I groaned. “And they’re talking again.” I lolled my head toward Lexi as she sat down across from me. “I thought you were my friend.”
“No need to be so dramatic,” Narcissa sniffed, nose lifting into the air snobbishly. “It’s not my fault you don’t want to hear criticism, let alone engage in riveting conversation. I’m afraid it’s beyond most of you humanoid creatures.”
“I think you hurt her feelings, Mr. Witch,” Therese interpreted.
I sighed. “Sorry, Narcissa. I was just getting used to the quiet. It’s been a long day and a constant stream of consciousness from you is the last thing I need right now.”
“That wasn’t much better, sir,” Therese said.
Across the table, Lexi watched me. I knew she was waiting for me to speak about the situation I found myself in, but I was having trouble figuring out where to start.
A steaming cup of tea sat before me; no doubt prepared by Xander. I was going to pass. Even with a healer on hand, I would rather not cough up my intestinal lining just now, in case he’d ignored his mistress’s wishes.
“You’re cooking, yourself? You don’t have a cook to do that? Perhaps an undead one?”
Lexi smiled. “I enjoy cooking. I could bring someone else on, but it’s only me. Xander’s tastes are rather … simple.”
“And Xander won’t, say, eat my brains in the middle of the night if he becomes peckish?”
Lexi laughed, an infectious noise that had me grinning. She slammed her hand on the counter as if she had to expel the joy from her system somehow before she finally wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh, my. I forgot how funny you are. No, no. Xander is very well-behaved. I extracted all of his teeth so he couldn’t infect you if he tried. If he scratches you accidentally, I can heal it for you, but you won’t suddenly find yourself craving brains.”
“Oh, good,” I said, sharing an uneasy look with Freya. “You hear that? The zombie can only gum us. She extracted the best part. Probably threw those teeth away too.”
“You wouldn’t have wanted them. They were rotten through. If you can believe it, Xander wasn’t in the best of shape when I came across him.”
I exaggerated shock. “You don’t say.”
“Why does your feline have wings?” Freya asked all of a sudden.
I glanced at Narcissa, who sent a look of disapproval at Freya. As if to accentuate her new wings, Narcissa stretched them casually. “Don’t be jealous of my wings when you have an extra set of arms. You know more than anyone here how useful extra limbs can be.”
Lexi’s eyebrows shot up and she appraised Freya anew.
Freya, in response, sighed and pushed her cloak back to reveal the appendages in question, then crossed both sets of arms before her.
“There’s a lot going on here,” Lexi said, eyes darting around the room before landing on Therese. “Narcissa began gathering ingredients for a spell to allow her to talk almost immediately. But I was surprised the toad wanted to drink it as well. Why does it speak so eloquently?”
“She’s a frog,” I corrected her. “And she was a little girl only two days ago. It’s a long story. But if you happen to have some moonbeams, piranha teeth, or a hangman’s toe, I would be forever grateful.”
Lexi’s eyes narrowed. “You are going to fix that girl, Callum.”
“I know. It was an honest mistake.”
“He’s promised to set things right, Miss Witch,” Therese said, coming to my defense. “It was my own fault for nearly getting caught by a demon.”
“And you’re introducing little girls to demons.” Lexi looked heavenward before shaking her head and turning her attention to Freya. “And you are cursed. It doesn’t take an expert to see that some of your body was assembled from the dead. I assume that’s how a necromancer was able to control you?”
Freya straightened in her seat. “That is correct. The witch Ambrosia controlled me for over a decade. Hitting the boy in the head with the hilt of my sword was only the latest of many offenses she forced me to carry out.”
“And before that?”
Freya hesitated, sneaking a glance my way. “Prior to that, I worked for the Council of Witches.”
“You did?” I asked, surprised. I, too, sat up a little straighter in my seat. The last time the Council had visited my shop, I’d been fined for petty offenses. Apparently dragon’s breath could reanimate some ancient evil found in the scales of nagas, or some such nonsense. Perhaps Freya could help get those significant fines reduced. “Why didn’t you say so? You should return to them immediately.”
She shook her head slowly. “It’s not pertinent. I’ve been gone a long time, so returning can wait a little longer. They clearly haven’t missed me.”
“What did you do for the council?”
