“And the cotillion.” I sighed, launching into the events that had taken place today. “He’s a vamp, Ari. I’ve never met a vamp before. I was scared speechless.”
Ari shook her head. “Vampires are tricky. I’ve met a couple. I wish they were just a myth, like the Easter Bunny.”
“I know. But at least he’s willing to buy the land. Of course, I don’t believe that he’s doing it out of the goodness of his heart. There has to be another reason.”
“If I had the money, I’d buy the land so you wouldn’t have to deal with him. And by the way, why did you even accept? This isn’t your problem, really. It might be Conjure Ink’s case, but that’s the company, not you, personally. I think you should call him back and say thanks but no thanks.”
“Rowan would have my hide. She cashed in a marker for me—for the town. As to why this is my problem…” I thought about it for a moment, then told her about the Crystal Cauldron. “If they’re trying to help the town, then I feel…like I have no choice.”
“You’ve always had more civic pride than I have,” Ari said. “Well, tomorrow’s the carnival.”
“And I get to meet Mean Meag—” I paused as a pained look crossed Ari’s face and I saw just how hurt the words made her. “I’m sorry. I won’t tease you about her again. I look forward to meeting Meagan again.” Yawning, I finished my bottle of sparkling water. “I guess we should get our asses to bed. It’s nearly eleven and it’s been a long, long week.”
“See you tomorrow,” Ari said, giving me a hug. “Be careful, and make sure your Ladies keep an eye on those vamps.”
“Will do.” Even though I knew Ari had been joking, on the way home I sent out a silent plea to the Ladies, asking them to guide me over the next few weeks. “Because, gods know,” I said, shaking my head in the empty car, “I don’t always do a good job of that on my own.”
Chapter Eighteen
When I woke up, it was to a new blanket of snow. We had about thirteen inches total. I huddled under the covers and opened my weather app. Snow and more snow, but it looked like we might have a warmup at the very end of December. The snow would probably stick around until then, given we were caught in a polar vortex. Grateful that I didn’t have to go to work, I set my alarm again for eight and ducked back under the covers for another hour’s snooze.
After a shower, I dressed, did my makeup, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. I stood in front of the refrigerator, staring inside until I decided that I wanted waffles. But I didn’t want to make waffles. On a whim, I texted Killian.
want to go out to breakfast with me?
Less than a minute later, he replied. sure! i’d love to. can we take your car? mine was making weird noises yesterday and i think i need to take it into the shop.
come over and we’ll head out.
When I answered the door, I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I kiss him? Just say hello? We were in that state where I wasn’t sure just exactly where we were in the relationship. Were we boyfriend and girlfriend? We weren’t lovers yet, but we were headed that way.
But Killian took care of that. The moment I opened the door, he swung his arms around me and gave me a sound kiss, getting snow all over me.
I laughed. “That’s the warmest and yet the chilliest greeting I’ve had in a long time. Come on in.”
He stamped the snow off his boots. “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat,” he said, his eyes sparkling. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out his hand, holding his closed fist out to me. “I brought you something.”
I stared at his hand. “It’s not a spider, is it? I’m an arachnophobe. I had someone do that to me once, trying to cure me of my phobia.”
He gave me an incredulous look. “Who would do something like that? No, woman, I’m not cruel. Hold out your hand.”
Curious, I held my hand beneath his and he dropped something cool into my palm. It was a beautiful quartz crystal.
“How lovely,” I said, holding up the spike to the light. It was almost clear, with only a few fractures inside, and they sparkled with rainbows. The spike was about three inches long and bigger than my thumb.
“I found it in the house and thought that you might like it,” Killian said.
I set the crystal on the coffee table, smiling. “I love it. Thank you. Are you ready? I’m starved.” I slipped into my jacket and grabbed my purse. We ducked through the falling snow to my car. I stopped at the door, turning my head up to catch the snowflakes on my tongue.
Killian laughed. “It feels like we should be looking around for a bald kid and a kid carrying a blanket!”
I stuck out my tongue at him. “I’m not Lucy, all right?”
But I went back to catching snowflakes on my tongue. As we settled in the car, I said, “Rowan Firesong found us a buyer for the property. He’s agreed to buy it, tear down the asylum, and build a tall fence around the entire piece of land. That’s the best we’re going to get in this case. We can’t even free the spirits who were absorbed by the elemental. They’re so merged with the creature that they’ll be there forever.”
“Who is this benefactor? And what’s the catch? I’ve found very few people are that altruistic unless they have a tremendous amount of money and a conscience, and the two don’t always go together,” Killian asked, looking out the window as we headed for Lucky’s.
I paused, then said, “What do you know about vampires?”
Killian jerked his head away from the window to stare at me. “Oh no, you don’t mean—”
“Yeah, I do. Apparently one of the vamps in town owed Rowan a huge favor and she called in her marker. I’m not sure what she did to be able to command a favor that huge, but he agreed.”
After a moment, Killian sighed. “I don’t trust vampires. I’ve never met one that didn’t have his own agenda at the bottom of any supposed good deed.”
“I’ll be careful,” I said. “I don’t trust him either, but if Rowan had that big of a hold over his head, she can probably keep him in line.” My phone, which I had plugged into the car’s hands-free system, rang. Over the speaker, Jerica—the car’s AI—said, “Rowan Firesong calling.”
“Jerica, answer call and put on speaker,” I said. As the car connected to my phone, I wondered what Rowan had to say. “Hi, Rowan, what’s up?”
“I just got a call from Val. His lawyer offered the owner an all-cash payment. It’s settled. Val threw in an extra five thousand if they could transfer the title today. The lawyers are meeting at the bank in an hour to take care of the paperwork, and the title will be recorded on Monday. Val’s hired a company to bring down the building on Tuesday. Would you like to be there for the demolition?”
“Yeah,” I said, feeling a rush of relief. “I’ll talk to Tad and the others, but we’ll all probably want to be on hand when they tear it down. So make certain Val gives us the correct time.”
“Will do.” Rowan paused, her voice wary. “January, I’d be careful. For some reason he’s taken a fancy to you. He mentioned you several times. When a vampire’s fascinated by you, it’s never a good thing. So just…watch out, okay?”