Page 57 of Magic and Muffins

Vena took a quick photo of Cross sitting by Shepard.

“That better not get posted,” I called.

“This is for the greater good,” she said, her voice growing distant as she ran to the kitchen.

“Don’t worry,” Cross said. “I blurred right before she took the picture. But she might be on to something. A few candid photos might work, but I won’t allow it in our bedroom.”

“Aw! It’s blurred,” she shouted. “You did that on purpose, Cross.”

He grinned and waited until Shepard finished with Hugh. From the one-sided conversation I could hear, it sounded like Hugh was on board with the idea.

“Hugh agreed,” Shepard said when he hung up. “Denise will not be warned ahead of time.”

“Hopefully, she’ll change her tune,” I said, then finished the last bite of omelette.

Cross took my plate and left. While Shepard made another call to someone, I got ready for the day, wanting to spend some time with Vena.

Last night had been fun, and I missed our time together, even though we still talked and texted every day. And I saw her most days, too. Still, it was different. I missed having her to myself twenty-four-seven.

Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I kissed Shepard on the cheek as he continued talking to Doc on the phone. Then I slipped out of the bedroom, closing the door so he could have a little privacy.

“I’m not sure if I like Shross,” Vena said to Anchor and Cross. “What about Cropard?”

“I think it doesn’t matter as long as people get behind us,” Cross said.

Vena sat at the table, her focus on her phone. She scrolled with one hand while using her fork with the other to absently eat.

“Do you want to see the fan art?” she asked Cross. “You should see the size of your dueling swords.”

Cross stepped over to look. “Impressive. But I’m not sure how I could walk with something like that. My tailor would charge extra for sure. Taking my inseam would be salacious.”

Vena snickered.

I sat next to her and peered at her screen and the many, many pieces of art that flooded the page. From hyper-realistic to manga, the variety and imagination of the images impressed me.

My phone rang. Taking it from my pocket, I saw it was Miles.

“Hey, Miles,” I said. “You’re on speaker.”

“Good. Are Shepard or Cross with you?”

“Both. Cross is right here, and I can get Shepard.”

“I’m here, too,” Vena said. “Thank you for asking.”

Shepard emerged from the bedroom just as I was about to get him.

“What’s going on?” he asked when our gazes swung to him.

“Miles is on the phone,” I said.

“You found something, didn’t you, Miles?” Vena demanded. “Spill it.”

“While Mom and Dad were following Grandma and Grandpa Hunter’s research trail, I was combing through the dwarven archives for anything vampire-related. I found two very interesting things. The first is about a relic that has the power to pull an entire race into the portal.”

“An entire race?” Vena questioned. “What if they were halfway around the globe?”

“Wouldn’t matter. It’s that powerful, and it’s why the portal was closed. From what we’ve pieced together, it was made by the fae originally to steal humans. Vampires were angry about it and called for a treaty.

---