Spliced

Cat had stormed into Coal’s house slightly disappointed that the door had been unlocked and she didn’t get the chance to kick it in.

“Coal!” she yelled again.

She was starting to think he wasn’t home when he finally stepped out of the hallway and into the entertaining room.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked, infuriatingly calm as always.

“You bloody well know what!” Cat stood a few metres from him with her fists clenched. She refrained from getting any closer yet. She wanted... no, she needed to hear him say it.

But he just looked mildly confused, which made her even madder.

“Natasha,” she clarified through gritted teeth.

Now there was a hint of recognition. He did know. Not that she had doubted Baz but she was surprised that Coal wasn’t continuing with the act of ignorance.

She pointed at him with a closed fist. “You killed her.”

“Natasha? The necro?” another man’s voice asked.

It took Cat a few seconds to register that there was someone else there with them, standing next to Coal and slightly behind. It took her another few seconds to register who it was and only a split millisecond after that to decide that he wasn’t important right now.

“What is it you think you’ve heard?” Coal asked her, still calm.

So calm she wanted to punch him in the face, but as angry as she was she knew she had to be careful. She’d seen how fast he could put a sword in someone’s gut. She wasn’t planning on that happening to her, at least not yet. Besides the look of recognition he’d given a moment before wasn’t enough of a confession. But she also didn’t want to throw Baz under the bus as the one who had told her.

“She’s dead isn’t she?” Cat growled.

Coal gave a single slow nod. “She is.”

Cat narrowed her eyes and took a step forward. Coal didn’t even flinch. He was so stupidly calm. But he watched her like a hawk watches their prey. Beside him Lucifer shifted slightly, away from Coal and into a position that gave him a better view of Cat. His fingers twitched slightly. He was a telekinetic from Cat’s memory, not overly powerful, but above average and extremely precise. He might struggle to lift a car but he had the type of precision that lets one press and hold an artery closed without damaging the surrounding tissue. Right now, Cat didn’t care. All she could think about was the million different ways Natasha might have spent her last moments.

“And you killed her.” Cat inched another step closer.

“It’s not like what you think,” Coal replied. He hadn’t inched back or flinched or even tensed up. Lucifer had, just a little, a tightening of his body posture betrayed some small level of apprehension, but he moved like a snake sizing up a rabid lion.

“You killed her, or something you gave her killed her. However it happened, it doesn’t matter, ultimately you’re still the one that’s responsible.” She tried to take another step forward, the step that would put her within reach of him, but she was dismayed to find her feet were stuck to the floor. Some invisible force held her pinned in place.

“I think that’s far enough,” Lucifer told her.

She glared at him. This was hardly a fair fight and this wasn’t between him and her. She looked back at Coal.

Coal shook his head and waved a hand to the side. “It’s fine Luci.”

But Lucifer didn’t release her. Cat glared at them both. Stupid Coal’s stuck up relaxed callous attitude and Lucifer’s meddling. She hated them all. “I’m not leaving until you admit it.”

To her surprise Coal took a step toward her. Even though it was only her feet that were stuck she was too surprised to hit him but she tensed up ready just in case.

Further to her surprise, he walked right past her. As he got out of reach again she felt the telekinetic hold on her loosen. She could move again if she wanted. She chose not to, for now, too curious to know what he was doing.

As he walked he talked, with his back to her, and his gaze fixed on the other side of the room. She didn't understand the significance of that particular area.

“The item that killed her was one she requested specifically. Maybe you’re right and some of the responsibility is mine but”—He turned to face her and met her eyes—“if the responsibility is mine then it’s also yours.”

“How do figure that?” Cat narrowed her eyes at him.

He sighed softly and for a moment he glanced at an empty place on the table. He appeared lost in thought.

For awhile no one spoke and then Coal looked to Lucifer. “I’ll see you next Tuesday.”

There was some unspoken message that passed between them but Cat didn’t look at Lucifer. She kept her gaze on Coal.

Coal waved his hand in a shooing motion.

Finally Cat heard Lucifer walking away and then a little while later she heard the front door shut.

She was too confused to be mad now.

Coal gestured to a seat.

