Page 85 of Real Fake Hauntings

“He’s with Shane.”

A trio of women wearing plastic witch hats entered the shop and crowded in behind Ian. I grabbed Fluffy and motioned for him to follow into the back.

Once we were beyond the bead curtain, I returned Fluffy to the floor and accepted her leash and the dog walking bag.

“Are you sure you want to leave her with me?” I asked. “I still want to check the old coven house.”

He gave me one of his patented flat stares. “Take Fluffy with you.”

“You hear that, Fluffy?” I asked the white fluffball because looking into Ian’s eyes felt too intense right now. “We can go on adventures together.” And speaking of adventures… I pulled Ian into the kitchen and whispered, “I went into Wyatt’s bar after leaving the cemetery.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I was thinking that if we find the earth mage who helped the witch, they might be willing to sell out whoever hired them.”

“Good idea.”

I studied his expression. “You already thought of it, huh?”

“Yes.”

I puffed out my chest. “But I got there before you could.”

Fluffy yipped in amazement.

Ian pursed his lips, clearly trying not to laugh. “I wasn’t going to ask Wyatt, since he wasn’t inclined to share anything yesterday.”

“You think I expected an actual answer from Wyatt?” I poked his chest. His blazer was open, his thin sweater underneath soft to the touch, and his pectorals as hard and inviting as the last time. “Give me some credit.”

“Oh?”

“I asked him about earth mages.” I leaned upward and whispered in his ear, “But really, I was talking to his customers.”

His breath caught, and for a moment, I thought he was going to close the distance and nuzzle my neck, but a series of gurgling and thumps coming from the pipes reminded me we weren’t exactly alone.

“So,” I continued, pulling back and giving him a triumphant look, “now those paranormals will find the earth mage for me and sell me the information.”

“Not a bad plan,” he conceded. “How will you know they’ve found the correct mage?”

“I won’t, but it will be a start. Did Key, Shane, and Alex find anything interesting from the houses on the other side of the street?”

“Nothing yet. Half haven’t answered, the other half didn’t remember anything interesting happening.”

“That’s too bad.” Good thing we still had some leads. “What’s the plan now?”

“I have a meeting this morning.”

“On a Sunday?” I asked, disappointed. I’d been half-hoping he’d come with me to the coven house.

He studied me intently. “I should reschedule and go with you.”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’m a big girl. I can go check an abandoned evil house on my own.”

“You do have some experience with that,” he conceded.

“Indeed.”

“After the meeting, I’ll drop by the Crawler and see if I can dig up anything about new earth mages in town.”

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