Chapter 14

I didn't recognizethe green Mini Cooper parked in front of our house. Ryder's truck was in the drive. Light poured out through our living room windows, but that car…That car didn't look like any in Ordinary.

I got out of the Jeep and glanced at the California license plate, committing it to memory so I could run the tags if I needed to.

Even without a close look, I saw several hangers with dresses and maybe jackets hung in the back seat. Fingerprints scuffed the dust on the trunk, and road dirt flecked the wheel wells.

Someone had been on the road for a while. Maybe visiting, maybe moving.

I wondered who that somebody was.

I balanced the pie, coffee and beer, thinking it might be too much—too much like an overreaction, too much like an apology I'd overthought and I wasn't sure would be accepted—and walked up to the front door.

I tried the handle. It wasn't locked. I paused with the door half open.

I didn't smell the grill he said he'd have ready for dinner. I didn't hear the music Ryder usually played when he was home alone.

What I heard was a woman's laughter. A stranger's laughter.

Time stretched through a tick, tick, tick, and everything in me went numb.

Why was there a stranger in our home? Why was she laughing, and why was Ryder laughing along with her, their voices pitched low like they were sharing secrets?

Was she a friend? A customer?

From another state this late in the evening?

My heart thudded against my breastbone, hot and sick. It felt like —

—jealousy—

—something was wrong. Something was wrong about a strange woman from California being in my living room.

In our living room.

I was over-reacting. I was taking huge jumps to conclusions that I had absolutely no facts to back up. Maybe Myra was right about the overthinking thing.

I just needed to be calm. To use logic.

But then, so many things in Ordinary weren't logical. Following my instincts, following my gut, even overthinking things usually worked out for me.

All of those thoughts flashed by in seconds. Then I unstuck myself, took a quick breath and called out as I walked through the doorway.

"Hey! I'm home. I brought pie." I strode into the foyer. Which led right to the kitchen and open living room.

The fire was going, even though it had been a warm day, but Spud and Dragon pig were not curled up as usual in front of it with their pile of toys. As a matter of fact, all the toys that got dragged daily into the room were missing.

What else was missing was my fiancé, but from the voices coming from beyond the sliding glass doors, I knew he was outside. Maybe starting the grill.

Maybe dishing food for the woman, who was saying, "RyRy—that's so great! Just so great!" in a we're-not-doing-anything-we-shouldn't-be-doing voice pitched loud enough I was pretty sure she, at least, had heard my entrance.

I stowed the pie in the fridge, put the beer in there too. I didn't know what to do with the coffee, so I just left one of the cups by the toaster, and took a couple big gulps out of the other one.

Whoever it was sounded like a friend, someone Ryder knew. She hadn't left a purse or a coat behind, there were no kicked off shoes in the entry, so she probably hadn't been here long and wasn't planning to stay.

Okay. A friend was good. I wanted to meet more of the friends he'd made when not living in Ordinary. The—

—jealousy—

—worry I'd felt when I'd first seen the car was gone now, shoved aside so that there was only room for curiosity. Ryder rarely talked about his friends from college, from the years he'd spent working for the architecture company in Chicago.

The only people he'd mentioned more than once were his boss at the firm he worked at, and a classmate he tried to keep in touch with online.

Well, he'd had to talk a little about the DoPP monster hunters he'd gotten involved with, especially since one of them had come to town a year after he'd been here and stirred up trouble.

We were a town full of supernaturals. Gods too. We would be an absolute gold mine for a monster hunter.

Which was why we kept a low profile. Most people in Ordinary didn't know their neighbors were anything other than what they appeared to be and it was my job to keep it that way.

One more sip of coffee, relax the shoulders, smile, and off I went to the deck.

"Beautiful, but the winters are pretty rough," Ryder said.

"Oh, RyRy, you know I like it a little rough."

"Hi," I said, pushing the door wider and leaning there. "Are we grilling tonight?"

Ryder and the woman—the very lovely woman with wide eyes and tanned skin and golden hair twisted back so most of it cascaded down around her shoulders—glanced up at me.

