Page 48 of Bright Dark Curses

Unable to resist myself, I sent Ian a good night text, then smiled, closed my eyes, and cocooned under the blankets when he sent a heart and a moon back.

Morning came with an update from Key as I took Fluffy and Rufus out for their walk. They had followed Sanders and Curtis to the bars, but they’d been in a group with other people from the crew, so they hadn’t been able to talk to them on their own. They’d done nothing suspicious and had returned to their hotel after. Brett was doing fine and didn’t seem to have any lasting issues from whatever had been in his coffee.

Thank goodness.

I could sense Key’s disappointment with the lack of progress with the case, and I almost told her about my anonymous caller, but refrained. No point in getting her hopes up if it was unrelated.

I had replayed the phone call in my head several times, and while I couldn’t see how it wasn’t related to the movie curse, the caller had sounded like they didn’t have a clue of what they had done. In contrast, the sabotage so far had been meticulous and full of intent, especially Brett’s poisoning. The two didn’t add up.

I left Fluffy and Rufus to enjoy the backyard while I got the shop ready for opening. Brimstone wouldn’t come in for a bit, so it was all on me. The familiar actions of starting the water urn, writing the day’s specials on the blackboard, and refilling the glass display with the muffins and cookies filled me with a quiet sort of joy hardly found elsewhere. I took pride in getting everything perfect for the first customer of the day, in placing the mugs just so, and that last swipe of the cloth over the counter.

After arranging the chairs and stools to my satisfaction, I approached the front door and pulled the blinds up.

Hutton’s scowling face was plastered to the glass.

FIFTEEN

I jumped with a scream. His scowl deepened as his eyes tried to bore into me and his breath fogged the window.

What on Green Mother’s Earth?

I hurried to disarm the alarm and let him in, my heart hammering in my throat.

“Good morning to you,” I told him as he stalked inside.

“What’s going on with my shifter and your strays?” he demanded, towering over me.

“Oh, that.” I exhaled with relief, then pulled up the rest of the blinds. “You gave me a scare.”

“I’ll do more than that if you don’t tell me what’s going on, witch.”

I shook my head as I walked around him to slide behind the counter. “You know I hate it when you say it like that.” I lifted a mug. “Coffee?”

He studied the mug like I was offering him poison. “Sure.”

“Take a seat.” I filled his mug and even added a cookie to his plate.

He also stared at the cookie like it was made from the hearts of cursed souls.

“Completely blood-free,” I assured him, pushing the plate his way.

His head snapped up. “What?”

“Veva’s friend makes them.”

Narrowing his eyes, he picked up the cookie, sniffed it, then shoved it in his mouth. A few chewings later and it was gone.

“Why did my shifter spend the night at the clinic?” he asked in arctic tones.

I felt a flutter of giddiness in my belly. Ah, but how he reminded me of Ian! “He was poisoned at the filming location.”

“I know that.”

“Then why?—”

He pointed at me. “Why was he poisoned? Why has he been hanging around Ia—Cavalier’s strays? What is going on?”

“Did you talk with Brett yet?” I hedged.

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