Page 4 of Blood and Bonbons

I set it on our yellowed counter and gave him a hard look. “I’ll let you have half of this cake if you promise that your sister’s not going to get hurt hunting whatever little treasure you’ve found.”

He made a face. “No cake for me, then. I only make promises I know I can keep.”

I shot Vena a look. “More reason not to do this, Vena. Even Miles thinks you’re going to get hurt.”

“That’s not what I said,” he interjected quickly. “The cache should be an easy find, but we both know the nature of this business. The unexpected happens. Even a stubbed toe could count as an injury.”

“You’ve been working with fae too much,” Vena said. “Even they would have no reason to skirt around the truth. You know Everly means serious bodily harm.”

He shook his head. “I’m not dumb enough to promise that either. You take risks you shouldn’t take.”

My stomach gave another sickening twist. “For the sake of my sanity, I’m going to shower while you two bicker and work out what kind of hellish mission you’re sending your sister on.”

Neither tried to stop my retreat.

After grabbing a change of clothes, I closed myself into our only bathroom. While the water ran, I stripped and thought of anything but what they were talking about in the kitchen.

Vena knocked on the door as the water started to cool.

“You can stop hiding in the shower and come out now,” she called.

She knew me too well.

Five minutes later, I emerged dressed from the bathroom and saw half my cake on the dining room table. The other half was missing along with Miles and his stuff.

“He said it’s as close to a promise as he’ll give you,” Vena said with a smirk.

“He just wanted half my cake.”

“Yeah. Probably. What time are you heading in to work?”

I checked the time and grabbed the remainder of my cake.

“Four-thirty. What if you don’t find what you’re looking for, Vena? Why not have a ‘day job’ as a backup plan? It’d be a smart move for times when hunting jobs are sparse.”

“Let me guess…there’s an opening at Blur.”

“No, but say the word, and I can get you in. Shepard loves me.” He truly did. I never missed a shift, didn’t need smoke breaks, and the customers loved me because I knew how to be cheerful.

“I’ll make you a deal,” she said. “Agree to come rock climbing with me tomorrow, outside in the wilds of nature, and I’ll go in with you today to talk to Shepard about a job.”

I paused with my fork halfway to my mouth and stared at her.

“Outside?”

“Yep.” She smirked. “It won’t be a vertical climb like we do indoors. More like a rocky hike. Nothing you can’t handle.”

“How long?” I asked.

“We’ll be home before dark.”

“Before dark? We’d be hiking all day?”

“No. I know you’ll want to sleep until ten, minimum. Plus, it’s an hour’s drive to get there. So, not all day. We’ll be home well before dark. A few hours in exchange for working some epic shifts at Blur with me at your side.”

“Deal.” Anything so she wasn’t dependent on her hunting money. “So when are you going hunting?”

She grinned at me. “I thought you didn’t like knowing the details.”

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