She looked fresh and carefree, like she'd just come from the forest, or the beach; hemp bracelets on one wrist, the lightest blush nail polish and a couple silver rings on her hands. I quickly cataloged the rest: flowing skirt and white tank—both designer—and perfume with notes of cocoa.

Okay, not the forest or the ocean. She looked like she'd just come out of a boutique that charged big bucks to make you look like a boho babe.

Interesting.

"Hey, Delaney," Ryder said, not moving from where he sat on our outdoor couch, which gave the best angle of the lake below. "Thought you were busy at Myra's."

"We wrapped it up pretty quick." I stepped onto the deck, glanced at the grill, which was not heating. "Do you want to introduce me?"

"Oh, sure. Say, Vivian, this is Delaney, my fiancé."

"What?" Vivian laughed and slapped Ryder on the arm playfully. She sat right next to him, cozied up as if there wasn't any space on the couch except pressed against his side, which was not true. We'd bought that couch and wanted it to last. Wrestling that huge beast of a thing through the door had been a pain.

I knew how big that couch was. It sat three with a dog. Three.

"You didn't even tell me you had a girlfriend," she cooed. "Naughty."

"Fiancé," I said, leaning forward to offer my hand. "Chief Delaney Reed."

For just a half second, her eyes sharpened, and her body language projected something dangerous, something ready to spring.

That second passed, then she tossed her hair back and dropped her fingertips into my hand. They were cold and dry.

"I'm Vivian, well, I'll be Viv to you from now on because I am officially your best friend!" She stood, her fingers hooking and holding. Even though she didn't use me as leverage, I could feel the coiled strength in her.

Was she a supernatural? Some kind of monster in disguise?

Before I could finish that thought, she threw her arms around me and squeezed, once, twice, three times, each squeeze harder than the last. "I am so happy to meet the woman who makes my RyRy so happy."

I stood there like a plank, let her get the hug over with, and as soon as I was released, took another drink of coffee.

Human, I thought, from being that close to her. Annoying. Fake. Maybe hiding something. But human.

"Oh," she said, looking at my drink. "I would love a cup. It was such a drive. And traffic—I thought I'd never get out of LA. Tell me you have more?"

"Kitchen by the toaster."

She slapped one hand over her heart like I'd just handed her the Academy Award. "I'll just…" She puppy-dog begged with her hands, dipping them up and down to mimic a trot, and then turned and strolled into our house.

Once she was gone, I studied Ryder. He sprawled with one arm across the back of the couch, his long legs kicked out in front of him. Watching me, relaxed, like nothing was wrong. If I didn't know him as well as I did, I might believe it.

But his jaw was set and the one hand curled in a fist told me something was wrong.

"RyRy, huh?"

He sighed. "Apparently."

"That's super cute."

He raised an eyebrow.

"And you know Vivian from?"

"She's going to tell you she contracted for our company. Did all the decor for the condos we built."

"All right. What are you going to tell me?"

He opened his mouth, then his eyes went to her purse, which was a natural fiber macramé-type thing with wooden beads. He frowned.

"I'm going to tell you I love you," he got up off of the couch, "and I missed you." He was smiling and advancing on me, but the change of subject was a cover. "And I want to know what kind of pie you brought me as an apology."

"Who said I was apologizing?" Then he was right there in front of me, and all the clever things I'd been about to say dried up to dust. It was everything I could do not to just fall into his arms.

"I hate fighting with you," I said.

His hands landed heavy on my hips and he searched my face, maybe trying to decide if that was my apology. "Delaney." He leaned forward, his mouth right next to my ear, so close I could feel the stubble on his cheek. "She's a monster hunter."

And, yeah, maybe I was distracted by his touch, by his nearness, by the scent of his shampoo and deodorant that had become the scent of home to me. But it took me a second.

"Who?"

"Vivian. I worked with her at DoPP."

It hit all at once, hard as a slap. "We have a monster hunter in our house?"

