Page 76 of A Seer and Present Danger

“Last I saw, it was a plain golden box with a hinge on the back. About this big.” She cupped her hands making a space about the size of a small orange.

“Smaller than I thought it would be.”

“Well,” she held up a bear and studied it. “Curses come in all sizes. Small doesn’t mean it’s not powerful.”

I laughed. “True. Is that our evil teddy?”

“Nope. This one’s fine too.”

I gave her a new bear.

“I do find it strange that the murders, the stolen box, the cursed teddy bear all happened after Aggie started working with you,” Dusi said. “What are the chances two demigod waitresses end up at the Blue Owl?”

I stopped, absolutely frozen. “What?”

“She’s a demigod.” Dusi tipped her head and frowned. “Wait. Did you not know that? When we were talking about Vandre being a demigod, I thought you knew Aggie was too.”

“No,” I said, feeling a little faint. “I didn’t know.”

But hadn’t I suspected something wasn’t adding up about her? That trying to see if she was magic made me feel like my wires were getting crossed?

She’d gotten the booth ready for Vandre before he’d walked in, handed me the napkin dispenser before I asked for it, and had caught that bowl of falling chowder when she couldn’t have possibly seen it get bumped. Vander had mentioned she knew about magic.

Maybe he had assumed I knew she was a demigod like him.

Like me.

“I thought you knew. Piper, I’m sorry.”

“It’s making me rethink everything about her,” I said.

“Like what?”

“Like if she is the kind of person who would kill Hugo for a cursed bear. She’s unhappy here, but I don’t know if she’s unhappy enough to kill someone.”

Still, the conversations where she called Hugo a thief and her saying she could outsmart any man who wanted to deal in antiques rolled through my mind.

“We haven’t ruled out the other demigod,” Dusi said. “Do you think Vandre could kill someone?”

I thought about his charm, his rumpled, easy-going demeanor. I thought about how he had gripped the table and forced a future to play out the way he wanted it to play out.

He had seemed powerful then. Unrelenting. Determined.

Would that same determination work for a killer? The cold determination that forced an entire future to bend to his will?

“I think he could,” I said honestly. “Myra vouched for him though. Said he was a good guy.”

“Did she? Or did she tell you he was a demigod detective who hunted down gods and other supernaturals who were breaking laws?”

“That’s his job,” I said.

“And?”

“He has to be good to follow the law if his job is enforcing the law. Right?”

“Piper, he’s a demigod. Here. Listen a moment.” She reached over and gently took one of my hands.

“Gods and demigods don’t follow rules. Not really. I know you were raised mortal, and your mother taught you that you should abide by the law. Told you your abilities were something to be careful with so that you didn’t hurt anyone.