Chapter 1 In the Past She’s Been a Nasty #2
I plopped down at my worktable. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen and when. That’s what Bracken is checking. Is this pregnancy nine months? Two? Somewhere in between?”
I closed my eyes to the wind rushing in through the open doors.
The gates at the ends of the deck hadn’t gone up yet.
Declan was carving something special. Until then, I’d added a new ward about halfway from the front of the gallery to the back that made people want to turn around.
My friends and family could get through, but it was designed to push away the random person who was too curious for their own good or mine.
If I was on my own, I’d probably lock up on the off chance someone got past my wards. As Declan was with me and had excellent hearing, I figured I’d enjoy the cool breezes. I seemed to be running warmer these days.
Declan went through the refrigerator and pulled out our Thai leftovers from last night’s dinner. While he heated the food, I went into my downstairs bathroom to clean up. Looking in the mirror, I saw a red face and the telltale tightness around my eyes that said I was getting less sleep than usual.
After doing a quick glamour spell to hide the over-heated exhaustion, I went back out.
Declan had food on the worktable and was dishing it onto two plates for us.
I got a couple of napkins and some drinks before sitting down, suddenly ravenous.
Declan easily ate three to four times as much food as me, but you wouldn’t notice unless you were paying close attention.
He had excellent table manners and never shoveled it in.
I took a bite and realized he was looking at me, not eating. Eyebrows raised, I chewed and waited.
“You don’t have to hide behind glamours with me. I’m sorry I’ve been away and you’ve been left alone with nightmares.”
Shaking my head, I swallowed. “You have a responsibility to all those pack members to keep them and their families safe.”
“I have a responsibility to you and the little one too, and you need sleep.”
I nodded and he finally started eating. Being a werewolf meant burning through a ton of calories every day. He needed to eat. “Maybe I’ll start taking afternoon naps,” I told him, glancing over my shoulder at the couch. I’d been joking, but that actually sounded really good.
Declan’s head came up and he looked toward the hot shop. “Someone’s coming.” He paused, listening. “I think that’s Hernández’s walk.”
Sure enough, a minute later, Detective Hernández was standing in the back door of the studio. “Sorry to interrupt your lunch. This shouldn’t take long.”
I waved her in. “Would you like some leftover Thai?”
“Smells great,” she said, “but I’m good.
I won’t mess up your meal. Please, keep eating.
” She pulled out her small notebook that was always in her pocket.
“When I’m closing up a case, I go through my notebook, pull out all the pages related to that case, and file them.
When I was doing that for this last one—Officer Harding—I found the note about that address you wanted me to check. ”
She looked up with a guilty expression and shook her head. “I’m sorry. We were in the thick of it and I completely forgot to do it earlier.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “We know you’re busy.”
Declan nodded, steadily making his way through the pile of food on his plate.
“I checked this morning,” she said, “and now I’m worried my waiting was a big mistake.”
When I’d asked Orla, our new owl-shifting friend, to check the coastline for possible sorcerer lairs, she’d also found a house that felt really dark to her.
Actually, she’d found seven. One was Cal’s lair.
One was a vampire. Four were invisible, and one was a normal house in an ordinary neighborhood that had an address.
“The owner of the property is Catherine Swan,” Hernández told us.
I sat up straight at that. The Swans were another old wicche family.
They didn’t have Corey-level power, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
Catherine was the head of the Swan coven.
Bracken said she’d been trying to spy on and steal from us since he was young, wanting to be as powerful as Gran had been.
And just that quick thought of Gran caused my breath to catch and my chest to tighten. I kept forgetting. Gran couldn’t be gone. Of course she was still here, guiding the family, keeping us all in her sights. I couldn’t wrap my head around her not being at the helm.
I’d recently learned that Catherine Swan had been working with Calliope, trying to curry favor and gain demonic gifts.
She’d even had her grandson Milo poison my pastries in the gallery, hoping someone dying here would wreck me and help Cal get the upper hand.
If the poison had killed me, all the better.
“Swan?” I looked at Declan. “This isn’t good. I need to tell Mom. Are the Swans black magic practitioners now?”
“That’s the other part,” Hernández continued. “Catherine owns the house, but her twin grandchildren Milo and Milena are the ones who live there.”
I pushed away the plate and rested my head on the table. “I hate dark wicches.”