"Shhh." He pulled me closer. "She left her purse and might be recording us."

I tucked my head into his shoulder and hoped that if I was being recorded, it was only audio. "We have a monster hunter in our town?"

"Yep. She said she's stopping by to catch up, like old times."

"Bullcrap," I said into the warm cotton of his shirt.

"I know. How do you want to deal with it?"

"She's not leaving?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I don't want her snooping around our house." I pulled back, and he nodded at my fake smile.

"Did you find the coffee?" I called out as I made a quick trip through the doors and living room.

Vivian was not in the kitchen.

"Vivian?" I started down the hall.

She was walking toward me, smiling and innocent like she hadn't been snooping.

"Did you get lost?" I asked nicely.

"What? Oh, no. Silly." She was close enough she tapped me on the arm, then kept her hand there. Holding me in place.

It was a subtle power move.

I didn't like it.

I didn't like her.

"I just had to use the little girl's room. Coffee's this way, right? By the toaster?"

I did some calculations for how long she'd been out of our sight. Two minutes. Maybe three. Long enough to do a quick look around of the bottom floor.

"Yep," I said, switching our hold so I had her arm and could move her more easily. "Right in here." I gave her a full-watt smile and started walking so she'd have to start moving.

"When did you meet Ryder?" she asked, pressing close to me all buddy-buddy like.

"I grew up here and he did too. So I've known him for a long time."

"Oh, that's so romantic. I don't know why he never mentioned you!" She laughed like we were both in on just the greatest joke.

I knew what she was doing. I knew her type. Had been around this chummy-with-claws kind of person more than once in my life.

"So how long are you staying?" I asked, moving in front of her to get the coffee and then handing it to her.

"Didn't Ryder tell you?"

I lifted my fingers to indicated that no, he hadn't.

"Well, he does like to keep secrets, doesn't he? I bet he never even mentioned me."

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from telling her she could pack up her game board because I wasn't gonna play.

"Are you looking for a hotel for the night?" I opened the fridge and pulled out cream and flavored creamer, putting them on the counter next to her.

She sipped the coffee and then frowned at the cup. "This is really good."

"We Pacific North Westerners know good flannel, good blue jeans, and good coffee."

She reached for the cream and poured a dollop. "I couldn't possibly bother you and Ryder to put me up on the couch for the night."

"No," I said, "you couldn't. But the Sand Garden should have a room open. Or if you'd rather a bed and breakfast we have one of those in town too."

"I wouldn't want to be in the way."

"Of what? Ordinary counts on touristry. We have plenty of local shops, a couple restaurants, a brew pub, and of course the beach, which is never crowded, and 100% public access."

She made a sound like she was impressed. Then glanced over her shoulder as if she were expecting Ryder to be standing there. "You're the police chief here, is that right?"

"Yes."

"I would love to do a ride along. See what small-town policing looks like these days. Maybe write up an article about how one little town in Oregon keeps the peace."

"Article? I thought you did interior design?"

She blinked, her expression freezing before her smile was back on. "Oh, I do. I'm sure Ryder told you I did the decor for all his most prestigious clients back in the day. But since then, I've spent some time in California, and decided my passion is writing. Not screenplays, which is what everyone always asks me down there. You know," she made a weird smiling grimace, "Hollywood. But I write feel-good, slice-of-life travel pieces. I like to make people happy. Totally a people pleaser, you know."

What I knew was she was spinning a line of horse hockey.

"Well, the Sand Garden has a great view of the beach. I'm sure they'd love to be mentioned in your slice-of-life."

"I'm not a hotel reviewer, Delaney. I'm a journalist."

What she was was a spy snooping around my town looking for monsters. I didn't like it. I didn't like her. And I didn't like her suddenly showing up when we had a ghoul on the loose, and stolen god weapons popping up on doorsteps.

I sniffed, trying to sense if there was anything ghoulish about her, but she smelled the same, the kitchen smelled the same, and all I wanted was for her to get a hotel room and leave my house.

