My heartbeat sped up and I froze for a second. It looked idyllic. But we did not need one more cancellation fee. I hoped he hadn’t booked it yet.
I closed the text and held my phone back up. “I could eat,” I told the goddess. I cleared my throat. “See you there in about twenty?”
She chuckled. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I look forward to hearing about it. Oh, and bring the dragon. I have something for it.”
I hung up and spotted Jean. She’d wandered off during the call and was now standing in the checkout line.
“Jean?” I called.
“House hippo!” She held up a little statue and gave it a wiggle.
“Why?”
“Because it’s a house hippo.” She almost had to shout over the rain. Crow, dishing out her change, glanced over at me and wiggled his eyebrows.
“They’re good luck,” he said, while Jean made big eyes and nodded vigorously.
I sighed and made a wrap it up signal.
She took the hippo and a paper-wrapped something Crow handed her, then strode over. “Something go down?” she asked, as she fell into step with me.
“Frigg needs to talk over lunch.”
“Thank gods,” Jean said. “I’m starving. Here.” She offered me the paper-wrapped package. “It’s a cookie. You look grumpy.”
I thought about opening it, but we were at the lurid pink mouth of the lurid pink whale, and beyond that was a downpour so heavy, the rain was a wall of white.
Staying inside the whale was suddenly sounding like a better idea.
“So I heard about this great hotel up on the Olympic Peninsula,” Jean started. “They have this vacation deal…”
And just like that, I was out in the rain and running for the Jeep, my sister laughing and splashing right behind me.
Chapter Two
The Blue Owlwas Ordinary’s only twenty-four-hour diner, and it was a favorite of truckers hauling up and down Highway 101. Even with a detour to pick up the dragon pig, we got there in under ten minutes.
The smell of onions and butter and fresh bread hit me as I clomped through the door, dragon pig tucked under my arm. Over the scratchy old speakers, the Big Bopper sang about big-eyed girls and Chantilly lace.
Outside, the stormy day grew darker even though it wasn’t even evening yet. The storm was gonna be a beast of a thing. I hung my coat on the rack by the door, scanned the room, and headed over to the booth by the window to meet with a goddess.
Frigg saw Jean and me coming, smiled, and waved at the table already loaded with three steaming mugs. We slid into the bench seat opposite her.
“Thanks,” I said, dropping the dragon pig beside me. Luckily, the dragon we’d found decided to take the form of a baby pig while it stayed in town. Maybe less luckily, it had decided to stay with me.
I mean, yes, having a dragon had come in handy. Back before the demon Bathin had been dating my other sister, he’d promised me he would save Ryder from a blizzard.
Only problem? He saved him by kidnapping him.
Demons.
On the upside, dragons have the unique ability to find demons no matter where they hide.
So all I’d had to do was tell my little dragon pig to fetch, and off it had popped.
Ryder appeared back home an instant later.
So had the demon.
