Cat and the Cryptid Spring Episode Five

Cat and the Cryptid Summer by Raspberry | Content Warnings

Cat remembered reading somewhere that a person’s taste buds change every seven years. She wondered what the turnaround rate for taste in crushes was.

Cartboy looked the same as he did last summer: sandy hair and a puka shell necklace peeking out from the uniform polo shirt. Probably the whole “immortal” thing was helping him stay fresh-faced and adolescent. But, even though he was identical, Cat felt nothing like the pull of heartstrings from last summer. Was she seriously ever attracted to this?

As she drew closer, Cartboy glanced up, and his carefree look turned into a dark scowl. Fair enough, she thought. Last time they interacted, Gran had threatened to put him in a jar. 

“I guess you know why we’re here,” Anne said, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Most people come here to shop,” Cartboy retorted. “Though I thought your kind would be frequenting the local blood bank.”

“How long did it take you to come up with that one, Tinkerbell?”

Cat tried not to smile at the scowl deepening across Cartboy’s face. As much as she loved watching this banter, they were here for answers.

“We’re looking for a Fae,” she said, trying to draw herself up taller.

“Didn’t get enough of us last year?” he asked.

“That depends. How many more of you are trying to start a war?” Anne said.

“Allegedly.”

“We heard the full confession from Rosaria and the council that killed your queen.”

“And the only ones who witnessed that are your kind, the Guardian’s girlfriend, or dead,” he replied flatly.

“Because they tried killing us!”

Cat had a feeling this wasn’t the first (or last) argument of its kind. Which was odd, since Gran never mentioned any sort of tension with the Fae.

“Okay, can we table this for another time?” she asked, hoping her voice sounded more authoritative than whiny. 

“Right, because who cares about what happens to us as long as you get what you want?” Cartboy turned his sour expression to Cat.

“That’s not what I meant,” she began.

“You and your grandmother took out our whole government and then stepped back and let turf wars break out,” he cut in.

“I thought you didn’t want interference,” Cattried. 

“You have a cloud of death around you,” Bree noted. 

Cartboy looked at her, like he had just noticed she was there. His brows furrowed together, but Bree’s focus was on the air around him.

“You’ve lost a lot of close ones,” she continued. “Family and friends.”

He swallowed and gave a jerk of his head, almost a nod but not quite. Cat took a deep breath and tried again.

“I’m sorry for your loss. I… We didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt,” she said slowly. “And I didn’t know about the aftermath.”

Cartboy stared into her eyes so intently, Cat felt like her brain was itching. She knew the amulet Gran gave her prevented charms or deep mind reading, but she couldn’t help but feel he was still trying to probe.

“I believe you,” he said finally and tossed his hair. “And you’re right: Fae don’t need anyone’s help. We’re already a higher species than you, so what could you even do for us?”

That was probably the closest thing they’d get to a truce, so Cat didn’t press it.

“There’s a Fae causing problems,” Cat said. “Or… at least some subspecies related to Fae.”

“What kind of problems?”

“Rearranging books in the library, messing with mortal minds,” Bree began, only to be interrupted by Cartboy scoffing.

“Does messing with Ms. Peregrine’s property and interfering with mortals sound funny to you?” Anne snapped. “Because those sound like violations of The Accords to me.”

“I mean, honestly, those do sound like jokes,” Cartboy replied. “You’re sure it’s Fae-related?”

“We found traces of your kind of magic,” Anne said with a nod.

“And I definitely did the tests correctly,” Cat added.

“Then you’re looking for some sort of minor Fae,” he said slowly. “Someone who has too much time on their hands and thinks of themselves as witty.”

“A jester-like Fae who thinks they’re clever? Yeah, that narrows it down,” Anne snorted, and Bree elbowed her.

“Any guesses as to who it could be?” Cat asked.

“I think I’ve helped you enough for free,” Cartboy said, his glare returning to Anne. “And I can’t think of anything you have that would interest me, so I think we’re done here.”

He sauntered off, and Cat turned to Anne.

“Could you have just tried being civil for a few more minutes?” 

“They tried to kill you and the Guardian last summer,” Anne said hotly. “And us. Plus, he’s treating all of this like some college frat prank.” She shrugged. “Sue me for holding that against him.”

“I told you bringing her along might cause tension,” Bree said.

“Causing tension is much different than starting fights,” Cat pointed out. 

“We don’t need him to find out who’s doing this,” Anne said. “We know it’s a Fae, and apparently a minor one at that. Does the Guardian have a log of the Cryptids in the area?”

“Probably.”

“See? We’re halfway to solving this already!” Anne said brightly. “We can come over tonight and go through the logs together.”

“I can bring food from the diner,” Bree offered. “We can make it a sleepover.” She glanced at Anne. “Well, a stayover, I guess.”

Cat couldn’t help the grin on her face. Mostly because she was thinking how impressed Gran would be at her solving this so quickly. And maybe a little part of her was excited about Anne staying the night. For solving the case, of course.