Only a minute or so later, though, two more people—beings?—arrived at the witch’s front door. And…whoa.
Edie had never seen trolls up close before. As it turned out, movies and television shows didn’t do their size justice. These particular trolls were almost eight feet tall, according to Edie’s best guesstimate, with sturdy builds and thick, ridiculously long limbs.
They didn’t just stand in the entry hallway. Theyloomed.
Lorraine and Kip were cousins, Edie soon learned. Very attractive, very large cousins. Lorraine’s candy apple–red bob and blunt bangs glowed against her pale skin and wide white smile, while Kip’s dark waves almost brushed his bespectacled brown eyes and curled around the warm golden skin of his muscled neck.
For beings who reportedly lived underground among tree roots, their rumpled clothing remained remarkably clean. Andwhile both of them did in fact smell like the earth, it was in the best possible way. They smelled like…living things. Green grass and fertile, newly turned soil and the sun.
They were also extremely friendly. Perhaps a bittoofriendly.
“You’re a vamp! Hey there! Nice to meet you!” Lorraine exclaimed, then offered Max a high-five that—hilariously—almost knocked him over. “Sorry! Sometimes I forget my own strength!”
Looking wary, Max visibly braced himself before Kip clapped his back in welcome, and it helped. It really did. Max barely even swayed at the audible impact, although he did begin coughing.
Ah yes. Edie had read about that particular quirk. Although trolls were widely considered the most easygoing and loyal of all Supernatural species, they were famously clumsy as well—and that clumsiness could injure or even kill those who weren’t alert and prepared.
Max rotated his shoulder, grimacing faintly. Good thing he was a vampire instead of a human and able to absorb that kind of hit, because otherwise…yeesh.
The handshakes Lorraine and Kip offered Edie were much gentler. Possibly because they’d learned from their recent error or possibly because Max was overseeing their introductions to her with a certain amount of murderous intensity.
“Edie’s such a pretty name!” Lorraine beamed down—far, far down—at Edie. “And it’s always fun to get to know another Zone neighbor!”
“Wonderful to meet you, Edie-my-love!” Kip grinned toothily, then turned toward Sabrina. “I smell snacks, little witch! Excellent! Can’t battle zombies while we’re starving, right? Right!”
“We have a pan each of lasagna and tiramisu.” Squatting by their mall haul, Edie surveyed the other resealable plasticcontainers Doug had pressed into her hands. “This is some sort of vegetable gratin…”
“I smell Gruyère. The good stuff, direct from Switzerland.” Kip closed his eyes, sniffing blissfully. “Oh yes.”
“Here’s a grain salad. Is that…” Edie’s knowledge of grains was somewhat limited, sadly. “Quinoa, maybe?”
“Farro. Which, when cooked properly, is a bit toothsome and utterly delightful,” Lorraine declared as soon as Edie cracked the lid. “With fresh goat cheese, pine nuts, and a lemon-based vinaigrette. Some dill too. Green onions. Oh, and garlic-sauteed Gulf shrimp!”
Edie blinked at the cousins, somewhat startled. Which wasn’t really fair, upon further reflection. Just because someone lived among tree roots didn’t mean they couldn’t recognize and appreciate imported cheeses and whole grains, right?
“Hey, Starla!” Lorraine directed her shout at the loft. “Want me to bring up some food for you? I’ll be there in a jiffy, as soon as we fill up the tank down here!”
“Yes, please,” came the tired-sounding answer. “A little bit of everything?”
Lorraine’s brows drew together, her gaze at the loft turning worried. “Can do, dearest!”
“Get your share while you can,” Sabrina murmured to Edie. “This entire spread is a mere amuse-bouche to Kip and Lorraine.”
There were more containers of food at their feet. Ones Edie hadn’t even mentioned yet. Large ones. She nudged the pile with the tip of her boot. “Even including these?”
“I’ve seen them at a fancy brunch buffet, Edie. Halfway through their fourth helping, all the crab puffs, truffled potatoes, and freshly carved prime rib were gone, and the manager beganweeping.” Sabrina’s lips curved slightly. “Although, to be fair, they left a gargantuan tip and paid extra on the bill as an apology, and when she saw the amount, she began crying again. With joy. She tried to hug them and nearly gave Kip an inadvertent blowjob. That woman wastiny.”
“Later that night, it wasn’tnearlyand it wasn’t inadvertent,” Kip said as he strode by. “And before she left the next morning, she cried more happy tears.”
“Gross,” Lorraine muttered loudly.
Another knock reverberated against the front door.
When Max checked the peephole, his expression tightened, but he didn’t hesitate to open the door and step aside. “Riley. What are you doing here?”
Her box braids still twisted in a pristine bun, the young woman swept past him and into the entry hall, followed by the other Girl Explorers. “Starla told us what was happening.”
“It was a warning, Riley, not an invitation.” The telepath’s quiet rejoinder drifted down from the loft. “I told you and your troop to hunker down at home and stay put.”
