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“You’re limping again,” he said. “What the hell happened in there? It sounded like the place was being wrecked.”
“There were sprites in the house as well as a dark spirit.” I opened the shed door and stepped inside. Light speared in through a window at the far end, highlighting the dust and heavy strings of cobwebs. “The sprites weren’t happy about being evicted and I jarred my leg in the process of avoiding the
things they were throwing.”
“And sprites are?”
“Minor demons. More annoying than dangerous.” I spotted a shovel and limped across to pick it up. “We found the Ouija board. Ashworth’s closing it down, but we apparently need to bury it to totally secure it.”
“I’ll do the digging. You’ve been through enough for one day already.” Aiden took it from me, and then waved me back out of the shed. “Where do you want the holes?”
I hesitated, scanning the small yard again, and then finally pointed toward a vacant, somewhat stony area away from any trees or shrubs. “Over there would be good.”
“And naturally she picks the toughest bit of ground around,” he murmured, amusement in his tone.
He’d almost finished digging the second hole when Ashworth came out, the Ouija board and planchette wrapped separately in soft white cotton. His backpack was slung over one shoulder, and there was a plastic sea salt container tucked under one arm. He salted the bottom of the first hole, placed the Ouija board in it, then began murmuring a blessing as he covered the board with more salt, and then added some garlic cloves, lilac, iron nails, and a couple of agate stones. He then motioned Aiden to fill in the hole while he repeated the process with the planchette in the second hole. When that was also covered in, he said, “Right, Ranger, the place is now safe, although I might stick around for a little while, just case we missed any sprites.”
Aiden nodded and glanced at me. “Do you want to drive my truck back? I’ll pick it up later.”
I hesitated, and then nodded. While the café really wasn’t that far away, I didn’t feel like walking. My energy levels were seriously starting to crash. “Do you need to take your kit out of it first?”
“Already done that.” He handed me the keys. “Just try not to grind the gears too much this time.”
“I’ll certainly try, but there’s no guarantee of it happening. I drive autos for a reason, you know.” I hesitated, then stepped forward and dropped a kiss on his cheek. “Ring me before you head over, and I’ll have a coffee and a meal waiting.”
“I will. Thanks.”
I glanced across at Ashworth. “You’re also quite welcome to come back.”
“Thanks, lassie, but I think I’ll just go back to the hotel and rest.”
I nodded and left the backyard, well aware that Aiden’s gaze followed me. I jumped into his truck, adjusted the seat to enable me to reach the clutch a little easier this time, and did indeed manage to avoid grinding the gears as I reversed out and drove back to the café. Which, considering the hurt leg, was something of a miracle.
“Hey,” Belle said, as I limped through the back entrance into the main area. “Drink this.”
I accepted the rather large and overly green drink with something close to trepidation. It was thick and soupy looking, but didn’t quite smell like a swamp. In fact, as far as her potions went, this one definitely fell on the pleasant side of odorous.
“Unlike you,” she said. “I suggest you head upstairs and grab a shower, because the stink of death clings and it’ll drive our customers away.”
I gulped down the drink and then headed upstairs. After I’d showered, I rebandaged the bullet scrape and then, once dressed, headed back down to take over from Belle. Given she’d been running the place with only Penny as help for the last couple of days, she more than deserved a decent break.
My leg was aching pretty badly by the time we were ready to close, but I took some painkillers and then basically ignored it. Mike approached me at the end of his shift, his expression one of remorse. “I heard about what happened up at the compound. I’m sorry—”
“How did you hear about it?” I cut in. “The elders were supposed to put the story on lockdown until tonight.”
He nodded. “Anyone outside of immediate family members wouldn’t have heard a whisper. The only reason I’m now mentioning it is because Meika wanted me to give you her apologies for Larissa’s actions.”
“What her daughter did is hardly either of your fault.”
“Yeah, it is, because we’re the ones who got you involved in the hunt for her.” He grimaced. “I didn’t even think she knew how to use a gun.”
Curiosity stirred. “How would she have learned to shoot? It’s not a sport werewolves generally participate in, is it?”
“No. If we want to hunt, we generally use nose and teeth. A rifle takes out too much of the fun.” He shrugged. “But a month or so ago she started hanging out with a couple of ratbags who belonged to the rifle range. It’s possible she went there with them.”
“Then I’m guessing she got the rifle from them?”
“Or she stole it from the range itself.”
