Rafe stood tall and saluted me.
“I will protect my queen at all costs,” Rafe intoned.
“Well, yes, and maybe me too?” I offered, annoyed that he seemed to have forgotten all about me.
“You too – you’re not so bad,” Rafe said.
“Gee, thanks Rafe. Tell me what happened out at the festival?”
“Nothing, actually. I searched for a really long time. It’s like there was never a festival there at all.” Rafe shrugged.
“Really? No fire pit? No battened down grass? No litter? No tents?” I fired off questions at Rafe and he just continued to shake his head no.
“Honestly, nothing. I backtracked and then made sure that I had gone to the right spot, because it looked as though nothing had been there. But I finally found some confirmation of the festival.”
“What was that?”
“There’s sort of an energy portal that has been opened up. It must have been where the crazy dude called on the powers.”
This was not good.
“An energy portal? Like a passageway to hell?”
Rafe shrugged.
“Maybe, maybe not? It’s not huge. Just a bit of pulsing energy there. Something to keep an eye on, for sure. Especially with All Hallows’ Eve next month.”
Fantastic. An energy portal opened up to the underworld right before Halloween. I’m sure nothing bad will happen with that. At all.
Rubbing my hands over my face, I breathed deeply for a moment.
“One thing at a time here, Rafe. We have to get Luna. Then we’ll deal with the energy portal.”
Rafe shrugged his shoulders. He had all the time in the world.
I jumped as a ripple of energy ran through the house, powerful magick pressing against the back of me and causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.
“I love when she uses magick, it’s so sexy,” Rafe breathed, his eyes wide as he peered into the house.
“Yes, super sexy,” I said as the front door cracked open and Miss Elva poked her head out.
“What are we doing about dinner?” she demanded.
“Dinner? I don’t know if I can eat,” I admitted.
“I passed a food truck on the way over here,” Rafe said helpfully. Miss Elva met my eyes.
“Go get us food. Rafe, you go with her,” she instructed as the door slammed behind her.
“Isn’t she great?” Rafe enthused by my side as I walked down the block and turned onto the next street.
“Yes, a real dreamboat,” I said, keeping my wits about me as I scanned the pedestrians cycling and walking by, looking for anything out of order. The food truck was parked on a corner and advertised take-away Mexican food; the spicy scents wafting from it made my mouth water. Food trucks had become all the rage in the Keys about five or ten years ago, and it seemed like we had a new one come through every week.
After ordering two platters of steak and chicken fajitas, I made my way back to Miss Elva’s to find her on the front porch, a satchel by her side.
“Sun’s close to setting. Let’s eat and get going. Rafe, did you find anything out today?”
Rafe hung his head in apology.
