Chapter 6

SIX

Brimstone made his escape from the shop as soon as I got back. Now , whether that was because he was tired from his shift or because of the dogs, I would probably never know. Most of the customers left shortly after, so I decided it was near enough closing time to close up for the day.

I was helping the last customer with her bill when the door opened.

“ Sorry ,” I said, looking up from the laptop, “we’re about to close…”

Preston had entered the shop.

Somewhere in the back of my head, I heard a ding followed by, ready, set, fight!

Preston gave me one of his dentist-approved eye-blinding smiles. “ Surely , you can spare a bit of time for an old friend?”

I wished my customer a good evening, then waited for the door to close behind her before pointing at Preston . “ We aren’t friends, and I only met you four weeks ago.”

He took a seat at the counter, as comfortable as a frog on a puddle. “ It’s not the time, it’s the quality.”

It was amazing how he made the saying sound like a threat rather than an encouraging adage. I moved around the counter and flipped the open sign to closed.

Once I was back behind the counter, I planted my hands on the wooden surface and pinned him with a hard stare. “ What do you want, Preston ?”

He glanced at the daily specials blackboard on top of the shelf, then scrunched his nose. “ I’ll take a coffee, thanks.”

“ That’s not what I meant,” I snapped.

And turned to pour him a mug of coffee.

It couldn’t be helped. Once a barista, always a barista.

“ Here’s your coffee,” I said primly, placing the mug in front of him. The one with a small crack that looked about forty years old I reserved for unwanted visitors. “ Why are you here?”

“ Just visiting. Our shops are to be neighbors after all, aren’t they?”

“ You’re opening in the city center. It’s like thirty minutes away by car.”

He lifted the mug in salute and sipped. “ This is excellent.”

Of course it was. “ Thank you.”

A low growl came from the bead curtain. Apparently , Rufus was done with the backyard and had come to investigate the inside.

Preston frowned at the interruption. “ What’s that?”

I gave him my blandest smile. “ A dog.”

He rolled his eyes. “ Is he trained?”

“ To slay my enemies? Yes .”

Preston grew suddenly serious. “ I’m not your enemy.”

I shrugged. “ You know what they say… The enemies of my friends are my enemies.”

“ That’s not how the saying goes.”

“ You wouldn’t know. It’s girl code.” I went to Rufus and scratched his ears. “ Rufus , this is Preston . We don’t like him very much, but we also shouldn’t eat him.” I sent Preston a meaningful glance. “ Yet .”

Rufus let out a doggy huff, then returned to the back door. I could see Fluffy sniffing the center metal fire pit through the opening.

“ I didn’t know you had a dog,” Preston said.

“ It’s not mine.”

“ Who gave Dru the money to buy the restaurant next door?”

Ahh . So that was it. I smiled slyly. “ Why , are you mad she got such a good location and you didn’t?”

He put the mug down. “ It’s not as good as the Corner Rose .”

“ It’s okay to lose sometimes,” I said, injecting as much pity and condescension in my tone as humanly possible. “ That’s life.”

“ If you say so. I suppose the place was much cheaper than the corner building.”

“ I wouldn’t know.”

“ You sure about that?”

“ Dru doesn’t consult me on her buying decisions. Or her budget.” Of course, I knew her budget since I’d been the one to transfer Bagley’s money to her account, but since no actual consultation had taken place, karma couldn’t bite me for lying—it was all in the wording.

Or so the couple of Fae fantasies I’d read told me.

“ I didn’t know her previous job left her with enough savings to make the purchase,” Preston remarked in an off-handed way. “ I was under the impression the bank wouldn’t give her a loan for the Corner Rose based on her lack of funds. Curious that she can afford it now.”

“ Search for wonders in each day, for they’ll make your dreams all the sweeter.”

Preston blinked. “ Pardon me?”

I grabbed his half-filled mug and dumped it in the small sink. “ Sorry , I need to start cleaning up. Busy night ahead of me.”

Preston studied me for a few moments, then conceded defeat and stood. “ I want what’s best for Dru .”

Sure , that’s why he was here asking me questions instead of talking to her. “ Mm -hmm.”

With a sigh, he took out his wallet, ready to pay, but I waved it away. “ On the house.”

His fake smile matched mine. “ That’s nice of you. Thank you. I’ll make sure to drop by again, then.”

He was gone before I could tell him I’d changed my mind and he owed me four bucks.

Dru was not going to be happy about his visit. I’d tried to pry the tale of their epic relationship ending before, but every time I raised the subject, her nails would grow sharp points, and a bit of horn would begin to peek among her curls, so I’d decided that, for the sake of our friendship and her stress levels, I’d wait for her to tell me the full story whenever she felt like it.

And if she never did, well, that was the price of friendships, wasn’t it?

I prepped the shop for tomorrow, then brought Fluffy and Rufus up to the living quarters for our dinner. I had some leftovers from lunch, so I made fast work of them before settling in bed for my favorite part of the day.

Calling Ian .

Okay , “favorite” was not the best word for this situation, considering I’d rather he be here in person, but all things considered, it was the most fitting. Just thinking of his name made butterflies flit inside my stomach.

The way he had looked at me during Halloween , the sight of his wolf, big and majestic and so rare, because he never shifted, ever. But he had, for me, to protect me. I buried my face in my pillow until I got my heartbeat back under control, and didn’t even mind I was acting like a squealing teenager with her first crush.

I loved taking care of my customers and watching my shop run like a well moon-watered spell, but it was important to have fulfilling goals outside of work.

