Page 13 of Death Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Caton’s phone buzzed. He looked at the screen, and the tightness around his mouth eased by a fraction.

“She is coming,” he said.

Lucinda’s lips curved. “Good.”

Eve flinched.

I shifted closer to her without thinking. Not touching, not making it a thing, just close enough that she was not alone in the moment.

“Are you okay?” I murmured.

Eve’s eyes stayed on the portal. “Ask me later.”

I pressed my lips together.

The portal shimmered, the air folding in on itself as if someone had pulled back a curtain. The light that spilled out was not bright, but it was concentrated, like the doorway held its own weather.

Mina stepped through.

She paused immediately, eyes widening as she took in the chamber. Awe washed over her face so openly it made her look younger than twenty-two.

“Whoa,” she breathed. “Okay. This is… this is a lot.”

Caton’s expression softened, just slightly, in the way people did when they saw someone they loved in a space that mattered to them.

Mina’s gaze swept the room, landing on faces, then the pulsing board, then the torches. She looked as if she wanted to touch the marble just to confirm it was real.

Then her eyes found her father, and her posture straightened. Excitement pulled her features bright.

“Dad,” she said. “Your text was terrifying. Are you okay?”

“We are fine,” Caton said, which was a lie if you counted the undead outside. He motioned toward Eve, then Lucinda, then the board. “We need your help. Eve suggested we bring you in.”

Mina’s gaze flicked to her mother, and something warmed in her expression. Then it shifted again when her eyes slid to Lucinda.

She smiled, quick and practiced, as if she had done it before. Like she had been trained to.

“I have been waiting for an opportunity like this,” Mina said, and there was no hesitation in her voice. No fear. Only eagerness.

Of course.

She was young. She was ambitious. She was a witch whose spells went wrong sometimes, according to what Eve had muttered in passing. She wanted to prove she could do more than post pretty edits and film snappy clips.

Mina’s eyes glittered as she looked at Caton. “What do you need?”

Caton inclined his head toward the board. “Mundanes saw the undead. Too many. We cannot mind wipe the town.”

Mina’s brows drew together. “So you need a cover.”

Lucinda stepped forward, smile smooth. “We need a story that spreads faster than panic.”

Mina nodded as if she had been asked to plan a birthday party, not clean up supernatural exposure. “I can do that.”

Then she turned fully toward Lucinda, and her smile widened into something sweet enough to rot teeth.

“Thank you, Lucinda.”

Eve visibly flinched.