Page 50 of Expensive

“I’m Anne. And I’m in a hurry. Let’s drive. We can talk on the way.”

I get into the driver’s seat and wait for Manny to climb into the back next to Anne before I turn the key in the ignition. I hope the engine will still work after the sizable dent she left in the hood.

Luckily, the car roars to life without hesitation, and I do an unwieldy U-turn on the narrow country road. Anne wraps her arms around Manny, rubbing her hands up and down his back.

“I’m not trying to be difficult here, but I want to know what’s going on,” I say.

“Manny’s location was compromised, but luckily, I was in the area doing research on your fucked-up situation, and when he called me, I managed to get to him in time.”

“Wait, why are you researching—”

“You asked for our help, remember?”

Ourhelp? Manny works with the woman who saved us from the pits? Why didn’t he tell me?

My phone buzzes.

“Is that Andrew?” Anne asks.

“I don’t know. Probably.”

Anne grabs the phone from the dash and flips it open before I can stop her.

“What in the—”

“Step on it. We need to get back to the Monroe mansion immediately.”

“What is it?”

“Andrew is on his way to The Flickering Candle.”

“What is that?”

“The place where desperate people go for impossible spells. The two most powerful warlocks in the world live there.”

Andrew is visiting a warlock? Why?

Unless a warlock could remove his magical tie to Edward Monroe…

“Would they be able to help him?” I ask. “He has a bond ache—”

“I don’t give a fuck what he has. Going to The Flickering Candle is dangerous. I need to rest for a few minutes before I can shift again. I’m not as young as I used to be. Andrew’s house should have a roof I can take off from.”

I’m confused. “Don’t dragons need their hoard to shift?”

Manny smiles. His lips are finally returning to a pinkish color. “She swallows part of hers whenever she goes on a mission. Just in case.”

She shoves him. “Here you are. Giving up all my secrets.”

“What’s your hoard?” Maybe that’s too personal to ask, but I’m curious.

“The change I get back from a cashier every time I go to a restaurant or anywhere else with my family.”

That seems like a strange thing to collect. Andrew’s hoard is more logical. Books give him a sense of peace, and he feels passionately about them. Why would this woman be passionate about common coins?

“I didn’t take any of my family’s fortune when I left home at eighteen. Not a dollar in my bank account is blood money. When I left, my alpha mother said I’d be destitute. That I wouldn’t be able to feed my children. But I did. And I had money left over. For the longest time, it was just a collection of change. But I always had enough.”

“So… you swallow the change every single time you have a mission?” I ask.

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