Caelan chuckled and left the room, his plant and Simone’s box in his hands.
I waited until I heard the bell jingle before I let out a long groan of frustration and scrubbed my hands over my face.
A soft croak sounded. Poe popped out from under the desk and hopped onto the wrist I extended. “Hey. Sorry about that.”
“Wolf man.”
I chuckled. “Yes. The wolf man.”
“Dangerous.”
“He is.” I stroked the back of his neck. “How’s the baby?”
“Warm.” Poe hopped off my wrist and flapped to the desk, then looked back.
“I’ll get her.”
Once Poe and the egg were situated close to the window, I shut the door and headed into the main area.
Moira and Ash fell silent when they saw me. A massive basket of shiny red apples sat on the counter. Break the news first. Pie second.
“We have a big job,” I began.
Moira nudged Ash. “Pay up, bark boy.”
I rolled my eyes as the dryad reached into his pocket and tossed a bill at her. “I thought you were better than that, Evie,” Ash grumbled.
My jaw dropped. “Ash!”
“I knew you wouldn’t say no,” Moira said with a devilish glint in her eye. “Ash is just a sore loser.”
“He sure is,” I muttered, giving him a dark look. “In my defense, we’re going to charge him so much that all of us can afford to shut down the shop for an entire month and take the trip to Europe we’ve been dying to go on.” And then some, I didn’t add. They’d find out when I bumped up their paychecks.
Moira and Ash stared. “Seriously?” Moira said. “You bargained with the Shifter Lord?”
“You have a death wish,” Ash said with a shake of his head.
“I was trying to get him to leave. He insisted on hiring me.” I shrugged. “I thought since he wasn’t taking no for an answer, I could at least make it worth our while.”
Moira grinned. “That’s my girl.”
“I’m not sure what the final numbers will be because I don’t have all the information yet, but he’s asking for a massive centerpiece.” A wicked grin spread over my face. “A magical centerpiece. And I have a plan.”
Ten minutes later, I found out my friends did not quite share the same sense of adventure I did.
“Are you insane?” Ash hissed.
The dryad was usually the voice of reason in our little quad of insanity.
Moira stood there frozen for a long moment. “You think embarrassing the Shifter Lord is a good idea?”
“There’s no way to know if he’ll be embarrassed. He asked for a display of power, and I’m going to give it to him.”
My friend shook her head, but admiration glinted in Moira’s eyes. “It’s been a long time since someone pissed you off this much. Are you sure you want to do this?”
I rubbed my hands together gleefully. “I’m positive.”
Chapter