"Just a teensy little ride along?" she asked. "Please, Delaney? Half a day? A few hours is all I'm asking. It would just mean everything to me."

Fact: I do not like being manipulated.

Fact: I do not like being manipulated by a stranger.

Fact: I do not like being manipulated by a stranger who was also hunting supernaturals in a town full of supernaturals who were my friends.

"Not going to happen. Even in a small town, police business can be dangerous. We don't let anyone ride along."

"Boo," she said, sticking out her lower lip before taking another sip of coffee. "Maybe Ryder will show me around instead."

I opened my mouth to tell her good luck with that, but the back room door smacked open and a set of paws and hooves hit the hallway running.

Spud was barking his danger protect bark, and I hurried into the hallway to head him off at the pass.

"Spud," I called. "Hey, Spuddo, it's okay."

I'd never heard him snarl like that as he tried to push his way into the kitchen. I caught his collar right before he skidded around the corner and pulled him back before he could reach Vivian.

He did not like her.

Good. Neither did I.

"That's enough," I said. "Settle down." I put one hand on his back haunches to get him to sit, but he resisted, sidestepping. He was big enough and strong enough, I had to tug on his collar to keep him from barreling forward.

I was so busy with the dog, I didn't even notice the dragon pig.

"Oh my god!" Vivian squealed. "Is that a pig? Delaney, do you own a pig? Of course you do—just look at you. Come here little fella. Hey, there cutie patootie. Here piggy piggy piggy."

Fortunately, I managed to get Spud to lay off his "attack" mode. Unfortunately, I had another terrifying situation on my hands.

This woman had just said: "here piggy piggy piggy" to a dragon. A dragon who could be a real grump sometimes. A dragon who could devour cars, houses, maybe even cities if it really got a good angry binge going.

A dragon who could swallow this woman down in one lazy chomp.

I was half-bent over Spud, hand still on his collar. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryder moving this way fast. But my real attention was lasered in on the dragon pig.

It had been trotting along, maybe heading into the living room, maybe heading to the fire where it liked to bask at night, maybe heading toward its hoard of toys.

But as soon as it heard that "piggy piggy" it stopped in its tracks, one front leg still raised. Its little pink head swiveled. Its eyes narrowed and one ear flopped back as it glowered up at her.

"Oh, aren't you a darling?" Vivian bent over and stretched her fingers out toward the dragon pig.

The dragon pig rolled its eyes toward me. I shook my head and mouthed "don't," but right then, her fingers stretched out just that bit more and she booped it on the nose.

Booped the dragon pig.

The dragon pig unhinged its jaw. I faked a sideways stumble to get between it and her.

It growled, but I raised my voice to cover the noise. "Ryder! Can you take over Spud here, maybe put him outside, and I'll…um…handle the pig?"

He was there instantly, switching off to hold Spud's collar, and gently talking to the dog. I turned my back on Vivian keeping the dragon pig out of her line of sight. I bent and scooped up the dragon and pulled it against my chest.

Its eyes were burning red with blue centers. I'd never seen that much fire in them before. I mouthed, monster hunter. Then out loud, "Cool it, okay?"

The dragon pig growled again, but it was all vibration. No sound.

"That's good," I said. "You're good."

Ryder muscled Spud down the hall toward the spare room.

Vivian straightened. "What are you—can I hold it?" If she suspected the pig was anything other than a pig, she didn't show it.

"You don't want to hold it."

"But I do. I really do. Look at the sweet little piggy-poo face."

I felt the dragon pig tense in my arms, and I knew if I handed it over to that woman she would be burned to a crispy snack.

"It pees."

The dragon pig huffed a weird little oink that sounded like outrage.

"Oh, I'm sure it's fine."

"No, no," I pulled the pig back, tucking it into my side in a football hold. "Anyone who picks it up gets wet. Dripping."

"It's not peeing on you."

"That's because…" Warm liquid trickled down my shirt and pants.

