Page 27 of Wicked Witch of the Wolf

“Whatever you do, take her to your property afterward and keep her there. Lila’s protection spell is strong, I know that as well as anyone.” She gave me a pointed look.

If she was waiting for an apology, we’d be here all damn night. She’d entered my property with Alpha Floyd against my wishes. She was lucky I hadn’t done worse than make her sick.

“For how long?”

“Long enough for Desmond to be dealt with,” she said.

“Tuesday, then.” I stood, making sure I kept my feet on the paperso as not to track dirt on her polar white carpet. “I’m worried about leaving her alone with him for even that long.”

“Me, too, but it’s the best option we have.”

“Margaux, why don’t you just bring Desmond to heel? You’re the coven mother. You have the right to discipline him.”

She followed me to the door, our feet making crinkling sounds on the paper. A single strand of black hair came loose from her tight chignon and fell across her face. It made her look younger, softer. Sometimes, I forgot she wasn’t much older than I was.

“The coven isn’t—” She lifted her chin, smoothed the stray hair back into place. Her shoulders stiffened, and the familiar coldness returned to her eyes. “Proceed as I’ve instructed, or the coven will come for you, and I won’t do a damn thing to stop them—even if it was within my power to do so.”

The next thing I knew I was on the porch with the door slammed in my face. Pissed and more than a little confused, I jogged down her ridiculously clean sidewalk to my Mini.

Once we were back on the road, Cecil let out a low, keening sound.

“Yeah, I know. She scares the crap out of me, too.”

The Cinco deMayo fiesta was a blast.

Ida and Cecil drank too much wine and danced together on Gladys’s porch while Gladys, Fennel, and I stuffed ourselves full of snacks. Meredith the mandrake hung out on a table under the outdoor speaker and moved her leaves to the music. The Brittons, Jacqueline and Xandra, showed up a few minutes after I did, and Trini Orozco came shortly after.

We listened to good music, drank decent wine, and chatted until ten, when my other tenant, Maria Cervantes, stormed onto the porch and yelled at us to shut up.

“She acts like we didn’t invite her,” Ida harrumphed.

We took the party inside, finishing up the wine and playing blackjack until midnight. Trini trounced us all.

The moon was bright and high in the clear desert sky when Ida, the boys, and I walked to my cottage together, Cecil flung over Fennel’s back, Meredith’s pot tucked into Ida’s sweater pocket.

“Coffee tomorrow?” Ida asked.

“Definitely.” Fennel, Cecil, and I watched her walk home from my front porch swing, losing sight of her behind an oleander bush that needed to be trimmed.

I grabbed the ancient, handheld radio on the porch beside the front door and flicked it on with my thumb, careful not to turn up the volume too much. “Your Song” by Elton John was halfway over. I knew the words well enough to sing along. Cecil stirred a little beside me. Fennel’s tail swayed lazily.

Tonight had been a fun distraction. It hadn’t, however, made me forget how unsettled I was feeling about my conversation with Margaux and the follow-up with Bronwyn afterward.

“What’s going on with your coven? Margaux was cagey as hell about it.”

“You know I can’t tell you that, Betty,”Bronwyn had snapped, which was not at all like her.

She’d then proceeded to answer my questions yet tell me nothing of substance. That had pissed me off, so I’d hung up after telling her I’d be in touch tomorrow.

I gazed up at the moon, basking in its steady presence in the clear night sky. “Something is wrong.”

Fennel let out a soft meow. Cecil snored.

“The answer is right there. Right on the tip of my brain.” I scowled. “That’s not a real saying, is it? What I mean is I need to think.”

I unzipped my boots, removed my socks, and walked down the front steps into the grass. My uncertainty was eating away at me. Fennel leapt off the swing, barely moving it, and landed on the grass beside me.

“You’re like a ninja.” I stroked his soft head. “Cecil and I could’ve used you today. Margaux scared him.”

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