7
Iwentto bed that night with Margo curled up at my feet. I’d given up any pretense of rules about sleeping on her bed on the floor. She hadn’t pottied in my house even once and seemed to be freakishly intuitive and smart. So I’d had a one-sided conversation with her and told her she could sleep in my bed and get on the couch as long as she never pottied in my house. I told her to bark once for yes and twice forno.
A single bark punctuated the end of our deal, so now she was keeping my feet warm andtoasty.
I was too wired up to read. The door at the back of my property was worrying me. It was pretty disturbing I had something like that back there especially since Hank had properly freaked me out about where it might lead to. The Deadication Dating Agency had always had an air of secrecy about it. No one knew how it worked. No one could figure out their algorithms. Not a soul had any idea how they were able to maintain a hundred percent track record, nor how they had a zero divorcerate.
Trust me when I said that people tried. There was always someone who thought they could crack their code, but numerous failed dating agencies had tried and been not only unsuccessful, but usually ended up in the hospital for their efforts. Whatever magic Portia Kadish was using to keep her secrets safe worked. And whatever she did to inspire the loyalty of her employees alsoworked.
It was inspiring yet also kind of frightening. The employees who were released were rumored to have signed an iron-clad magical non-disclosure agreement. They spoke about the agency upon pain ofdeath.
And yet I had this potentially massive secret staring me in the face and not a single person had come to inquire aboutit.
Unless....they had in the form of Margo the dog. Was she a spy? I glanced down at the retriever puppy curled up by my toes snoring away. Was it possible to be too cute to be a spy? Or was that the whole shtick?Look at me, I’m so cute and adorable, now tell me all yoursecrets.
I rolled my eyes and snorted softly at myself. Margo was strangely smart, but she’d shown zero interest in the door. In fact, she’d hung back by the yard when we’d walked backthere.
So maybe it was something else. But what? It wasn’t unheard of to be watched in this town. There was too much magic for surveillance to be hard. We had too many shape shifters, too many witches, too many ways for it to be easily done. Right now the raven sitting on the tree limb outside of my room could be aspy.
I gave myself the shudders, kicked off my blankets and went to close the curtains and shut the offending possible raven spy out. Margo grunted at me as I got back into the bed and adjusted thecovers.
Stupid Hank. He was making my head spin with all of those outlandish possibilities and I already had enough to worry about. A woman had died at my house yesterday. A woman I really liked. I was still too exhausted to attempt to raise her, but I knew I would try in the next couple of days. I had to know if she’d died of natural causes. Since the medics thought she had, there would be no autopsy. But that was the thing about my talent. I could just askher.
The feeling of Anthony’s words crept down my spine and I stared at the ceiling trying to curb my terror. They were innocently spoken, but the tone in his voice. So chilling. To know I’d tried to do a favor for Dolores only for her to receive someone back who wasn’t truly her son would haunt me for a very long time. Maybeforever.
I vowed to never raise someone who had been that far gone ever again. I was just really glad Hank had been there to helpme.
Handsome Hank with his dirty hands and strong shoulders and those eyes a girl could drown in. Not to mention thatsmile.
I squirmed around waking Margo up. She gave me an annoyed huff and I stilled, but it took me a long time to go to sleep thatnight.
The next morningthe doorbell rang bright and early. I opened with a chipper smile and an extra cup of coffee only to realize it wasn’tHank.
“Oh.” My hand holding the mug out loweredslightly.
A vampire was standing in front of me. A really, really pretty one. When humans thought of vampires in the beginning they usually put them square into the slicked back hair and pale skin category. I preferred to think vampires really got hot when Anne Rice took them on, but most of the world would disagree with me. Twilight seemed to be the story that brought them into the mainstream. Even though theysparkled.
The one standing in front of me was a cross between the Anne Rice books and someone straight out of my shower fantasies. Ebony hair a touch too long curled at the collar of his crisp, blue shirt. Vivid blue eyes stared at me in rapt fascination though I was careful not to meet his gaze straight on. I’d never tested whether I had any power over vamps and I certainly didn’t want to find out by accident so I always tried to look right in the middle of their faces when I encountered one. But it was hard to miss those eyes. A straight, patrician nose yet full lips took his face from too elegant to holyhotness.
“Is that for me?” the vamp asked glancing at the cup of coffee I washolding.
“Uh.” I blinked, realizing I’d been staring at him for too long. “I thought you were someoneelse.”
“Sorry to disappoint. But since you already poured the coffee, I’d love to have it. Waste not, want not,right?”
I handed over the mug. “Guess so. Can I helpyou?”
He sent a megawatt smile my way. “Lucien Nightingale,” he said and extended his other hand tome.
I shook it, marveling at the warmth of it. “HelenReaper.”
“Yes, I know. You’re quite famous with the vampires here, Helen. They are all fascinated with the woman who can control thedead.”
My brow wrinkled. “I don’t really controlthem.”
One of his eyebrows lifted. “Of course,” he said tooquickly.
“Can I help you with something?” My gaze searched the driveway. “I have an appointment in just a little while.” I was sort of lying, but it was truthful enough to bypass their freakish ability to scent liesout.
