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Finn eyed the assembled tiers, embraced by the delicate swan. “You know, babe, even if you had a van, I don’t think the cake could have made the trip intact. Wildwood is like an hour and a half away, and some of those roads are pretty winding.”
“Oh, no!” Gany practically tumbled off the stool and into Finn’s arms. “I should have waited to assemble it at the venue. I didn’t think… I’ve never made anything this big before, and…” He paled. “Did you say an hour and a half?”
“About that, yeah.”
He clutched Finn’s shirt. “What time is it?”
“Quarter to eight,” Hector said around a mouthful of scone.
“Oh, hades,” Gany moaned. “Even if I can find a van and the cake doesn’t disintegrate on the road, I’d never make it in time. The wedding is at ten.” Gany dropped his forehead against Finn’s chest. “How can I expect to run a catering business, awedding cakebusiness, if I make this kind of mistake? Before I never had to worry about delivery. I mean, on Olympus, the gods were just alwaysthere, and they never wanted anything but stupid nectar and ambrosia anyway.”
Finn darted a glance at Peyton, whose jaw was sagging, and then at Melina, whose expression read sympathetic understanding rather than shock. “Um…”
Melina held up a hand and waggled her fingers. “Hi, folks. I’m Melina. Barista, baker’s assistant, aaannnd former Vestal.”
“Vestal?” Hector wiped his hands on his jeans, leaving scone crumbs behind. “Like Vestal Virgin?”
Melina scrunched up her nose. “Yeah, one little problem with that. Couldn’t serve the goddess without that virginity requirement, and when another god deprives you of that—right in front of the altar, I might add—guess who gets the blame.” She shook her head. “I suppose I shouldn’t complain. At least I didn’t get turned into a gorgon like poor Medusa. Hestia/Vesta is a lot more laidback than Athena.”
“So…” Finn leaned back so he could look down into Gany’s face. “In that case, I’m guessing all secrets are out? If Melina is like you, then you’ve probably figured out that Peyton is the witch.”
Gany grimaced. “Yes, but we haven’t hadtimeto get into that, and anyway, I don’t care.Thisdisaster”—he flung a hand out at the cake—“is the problem now. I’ll have to call Del and tell them I can’t fulfill the contract.”
“Not so fast.” Finn exchanged a glance with the Doghouse guys, who all shrugged. “There’s another way. But it’s… complicated.”
Peyton's eyes widened. “You don’t mean—”
“Yep. We’re taking a shortcut.” Finn held Peyton’s gaze. “Can you manage a levitation spell?”
Peyton’s brows drew together, eyes losing focus as they thought. “Yes. But I’ll need some ingredients from my apartment.” They glanced apologetically at Gany. “And I’ll need my familiar. I know bringing an animal into the bakery is—”
“Can you set a no-shed spell on her?” Finn asked.
Peyton brightened. “Yeah. Yes, I can do that.” They untied their bib apron and lifted it over their head to hang it on a hook under a shelf holding nests of brightly colored ceramic bowls. “I won’t be ten minutes.” They rushed out the door, letting itclangshut behind them.
Finn kissed Gany’s forehead and turned him gently within the circle of his arms so he faced the Doghouse guys. “Gany—or would you prefer to stick with Gary?”
“Either one is fine, justpleasedon’t call me Ganymede!”
Finn chuckled. “No problem. Gany, meet Gage, Hector, and Dakota. From my… my pack.”
“Hi,” Gany said faintly. “Thanks so much for being willing to help out.”
“No worries there,” Dakota replied. “If you’re with Finn, you’re pack too. And besides”—he brandished a scone—“you can always capture a were’s heart with food like this.”
Finn gnawed his lower lip and moved aside so they were standing in a loose circle, although he kept his fingers laced with Gany’s. “Here’s the thing. We need to call an FTA driver, but I’m broke, and I don’t have a ride token.”
“That’s not a problem.” Hector dug his phone out of his pocket. “I’ve got an app for that.”
Finn lifted an eyebrow. “An app? When did the supe community embrace modern human tech? I haven’t been out of touchthatlong.”
Hector shifted from foot to foot. “It’s, um, not entirely sanctioned. Does that bother you?”
“Me?” Finn snorted. “I’d go a lot farther than one sketchy app call to save Gany’s cake gig. Go for it.”
Hector glanced around the kitchen. “It’s kind of cramped in here, but we can hardly go somewhere else to open the portal.”
Gage pointed to the massive walk-in fridge door. “What about opening that? I mean, the drivers can appear out of nowhere, but they always like a door when one’s available. Something about sympathetic transformational magic or whatever.”
