Page 41

After confronting Uncle Lewey at the coffee wholesaler, we waited a few days, and then River and I made a trip to New Orleans to visit my family.

They greeted me with open arms. Lewey had clearly taken my threats seriously: there was no more teasing, no bullying, no shunning, no nicknames (except “bird lover” from my brother after I introduced River as my boyfriend, but, honestly, what else did one expect from their brother?).

As if that weren’t enough, I received apologies from most of my kin for the way they’d treated me over the years.

Including Uncle Lewey, who confessed that he was seeking help for his stalker problem. Turned out, River wasn’t the first supernatural being he’d stalked over the years.

Another bonus to the visit was that River bonded with my mom. To the point they text almost daily and she wants him to give her a tattoo. Since she couldn’t come to Arrythmia—her issues weren’t bad enough, it turned out—we had plans for another visit to New Orleans for the winter solstice so he could ink my mom.

I was afraid to ask what design they’d come up with, although I knew it would be gorgeous because River had drawn it.

“Line up over here,” I said, pointing at the end of the counter, next to where Wyldfire sat on her stool like the queen she was.

Patrons rushed to form an orderly queue. Including Matilda the gorgon with her heavy-duty reinforced glasses. Krishna waved and grinned from the back of the line. When he finally worked up the gumption to speak to me, he confided that he’d been bullied by a housecat when he was living with his pack.

Wyldfire leaped off her throne and trotted over to twine herself between his legs while purring loudly enough to be heard over the Halloween music drifting through hidden speaker.

They were friends now.

“I just checked, and your magic around the hellmouth is still holding,” Krishna called out.

Yeah, once I told Daruka that I wasn’t afraid to use my magic anymore, she’d asked if I’d consider reinforcing the hellmouth.

She wasn’t in a hurry for another visit from dear old Dad.

I obliged her, of course. Partially because, well, I could. But also because she had quickly become my best friend, and if tossing a little magic at a grumpy old hellmouth eased her mind, I was more than happy to assist.

I noted Queenie in line chatting with the yeti. The genie who owned the mercantile. Vito the vampire, who was covered from head to toe in black sun-resistant material. I was quite curious as to what costume he wanted me to create for him.

I was just as confident I could create whatever he might ask for.

Before I could ask the selkie at the front of the line what he wanted to be for Halloween, the door swung open and an incredibly attractive phoenix stepped into the shop.

Grinning, I told the selkie to give me a moment, and I hurried around the counter to greet my most favorite person in the world.

Unfortunately, I had to wait my turn. Like a cheerful politician hoping to get reelected, he shook hands and chatted up every person he passed on his way to me.

My super-hot phoenix wasn’t afraid to make friends anymore.

Once he reached me, River slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me flush against his very delectable body. The crowd cheered. It was ridiculous; he greeted me like this every time he came into the shop.

I loved it.

“Hello, my little turtle dove,” he murmured before pressing a kiss to my lips. And thrusting his tongue into my mouth.

River was currently trying out affectionate nicknames for me. I didn’t hate turtle dove.

It was certainly better than albatross.

“Good morning, my handsome, creative lover,” I replied. I probably had emoji hearts in my eyes as I admired his swept-back hairdo, the tattoos twining up his arms and disappearing under his button-down shirt. And maybe I was recalling what he’d done with that fancy curly dick of his earlier this morning.

My thighs still tingled. Hell, my whole body was still tingling.

“I just spoke to Asmoday about throwing a party,” River whispered next to my ear.

“You mean the Halloween party tonight?” I wasn’t sure what all these monsters planned to do, dressed up in bespelled Halloween costumes for the next eight hours until the party, but I also wasn’t looking a gift horse in the mouth when every single person in that line planned to pay me to cast a spell over them.

“Actually, I asked him if he’d consider making it a dual themed party.” River leaned back and winked. “Would you mind conjuring me a microphone, my gorgeous flamingo?”