She rolled her eyes, but then let out a sigh. “Yes, I ate. You can put the food away, since you forgot to tell me. But you missed a good dinner.” After a pause, she asked, “So how is Dante doing? Any new girlfriends?”
Like the rest of us, Penn was amused by the number of women Dante unsuccessfully dated. He was gorgeous, but he wasn’t a good boyfriend. He got bored easily, he forgot anniversaries and birthdays, and even though he tried to, he couldn’t seem to sustain an interest in a relationship. But he was also a rescuer and so he ended up in relationships with needy women, who felt betrayed when he couldn’t give them what they wanted.
When I thought about it, except for Orik, most of us had love lives that were going nowhere fast. And Orik’s love life had produced three sets of twins.
“So, how was your day?” I asked, pulling off my boots before going into the dining room to clear the table.
Penn had made homemade fish and chips. Even though I’d eaten half of a pizza, I wasn’t full. Most Supes, including Demonkin, had faster metabolisms than humans and we could put away a lot of food. I sat down at the table and began to nibble on the fries.
Penn joined me. “At least let me heat those up.”
“That’s okay, it tastes great just like this.” I finished the fry and reached for a piece of fish. Penn knew how to cook, that was one thing nobody could dispute. “Say, how’s your mother doing? Last I remember, she was trying to figure out what happened with the Crystal Court.”
Penn had been kicked out of the worldwide organization that ruled over most of the witches, and it seemed like they were ridding themselves of anybody that they might deem a disruption. Given Hecate had warned us of something underhanded going on with them, Penn had opted to steer clear and hadn’t appealed her dismissal.
“Yeah. I finally told her some of what happened. She was appalled that they kicked me out and now she’s snubbing them and has decided that she actually quit the organization instead of them kicking her out. I’ll say one thing for Eileen. She and I may not always get along, but she has my back when people come at me. It was always that way.” She laughed. “Eileen’s a force of nature.”
“She is, at that,” I said.
I knew Penn’s mother, though not from childhood. Penn and I hadn’t grown up together—she was older than me by almost thirty years, chronologically. But we were about the same age on a relative scale, given she was half Fae and I was half demon. Not only that, but she had attended Windchime Magical Academy. I’d attended public school.
I was eighteen and in community college, taking a two year course geared toward private investigators. Most of the classes were at night. The waitress seated me at a small table, next to another woman who was reading while eating dinner. She had auburn hair that she’d pulled back into a sleek, high ponytail, and she was wearing a short black skirt, a black halter top, and a leather jacket. Her makeup was on point—dark smoky eyes with thick liner, and bright red lipstick.
I ordered a hamburger and fries, and pulled out one of my text books and began to read.
The redhead must have gotten there just before I did, because the waitress brought our food at the same time. She handed me fish and chips, and my hamburger went to the other women. I started to call the waitress back, but she didn’t seem to hear me.
“I think you have my burger,” I said.
The other woman laughed and we traded food. “Par for the day,” she said. “It’s been one thing after another. I’m Penelope, by the way. Penelope Fircrest, but you can call me Penn.” There was something about her that made me take a second look—she had some form of glamour around her.
“I’m Kyann Sarasan,” I said, making a spur of the moment decision. “Hey, you want to join me? I’ve had enough studying for one day.”
She shrugged. “Sure.” She scooted over to the other side of my table with her food. “It’s kind of nice to have someone to talk to who isn’t a client,” she said.
“What do you do?” I asked.
“I read tarot cards at Wishes Come True—a magic shop downtown,” she said. “Someday, I’d like to have my own store.”
“I’m studying to become an investigator,” I said.
“A cop?”
I shook my head. “No, a private investigator.” I didn’t tell her why, though. Four years before, my mother had been killed by a serial killer who was still at large and I was determined to track him down.
“That sounds kind of fun,” Penn said. “If you don’t mind me asking, you’re not fully human, are you? I’m a witch—magic born. But I’m also part Fae.”
That accounted for the glamour. “I’m part demon,” I said. That usually made the difference between whether someone stuck around to talk, or whether they got the hell out of my presence.
“Oh! I’ve never met someone with demon blood, not that I know of,” Penn said. “Do you know what clan?”
“No, actually,” I said, relaxing. She seemed in no hurry to leave. “My mother never told me. I don’t know if she even knew, but I have no clue who my father was.”
At that moment, a man crossed over to our table. He was burly, in a pair of jeans and a torn t-shirt. His hair was long and stringy, but there was something captivating about him, even though he gave me the immediate creeps. He stood there, staring at us.
“Yes?” Penn asked, her voice frosty.
“Hey, beautiful, I was wondering if I could get your number,” he said.
