Chapter 9
On the bright side, getting caught meant Arthur could stop pretending to be Paisley Sunset.
Sal let out an almost believable gasp of surprise. “You’re a vampire?” He raised a hand as if to clutch his collar, but the top three buttons were open. “Paisley Sunset, you sly dog!”
Arthur couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. “The jig is up, Sal.”
“Who’s this ‘Sal’ you speak of? I am Ringo Moo—”
“Would you be serious for a moment?” Arthur hissed.
“Absolutely not!”
Ambrosia Celestine cleared her throat, putting a stop to their squabble. “Ms. North, could you please give us some privacy?”
“Of course.” Hailey, still practically vibrating with excitement, hurried out of the yurt, leaving a strained silence behind.
Ambrosia returned to her seat. A few awkward seconds passed before she spoke once more, undoubtedly waiting for Hailey to be out of earshot. “I will ask again—what are a couple of vampires doing trying to join a coven of witches?”
“What gave us away?” Arthur asked, clasping his hands behind his back.
He wasn’t ready to divulge all his secrets just yet.
Better to get her talking. Perhaps they’d learn something before she unceremoniously kicked them out.
He just had to hope her manner of expelling them didn’t have any magical ramifications.
They couldn’t afford to suffer the effects if she performed some sort of anti-vampire witchy ritual—not with a killer roaming Trident Falls, not with Brody’s mother missing, not with so many occupied rooms at the Dead besides, this is a murder case. We should endeavor to be less silly.”
“What a thing to say!” Sal pulled his hand back, wincing as if he’d spotted a Coexist bumper sticker. “You do what you like, but I shall be as silly as I please! Doubly so, to compensate for you.”
As they reached the edge of the wood, Sal walking a few paces ahead, pouting, they emerged into a section of the festival full of carnival game booths for children, which Sal gazed at longingly.
“Would you feel better if we stopped to pin the sunglasses on the sun?” Arthur asked.
“Yes. Yes, I would.”
Five minutes and several dollars later, Sal emerged from the game tent holding a plastic bag filled with water and a goldfish lazily floating inside.
“I’ve named her Grumble! Get it? Because she’s a goldfish, with a G. And also because I was grumpy when I won her.”
Before Arthur could question that further, Hailey rushed up to them, a corn dog in one hand.
“You’re the ones looking for the black cat, right?
” she asked, out of breath and practically bouncing.
That didn’t give Arthur much to go on, because Hailey was excited all the time, but he still felt a thrill of hope rush through him.
If they could find Rumble, that would be one task off his to-do list. Perhaps Sal could be convinced to give the fish back, in any case. Rumble would surely eat it in no time.
Sal practically pushed Arthur aside to rush into Hailey’s personal space. “My precious daughter! Did you see her?”
“I think so. Near all the food trucks and stuff.” She held up her corn dog as evidence.
Sal ran off without a word, aside from calling Rumble’s name, but Arthur stayed long enough to thank her before following his husband through the crowd. When he spotted a food truck that advertised gluten-free vegan corn dogs, he knew he was close.