Watching him add butter and jam to each bite of scrambled eggs, Lara found a fork and followed his example, exclaiming happily over the changed taste. If Bobcat had been hungry, he probably would have snarled her away from his plate. I figured he was already full from eating dead donkey and this was his sweet after the meal—and something he was willing to share.
I didn’t have room on the tray for mugs and the coffeepot, but I didn’t have to make a second trip to the dining room because Michael Stern said, “Let me give you a hand with that,” and grabbed the coffeepot and two mugs.
I set out the food for the Cornleys, and Michael poured the coffee.
He stopped me on the way back to the kitchen, and as soon as his hand lightly touched my arm, my brain got ready to panic even though his touch wasn’t the least bit threatening.
“Julian Farrow is a friend of yours?” Michael asked.
Feeling wary, I nodded.
“You know he gets feelings about things?”
“We all get feelings about things.” My response was instinctive, protective, a way to hide what I knew about Julian. I wished I was the one holding the coffeepot, in case I needed to whack my guest.
“My cousin and I get feelings,” Michael said, watching me. “We have that in common with Julian.”
I realized he was wary too. He was offering a secret in a place that wasn’t home.
“Oh. Those feelings.” I hadn’t realized Michael and Ian Stern were Intuits, but to avoid persecution, Intuits usually hid their ability to sense things about their surroundings. “It must have been a strange night for you.”
He let out a soft, surprised laugh. “It was fascinating. And terrifying.”
“And . . . ?” I prodded, since it seemed he had more to say. I decided it was best to cut through cryptic talking since he had the coffeepot and someone was going to come looking for it soon. “What should I tell Julian?”
“Duplicity. We felt it last night, but not this morning.”
He was telling me someone was deceitful, or had been last night, but it wasn’t one of my guests. Which meant it was either someone staying at the Mill Creek Cabins or one of the tricksters who had come to The Jumble last night.
Or it was one of the Others? Something out there had caused Aggie, Jozi, and Eddie to retreat into their feathered form.
“And the girl. Kira. Tell Julian . . . honey trap. Not quite true in the usual sense, but true nonetheless.”
I wondered if Kira was being labeled—and blamed for men’s naughty thoughts—because she was gorgeous, but Michael seemed genuinely concerned.
“I’ll tell him.” I took a step toward the kitchen. He moved with me.
“I like your place. It feels welcoming—in a strange, adventurous sort of way.” He smiled.
“Wasn’t that what you were looking for? A bit of adventure?”
“We were. Are you open year-round?”
“Yes, but just the two suites in the main house and the two upgraded cabins. There are some . . . very rustic . . . cabins available for human guests in the summer.”
“Would those cabins be considered highly adventurous?”
I thought about the residents in some of those cabins. “Oh yes.”
When we returned to the kitchen, Aggie was at the sink, her uniform sleeves rolled up as she explained dish washing to Kira.
“How are you?” I asked her.
Terror still filled her dark eyes. “Eddie saw . . . last night. Crowbones is here.”
“Well, Chief Grimshaw will figure out who played that nasty trick.”
“No, he won’t. Chief Grimshaw is human. He can’t . . .” She turned away from me and ferociously scrubbed an already clean plate.
I turned to my Intuit guests. “If you want to see some of The Jumble today, you can join the donkey-cart tour.” I was told the cart could hold four people. Nobody actually said the donkey could pull the cart if it had four people.
I’d let Bobcat figure that out.
“Best not to walk the trails alone today?” Michael asked.
“Best not,” I agreed.
“Karol and I could walk down to the beach with your guests,” Viktor offered. “It’s open ground from the house to the sand. Or the dock.” He looked at the men. “The dock at The Jumble has become a significant place in the stories about Lake Silence.”
“Umm . . . ,” I said.
“Ilya says it is permissible to recount those events as long as we don’t embellish.”
I would have one or two things to say to my attorney about recounting. “Go ahead. Show them the dock and recount.”
Viktor grinned at me, revealing a hint of fang. That startled the men, but they must have realized they weren’t in any danger, because they followed Viktor and Karol out the door.
I looked around. “Where is Lara?” Had I lost the vampire that required firmer authority?
“Jozi is showing her the library,” Kira said. “Ilya was going to take us to Lettuce Reed to choose books, but I don’t think that will happen today. Jozi said you had books Lara might like to read. That is permitted?” She looked anxious, which increased my doubts about Michael Stern’s feeling about the girl—and helped me believe that my interpretation of the look I’d seen Kira give Viktor earlier was mistaken.
“Yes, that is permitted,” I said. “I think she’ll like the Wolf Team books.” All the terra indigene enjoyed the stories about a group of adolescents with special skills who helped beings in trouble. I turned back to Aggie. “What is Eddie doing?”
“He is dusting the wooden floors,” Aggie said. “He was going to use the vacuum cleaner, but that is too noisy.”
“Because it would disturb the guests?”
Aggie gave me a look that chilled me. “Because you wouldn’t be able to hear someone coming up behind you.”
CHAPTER 16
Grimshaw
Thaisday, Novembros 1
While Grimshaw waited for Detective Samuel Kipp and his CIU team to arrive from Bristol, Osgood drove up to the station, found an unfogged parking space, and joined his chief.
“I checked the campers first thing,” Osgood said.
“They must have been thrilled to see you before the sun,” Grimshaw remarked.
“I wanted to get on top of things in case we had a situation.” He looked at the densely fogged space in front of the police station.