Her smile spread slowly, the kind that meant trouble, and she glanced around the village innocently.
“Oh, nothing alarming, dear..”
That pause made my eyebrows climb as I shot her a warning look.
She shrugged in return, and I couldn’t help but love my elderly vampire BFF a little more.
“A little of this and a little of that never hurt anybody.”
“Stella.”
“Just a little calming sage,” she said lightly. “A touch of moonflower.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Possibly,” she added, almost as an afterthought, “a whisper of vampire charm.”
I stared at her.
“You drugged the town.”
She touched her chest. “When would I ever?”
I chuckled, thinking back to my first encounter with her.
“All I did was encourage emotional balance.”
“You absolutely drugged the town.”
“Well,” she said with a shrug, “everyone’s still breathing, and no one’s currently on fire, so I feel quite vindicated.”
I opened my mouth to argue and didn’t bother.
“Thank you,” I admitted.
Her grin brightened.
“I knew you’d see reason.”
Across the square, Keegan had gathered several of the clan leaders and an enormous orc captain who looked like he could punch through a stone wall if diplomacy failed.
After a moment, they all nodded and headed toward the inn together.
Good.
That conversation needed walls and doors.
Behind us, Twobble had discovered a basket of abandoned pastries.
He held a powdered donut in each hand like it was sacred.
Skonk, meanwhile, was attempting to eat something that appeared to be three croissants stacked together.
“You can’t eat all of those!” Twobble snapped.
“I absolutely can.”
“You’re not even tasting them at that point!”
