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“Not yet, but I have ordered the woman who reported it to leave the forest and to keep her eyes down.”
Which was always a good idea when it came to bush tracks anyway. There were plenty of regular old deadly snakes out and about in summer.
“Don’t let anyone go in until we get there,” I said. “And make sure everyone is armed with a mirror.”
“Once I would have laughed at such a suggestion,” he grumbled. “And I really do long for the days when I can do so again.”
“It’ll happen.”
“I hope so, because I really don’t want my wife risking her life traipsing around the bush after all manner of demons on a daily basis for the rest of our lives.”
“You should be aware that said wife is never going to be a stay-at-home mom. She will always work, be it at the café or chasing the occasional supernatural invader.”
“That is totally your choice and decision to make, one I’ll support no matter what you decide. But I’m nevertheless putting it out there to the wider world that an easing of the risks everyone takes to protect this place would certainly be appreciated.”
Amen to that. “You’re just salty because we haven’t had a minute to ourselves.”
“I wantfarmore than a mere minute.” He paused, and then chuckled. “Though let’s be honest here, the first time we get back into the swing of things might just be a little too quick for either of us.”
“I shall temper my expectations for our first session, then.” I glanced toward the front door as a car horn blasted out the front. “That’ll be Monty. See you soon.”
I hung up and grabbed my backpack, thankful now that I’d followed instinct and not tucked the knife back into its compartment. Belle handed me two paper bags as I whizzed by, though the luscious scents rising from them said neither contained Monty’s requested Heaven on a Plate.
His old Ford was parked in the no-standing zone out the front of the café. I jumped in and handed him his slice before doing up my seat belt.
He opened his bag and peeked in. “A Clinkers slice. Not quite what I was hoping for.”
“What you were hoping for isn’t practical to eat while driving.”
“Sadly true. Did she manage to save me some? Or did the locusts consume it all?”
I snorted. “She saved you a slice and had to fight off said locusts to do so. They are fierce when it comes to cake.”
He laughed and took a bite, munching on it in appreciation as he one-handedly threw the car into gear and took off. Tires squealed in the process, and the whole car rattled. I resisted the urge to reach for the “oh shit” handle; the car was perfectly safe no matter how ready it sounded to fall apart. He’d even recently fixed the damn brakes.
He swung left and then said, “Did Belle tell you I was searching the demonology archives for any information on basilisks today?”
I nodded. “She also said you had a meeting with your parents to inform them of your impending nuptials—how did that go?”
He grimaced. “There wasn’t what I’d call giddy excitement at the news, but they did accept it far better than I thought they might.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”
“I guess.” He shrugged. “To be honest, I think what swayed their opinion was the fact that, through Belle’s connection to you, they now have a link to one of the highest profile families in Canberra.”
“They’ve had that link since forever.” I mean, he was my cousin after all.
“On paper? Yes. In reality? Our two families aren’t exactly chummy.” He shrugged. “But the recent hullaballoo in Canberra and Belle’s part in it has them believing her deep connection to you gives them a greater chance of reconciliation.”
“Wait until they find out said connection remains broken.”
He glanced at me, eyebrows raised. “You’ve patched things up with your mom. That’s something.”
“Patchingthings up would be a more correct term. There’s a long way to go.” I took a bite of the slice. Mine was full of pink Clinkers from the look of things, which were my favorite. “Did you find anything on the basilisk?”
“Yeah, that there’s not a whole lot out there.” He grimaced again. “I did find one demonology text that said basilisks are rare demons and difficult to summon.”
“Which makes it even more odd that Marie went to the trouble of doing so here. It has to have something to do with Maelle.”
