Alejandro handed Logan's phone back, put his own to his ear, and stepped out of the kitchen.
We watched him go, and then Susan spoke up. "Doesn't the shift heal injuries?"
"Not always, Miss Susan, er, Sheriff," Jed said, sinking down into the chair as if his legs wouldn't hold him up any longer. "If the injuries are bad enough, the body doesn't have the energy to shift."
Susan studied the shifters in the room. "Is the shape-change magic? Or science?"
"Yes," all three of them promptly answered.
"Seems to be both, as far as I can tell," Jack elaborated, shrugging.
"So many scientific principles looked like magic before we understood them," I said. "The magical healing power of hot springs? Cold suppresses the immune system, so the heat would have helped people alotbefore the invention of central heating. Think about what cell phones would have looked like to people in the 1700s. Or airplanes. Or that thing where you put Mentos in a Diet Coke."
Logan started laughing. "Your mind is wonderful," he told me.
"So much better than my singing," I confided, grinning. "But, honestly, I just read. A lot. And I truly believe that, one day in the next decade, we'll discover the science of shapeshifting."
Susan nodded. "Maybe. And vampirism too. But for now, let's have dinner and figure out how to stop the Fae from destroying Dead End over a dagger they think we have."
Jack and Logan took a pile of meat out of the fridge and headed out back to the grill, and Susan checked in on her job and people while I pulled plates and silverware out to set the table. Jed moved as if to help me, but I waved him back to his seat.
"I appreciate it, but I know where everything is, so why don't you just sit and visit with me while I do this? Also, would you like to change clothes?" I studied him doubtfully, imagining he wouldn't appreciate it if anything got splashed on his very fancy outfit. "You'll fit Jack's clothes. In fact, I'm sure he has some of his uncle's things, and Jeremiah was more your size."
He perked up. "Jeremiah? I have more kin alive?"
"I'm sorry. He … died almost a year ago," I hedged. I certainly didn't want to get into the conversation about Jeremiah's murder now.
"Perhaps I'll change clothes after dinner, child," he said. "I'm a little tired right now. Is there any of that coffee left?"
I poured him some, and he smiled his thanks. "Is my grandson very rich, that he can afford coffee for ordinary occasions?"
I paused, caught off guard. "No, actually, coffee is very inexpensive these days. Well, except for special coffee houses. Then you pay an arm and a leg for a cup."
"Ah, yes. We, too, had coffee houses. They were mostly gathering sites for fiery political talk, though."
I tried to imagine the Starbucks outside of town as a hotbed of political unrest and chuckled. "Not so much anymore. Sometimes they're gathering sites for beat poetry, though, which can be far, far worse."
I explained beat poetry as much as I could to a man of his time while I set the table and made a huge salad with vegetables I'd brought over earlier in the week. Jed seemed to be a little suspicious that I was telling tall tales, though, judging from his skeptical expression.
Before I had to pull out my phone and show him a video of Allen Ginsberg, Jack and Logan came back in with the meat, and Susan and Alejandro returned from their calls.
"Boston confirms your story," Alejandro told Logan, neither his voice nor his eyes showing even a hint of apology. "This time, at least. You are on our watch list, though. Don't make me regret not arresting you, Mr. Mackenzie."
"Everybody regrets not arresting him," Jack muttered, putting a large platter of steaks and burgers on the table. "And yet somehow he's still not in jail. Amazing."
Jed sat up straight and leaned forward, an almost-palpable aura of danger suddenly surrounding him. "Is he dangerous to our Miss Callahan?"
Jack put an arm around me and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. "Nobodyis dangerous to our Tess. Not while I'm around."
I bared my teeth at him. "Same goes, buddy. Now, can we eat? I'm starving, and I don't want my headache to come back."
"Unfortunately, I must leave to catch a flight," Alejandro said, casting a longing glance at the food.
"Let me pack you up a quick to-go bag. You can eat on the plane," I said, and did just that.
"You are an angel," Alejandro told me. He gave Logan one last long look, smiled at me and Susan, bowed to Jed, and then Jack walked him out. I think they discussed something, because it was a few minutes before Jack came back inside, frowning. He didn't say about what, though, and I decided not to ask until we were alone.
After that, we focused on dinner and ate in relative silence for a while, other than "pass the salt" or "great steaks." At one point, I realized Susan was sitting frozen, fork forgotten in one hand, as she stared around the table at the men.
