Page 44 of Wicche Hunt

She stood, shaking her head. “I’m the one busting into your day.” Pointing at the painting, she asked, “What’s this?”

“Just something I keep dreaming about. I’m not sure why yet.” Grabbing the container on my kitchen counter, I popped the top off and offered her a strawberry banana muffin.

She took it while still staring at the painting. “There’s something sinister about it, isn’t there?”

Nodding, I looked down at a muffin and decided against it. “I hear whispering when I see that. Two people—I’m pretty sure it’s two—plotting behind one of those doors.” I put the container back on the counter and chose the kiwi yogurt in my fridge. I grabbed a spoon and went to my chair.

“The dark wood walls, the rug; it reminds me of where I was this morning.” She broke the muffin in half. “Where I’d like to take you, if I can.”

I gave her a look as I continued eating my breakfast. “Do you really need me, or will this just make life easier for you? Because I have a shit ton to do here.”

Heavy treads sounded on the deck. Declan came into view and then in through the back door. He nodded to Hernández and then came to me, leaning over and giving me a kiss.

“I thought you’d sleep later.” He crouched down by my chair, his brow furrowing as his gaze slid to my hair. He reached out and coiled a curl around his finger. “I thought this was dry.”

“There are three people in this relationship and one of them is my hair. Just so you know, she’s a high-maintenance bitch.”

His phone buzzed and he stood. “I look forward to learning all about her. I need to get back. The crew is arriving.” He slid his fingers through my hair, rubbing them against my scalp.

It took everything in me not to shiver, remembering last night.

“You’re painting the gallery today. Right?” he asked, starting to move away. “Remember to open all the windows.”

“That was the plan until this one showed up,” I snarked, eating more yogurt.

Pausing, he looked between the two of us, his hands on his hips. I could see it. The poor guy was torn. On one hand, he wanted to get rid of her for me but on the other, he knew it wasn’t his place to step in and that if she was asking for help, someone was probably dead.

“That’s what I was explaining when you arrived,” Detective Hernández said. “The dean at a very wealthy private school fell down the stairs and broke his neck sometime early this morning. The school has a lot of influence, and it wants the incident to go away as soon as possible. There’s nothing to indicate foul play. NothingexceptArwyn’s vision.”

“Which isn’t evidence,” I said, getting up to clean out the cup and put the spoon in the washer. “Is this dean connected to the teacher Osso had me read at the morgue?”

“Yes. Same school,” Hernández responded. “They want to chalk it up as an accidental death, but we both know it’s not. I was hoping if you came to the scene, you might pick up on something that I could use to keep the investigation open.”

“You’d think two deaths in the same school would be enough to cast suspicion. And how long are we talking here?” I leaned against the counter, calculating how much work I had to do versus how many hours were left in the day.

Declan glanced around. “The bottle needs to go in your backpack.”

Nodding, I said, “I’ll get it in a minute. I should probably change the water every day, while I’m at it.”

He jogged up the stairs to retrieve the honey bottle.

“You’d think, but schools like this have lots of pull. It looks like a fall, so they’re pushing for me to close it,” she said.

Declan came down a moment later and handed me the bottle. I went up on tiptoes and kissed him. “Go ahead. You’ve got people waiting. I’m fine.”

“Okay.” He gave me a longer kiss that scattered my thoughts. “Dinner tonight?”

Embarrassed, mind now in my bed, I said, “Uh huh.”

Grinning, he nodded to Hernández and left.

“So,” Hernandez said, leaning back on the couch. “The vibe seems a little different between you two.”

“Huh,” was all the response she got to that. “Back to timing. How quickly can you get me back home?”

She stood up. “As quickly as I can. If I have to stay, I’ll have a patrol car bring you back.”

“Yeah. Fine. Let’s go.” I shouldered my backpack and went out to the deck with the honey bottle in my hand. “Good morning, Cecil!”

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