I stalked into my small kitchen, where Evie had opened the fridge.
The fully stocked fridge.
Fruit, vegetables, meats and cheeses jostled for space amongst full meals that had obviously been pre-cooked so we could heat them up. I opened the freezer, finding several pints of both of our favorite ice creams.
The pantry was the same, loaded with easy snacks, protein bars, nuts, and anything else we might need.
“The demon doesn’t miss a trick,” I murmured. He’d known I was low on food and likely wouldn’t have a chance to hit the grocery store. And instead of using it as one more reason for me to move in with him, he’d taken it off my to-do list.
I blew out a breath and opened the freezer again. It was eleven A.M. but I needed ice cream.
I dug into a pint of chocolate fudge ripple, ignoring the smile that hovered around Evie’s mouth as I handed her the butter pecan.
“What’s the plan now?”
“Kyla’s asking the witches a few more questions. In the meantime, I thought I’d go see Gary, maybe see if he’s heard any rumors from his contacts.”
The gnome sold weapons, spells, and, most importantly, information.
Evie smiled. “I can’t wait to see the kids.”
* * *
Danica
Gary’s store was on Main Street. I’d only visited a couple of times since I took down the group of humans who had almost killed him, and he’d still been in the process of restocking.
Today, though, his store looked good as new.
“Wow,” I said as I stepped inside. We were the only customers, and Gary stood on his stool next to the counter, reading a newspaper. He lowered it and smiled.
“Dani and Evie. The boys will be excited–”
His smile widened as the kids sprinted out from where they’d likely been up to no good in his stockroom. Cil and Zip talked a mile a minute as they hugged us both, pulling us toward the stockroom to show us something.
I couldn’t help but grin down at them. “Hold on, you guys. Show Evie first, and I’ll take a look in a sec. I need to talk to your dad for a minute.”
Gary hopped off his stool and closed the stockroom door. “This is about the fire at the coven.”
“Yeah. Evie was nearly there too.”
His expression darkened as he climbed back up on his stool. Gary refused to lower the counter, instead keeping it at the height of most of his customers.
“Bad business, that is. She got lucky that night.”
“Yeah. But she might not always be so lucky unless we find out who might want her dead.”
Gary narrowed his eyes and I leaned on the counter, keeping my voice low as I filled him in.
“You think whoever killed the witch in Evie’s room was after your sister.”
“I think there have been a few weird things going on in the last few days. It could be related to whatever the werewolf Alpha sensed under her neck.”
“I’ll keep my ear to the ground. I haven’t heard anything, but I’ll ask around.”
“Thanks, I’ll owe you one.”
He merely shook his head. “After what you did for me and my boys, you’ll never owe me one.”
