Page 10 of Woodland Web

“I saw you out the window,” she said. “You looked like you could use a hand.”

“You were certainly right about that.” I tossed the mail on the table and set my purse beside it. “Want some coffee? And by coffee, I mean a latte or mocha?”

“I’d love an iced caramel latte.” Serena sat down. She was well-acquainted with my passion for caffeine, and she seemed to find it amusing. “A double shot. I’ve got to help William tonight with the bills and accounts.” Serena settled at the table while I flipped on the espresso machine.

A tall woman, Serena was sturdy and athletic. Both Killian and Tally reflected their parents’ looks, from the wheaten hair to the green eyes to the long, smooth noses.

“Do you miss teaching?” I asked.

“Some days, yes. I’ve actually decided to open a preschool run on the lines of the Jullian School.” The Jullian methodology of teaching was to shifters what Montessori was to humans. “I’ve applied to the city for permits. I found a space that would be perfect for it—there’s an empty convenience store on Laguna Way. I can’t run it at home since William needs to focus on his work.”

Instead of renting a commercial space, William had taken over what had been the hidden ritual room and turned it into his home office. Since I had renovated it to be an actual basement instead of having a trapdoor for an entrance, the lower floor was now a nice space, and all the ghosts and chaotic energies were long gone.

“Really? You’d be great at running a Jullian school. Do they charge a lot for a franchise?”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that in the shifter world. Once we’re trained, anybody can open up one as long as they have that certificate hanging on the wall. But the city requires permits, so I’m at that stage right now. And that way, I can take care of Victoria and Leanna whenever Tally needs me to, and she can go back to work. I know she misses working outside the house.”

I handed her the iced latte and pulled another for myself. I sat down opposite her at the table and pointed to the pizzas. “I’m going to pop these in the oven now. You want to eat dinner with me? Killian’s holding his monthly spay and neuter clinic today, so he won’t be home until late.”

Serena eyed the pizzas, her eyes bright. That was one thing about shifters—they had hearty appetites and I never felt like I had to stick to salads around them.

“Well, William is planning on having the guys over to watch a baseball game. They’re going to eat us out of house and home. I told him the men can make their own sandwiches. I was just planning on reading in my office, so sure—I’ll stay for pizza.”

I preheated the oven and slid the pizzas onto baking sheets, then tucked them in to bake. While we waited, we chatted about life in general. I seldom mentioned the nature of my work, because even though she tried to restrain her nervousness, I knew that my occupation made Serena uneasy. Most wolf shifters had serious issues with magic. It wasn’t that they didn’t approve, but it just made most of them jittery. There was something about the energy that didn’t settle well in their aura. And that included phenomena like ghosts, demons, and anything else that you could think of in that realm. So I did my best to make Killian’s parents comfortable. I was lucky that Killian had grown beyond that nervousness.

But I did tell her that I went back to work. “I love writing, but I love people too, so I decided that I’ll just take longer to write the book, and then go back to work part time. Tad’s glad I’m coming back.”

“Will it disrupt your headaches?” Serena and William weren’t quite sure what to think about my energy reflux syndrome, but they never once indicated they didn’t believe it was real, like some people did about invisible disabilities. I never once felt gaslighted or like they thought I was faking it.

“I hope not. We’ll see. I’m doing better, now that I’m practicing a lot more magic, but it will never be the same as if my mother had brought me up to actually use my powers.” I paused, thinking about the whole situation. “But I don’t blame her. Not now that I understand why she did it—and there were several reasons.”

We ate and went on to chat about the shared garden we were working on for the two households. Killian and William had built a large patch of raised beds and we were growing a large kitchen garden together. The men had also planted several apple trees for us and a couple pear trees.

Finally, Serena glanced at her watch. It was seven-thirty. “I’d better go. Thank you for dinner and coffee. See you later, dear.” She kissed me on the cheek and squeezed my hand before heading out the kitchen door. I cleared the plates and our latte tumblers, then rinsed them and tucked them into the dishwasher. After wrapping up the leftover pizza, I wandered into the living room and decided to write for a while.

A little over an hour later, the phone rang.

I glanced at the caller ID. “Hey Val, how are you?”

Val’s voice, smooth as butter, poured out. “Everything’s good,” he said. “So, what can I do for you, January?”

“Sorry about interrupting you, Val. I need to ask you something. Have you heard any odd reports about strange creatures hanging around, especially near Devil’s Gulch?” I described the sluagh to him. “I don’t think they can form-shift,” I added.

He was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “There’s a sluagh running around?”

Bingo. He knew what they were.

“Yeah, but I can’t talk about it more than to tell you that I’ve been charged with finding and destroying it. But in order to get rid of it, I first have to find the creature.” I licked my lips.

“Oh good gods, you’re working for the Fae now? What are you, their hitwoman?”

I could practically see him rolling his eyes.

“Well…in this case, yes. I am. And I’ll be in big trouble if I don’t deliver on this. So, help a woman out and just tell me what you know, if anything?” I didn’t like using my “cajoling” voice as I called it—it felt a little sleazy—but Val responded to it, and I needed whatever info I could gather.

He was silent for a moment. Then, he said, “Of course I’ll help you if I can. You know you can always ask me for favors.”

I stretched out on the sofa, sitting against the arm of the sofa and stared at my feet. “Thank you. I doubt if I can reciprocate, but if I can, you know you can call me.” I knew better than promise anything to a vampire. I just wished I hadn’t had to promise anything to Briar.

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