Page 58 of Death and Donuts

When Vena stopped at a table to ask about a locator charm, I glanced at Anchor.

“What is she planning to do with a locator charm?” I asked.

“Check every black cat in D.C.”

I cringed.

“It’s not a bad idea,” he said. “She already promised to only go with me.”

I nodded as Vena spoke to the vendor.

A stall one spot beyond where Vena had stopped drew my attention. Or, more specifically, the vial of glittery fairy dust on the table did.

“I’m going to go look at the next vendor’s stuff,” I said.

Anchor grunted his acknowledgment, and I stuck my hand into my bag to pull out my notebook as I approached.

“Hi,” I said to the woman with the nubby horns on her head. “I’m wondering what that is.” I indicated the vial and listened as she explained the substance was made of dew, sunlight, and a nymph’s kiss. The contents were often used in spells.

“Is it edible?” I asked.

She gave me a curious look. “You want to eat it? Never heard that one. It’s expensive and probably doesn’t taste like much.”

“It won’t hurt humans or any of the races, though?”

She frowned in thought. “I don’t think so, but I don’t know of anyone who’s eaten it.”

I made a note to research more about the ingredients. It would be fun to make Fairy Trash with safe “magical” dust. Everyone loved novelty foods.

“Do you always have it in stock?” I asked.

We talked supply and price, which I wrote down before I thanked her and returned to Anchor’s side. Vena had already made her purchase and was on to another stall. My gaze locked with the vendor at the table he was standing next to. It was all the invitation the goblin needed to start chatting me up.

After our run-in with Spawn when Miles had gone missing, I wasn’t a fan of goblins in general. Their sharp teeth were a littlefreaky, which was a little ironic since Shepard and Cross could both have sharp teeth when their moods shifted, but neither one ever freaked me out.

While lost in my thoughts, the goblin handed me a flier.

“Thanks,” I said just as Vena grabbed my arm to pull me away.

She plucked the pamphlet from my fingers and looked at it.

“Why does this look familiar?” she asked. Her expression immediately lit up. “Miles’ place. I saw one just like it.” She opened it up, and I saw it was filled with vampire propaganda, including a meetup place for people who were interested in learning more about vampires.

I glanced at Anchor. “Does Shepard know about this?”

“Later,” Anchor said softly, his gaze not on us or the pamphlet.

We followed the direction of his attention and saw a dwarf arguing with a tall, beautiful woman running a vendor booth filled with jewelry.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

As soon as the words left my mouth, the dwarf’s voice boomed loud enough for me to hear.

“I don’t give a flying fairy’s arse about neutrality. Answer my question, or I will drag you from this market by your lying silky hair, ye fang-loving whore.”

The woman’s creamy face flushed with her anger, and I watched the ends of her “lying silky hair” start to lift as if electrified.

Anchor swore under his breath.

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