Rather than call right away, I sent him a text first. I didn’t want to interrupt him if he was busy with the guild.

Turns out, he wasn’t. My phone started ringing, and I answered breathlessly. “ Hi , Ian !”

“ Hello , Hope ,” he said with clear amusement. “ I’m free now.”

“ Excellent .” I settled back against the pillows. “ How was your day?”

“ Boring .”

“ Then you should definitely come back faster.” I couldn’t help the slight note of whine that accompanied the words.

“ I should be done soon.” He didn’t sound irritated or put upon by the delay, just relaying information in his usual matter-of-fact fashion. It was one of his best qualities.

“ I’ll believe it when I see it,” I said lightly. Inside though, I was thinking that me and the bounty hunter guild were going to have a big problem if they didn’t let Ian return soon. Paranormal justice was renowned for its swiftness. Shouldn’t Hannah be locked up by now? We had caught her red-handed, and she had confessed!

He laughed softly, a sound that reverberated all the way down to my curling toes. “ Same .”

“ Do you still think Hannah will try to make a deal?”

“ No . But we need to make sure.”

He was right, as much as I hated the extra time it took. After a brief moment of hesitation, I decided to ask about the curse.

Key hadn’t told me not to tell him about her new job, and she probably expected me to, but explaining things to Ian felt like betraying her confidence. This was a happy middle ground.

“ Hey , Ian .”

“ Yes , Hope ?”

I chuckled at the obvious grin in his voice. “ Do you know anything about a curse put on movies being filmed in Olmeda ?”

“ Did something happen on the set?”

Why did I keep forgetting I was nowhere near as smooth as I thought I was? “ I watched them set up today and Jim told me about the curse.”

“ Oh ?”

Incredible how one single two-letter word could make me squirm like a schoolgirl. “ So , do you know about it?” I hedged.

“ I may have heard it mentioned in passing.”

“ And you didn’t find it weird?” And how come Vicky hadn’t mentioned it during her spooky tour? Perhaps she’d only considered gruesome murder worthy of her repertoire.

“ Weird ? In Old Olmeda ?” he asked dryly.

He had me there. “ I don’t understand how everyone just accepts this supposed curse as if it were a normal thing, especially paranormals. Everyone knows curses aren’t a real thing. Olmeda is so beautiful. How come nobody has thought of proving the rumors false until now by filming here?”

“ There are other places just as beautiful,” Ian pointed out.

Outrage filled me. “ Pfft . There are not.” Old Olmeda was the prettiest town I’d ever seen. Okay , so it had its share of littered streets around the bars, dirty alleyways, and way too many literal skeletons in her closets, but you couldn’t find a better atmosphere anywhere else!

Ian chuckled. “ I see we’ve made a lasting impression on you.”

“ This is my home now,” I said, full of conviction.

There were still three months left on my probation as a witch shop owner, but at this point, it was basically a question of waiting it out. I had fewer dark magic clients to fool than ever, I had helped solve the Halloween pentagram issue, even if the Council couldn’t know I’d done it, and my shop’s ratings were rising like the high tide. More of a tsunami, really.

“ Where did you go?” Ian asked softly.

I shook myself mentally. “ Sorry . I was daydreaming.”

“ About ?” His voice turned smooth as silk.

I should flirt back and say him, but after my previous fears about the future of our relationship, I wanted to always remain honest with him. “ The probation.”

“ You’re getting the shop, Hope . Don’t worry about it.” The confidence radiating out of his tone brought a smile to my lips.

“ Thank you.”

“ It’s only the truth.”

I wanted to hug him so badly it hurt. “ Do you think you’ll make it back this weekend?”

“ I hope by Monday at the latest.”

I dropped the phone on my belly and crossed fingers on both hands. “ Please , universe, make it happen.”

When I picked back the phone, Ian said, “ You just did one of your affirmations, didn't you?”

“ Crossed my fingers too.”

Another deep chuckle came through the line. “ Anything else happening you’re allowed to tell me?”

Yeah , he’d totally guessed the strays had gotten into some sort of trouble. “ Everything’s been running smoothly. Brimstone hasn’t set anyone on fire yet. Did you know he runs a food vlog?”

“ I didn’t know, no.”

“ Hah !”

“ Knowledge about the local paranormals is not a competition, Hope .”

Easy for him to say, since he seemed to have an answer for everything. “ I searched for it but couldn’t find anything.”

“ Does it have a name?”

“ Decadent Temptations .”

“ I hope you didn’t search for that in front of your customers.”

“ Nobody had to suffer the search results but my poor eyes.”

“ Did you add food to the search?”

“ It made it worse.”

A short laugh. “ I bet. Send me the link when you find it.”

“ Aww , I was hoping you’d find it for me. Isn’t that part of your bounty hunter duties? I’ll even pay you.” In kisses, obviously.

“ Sorry , blondie. The only temptation I’m interested in seeing is you.”

And , dead.

I let out a strangled sound.

“ Hope ?”

“ Sorry , that was too much. I am now a puddle of goo. Good luck washing me off the blanket.”

“ I’ll make sure to use it for Fluffy’s nap time bed.”

“ She’d love that.” I let out a long sigh. “ I have some potions to make before bed.”

“ You better get going, then. Don’t pass out on the floor.”

“ I’ll try my very best.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up. Without his rich, deep voice, my bedroom felt suddenly impersonal and empty.

No time to be morose, though. I had magic-detecting spells to make and a saboteur to catch.