Her slick, short black hair had been turned into an absolutely massive bright green afro. She tugged on it, but it didn’t come off because it wasn't a wig. She shot a confused glare at Kelly before running off in the same direction Sandy had gone.
“Is it always like this?” Kelly asked, slumping against the ornately carved banister.
Nathan gave a casual shrug Kelly already recognized. “Sometimes. The old girl's opinionated.”
Kelly scowled, fury rising in her. She had been awake for far too long now and wasn’t prepared to deal with a sentient house having a hissy fit. Before she could voice her anger, there was a light knock on the door and a pretty red-headed woman in a neat pink suit appeared on the porch.
“Not again,” Kelly muttered to herself as she turned to greet the newcomer.
“Hello,” this one said, smiling politely. “I’m here to see Kelly Holloway?”
“Well, come on in,” Kelly said with a resigned sigh. “If you dare.”
“I’m sorry?” A look of uncertainty flashed across her face. “Am I in the right place?”
“Yes, sorry,” Kelly said, hurrying to shake her hand. “By all means, let's talk.”
Nathan and Kelly exchanged expectant glances, then looked around the room as they waited for the inevitable screaming of hell demons to ooze from the walls.
Nothing happened. The woman looked between Kelly and Nathan as if they might be deranged and tried to smile.
“I’m Aurora. Aurora Rhonelle. We did have an appointment, right?”
“Uh huh.” Kelly stared absently at the ceiling, looking for monster spiders or flying monkeys. “Nice to meet you.”
The house remained silent. It wasn’t like a drawn breath, waiting for chaos to be released. It felt calm, like a smooth sea at sunset.
“Nathan?” she asked, hesitantly.
“I think this one might be a winner.”
“Thank fuck for that.”
“Language,” Aurora muttered.
“Sorry,” Kelly said automatically, still distracted by the house. Even though it seemed calm now, she didn't trust it.
“Someone mind telling me what's going on here?” Aurora started to look around furtively.
“It appears…absolutely nothing. Let’s make some coffee and I’ll explain everything.”
Nathan smirked as the women headed for the kitchen. “Good luck with that,” he whispered.
Five
Friday night. Party night!
Not anymore, Kelly thought with a sigh. She had the same thought so often these days that she barely recognized herself. This night only reinforced the split from her usual version of reality and she wasn’t happy about it.
Instead of hitting the club, slamming cocktails, and finding a gorgeous guy to take home, she was striding through the halls of the Judiciary on her way to meet with Louie, the executor her new house didn't seem to like very much. Which was precisely why he'd wanted to meet at the Judiciary instead of Hollow House. At least avoiding real work brought a modicum of relief from the fact that her life had changed so much in other ways.
Surprisingly enough, talking to Louie seemed slightly less boring than listening to Owyn, and she had a good excuse. He needed to talk to her about the house and her roommates… Well, really the house’s roommates. It didn’t look like anyone who lived there was going to get a say either way.
When she stepped into the crowded cafeteria, her eyes swept the room. Out of habit, she jutted out a hip and swished her hair. Another sigh broke free from her lips as she realized she was acting as if she'd just hit a club dance floor. Luckily, no one paid her an iota of attention.
The cafeteria wasn't particularly well-lit—at least not in the corners. She'd always wondered why, but suspected it had something to do with the large number of vamps who worked there. The dimness made it difficult to see clearly who was lurking in the shadows, and as sure as she was that Louie would make himself seen, she decided to take a lap, just in case. Owyn had only given her thirty minutes for lunch and she didn't want to spend the entire time waiting around.
As she cruised the room, she spotted Ronun Fluevog in a corner booth with the dark, rude witch from the other night. Kalliope something. She sure didn’t look lost now. She looked like she had a firm hold on Ronun and wasn’t prepared to let go. To Kelly’s surprise, something like jealousy ate at her insides as she watched Kalliope smile charmingly and lightly touch Ronun's hand. She couldn’t resist getting a bit closer to hear what they were talking about.
Just as she was getting anxious one of them might turn around and accuse her of eavesdropping, Ronun raised his voice. Kelly kept walking, grateful she could catch snippets of conversation without getting accused of being a busybody.
“I’m telling you—” His voice dropped low enough she couldn't catch the rest, then he got louder again. “When she touched me—” More mumbling before she heard his final word. “Weird.”
Who was touching Ronun? The weird jealous feeling hit her again and this time she ran with it. Slowing down a little as she passed them, she strained to hear everything, hoping for more details on who was touching him and why it was weird.
“I don’t know,” Kalliope snapped, as rude as she'd been to Kelly.
“Isn’t that what I paid ten grand for?” he snapped back.
Kelly couldn’t linger to hear more without giving herself away, so she moved off toward some empty tables, her mind spinning over the overheard conversation. She no longer felt jealous at all. Clearly they were having a business meeting of some kind, but that was a hell of a lot of money. Exactly what services did Ronun want a witch like Kalliope to perform? Matchmaking? Some witches specialized in love potions, though Kelly had always considered that cheating.
She passed by the counter and got a blueberry muffin to nibble while she waited for Louie. Ronun’s words still echoed in her mind as she grabbed a table. Picking at the muffin, she wondered when—no, if—Owyn would ever let her perform any truly exciting curse breaking work. Probably not, judging by his gruffness with her. Giving up on the muffin, she considered doing another lap to see if she could gather more intel on Ronun, but that's when Louie finally arrived.
And boy, he didn't look very happy to see her. He was frowning so hard his brows almost met in the center of his face and his mouth twisted downward. When he saw her, she could practically feel his energy focusing on her like a bolt of pure frustration.
“Hi, Louie!” She tried an eager tone, hoping to disarm him.
Instead, his eyebrows shot up to his non-existent hairline and his mouth twisted sideways instead of down.
“Kelly.” It was only one word, but it was delivered with a finality that made her stomach lurch.
When did this become my life? All because I had to help out a friend and keep an innocent man from punishment. If this is what you get for being a hero, no wonder we don’t have many.
As Louie opened with a dressing-down, her thoughts wandered off like a dog from a broken leash. Her “crime” of casting an unsanctioned truth spell in open court was the reason for her being thrust into indentured servitude at the OCJ. It had nothing to do with Louie being on her ass. Louie was on her ass because she had inherited a house with the auric strength of a spiritual grandmaster—and the mental stability of a three-year-old.