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I made myself turn to Killian and adopted my usual smile. “So, you’re turning sentimental and emotional in your old age, but I haven’t heard that your grasp on Magiford politics has wavered.”
“It hasn’t,” Killian said. “The vampires are still the most powerful supernatural in Magiford.”
“Then the rumors that the new Night Court fae queen is growing strong is incorrect?” I asked.
“No,” Killian said. “She’s powerful, but she is also a tightwad who refuses to spend even a penny on expanding her kingdom.”
“That sounds…not at all fae-like,” I said.
“You’d think so,” Killian agreed. “Until you try to bargain with her.”
CHAPTERFIVE
Jade
“These cookies will turn out best if you refrigerate them for a minimum of two hours after mixing up, and they will keep in your fridge for up to two days,” the perky voice of Éclair—the host of the cooking show, Spice ‘N Dice—blasted through my earbuds.
My theory was listening to a show about baking while I worked out might help me troubleshoot some of my cooking issues. So far, it just made things more confusing because it turns out baking and cooking are very visualarts, and I couldn’t watch my phone when I was weightlifting.
“I don’t think lack of refrigeration would burn cookies,” I muttered to myself as I finished wiping down the weight machine I’d been using while music played—Éclair was probably showing how to place the cookies on a tray.
I’d tried making cookies yesterday—two days after my last attempt of the O’Neil breakfast hash.
The bottoms of my cookies had burnt. I’d had to cook them longer than the directions said because the tops were still visibly raw.
“This recipe is perfect to mix up a day before you have friends over, so you can use the dough to make a fresh tray of cookies right before they arrive! Nothing beats hot cookies straight out of the oven,” Éclair said.
“That sounds nice.” I wistfully sighed as I picked up my free weights, starting on my last lunge set.
At least my apartment didn’t smell when I burnt the cookies. Maybe, even if I didn’t actually serve the cookies because they’re inedible, the smell would make my apartment more inviting? But first I have to invite someone over.
Sunshine had come over a couple of times, but between our mismatched shifts and her crazy schedule with all her family and Court events I didn’t get to see her outside of work very often.
I held my lunge for a second, then straightened up as the show’s tinny credit music played signaling that I’d finished another episode.
The muscles in my legs were starting to have that quivering, jelly-like feeling I got after a good workout and, thankfully, I was almost done for the day.
Training had been a part of my daily routine as a vampire slayer. Even though I’d left the profession behind I wasn’t going to give up the benefit that came from training. As slayers were a subset of wizards, I was among the physically weakest of supernaturals. Keeping myself muscled and in top fighting condition helped bridge that gap at least a little and could make a huge difference in a fight.
If I want to entertain in my apartment that means I’m limited to either humans in my building or anyone I meet as Jade O’Neil, not work friends.
Not that I didn’t trust the task force. To keep my slayer persona firmly at the Cloisters, for safety reasons, I pretended that I was fully human whenever I was off the clock. I lived in a regular human-filled apartment building with the cover story that I served as a human secretary at the Cloisters.
Having task force members over would be a fairly big risk given the unlikelihood of a human secretary hanging out with the night shift Magical Enforcement Task Force squad. I’d been less concerned about Sunshine because it seemed reasonable that I’d meet her at work.
Not that any of the risk matters. No one on the night shift even thinks of me as a friend, so I’d need to change that first…
I heaved another sigh when I finished my lunge set, then wiped down my free weights before returning them to the rack on the wall. I turned off the treadmill I’d used for my warmup, double checked that I’d reset the other weight machines I’d used, then flicked off the light and exited the small but efficient gym to swing into the stairwell and jog up it heading for my apartment.
The gym was another benefit of living in a human apartment building—working out here saved me the price of a gym membership.
I used the purple hand towel that hung from my neck to wipe off my forehead, but I couldn’t reach the sweat spot between my shoulder blades that made my t-shirt stick to me.
Maybe I should ask my neighbors for advice on baking. It would be a great excuse to approach them. But if I can barely make myself talk to them, could I really ask them something as bold as ‘why do my cookies keep coming out as hard as hockey pucks’?
I could feel the burning flush on my cheeks—one of the joys of being so pale I could have passed for a ghost—as I trotted up the last set of stairs.
I paused when my senses roared to life screaming that a vampire was present.
