Giles cackled again, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Why are you here, Chaos? Come tosqueezeme for information?”
He lost himself into another fit of manic laughter at his own joke, and I joined him.
“You bet. I’m looking for Hecate, and Bridget wouldn’t budge.”
“That bitch is loyal as they come.” Giles chuckled, and I nodded, sliding my hands into my pockets.
“But you’re not. You don’t give a fuck about the mother of witches. Tell me where she is, and I’ll let you stay here to fester.”
Corey eyed me with that wry smile on his face before taking another swig of booze.
“You know I only manifest when the party is about to begin,” he said cryptically. “Chaos loves tragedy. But does tragedy love Chaos?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Save the cryptic bullshit for the tourists, Corey. Tell me where Hec is hiding.”
“The maiden, the mother, and the crone, she’s returned home.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. Butwhere?”
“You seek the daughter of the moon and would trust the word of a loon?”
“Fuck, you’re annoying. Stop rhyming.”
Gabe was full-blown laughing now, and I couldn’t even find it in me to be irritated. This was entertaining as fuck.
“Fine, demon of chaos. I will let you in on a secret…
She calls herself Harper, a name she chose,
Unaware of the truth that her spirit knows.
She thinks she was born into this world anew,
But her essence is ancient; her power is true.
Seek out the descendants of Good and Nurse,
And you’ll find her soul, though split and cursed…” he trailed off ominously, and I cocked a brow. After a beat, he laughed and clapped a hand against his thigh, winking at me.
“Sorry for the theatrics. A ghoul’s gotta get his kicks somehow.” He took another deep swig.
“Sure. Whatever.” I turned away from the ghoul, rubbing my hands together with glee. My entire body was alight with excitement.
I glanced at Gabe, a manic grin stretching wide across my lips.
“You ready to cause some mayhem, little bird?”
Gabe gave me a devastatingly handsome smile in return, and my heart squeezed in my chest at how genuinely excited he seemed to be about stirring up some shit with me.
“With you? Always,” he purred, and we left Corey where we found him and set off to find the mother of witches.
“You have a stalker,” Luna said as she lit her cedar stick to cleanse the shop for the day. I snorted, shooting a glance out the glass door that led into‘Luna and Luci’s Crystal Shoppe,’where a black cat was sitting on the sidewalk, staring at us through the glass.
“Yeah, I know. He followed me all the way here,” I replied, stuffing my backpack behind the counter and settling in to balance the till before we opened.
Luci—Luna’s dalmatian familiar—trotted up to greet me, shoving her cold nose into the palm of my hand. I smiled down at her and patted her head, enjoying the solidthump thump thumpof her tail as it smacked on the light beige wood of the floor.
