I screamed bloody murder.
CHAPTER 12
Ginger
Ihugged Brambleby to my chest, certain that if I squeezed him any tighter, I would crack one of our ribs.
He didn’t seem to mind.
I had interrogated the small dragon already, insisting that if I found out he was the one causing all this mischief, there would be severe consequences—like a limit of only one bowl of stew at dinner time.
As far as I could tell, he was innocent.
I banged on the door of Tandor’s cottage like my life depended on it.
“Are you playing a prank on me, you idiot?” I asked Tandor as he pulled the door open.
The orc yawned and scrubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand. “Did you find the rearranged goblets already? Damn! I thought it would take you longer to notice.”
“I’m serious, Tandor. Give it up. I’m onto you.”
He chuckled for a moment before he noticed the expression on my face, the white-knuckled grip I had on my dragon.
He sobered. “What’s going on?”
“Be honest. Soul-to-the-fates honest. Have you been messing with me?”
“How so?” he asked, growing concerned.
I signed in exasperation. “Following me around. Breaking into my cottage. Putting things in my bag. Flowers on my porch. Leaving a cinnamon bun on my bedside table just this morning. Is any of this ringing a bell?”
His heavy brow furrowed. “No. I wouldn’t terrorize you like that, boss. Those aren’t my kind of pranks.”
“You swear?”
He slapped a hand over his chest. “On my precious mate—I swear. I haven’t done any of those things.”
My heart sank. I had placed all my hope in this solution, and now that hope crumbled to dust. “This is not good.”
“Are those real things that are happening? Why didn’t you mention it sooner?”
I shrugged. “At first, it was just a feeling. I didn’t notice how creepy it all was until I woke up to that cinnamon bun.”
“Should we tell Mayor Tommins?”
“Do you think we need to? He might laugh in my face. I think I’m being haunted by my own shadow. It’s not like anything especiallybadhas happened…”
“You should at least mention it. Let him know, in case anything else comes up.”
I remembered what Kizzi and Fiella said about how they had a weird feeling before monumental changes happened. I shivered. “I will.”
“I can’t believe you thought it was me.”
I huffed. “You’re always making my life a living Hell’s Realm.”
“I do not! I keep your pub running and you know it.”
I took a step back. “Fine. You do. Just don’t mention it to anyone else, okay? In case I really am crazy. I don’t want that gossip spreading.”
