Page 7 of Dead Heat

Caeden glanced over his shoulder at the moat. “I hadn’t even thought of that until you mentioned it.”

“The water’s too cold for swimming anyway,” Alicia said, the voice of reason.

I opened the front door and motioned for them to enter the house. Ray hovered in the foyer. “Is that my grandbaby’s voice?”

“It is.”

Scott’s eyes grew round as he stepped into the foyer. “Your house is seriously massive.”

“It’s on the larger side,” I agreed.

“Where’s all your furniture?” Caeden asked.

“It’s a work in progress.”

“You have more rooms than you’ll ever use,” Scott said,poking his head into the empty room at the front of the house.

I looked at Alicia. “Why are you here to see me?”

“They don’t believe me that you’re a goddess of nightmares. They think I’m making it up.”

My gaze flicked to Ray, who groaned.

Alicia seemed to notice my less-than-pleased expression. “It’s okay,” she said. “You can trust them.”

“They’re teenaged boys. Since when?”

“I was a Boy Scout,” Caeden volunteered.

“I hear the past tense in that sentence. What happened?”

“I didn’t get kicked out or anything. I got too busy with sports.”

Scott scanned the area behind me. “Alicia promised us candy.”

“I said there might be hot cocoa with marshmallows or whipped cream. I didn’t say anything about candy.”

“It’s too warm for hot cocoa,” Scott said. “I’d rather have candy.”

“I think I can satisfy your sweet tooth.” I crooked a finger as I headed to the kitchen.

Nana Pratt clucked her tongue. “The youth of today have no manners. My children wouldn’t have dreamed of waltzing into a stranger’s house and demanding treats.”

As much as I felt like I should agree with her, I liked that Alicia and her friends felt comfortable here. After Pops died and I entered the foster system, I stopped feeling comfortable in anybody’s house, even the ones I lived in.

I opened the cupboard door. “Fair warning: I don’t have a lot of options.” Mostly because I’d eat the whole bag by myself in one sitting. Safer not to keep sweets in the house at all.

“Ooh, I like peanut butter cups,” Caeden said.

Damn. That eagle-eyed kid was tall enough to spot my secret stash. “That’s not available for consumption.”

“Is it expired? Because I don’t mind.”

“I can’t stuff you full of expired candy and send you home to your families. What if you got sick?”

“I wouldn’t narc on you, I swear.”

Begrudgingly, I retrieved the bag of peanut butter cups. “No one’s allergic?”

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