“Goddess.” Gigi spun around, hand clutched to her chest, heart beating too fast. “Darcy! Where, in Heaven’s Name, did you come from?”
A fine dark eyebrow arched briefly upwards, clearly querying Gigi’s sanity. Crap, she should have known her casual questions regarding current Sanctuary threats would alert Darcy that something was up.
“Congrats. You finally have a body count.” Clear ice-blue eyes travelled over the bodies. “You and the bunny.”
“Not a gap in my curriculum vitae that I really felt needed filling. How long have you been here?”
“A while. I was starting to think your first intruder was a one-off, then shadow-hole turns up. Those guys are all about the money: there must be mega bucks behind all this. What was in the syringe?”
Gigi described the ingredients and the amounts present.
“Nasty shit.” Darcy huffed a breath. Having inherited a little of her father’s ice magic, her breath failed to fog. Nor did her cousin look the slightest bit uncomfortable standing in the freezer wearing nothing but thigh-high lime vinyl boots, a blue and lime plaid micro skirt, topped with a pale blue t-shirt with the words ‘High Queen Bitch’written across the front.
“What are you thinking?” Gigi really wanted to know. “Are these guys supposed to be the first wave of something bigger?”
“I’m not getting that feel.”
“What kind of feeling are you getting?” Darcy was a Spider Mage. She could sense connections and uncover intricate plots like no one else. It was her specialty, her calling.
“Damned if I know.” Unfamiliar frustration brimming in her cousin’s eyes. “If I had to guess, I think this has something to do with the plot by several asshole deities to remake the Earthly Plane into their own little theme park.”
“They want to kill us all?”
“Currently we’re working on the assumption that their aim is to party, smite, and generally be dickheads whilst keeping enough humans around to do their bidding and worship them in order to feed them power.”
“What does any of that have to do with sending expensive contract infiltrators into my shop armed with syringes full of lethal poison?”
“Hmmm.”
Gigi could practically see Darcy making some connections and leaps of deduction. Despite that, an unfamiliar tinge of frustration lingered in her eyes. Her cousin wasn’t happy. Things weren’t making sense yet. Well, join the club. Gigi wasn’t happy someone was trying to use her as a patsy to hurt their family. The gall, sending these assholes into her place of business, her sacred space. Speaking of which. “So, I assume I can head back to bed and come morning all this…” She waved a hand at the two dead bodies. “…will just be a distant memory.”
“Yeah, about that.”
Oh, Merciful Lady Above, Gigi really didn’t like the look in Darcy’s serial killer eyes.
“Are you aware that I have the ability to designate emergency Secret Special Liaison Deputies?”
“You what? NO! Are you crazy? Do not even think about it. My appointment calendar is fully booked out. I do not have time for any of your high drama – deities are trying to destroy the world as we know it – intrigue. Besides, I make chocolates and cookies, I’m in no way qualified to be a Special Liaison Deputy.”
“Secret.SecretSpecial Liaison Deputy. And what about all those snazzy moves Brodie has been teaching you when it comes to self-defence?”
“Those classes are designed to teach us how to initially surprise and shock our opponents into hesitating or momentarily backing off. The second step being to run away and find someonequalifiedto deal with the dangerous situation.”
“Then keep the killer bunny nearby.” Darcy leaned over, unerringly finding Canary’s happy spot behind his left ear and giving it a scratch, setting the bunny’s right leg thumping in delight.
Damn it, trying to win an argument with Darcy was the dictionary definition of futile. Huffing a cloudy breath, Gigi absently rubbed her arms, trying to keep her blood circulating in the frigid air. “What exactly does being a Secret Special Deputy Liaison entail? Is there training? Support? A handbook? A dozen burly Enforcers assigned to masquerade as my shop assistants to keep me and my customers safe?”
“Well, about that.” Darcy gave Canary one last pat before straightening.
“Seriously? Nothing?”
“Not nothing. There will be a briefing at some stage. Once I get Elijah’s clearance to bring you completely up to speed. You’ll need to know all the potential players involved so you can look for anomalies or spot danger as you go about your normal daily activities.”
“Can I just refuse this unexpected, unwanted, and quite frankly, alarming honour you wish to bestow upon me?”
“Gi, think about it. Someone with deep pockets knows enough about you personally to send two highly skilled, nefarious infiltration specialists, both toting incredibly toxic poison, into your place of business. They could have gone after Gaia’s chutney and relish products. Second cousin Laniel’s herbal teas. Great-Aunt Amy’s bakery. Or any number of shops and restaurants that the family frequent. They chose to target your place twice. Something on your calendar is important to them.”
“Please, I have nothing but social club gatherings and family parties scheduled for the foreseeable future.”
