Page 69 of Magic and Muffins

“I’ll take that eye roll as a rolling pin. Lucky ducky.”

I grabbed a red shirt decorated with white macarons from a shelf and tossed it at her.

She easily caught it and stripped off the shirt she was wearing.

“You showered first, right?” I asked.

“Of course. I washed all the delicacies Anchor was nibbling on. Let me tell you, the Vena buffet was open for business today, and he ate well.”

The only reason I didn’t scold Vena was because I needed her distraction. I didn’t know what we were heading into. Even though I put on a brave face for Cross and Shepard, I knew this had the potential to backfire on us.

After we both wore red shirts, I hugged her. “Love you.”

“Love you, too. Let’s go kick some vampire ass.”

“No, no ass-kicking. We’re just the bait.”

“I know, but let me just pretend a little, okay?”

Shepard was getting off the phone when we left the bedroom.

“Hugh is downstairs,” he said. “He’ll set Vena up with a body cam so the DOS can get the footage they need.”

Both Shepard and Cross looked like they wanted to hug me—either that or lock me in a tower so I wouldn’t get hurt. But I blew them each a kiss and followed Vena downstairs. They trailed behind us, keeping their distance so we wouldn’t smell like them.

Hugh and one of his security were ready for Vena. They hid the camera in a pair of red-framed glasses that matched her shirt color.

They tested it over their high-tech system before giving us the go-ahead.

“Always go for the safe route,” Hugh said. “You know the danger this meetup poses. My team and I might not be able to get to you in time. If you need to bail, do it without hesitation.”

We nodded our understanding.

“You won’t be able to take your own car there,” Hugh said. “The seat fabrics hold scents. Instead, we have a driver with a ride-share logo on his window. He’s right outside and ready for you.”

After a quick breath to steel my nerves, which didn’t really help, Vena and I walked out to the car.

Once we were both seated and buckled, the driver took off.

“Are you ready?” I asked Vena softly.

“Yep. And I got my lucky knife ready, too.”

Thankfully, I didn’t have to focus on what problems lay ahead of us since Vena began chirping in my ear about everything and nothing, and that’s when I realized she was just as nervous as I was. She was just showing it differently.

I glanced over at her and smiled.

She smiled back at me. “I always called your girls Thelma and Louise, but now we’re really being them.”

“Yeah, but we get a better ending.”

The driver pulled over. “I’m letting you off here. The spot is just down the road. Less than a block. You’ll see it.”

We thanked him and got out.

Vena glanced at her phone and flashed me the picture included with the instructions. “We’re looking for a ‘No Loitering’ sign that’s been graffitied on.”

Heading down the road, we found the sign easily.

---