I scrambled after Jo as she yanked open the door and dived down the steps. I slammed the door shut behind us, wincing as locusts dive-bombed the stained glass window.
Icy wind whipped around my bare legs. My feet sank into freezing snow. I hugged my hoodie to my chest. “I’m sorry. I thought it was bug spray.”
“Nope,” Jo wiped a smear of oil from her cheek. “Definitely not bug spray. If it’s any consolation, I’m sorry I broke that jar and set a swarm of locusts free in our flat.”
I waved a hand. “I’m sure it happens all the time. What are we going to do?”
Jo raised an eyebrow. “I was thinking of just giving them the house?”
I couldn’t feel my feet. “Or we could maybe call an exterminator?”
“I guess that would work.” Jo glanced at her watch. “Oh, shite. I have to go. I’m late for work, and Cal will be waiting for me to prep the body.” She scrambled in her pocket for her car keys.
“You can’t just leave. What if the locusts get out? How am I going to get to my room? I need clothes.” I gestured to my bare legs, now turning a bold shade of blue.
Jo shrugged. “I have no idea. I’ve got some old clothes in the back of the car. You can change while I drive you to the bookshop, if you like. It’s not as if those guys aren’t used to seeing you without your clothes on.”
“But all our stuff—”
She flung open her car door and climbed in behind the wheel. “Forget the flat. We’ll raze it to the ground, salt the earth, and get another one. With a hot tub and one of those multi-head showers. Come on, Mina. I’ve got a dead body to cut up, and you’ve got three hot guys ready to fan you with palm fronds and serve you peeled grapes. What’s it to be?”
Sighing, I pulled the hem of my hoodie down over my arse and climbed into the car beside Jo. “I thought living with you wouldsaveme from chaos and mayhem, notinviteit.”
“You can’t be right all the time,” Jo said as she sped off. “Look on the bright side. At least it was locusts and not another dead body.”
I groaned. She had no idea how right she was. Just before Christmas, I’d been a guest at the Argleton Jane Austen Experience, where two people were killed. That was on top of the other murders I’d been involved in – my ex-best friend Ashley, and members of the Argleton Banned Book Club. If I never see another dead body, it’ll be too soon.
Relax,I told myself as I fumbled in the junk behind Jo’s seat for some clothes I could wear.All I’ve got to look forward to this week is a book signing, a writer’s workshop, and some sexy times with the guys. It’s not as if any murderers are going to be in attendance.
Right?
Chapter Two
“You look tired,” Morrie said as he held open the door of Nevermore Bookshop for me. “Trouble with your lesbian lover?”
I didn’t even dignify him with an answer. Morrie and Jo had been friends for a while now. They both shared a professional interest in the criminal underworld – Jo as an employee of the local coroner, Morrie as a member of aforementioned underworld. He’d been teasing me about being in a lesbian relationship with Jo ever since I moved in with her, just before Christmas. I thought it was rude, considering he knew Jo actually was a lesbian, but that was Morrie for you.
Personally, I think Morrie was a bit hurt that I didn’t move into the flat with him and my other two boyfriends, Quoth and Heathcliff. As tempting as it was, I knew being the only girl in a house full of fictional blokes would be a nightmare. Just one whiff of the smell coming from their bathroom reinforced that I made the right decision.
“Come on, gorgeous. Give me something more. How’re the new digs?”
“Currently filled with a biblical plague,” I replied, shoving past him, tossing my bag into the corner, and collapsing into the velvet chair beside Heathcliff’s desk. Quoth fluttered down from the chandelier and perched on the ancient till. He studied me with his deep brown eyes.
You look different,he said inside my mind, tilting his head to the side.
“That’s because I’m wearing Jo’s clothes. Mine are currently being eaten by locusts,” I muttered out loud, pinching the fabric on her red tartan cuffed pants. Jo was curvier than me, so her clothes hung loose, but I had to admit she had great taste. “Luckily, I found one of my bras under the seat in her car, otherwise I’d be sagging today.”
Grimalkin darted out of the shadows and leapt onto my lap, purring as she curled herself into a tight ball. I stroked her back, letting her loud purr relax me and bring me to my happy place. Being surrounded by the shelves of Nevermore Bookshop and in the presence of the three men who made me feel all sorts of delightful things could cure any bad mood, even one caused by a plague of locusts.
As if reading my thoughts, Morrie strode across the room. He placed one hand on the arm of the chair, his face inches from mine. A wave of grapefruit-and-vanilla swept over me – Morrie’s distinct and expensive shampoo, and a scent that never failed to send my heart into palpitations.
Ice-blue eyes locked with mine. Full lips curled back into a possessive smile. Heat pooled between my legs.How is this man mine?I still couldn’t believe it.
And he wasn’t even my only man, because apparently the universe allowed one lucky girl – me – to hog all the hot guys. Of course, my guys came from fictional books, so they weren’t technically supposed to be in this world. It might explain why they were so extra.
“I’m assuming you’re not in a mood to elaborate about the biblical infestation. Allow me to direct your mind to other things.Blasphemousthings.” Morrie bent down and brushed his lips against mine. All thoughts of Jo’s locust experiments flew from my mind as his tongue found its way into my mouth, drawing out a flame of heat that lit up my whole body.
“Meow!” Grimalkin piped up from my lap, annoyed that she was not the one being adored.
