My hand tightened on the bag. I did have more pressing issues, but the promise of fire in his eyes was a seductive pull that made me want to say fuck it to the world. Surely somebody else could deal with the trouble brewing in a town hundreds of miles away? Hudson’s lips twitched. “If I were a lesser man, I would act on the promise of pleasure in your eyes, but you would beat yourself up for it later. So let’s solve this new mystery you have landed in the middle of, then perhaps, we can pick this up later.”
He was right, I would beat myself up for it, and him recognizing that only solidified his place in my heart.
“My grandmother is coming to visit in a couple of days to retrieve something from the vaults.”
“Do you know what?”
“No, but I can figure out what she took once she leaves.”
He tucked a curl behind my ear. “Why are you and Sebastian seeing each other in a couple of days?”
“He is about to take a stand against his parents, and I said I would be there for support.”
A growl rumbled in his chest. “I don’t like you near Leon.”
“I don’t like being near Leon, but Sebastian earned my friendship and loyalty. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, my grandmother wants me to continue to keep you out of my bed. She thinks you will lose interest.”
“Your grandmother is a piece of work.”
“Good thing I didn’t take relationship advice from her then.”
His thumb traced my bottom lip. “Yes, that is a good thing.”
I was reluctant to break this fragile bubble we had around us, but the quicker we could sort out this Peach Tree mess, the quicker we could move forward in our relationship. I sucked in a breath and stepped back, breaking the contact. He grabbed my hand and threaded his fingers through it, earning him some more brownie points and a big smile.
We walked down the alley toward the pharmacy. I pushed open the door and the bell tinkled, announcing our arrival to Rockhard and Lenson. A light floral scent floated around the store, indicating they’d been brewing something in their labs which had leaked. Hudson sneezed, making me blink. Allergies? The Terror of Tennessee had allergies? Seriously?
A heavy-set man appeared from the back room, busily finishing off a jelly donut and licking the sugar from his fingers. His gray eyes widened behind the thick-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. “Cora,” Rockhard bellowed as he lifted the opening in the counter and swept me up into a bear hug. “Lenson, get your ass out here. Cora’s here with the burly shifter.”
I choked a little from the squeeze Rockhard gave me as his life partner appeared through the door. He was a balding slim guy, dressed in a pink shirt and an apron with a cloud and unicorn print on it.
A deep growl emitted from Hudson. I patted Rockhard on the back. “Best let me go, big guy, before he explodes into fur and snarls at us all menacingly.”
“I am menacing,” Hudson snaps as Rockhard lets me go.
“I’m not afraid of the big bad cat,” Rockhard declared with a wink. “I hope you made him work for your forgiveness.”
A smile pulled at my lips. “I did.”
Lenson leaned across the counter and eyed Hudson. “If you hurt her again, expect retribution, Principal. I don’t care who you are, or what you think you can do.” Ugh, save me now, my surrogate protective fathers were giving Hudsonthe talk.
Hudson nodded once. “Understood.”
“Now we’ve cleared that up,” I said, waving the bag in my hand. “Can you confirm what this is, please?”
Rockhard plucked the bag out of my hand and opened it. He sniffed and jerked his head back. “Lock the door,” he said as he pushed past Lenson into the back room. I raised a brow at Hudson, who got the hint and went to twist the lock on the front door.
“Flip the back soon sign,” I instructed, and Hudson obeyed. I raised a brow, the corner of my mouth lifting in astonishment. How long would this last? Hudson doing as he was told?
We followed Lenson into the back room in time to see Rockhard pulling the flower from the bag with a pair of tweezers. “Where did you find a devil’s trumpet?” Lenson asked as he grabbed a glass beaker and slid it in front of Rockhard.
The flower dropped inside of the clear container. “From a crime scene in Peach Tree.”
“Did you get a slice of their pie?” Rockhard asked. He pursed his lips and made a kissing noise against his fingers. “It is divine.”
“No to the pie, because the whole town is dead.”
Rockhard blinked at me then stared at the flower. “That’s a crying shame, but one lone flower would not be powerful enough to kill a whole town.”
