Page 19 of Magic and Mayhem

There were family histories to contend with and social media searches, and we had to figure out if they were members of an organization that actually believed in aliens.

Fuck.

No, it could wait.

Heading toward my house, I mentally started adjusting my to-do list, but I pushed it to the back of my head and focused on the most important thing in my life at the moment.

Kenzie.

I had a little to show off.

Chapter 6

Kenzie

“You’re going to be so pretty. You won’t be creepy at all when I’m done with you.” No, she was going to be a very pretty doll.

I wasn’t really a doll person but her owner was, and they’d paid an absurd amount for me to be the one to fix her. At the moment, she was scary looking, so I’d decided to take it on as a sympathy case. No one should live with a doll that looked like it’d come from a Halloween movie.

As I stepped back, studying her and nodding to myself, a voice came from behind me. “Should you be telling her she’s creepy?”

I didn’t scream…I was going to call it a gasp of surprise.

Daddy was doing his best to look sorry and not laugh as I turned around, but he wasn’t very believable. “I apologize. I thought you heard me come in.”

Well, normally I had very good hearing but talking to myself made it hard to notice other things like visitors or alarms that kept going off every fifteen minutes until someone found where the silly thing had been hidden.

Sneaky friends were a blessing and a curse.

“I did not.” Taking a deep breath, I felt much better when Daddy still managed not to laugh. “I think I need to pay more attention to what’s going on around me.”

Daddy slowly nodded. “Would it be inappropriate to say that I’ll install a driveway alarm for you?”

“Oh, they make those?” I wasn’t sure I knew that. “I know about wildlife cameras that catch angry squirrels and I know about those doorbell cameras that tell you over and over when the Amazon man comes.”

Daddy laughed that time.

“I think there are some stories I need to hear, but this would just be an alarm near the start of the driveway that beeped here or in the house when someone pulled up. We could keep it very simple.” Daddy frowned and looked adorably frustrated. “I really hate not being able to recommend a full home security system, but around here I think that’d be overkill.”

I agreed.

“We just don’t have much crime.” I shrugged and remembered not to point out that when you could eat someone or curse them, it helped everyone make better decisions.

“Not regular crime at least.” Daddy seemed frustrated to have to admit that, but since his job was crime, I thought it made sense. “But I’ve learned to accept that.”

Oh, was that ahe understood about dragons and mages and the crime rateor something else?

“Understanding is important.” I wasn’t sure what else to say since he hadn’t said what he’d learned.

Daddy nodded but also smiled, so I still wasn’t sure I knew what he was thinking. “Yes, it is, and right now we’re going to make sure you understand that you forgot our date.”

Oh.

Shoot.

“Well, actually I forgot what time it was, not our date.” Daddy was very important, so I’d never forget him. But time…well, that was another thing. “At least I know where my wallet is?”

Daddy laughed, remembering Lorne’s silliness the first time they’d met. “I’m very impressed because finding his wallet took longer than he probably admitted.”

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