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“Good. Then secure the fucking scene.”
“What if there’s another bug?” He glanced fearfully over his shoulder.
“Step on it,” she barked as she stalked for the truck.
“I like her,” Daphne murmured as they followed the woman.
“You would,” grumbled Baptiste.
Her opinion improved even more when Marissa said, “My place is only a few blocks away. You guys can shower and change while I make breakfast. Then we can chat about the witch situation.”
“I thought you were taking us in for questioning?” Baptiste slid into the driver’s seat.
Marissa replied only after they’d all got in and shut the doors. “No. Because if I do, you might not be allowed to leave.”
“We’ve done nothing wrong, though,” Baptiste stated.
“Not yet. I’ll explain everything when we get to my place.”
Daphne leaned forward from the backseat. “The Earth Mother gives her thanks and says you can be trusted.”
The comment elicited a low chuckle from Marissa. “Me, yes, but you got lucky. There’s something rotten going on with the CA lately.”
“What makes you say that?” asked Baptiste as he pulled out onto the main road.
“Because rather than doing our job to prevent incidents, we’re being told to back off.”
“Why?”
Marissa waited a moment before saying, “If I were to guess? Someone wants to start a war between humans and cryptids.”
To which Mother Earth whispered, It’s already begun.
Chapter 9
Best road trip ever.
Figured Garou would be having a blast. To Baptiste’s surprise, he was, if not having fun exactly, at least not sunk in a funk despite reeking of bug juice. He’d actually forgotten to be miserable for a bit. How could he when each time he tried, Daphne mocked him with those perfect lips of hers? Even the roach invasion had him feeling more alive than he had since the curse had been lifted.
“How long have you been an agent?” he asked Marissa as he maneuvered out of the motel parking lot.
“Joined when I was eighteen and I’m thirty-five now,” Marissa replied.
“At thirty-five I killed my first basilisk,” Daphne confided.
“You probably shouldn’t admit that to me, seeing as how they’re on the endangered species list,” Marissa chided.
Baptiste cleared his throat. “Daphne would have done that well before the basilisk population went into decline. She’s older than she looks.”
Marissa craned to glance at the back seat. “Considering they went on the list in eighty-seven, that would make you in your seventies or so. Nice glamour. I can’t even see its magic.”
“No magic. I don’t age like humans do,” Daphne retorted.
That statement led to Marissa asking, “What are you?”
“Dryad.”
“As in a tree nymph?” Marissa clarified.
