Page 59 of Death and Donuts

“Be it once or a thousand times, it will not work, just as my attempts to speak the truth will never reach your deaf ears.”

Anchor moved incredibly fast. Just as she finished speaking and pointed at the dwarf, Anchor stepped between them.

The air seemed to vacuum in and out again in a mini explosion that moved my hair and made my ears pop. I lifted my hands to rub my ears and bumped the man standing next to me, but I barely noticed as Anchor staggered back a step and met the woman’s horrified gaze.

“There is a pact in the market,” Anchor said. “Do no harm.”

“I haven’t,” she said quickly. “Not truly. You’ll be fine.”

Vena bolted to Anchor’s side, and I hurried to follow.

“What was that?” Vena demanded. “What did you do to him?”

The woman grabbed Vena’s hand, holding it with a pleading expression. “Nothing that can’t be undone with time and patience. Your boyfriend won’t be able to–” She cleared her throat and gave Vena an apologetic look. “The spell will wane with each attempt and fade completely after one thousand.”

Vena stared in horror at the woman.

I glanced at Anchor and saw his shock, then his slow smile, which he quickly covered when Vena turned to look at him.

“It’ll be okay,” he said quickly, pulling her to his side. “No harm done. She didn’t break the pact.”

“Screw the pact; she broke your lick stick!”

I hoped everyone around us heard lipstick.

“Only temporarily,” Anchor said.

“Maybe we should take this outside,” I said, very aware we were still the center of attention.

Vena’s head whipped back to the woman.

“Undo it.”

“I apologize. I cannot. Once cast, the spell is set.”

Vena’s look grew calculating. “Then we demand compensation for the pain and suffering we’ll both endure until the spell’s broken.”

The woman nodded. “Name your price.”

“Information on a vampire that can turn into a cat.”

The woman laughed. “Everyone is looking for that, and no one knows.”

“Then find out. You have twenty-four hours. Then, I’m reporting you.”

“For what? I didn’t harm–”

“He’s a werewolf who was about to claim his mate. Withthe Other House’spopularity, you can bet the media would love hearing about how a fae abused a werewolf.”

I could see the woman wasn’t buying Vena’s bluff. Werewolves didn’t do media exposure on purpose.

“And the Alpha won’t be happy about an altercation in the market,” I said.

“Very well. You have my word that I will exhaust all my resources in an attempt to find the information you want. However, I make no guarantees that I will discover anything, only that I will spare no effort.”

“Deal,” Vena said, handing over her phone. “Give me your number.”

While they exchanged information, I shoved my notebook into my bag and pulled out my phone for the contact Cross had sent me, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

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