Page 24 of Dead End

“Your toilet is busted.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Goran greeted the mages.

“Nana Pratt made tea,” I said.

“Perfect.”

“Tell everyone to have a seat and I’ll serve it,” Nana Pratt said. The elderly ghost seemed eager to participate in her own way.

Before I could sit, my phone lit up with a reply fromWest. The alpha was outside the Castle gate.You’re still on the VIP list, I typed.We’re in the kitchen. Like the mages, the upgraded ward allowed West to come and go from the Castle without my approval.

“Now it’s a party,” Gun declared, as West ambled into the kitchen.

I didn’t wait for him to be seated before I pounced. “Tell me what you know.”

“Lorelei,” Nana Pratt scolded. “Offer him a drink and a snack first. There’s no need to bypass civility just because the demons are.”

She made a reasonable point. “West, can I interest you in a cup of tea and a snack?”

The werewolf’s ears perked up. “One of Nana Pratt’s cookies?”

“Goran and I have been practicing recipes together. He opted for caramel squares.”

“Caramel squares,” I translated.

West mulled it over. “Hmm. I’ll try one of those.”

Camryn assessed the seating situation. “We should move to a bigger room.”

Nana Pratt flicked her bony fingers. “I’ll take care of things in here, dear. You play hostess to your friends.”

My stomach was flipping and flopping like a fish out of water as we migrated to the parlor room. I was desperate to hear news about Kane.

West sat on the edge of the red leather sofa, as though afraid to commit his backside to the whole cushion. “We’ve tried to get close to the club for a look inside, but Lucifer keeps it well guarded.”

Gun gave me a pointed look. “See?”

I shifted my focus to the mages. “Any chance we can use long-distance magic for a look inside?” They were assassins;surely, they had a tarot card that allowed them to snoop inside their targets’ homes.

“I have a couple cards that can offer a glimpse, but we’d need the club within view,” Gun said. “It isn’t safe to try while the woods are crawling with demon minions. I wouldn’t want to get myself into a situation I couldn’t safely get out of.”

“Guild rules are still in effect,” Cam added. The rules prohibited its members from killing on Fairhaven soil.

Nana Pratt floated into the parlor room with a tray of caramel squares and a teapot. Ray followed behind her with plates and mugs. My haunted hospitality team.

West was first to be served, of course. Nana Pratt had a soft spot for the werewolf that I rather enjoyed.

“What about Phaedra?” West suggested. “Her magic might give us a look inside without the need for proximity.”

“Has anyone been in contact with her?” I only knew that Steven and Ashley were staying with her at the isolated farm, but nothing else.

“Sage and I have been to see her,” West said. “If a demon gets through her ward, I’ll eat my tail.”

Gun looked at him with interest. “I, for one, would love to witness that level of flexibility.”

Camryn elbowed her cousin. “Behave,” she said in a harsh whisper.

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