Ew. I didn't even know the dragon knew how to pee. It had never peed in all the time it had been with us. Which might be why it just kept on peeing. And peeing.

Gross.

"Oh, that's hilarious!" She clapped. "Where is my camera? I need a picture of this."

"Gotta clean it up!" I shouted.

I jogged down the hall to the bathroom, passing Ryder who was talking Spud into staying in the small spare room we used as an office. There was a bed in there for him and the dragon pig, several of their favorite toys, and a water dish.

"Stay here, boy. I'll get you dinner in a minute," Ryder said.

I pushed into the bathroom and plopped the pig down in the sink.

"Oh my gods. That was disgusting!"

The dragon pig growled and stomped its little piggy feet pacing a circle in the sink.

"You didn't have to pee on me," I hissed.

It stopped pacing and planted two front feet on the edge of the sink. Smoke curled up from its nostrils and it rumbled at me.

"Don't give me that look." I shucked off my shirt and got a washcloth wet from the tub spigot. "It was the first thing I could think of."

It snarled.

"No," I said. "Because you were already growling at her and pigs don't growl."

It grumped while I finished washing away dragon pee, which was colorless and smelled like burnt marshmallow.

Knuckles softly rapped on the door. "Got you a new shirt." Ryder opened the door and stood there, grinning.

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the bathroom. "Not that I'd ever say no to a quicky," he said, crowding all up in my space, "but we have company." He pressed the bright orange Henley into my hands, and stepped back.

"Hey, buddy," he said to dragon pig. "Nice work out there."

Its little curly tail wagged.

I shrugged into the shirt and rucked the sleeves up to my elbows. "She needs to get out of here," I whispered.

"Motel for the night. Sand Garden?"

"Yes. She wants to do a ride along."

"I can handle that."

"She is not riding along with you to spy on this town."

"You want her spying on the town on her own? Because that's what she'll do. She'll poke around until she finds something we can't explain. And then the entire DoPP will be down our throats."

I ran through options, trying to come up with other ways to deal with her. But his idea of basically letting her think she was seeing all of our town while actually being babysat by someone who could steer her away from the worst of it was the best chance we had of convincing her we were just a normal, boring, ordinary beach town.

"Fuck," I whispered.

"It will be okay."

"How long?"

"With her? Week, tops."

"Fuck."

"But hey, at least I won't be focusing on the wedding so much."

"Not funny."

He shrugged and from the purse of his lips and the twinkle in his eyes, I knew he thought he was hilarious.

"A little funny," he said.

"Are we sharing secrets?" Vivian called out. "I love secrets. Did Ryder tell you about that night we both flew into New Orleans and there weren't any rooms left? About how we ended up sleeping on the couch in suite of a very nice older couple who liked to swing?"

I raised an eyebrow. Ryder's face slashed red at the cheeks.

"It was a weird weekend," he muttered.

"You'll have to tell me sometime."

I turned to the dragon pig. "No more peeing to the rescue, got it?"

It squeaked.

I picked it up and put it on the floor, then opened the bathroom door. "Off to bed," I told it. I moved to follow, bur Ryder caught my hand, and pulled gently.

"Nothing happened between us. She not my type. I've never trusted her. She has too many secrets and hidden agendas."

"I know," I said. "We got this." I squeezed his hand, he squeezed back. Then I walked over to the spare room to make sure dragon pig was settled.

Dragon pig was in the middle of its little bed, kicking toys across the room. Spud picked up the stuffed octopus and carried it over, wagging his tail.

The pig grumbled, but accepted the toy, then dropped down on the bed like an angry little pink rock. Spud curled up around it.

I shut the door.

"Are we doing something naughty?" Vivian strolled into the hallway, all loose and cat-like, her gaze sharp.

She was looking for something. She was looking to make trouble between Ryder and me, sure, though I didn't know what her angle was there. We were in love. We were living together. We were going to get married.

She was out of luck if she thought she could drive a wedge between us.

But it was clear she was still a hunter looking for living breathing beings who were not supposed to exist.

