Sure enough, a minute later, Detective Hernández was standing in the back door of the studio.“Sorry to interrupt your lunch.This shouldn’t take long.”
I waved her in.“Would you like some leftover Thai?”
“Smells great,” she said, “but I’m good.I won’t mess up your meal.Please, keep eating.”She pulled out her small notebook that was always in her pocket.“When I’m closing up a case, I go through my notebook, pull out all the pages related to that case, and file them.When I was doing that for this last one—Officer Harding—I found the note about that address you wanted me to check.”
She looked up with a guilty expression and shook her head.“I’m sorry.We were in the thick of it and I completely forgot to do it earlier.”
“That’s okay,” I said.“We know you’re busy.”
Declan nodded, steadily making his way through the pile of food on his plate.
“I checked this morning,” she said, “and now I’m worried my waiting was a big mistake.”
When I’d asked Orla, our new owl-shifting friend, to check the coastline for possible sorcerer lairs, she’d also found a house that felt really dark to her.Actually, she’d found seven.One was Cal’s lair.One was a vampire.Four were invisible, and one was a normal house in an ordinary neighborhood that had an address.
“The owner of the property is Catherine Swan,” Hernández told us.
I sat up straight at that.The Swans were another old wicche family.They didn’t have Corey-level power, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.Catherine was the head of the Swan coven.Bracken said she’d been trying to spy on and steal from us since he was young, wanting to be as powerful as Gran had been.
And just that quick thought of Gran caused my breath to catch and my chest to tighten.I kept forgetting.Gran couldn’t be gone.Of course she was still here, guiding the family, keeping us all in her sights.I couldn’t wrap my head around her not being at the helm.
I’d recently learned that Catherine Swan had been working with Calliope, trying to curry favor and gain demonic gifts.She’d even had her grandson Milo poison my pastries in the gallery, hoping someone dying here would wreck me and help Cal get the upper hand.If the poison had killed me, all the better.
“Swan?”I looked at Declan.“This isn’t good.I need to tell Mom.Are the Swans black magic practitioners now?”
“That’s the other part,” Hernández continued.“Catherine owns the house, but her twin grandchildren Milo and Milena are the ones who live there.”
I pushed away the plate and rested my head on the table.“I hate dark wicches.”
TWO
Your Kindness Is Really Starting to Piss Me Off
After Detective Hernandez left, I tried to eat, but the idea of more dark wicches weighed on me.How could I keep a baby safe when there were so many dangers in the world?
Declan wrapped his hand around mine.“We’ll figure something out.”Pulling my hand to his lips, he kissed it.“Right now, we should focus on the little one growing safely inside you, so we need you to eat and sleep.”
Nodding, I pushed around the food on my plate before finally taking another bite.“Right.”
“Also, I finished the doors for the deck.”He scooped up another forkful.“I think you’re going to like them, and I’ll feel a little better having you working here long hours if there’s a physical barrier between you and the outside world.”
I took another bite.The crab fried rice was delicious.“Icantake care of myself, you know.”
He tucked a loose curl behind my ear.“I do, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying.You’re my family.”He lifted his head to the gust of ocean breeze coming through the open doors.“It takes all my willpower to stay in my shop, continuing my woodworking projects, when you’re over here.I can’t see you.Don’t know if someone is spying on you, sneaking up on you.”
I wiggled my fingers.“Do I need to demonstrate again what I can do to people bothering me?”I’d once sent Declan out the door, over the railing, and into the ocean when he’d pissed me off.
He shook his head on a grin.“Unnecessary.I remember quite well.I also remember, though, all the creeps over the years who have tried to steal you away.”
“I’m careful,” I told him.
“I know you are,” he said.“And I keep telling myself that when the worry makes me want to run over here and check on you.”
Pushing away the sudden and irrational annoyance, I picked up our empty plates and took them to the kitchen sink.“Oh, I forgot to ask.Can you drive me to Mom’s?We have a Corey Council meeting this afternoon.”
“You didn’t forget.”He picked up our napkins and empty glasses.“You asked me yesterday.”Scooting me out of the way, he rinsed off the dishes and loaded them into the dishwasher.“I’ll be back a little early with the doors.I want to get them both hung while you’re in your Council meeting.”
Why was I annoyed?He was taking care of the dishes, for goodness sake.Why did that irritate me?
