“I could understand that if humans were an issue, but the park is warded, and she could’ve easily hidden herself another way. What sort of spell was she casting?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded as if arriving at some inner decision. “Would you allow me to park my transit van here tonight? I won’t need to hook up or anything. I’d just like to get a feel for the place.”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
We walked out of the house, and I locked the door behind us. “How do you feel about demons?”
Turned out,Joon didn’t feel any which way about demons, which was good, because a certain stinky one factored heavily into my plans this evening.
The mage parked in space five. I got him hooked up—water, electricity, and waste lines—and he tried to pay me several times. I refused to take it. The more tenants the park had the stronger it was, which made his presence a blessing, not a problem.
I told him to stay as long as he liked, and, in return, he told me he’d be happy to help out tonight. Well, nothappy, per se. No one’s happy dealing with demons, but he said he was glad to have a way to repay my hospitality.
Feeling buoyed by hope that Joon was interested in the park, I walked down to the Desert Café and returned with a cappuccino for me and fresh lavender scones for everyone else.
I dropped off the goodies with each tenant, including the mage, and headed to my trailer to pay some bills. The park ran almost entirely on solar power, but we had city water and septic tanks and trash pickup. Not to mention the insurance and taxes.
I finished with the books at around one o’clock, so I kicked off my shoes and walked barefoot toward the garden room with a packet of cat treats and bag of mini chocolate chip cookies. Cecil grew most of the food he ate, however, he had a weakness for sweets. And alcohol, but I wasn’t bringing him a sour apple Four Loko this early in the day.
My cell phone rang halfway there. I juggled the packages in my hands and yanked it out of my back pocket. “Hello, it’s Betty.”
A long sigh gusted through the line like a winter wind. I shivered. “Witch Betty.”
“Hello, Sexton.” I made a detour from the garden room to Mom’s porch. I perched on the front step and stared at the green patch of grass the mage had brought to life.
“I have another job for you, if you are interested.”
Something in his voice gave me more pause than usual. “What is it?”
“I’d like you to broker a deal for another artifact. This one will be easier, as I know where the artifact is and have already negotiated the price with the owner.”
“What do you need me for?”
“If I were to enter the territory of the seller, my actions would be, by some, interpreted as an act of war. I wish to keep this quiet.”
That didn’t sound foreboding at all. “So you just need me to pick it up? From where?”
“Not far. A tiny city an hour from here.”
“You mean Sundance?”
“In the other direction. The town located on the line between California and Arizona.”
“East Pluto? You weren’t lying about the tiny part. That place makes Sundance look like New York City. There’s a gas station, a diner, a couple businesses, and a few paranormals but not much else. I buy crystals from a woman there—pretty sure she’s the mayor and maybe even the entire city council.”
“There is also a cemetery.”
Another graveyard. Wonderful. “Is this contact like you? A gravedigger demon?”
“No.” He let several heartbeats thump by then said, “Dominick is a ghoul.”
“Nope.” I shook my head, even though Sexton couldn’t possibly see it. “Nuh uh. No way. I don’t mess with ghouls. They’re even more terrifying than you are, and you scare the pants off me.”
“More terrifying than me?” He sounded offended by the notion.
