“I know.This was a test to see if you liked them.”He took a piece of bacon and waited for my opinion.
I swallowed the bite I was eating.“I love that idea, and this is delicious.”
“Good.”Smiling, he looked back down at his plate and had another bite.
I took a piece of bacon and considered.“I could make Saturday morning pancakes.”
He looked up, his warm brown eyes twinkling.“Perfect.”
The next two days were weirdly stress and drama-free.I worked in the hot shop.As the work was repetitive, my mind wandered to what I was going to say at the meeting on Friday.I had the video evidence, but I wasn’t sure what kind of equipment they’d have at the meeting.I decided to bring my own laptop and a small portable projector, just in case.
Uncle John had given me the footage of Milo outside his house, which could only help our case.The detectives were leaving me alone, so I assumed the FBI was making progress identifying the victims.I loved it when no one needed me.
After I closed down the hot shop late Thursday afternoon, I walked over to check on the new construction.I’d told them about the changes I wanted in our future nursery, but I wasn’t sure if they’d had time to start yet.I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the door.The bathroom had already been framed out.Given all the delicate glass on the other side of this wall, I flicked my fingers and added a spell to keep the pounding in here from affecting the gallery.
There was now a door-sized hole in my outside wall.Instead of standing in the parking lot, though, I was in what would soon be Bracken’s living room.
“Good evening, Miss Corey.Did you have a question for us?”
I turned to find a tall Black woman in blue coveralls with a bandana over her hair.She had been in charge of the remodel of Declan’s workshop and our new home.“Cam.It’s good to see you again.I didn’t realize you were the forewoman for this job.”I glanced around.“It’s looking great.”
Cam nodded.“It’s coming along.It’s a pretty easy job.I’m overseeing both this one and the new wall around Quinn Woodcraft.We should be done here next week.The wall is going to take longer.It’s labor intensive.We’re doing a wooden fence along the road, but the other three sides of the property will have stone walls.He wants your home as secure as possible.”
“That I do,” Declan said as he walked in from the future nursery.He gave me a kiss and said, “You weren’t in the hot shop or the studio, so I followed your scent over here.”He looked up.“Thanks for all your hard work, Cam.Both jobs are coming along well.”
She nodded.“I have good crews who are doing their best work for you.I’m finishing my walk-through.The bathroom is almost done.The shower was installed today.We’re waiting on cabinets for the kitchen, and the stove.”
She pointed through the door to the nursery and we followed her in.“This was an addition to the original plan, so we need to wait on some materials.”She looked at me.“You want a half bath here, right?”
Nodding, I said, “Yes.There’s a full bath in my studio.”
“Okay, good,” she said.“This room won’t take long.What color do you want us to paint it?”
“No need for that,” I told her.“I’ll paint in here.”
“Bracken told us to paint the playroom a standard white for now because you were going to be painting a forest scene in there.Is that right?”
“I think so.I’m still deciding.”
“All right then.”She checked the time on her phone.“I’m going to head out.”She gestured toward Bracken’s apartment.“I’m going this way.”She stopped short.“I meant to tell you earlier, but I was told not to open the hot shop door.My guys informed me that there are dead birds in the bushes at the edges of the parking lot.I told them not to touch anything, in case they were spelled or something.”
I slumped against Declan.“Damn.I knew it was too quiet.”My hand went to my queasy stomach.“Why do they keep hurting living things?It doesn’t work.Their curses aren’t stronger than my wards.”Sighing, I said, “I’ll follow you out.I need to clean up.I don’t want the poor things rotting by the side of the road.”
Cam said goodbye and drove away.Declan stayed with me.He walked along the roadside of the parking lot, while I stayed behind the wards.We walked parallel to each other on either side of four-foot flowering bushes that marked the property line.
Declan stopped beside the first dead bird.It looked to be nailed to a board and had beads and trinkets stuffed down its craw and in wounds.I had no idea what any of it meant other than it was dark and filthy.It made my skin crawl.Declan shook his head in a way that made me think of his other nature, shaking the unease out of his coat.
He had the presence of mind to photograph the curses for my presentation tomorrow, while I cleaned them out, asking the Goddess to grant peace to the poor tortured birds.There were five in all.I really hated the Swans.
THIRTY-NINE
Road Trip!
We stayed long enough at the studio to heat up a frozen lasagna for dinner and feed Otis, Daisy, and Jasper.
On the short drive home, Declan held my hand on his thigh.“I don’t have any doubts about you commanding the room tomorrow.I’m worried about that Swan woman.Like Orla said, she’s dangerous because she doesn’t think logically.They killed that man to make a spell that wasn’t strong enough to unravel your wards, but they don’t learn from that.”
He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my exposed wrist.“Please don’t discount her.Sometimes the stupid and incompetent win.”