Cat didn’t budge. She noticed him sigh but he didn’t make any other comments. Instead he waved his hand and a moment later a wooden chest appeared on the table between them. With a key that had also appeared out of nowhere Coal reached out and opened the lock on the chest.

Cat watched him with trepidation, confusion, and suspicion.

He opened the box. Inside it sat a red vase. She could see inscriptions on the box but she didn’t know what any of them meant. It was probably a containment vessel of some kind.

“It’s empty now but I’ve put it in here just to be safe.”

“What do you mean empty?”

“This was up until recently the final resting place of one dearly departed Tricia Milton.”

Cat frowned. “You mean the old owner of that creepy house we just nearly got stuck permanently inside? The one with the dreamweaver which is now loose somewhere on the town?”

“The very same.”

“You know it escaped right?”

“I heard.”

“And you don’t care? Like you don’t care about what happened to Tasha.”

Coal made a slight choking sound before clearly replying. “There were no immediate sightings of the dreamweaver. And I do care. Natasha was...” he faltered “...useful.”

All Cat noticed were the words. “Useful?” she sneered. “You handed her the very thing that killed her.” She gestured fiercely at the vase. She was within reach of him now. She could hit him if she wanted but she probably wouldn't survive it and she still wanted to hear him say it. Admit properly that he had killed her. Then she could hit him. Or at least try to. Coal was hard to land a hit on. This she knew from past experience. His reflexes were fast and he was stronger than she but maybe if she waited for just the right moment.

“And you led me right to it.”

“What?” Cat blinked.

Coal took a step back. He gestured at the vase. “This came from the house. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’d have had it either way but the nature of it’s arriving here would have been very different if it hadn’t been that night.”

Cat was confused. She shook her head. “You chose to go into that house when you did. That had nothing to do with us.”

“I was in that house when I was precisely because you lot were in there, and how many of you do you think would have survived that night if I hadn’t been?” His voice was harder now, almost a growl. The emotion in it unsettled her, scared her even.

She thought back to memories of Coal swinging his sword at the plant that had nearly trapped them all, had consumed magic so thoroughly that even Amanda couldn’t have burned her way out. He was probably right on that point, but it wasn’t relevant. He was reaching, distracting her with tall tales of indirect cause and effect and she knew it.

“You handed her something you knew was dangerous, with no protection in place.”

“I had protective spell in place,” Coal shot back.

Cat was silent a moment, put off balance at the anger in his blue eyes, even if his voice was still calmer than hers. “So what happened then?”

“It was removed.”

“By whom?”

“Someone who won’t get the chance to do it again.”

Cat frowned, uncertain who he meant. “Natasha?”

Coal shook his head. Then he took a seat. He didn’t seem concerned that she might attack him at all.

Truthfully Cat was feeling kind of deflated now. “Why didn’t you necromancy her?”

He met her gaze and studied her face, considered something and then replied, “Because that was the only necromancer I have at my present disposal.”

Cat was surprised that he’d admitted that. Finally she took a seat at the table next to him. She rubbed her forehead and stared at the vase. It was so shiny, it almost felt like it was mocking her. “What about that thing?”

Coal raised his eyebrows in question.

“Well,” Cat explained, “Mrs Milton was using it for some sort of self necromancy right? And that’s why Tasha wanted it? Because it helps with necromancies?” Cat was guessing but the look on Coal face said it was a good guess. “So why can’t you use that?”

“It’s complicated.”

Cat frowned and opened her mouth to ask a second question but Coal beat her to it.

“It took some time to vacate the other ghost. Reversal spells are tricky things and in the process whatever magic was in that was lost.” Coal actually managed to look sad about it this time, and tired. It was a good act.

She turned to look at the vase, her jaw clenched but the rest of her feeling very lost. If even Coal couldn’t revive her... so that was that then. Natasha was gone and there was nothing to be done about it. She could still hit him but it didn’t seem worth the effort now. And that deflated sad expression on his face, even if it was fake, it was certainly off putting.

She sat there in frustrated, flat, silence with Coal until he asked. “Was there anything else you wanted?”

She shook her head, got to her feet, and walked out without another word, leaving him alone with his empty vase.