Hell, maybe she thought I was something supernatural. Being the Bridge for the god powers to be set down and stored was a power no other human had.

A chill washed down my spine as it suddenly occurred to me that I could be the something she wanted to tag and bag and throw into a governmental test lab.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.

"We were just talking over the motel options," I said. "Sand Garden is the best."

Ryder stepped out of the bathroom. "It will have a room open for sure. Need directions?"

She bit her bottom lip, then smiled. "In a town this small? I don't think I'll have any trouble finding it. But," she looked up through her eyelashes at him, "I still haven't had dinner. I wouldn't want Delaney to get jealous, me keeping you all to myself, but maybe you and I could get a bite to eat and catch up?"

Someone else might not have seen it, the slight tightening of Ryder's stance, the way he hitched one shoulder down just that smallest amount. But I'd been staring at Ryder for years.

When he was a boy, and the way he threw a rock in the water made me wonder how he could be so strong and amazing.

When he was a gangly teen, and his voice wobbled and his laugh deepened.

When he'd broadened, put on muscles and height and fallen into the easy manner that drew people to him like bees to nectar.

He didn't like this woman, and just like he'd told me, he didn't trust her.

"Or," I said, "you two could catch up tomorrow. You must be tired from your long drive."

She raised her eyebrows and gave me a look of mock-shock. "How do you know I had a long drive?"

"Your car has California plates."

"Maybe I've been in Oregon for a while."

"Have you?"

She laughed, and it sounded forced. "No, not really. I drove straight through, and I am awfully hungry. Are there any cute little diners you can take me to, RyRy? Please feed the little birdy?"

She reached over and held on to his forearm. Laying a claim on him. Exerting her control.

Ryder was a lot less subtle than I'd been. He picked up her perfectly manicured hand and dropped it off his arm.

"Delaney and I had plans," he said.

"No, that's okay," I interrupted, because Ryder was right. She should not be left to wander around Ordinary alone. Not until I got the word out that there was a hunter in our midst. Ryder taking her to dinner was the best move. He'd keep an eye on her, and I could get the info spreading through town.

"I'm probably going to turn in early after I do a little paperwork anyway." I put my palm on the small of Ryder's back and gave him a little push toward her so he'd know I was on for his plan.

"You want me to bring you back something to eat?" he asked.

"Naw. I'll just make a sandwich."

"Or that pie," Vivian said. "Although how sad is it, you sitting here all alone eating an entire pie while I'm out on the town with your handsome boyfriend?"

"Fiancé," I corrected. "You two have fun." I gave her a big ol' smile which made her frown, so I kept smiling. "Don't eat anything I wouldn't eat."

Ryder tossed a bemused look my way, but got moving.

"Let's take two cars," he was saying as he ushered her out the door. "That way you can head straight to your motel after."

"Boo. What if little birdy wants a night cap?"

"Or worms for breakfast?" I muttered. Apparently, a little too loudly.

They both turned to me.

Vivian burst out laughing. "You want a little sleep over, RyRy?" she asked. "You could give me a nice juicy worm for breakfast."

Oh, for the love of gods. This woman.

Ryder did a top-notch job of not rolling his eyes.

"Or," Ryder said, "we could meet you for breakfast."

"Forget the worm comment," I mumbled.

"Of course," she said, her hand landing on Ryder's forearm again. "She is just adorably awkward, isn't she? I didn't know you had a thing for small town girls."

"Just the one," he said, his voice growly enough to make my stomach flip. "You better leave me some of that pie," he said to me.

"You mean the key lime I picked up from Hogan's? Your favorite pie? That pie?"

He groaned a little. "Yes. That pie."

"I'll do what I can, but I'm awfully hungry. I missed my chance at kebobs."

He stepped up to me and kissed me hard, then growled over my mouth. "You'll pay for this."

Then he was gone, shoulders square, easy-likeable-guy smile on his face, following Vivian out the door.

I stood there for a moment, my fingers pressed to my lips, savoring the heat of that kiss.