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“No, at least I don’t think so.” There was always a chance though. I attracted ghosts and certain demons. Why not mystic donkeys?
“Are you still worried about the lost dog?” Nana Pratt asked. “Because I’m sure someone has taken it in by now. It’s been days.”
“It’s about the fact that the supernatural circus seems to have arrived in Fairhaven, and nobody is doing anything about it.”
Ray gave me a long look. “If that’s your plan, I’d bring more than those throwing knives.”
“How do you know I have my throwing knives?”
His gaze lowered to my legs. “You walk funny when you’re packing them.”
I straightened, indignant. “I do not.”
“You do. Not that it matters. Your opponent won’t know the way you usually walk. Anyway, if there’s a chance you’ll be fighting a magic donkey, I’d consider that long blade you keep in the trunk in your bedroom.” He snapped his fingers, although there was no sound.
“The longsword?”
“Ooh, I’m partial to the one with the curved blade,” Nana Pratt said. “Is it a scythe?”
“A scythe has a long handle,” I told her. “Mine is a sickle.”
“Steven dressed as the Grim Reaper one year, and he carried a scythe made of plastic,” Nana Pratt reminisced. Pausing, she looked at me. “You’re not the Grim Reaper, are you, dear?”
“No.”
She didn’t press the issue. “What if the donkey is a shifter, like your friend?”
“West isn’t my friend. He’s an acquaintance by necessity.”
“Would you be upset if you killed someone because you thought they were a donkey harbinger of doom, but they were really a circus shifter?”
“There’s no such thing as a circus shifter,” I said. “Anyway, West doesn’t think the mysterious dog is a shifter. The animal didn’t have a smell.”
“All animals have a smell, dear. Ask any farmer.”
“We haven’t seen any evidence that these animals take human form. If that were the case, people would be talking about the newcomers nonstop the way they talked about me.” And right now, the only newcomer seemed to be Addison Gray, a fact which hadn’t escaped me.
I left the kitchen and went upstairs to choose more weapons. Ray was right; a better range of weapons would come in handy if I crossed paths with anything fiercer than a donkey.
“Would you like a cup of hot cocoa when you get back?” Nana Pratt asked. “I noticed you bought some when you went to the store.”
I zipped up my coat. “Are you going to make it?”
“I thought I might try, if you give me permission to stay in the house while you’re gone.”
I considered the idea. “Do you think your skills have progressed to lifting objects filled with boiling water?”
“It isn’t a bathtub,” she objected. “It’s only a kettle.”
“How about I fill it now with just enough water for the mug?” I suggested.
“An excellent compromise,” Ray interjected.
I cut him a glance as I passed by on my way to the kitchen. “Are you the supervisor of this experiment?”
“Seems prudent.”
I filled a quarter of the kettle with water and set it on the stovetop. “Please don’t burn down my house while I’m gone.”
