okay then. Awkward or not, carrying on.” He straightened his suit jacket.
    What could I do? I swallowed hard and marched back up the stairs. As my father began explaining the amenities in the kitchen, I cruised into the attic and roused Poe.
    “Yes, My Supreme Witchiness,” he said dryly.
    “There’s someone here, looking at the house, like to buy it. We can’t let that happen.”
    “I agree that would be unfortunate,” the raven said.
    “You’ve got to do something.” I poked his black, feathered chest.
    “ I’ve got to do something? Seems like you’ve got to do something.”
    “Hey, you’re my familiar. You’re supposed to help me.”
    Poe sighed and ruffled his feathers. He yawned and his beak clacked a few times like he was trying to wake up. “Okay. What do you want me to do?”
    “Maybe you could fly down the chimney and like, flap your wings in his face or something.”
    The raven tilted his head and closed one eye as if to say the idea was pathetic. “How about if I transform into a rat and scurry down into your kitchen?”
    “You can do that?”
    “Honestly, woman, read the damn book.” Promptly, he fluttered down to the floor, transformed into a huge black sewer rat, and scurried out the door. A few moments later I heard Dad scream like a girl and then the sound of the broom being smacked against the floor.
    “Sorry, Poe,” I whispered under my breath.
    “Robert, do not worry. Where I come from, a rat in the kitchen is a sign of good fortune.”
    “Oh? Is that a Japanese thing?”
    “No, a Nekomata family thing. Rat in the kitchen means there must be food in the kitchen.” The men laughed. I heard my father lead the way into the basement.
    “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said to Poe as he returned, transforming into his feathered self.
    “Gave it my best shot,” he said, returning to the spot next to the Book of Light where I’d found him sleeping.
    “Noooo, we are not giving up that easily.” I opened the book, forcing him to move from his perch to make room. “What can I do during the day?” I asked Poe. But it was the book that answered. Frantically, its pages flipped until they settled open near the middle.
    “Damn!