Page 41 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part Two

Gracious acquiescence wasn’t a problem. I was more than happy to stay in my chair and return to my, now cold, croissant.

“Olivia, I’m afraid this wonderful breakfast has gone room temperature.” Before I could finish the thought, she was producing fresh, hot croissants and removing the half-eaten cold one in front of me. “Thank you.”

Keir slid into his chair. “Oh good.” He reached for a fresh croissant. “I like hot.”

The wink he gave me at the end of that sentence was priceless. I tried to freeze it in mental snapshots so that, in the future, I could retrieve it anytime I needed a lift.

“Lochlan will come to conference when you’re ready,” Keir said. “While he’s here, I’ll have a visit across the lane.”

“You sure? That sounds boring. I mean, unless you understand Greek.” He did that bobblehead thing. “Youdospeak Greek?”

“All fae creatures have the ability to understand spoken languages.”

“Then why do the ones who come to my court often have regional accents.”

Keir shrugged. “Early linguistics make an impression, I guess.”

“Hmmm. What are you going to say to her?”

“I don’t have an agenda.” When he saw that I wasn’t satisfied with that, he said, “Is there something you want me to say?”

After a few seconds’ thought, I shook my head. “Can’t think of anything. Except I do want to know for sure that she doesn’t remember, um, any of what she did while she was, um, changed.”

“What else?”

“That’s all.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll tell the house to admit Lochlan. We’re you’re done I’ll walk the dogs.”

“You’re the best.”

“And, sometime, you need to either stop by the Hallows or ask Maggie for a visit. She’s not herself when you’re out of pocket.”

“It’s nice to be needed.”

“Don’t ever let her find out that Lochlan knew about your coma, and she didn’t. She’d be out wailing her own end.”

“Don’t say that! It’s not funny!”

“Alright. Sorry. But you know it’s true.”

I’d eaten too much, but honestly, it wasn’t hard to do since my stomach had shrunk down to nothing. As I toddled down the hall to my study, I realized that I was actually eager to get back to work. I’d never had a job I really liked before. It was nice.

The calendar drew my attention when I sat down at the case piles table. Only three days until court should convene and we hadn’t announced what cases would be heard. Though Lochlan had said so yet, I was sure setting the docket so late was an historical first. It was so womanly of me to feel bad about something I had no control over.

“Morning,” Lochlan said as he arrived at my study threshold.

“Hey. Thanks for coming. I…”

The door chime announced a guest that couldn’t be Lochlan because Keir said my clerk was clear to come in. I hated having to get up and go to the door, but nothing would’ve stopped me since my house had chosen to play “Send in the Clowns.”.

“These are the cases I’m thinking about.” I passed a handful of files his direction. “See what you think while I get this.”

“Open,” I told the house as I approached the front door. When I saw who was standing there with a Cheshire cat grin, I could’ve kicked myself for my lack of caution. “Loki.” Of course,he wouldn’t take the hint that my tone was unwelcome. “You’re about eleven and a half months early for our next session.”

“Yes, but that’s more a guideline than a rule. Right?” he said brightly.

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