Page 31 of Wicching Hour

“We’ll keep an eye out,” Melissa promised, nodding to her crew. “Now, would you like us to use the front door or is there some other way you want us going in and out?”

“I’m not sure how much space you need. I can show you both entrances and you can decide which works best for you.” I waved her forward. “Let me show you in.”

Melissa turned back to the crew. “Start unloading the packing supplies and I’ll be back to tell you what we’re doing.” She followed Declan and me around the corner of the building to the front door.

She made note of the steps, the double doors, and then went through the gallery to the narrower back door with no steps but with a precarious passage past the RV. “I think we’ll primarily use your back door. For the larger pieces, we’ll go out the front. That will lower the risk of people wandering in through the open front door.”

“Sounds good,” I said. I showed her where the two caches of items were for the two collectors and then showed her the door to the studio. “If you don’t need anything else, I’ll go bake some cookies.”

She tucked the clipboard under her arm. “Yes, ma’am. I have my list here too. If I have any questions, I’ll come find you. And thank you for the cookies. The crew and I appreciate it.”

I left them to it and then Declan and I went into my studio. I pushed him toward the stairs. “Go sleep. I’ll be down here baking and then doing some work.”

He stared down at me. “You don’t honestly think I’m going to be able to sleep with all this commotion, do you?”

“Yes, I do. Go,” I said, pushing an immovable Declan. “I’ve never been so safe. I have a gallery filled with bears right now. You’re off duty. Go take a hot shower, throw your clothes in the washer, and go to sleep.”

He scratched his beard. “A hot shower does sound good.”

“And I got you that beard conditioner I told you about. It’s on the bathroom counter. Go. I’ve got hungry bears to feed.”

He reluctantly trudged up the stairs and I went to my pantry to check how much honey I had on hand. I’d need to order more. Which reminded me: I had a grocery order to submit. I pulled out what I’d need for the cookies and then added a few more items to the list before submitting it.

When I heard the shower cut off and then the washing machine start, I relaxed. He wasn’t going to work naked. With any luck, he’d be asleep soon.

I was just putting in a third batch of cookies when I noticed Carter, Detective Osso’s brother and my new security guard, sitting on a bench on the deck.

After setting the timer on my phone, I finished loading up a platter with cookies and went out my back door, quietly closing it behind me. Carter looked up and stood, coming to grab two cookies.

“If I don’t get these first, they’ll all be gone,” he whispered.

A moment later, Melissa and her crew came out. They took cookies from me first and then very quietly greeted Carter, who was, of course, cousin to them all.

“I know why I’m being quiet,” I said, “but why are all of you?”

Carter took a bite and hummed his delight in the honey treat. “Same reason as you,” he whispered. “We’re trying not to wake the Alpha. We hear he’s been running the pack ragged, trying to counter what that sorcerer’s doing.”

The bear shifters nodded and ate more cookies. I guess the word had spread through the shifter community. Milo, though, came to the gallery door and watched me warily. The fact that the other wicche families hadn’t been informed didn’t surprise me at all. Coreys were all about secrets.

“Thank you,” I said, “but how did you know he was sleeping? He doesn’t snore.”

The bear shifters grinned as they grabbed the last of the cookies off my platter.

“His heartbeat and breathing are slow and steady,” Carter explained. “We know what sleep sounds like.”

I looked between them all, amazed. “From out here, over the sound of the surf, you could hear his heartbeat?”

Laughing, Carter shook his head. “I saw the gallery door open, so went there first. Melissa said you were in the studio, but no one—me included—wanted to knock on the door and wake the Alpha. I assumed if I waited on the deck, you’d eventually see me. And you did.”

My phone buzzed. “Give me a minute. I need to get the next batch out.”

I went back in as quietly as possible, but I heard a groggy, “Arwyn?”

“Yep, it’s me,” I whispered. “I’m just giving the crew cookies. I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”

“’kay.” And it was silent up there again.

I took the latest batch out to cool, put a last batch in, and then moved the cookies from the baking sheet to the platter. Were they still warm and bendy? Sure, but the crew didn’t care. When I went out, they were all waiting patiently. They took a few more each and then Melissa had them return to the gallery.

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