Page 84 of B Negative

“Of course not. I was asking for the rules. How long does it last? Does it need recharging? Am I allowed to take it off?”

“The necklace will last as long as you need it to, but I wouldn’t recommend taking it off. Not even to shower.”

“Got it. Thank you, again,” I said, giving her a slight bow of my head.

She returned the gesture and rose from her seat. “Well, I must be off. I’ve got a meeting with the town council about Halloween decor. Apparently, this year was ‘too’ spooky. Whatever that means.”

I made a mental note to be sure to look for the too spooky decorations at some point before they came down.

“Thank you, Claudia,” Julian said and offered his hand.

Claudia waved it away. “No need to thank me. You paid me well for it, that’s all the thanks I need.” The witch crossed the courtyard, poking the problem slate with the toe of her heel. She wiggled her fingers at it and the piece of rock that Sunny tripped on burst into a cloud of dust. “There. It shouldn’t be a problem any longer, but just to be safe, I’ll have a crew out here tomorrow to check for any other substandard materials.”

We followed her up and through the compound, stopping at the front door to see her out. “Oh, and, Eden?”

“Mm?”

“Here’s my number.” She handed me a matte black business card. “Call me and we’ll set up a lunch date. The matriarchs in the town need to stick together.”

“I most definitely will,” I said with a grin, and closed the door behind the odd woman.

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