Page 110 of Bright Dark Curses

Nobody moved a muscle.

“Very well. Permission granted.” She flipped the page on the giant open folder on top of her table. “Next item. The?—”

I let out a crow of delight and hugged Dru hard. “We did it!”

“Avery!”

“Sorry, Sonia.” But I couldn’t make myself sound contrite or wipe the huge grin off my face.

Dru hugged me back for a millisecond, then made disgusted noises until I loosened my grip. Her smile of pure satisfaction and the way she sat, straight with her chest puffed out, filled my heart with joy. Even though I had been sure the rest of Olmeda would come to bat for her, it brought me such happiness to witness Dru rank so high in their esteem. She was an integral part of the community, and I was beyond ecstatic that now she could see it too.

My phone buzzed in my pocket—a new email notification. I gasped with shock and delight at the preview on the screen.

“Something important, Avery?” Sonia asked as she began to scrunch up the top page of her folder.

I looked up, tears of joy in my eyes. “My black jade has finally shipped.”

The ball of paper hit me right in the face.

Once the PBOA meeting came to an end, we gathered at Ian’s house to celebrate Dru’s official new shop. The strays brought in boxes of pizzas, Hutton showed up with beers, Dru forced me to have ice cream delivered because she was too lazy to hunt down an open store, and I lavished the dogs with plenty of pets and food in their bowls so they wouldn’t feel left out. All the while, Ian sat at the table and watched everyone take over his kitchen like a statue made of stoicism.

The gleam of amusement in his eyes told me he was anything but, though.

No sooner had the ice cream arrived than Brimstone showed up with a bottle of wine. Fluffy immediately greeted him with her usual overwhelming happiness, and the mage almost jumped onto the nearest counter.

“Here, Fluffy, let’s play with Ian instead,” I said, grabbing her and dumping her onto Ian’s lap.

Ian arched a brow, but ran his hand along Fluffy’s back. She huffed in bliss.

Brimstone tugged at his shirt’s collar. “Congratulations,” he attempted to intone, although it came out a little shaky.

“Thanks,” Dru said, inspecting the wine with a hum of approval.

He slid along the counters across from Ian and Fluffy and Rufus’s dog bed.

I couldn’t help a chuckle. My gaze met Ian’s and the corner of his mouth kicked up. I was glad he didn’t mind Brimstone here, or us throwing an impromptu party at his house, but the memories of last night made me wish they were all gone. Had it only been one day since he’d come back? It already felt like he had never left.

I hoped he never had to leave again.

“To Dru,” Alex exclaimed, lifting a beer can.

“To Dru,” everyone repeated.

Fluffy barked. Rufus woofed.

We all laughed, then took a sip of our respective drinks. I’d opted for a diet soda, as I didn’t want to end up drunk and singing random songs so Alex could record it and post it on his social media.

“Sharp Claws is going to be amazing,” Key told Dru earnestly.

“It will be,” Dru said with conviction.

I knew it would, because Dru never did anything with half measures.

Taking another sip of soda, I studied the crowd. Seeing everyone gathered together to celebrate was a balm to the soul. After helping the Council witch drag McKee to her car, Dru had waited while the Council witch corroborated she was a local with no paranormal criminal past, then had been set loose.

Then Dru had threatened to strangle me if this somehow hurt her chances at the shop.

But how could it? She was a hero!

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