Great. Word had it that the flu was going around. Getting sick was the last thing she needed to deal with right now.
“Hello all!” Nancy exclaimed cheerily.
“Nancy, you’re back bearing more delicious treats. Twice in one morning. What’s the occasion?” Andy grinned at her as if thrilled for the excuse to avoid the werewolf topic. Nancy was blissfully ignorant about a great deal of paranormal activity in the area. She’d come face-to-face with some dangerous magic recently at a local singles club that happened to be possessed by the demon Lord of Lust, but had recovered nicely. Well, except for one very unfortunate result.
The blonde was currently dating Stanley, the weaselly wizard’s assistant whom Darrak had made cry earlier on the phone.
Some women had questionable taste in men.
“I saw Darrak and Eden just got here. Had to bring over more munchies.” Nancy held up a paper bag emblazoned with the Hot Stuff logo.
“You’re an angel,” Darrak said. “And I mean that as a compliment, not an insult.”
Nancy had a large crush on Darrak for a while, but thankfully it had subsided. There was a time she’d demonstrated this crush by making Darrak chocolate donuts in the blobby shape of hearts. Now they were regular blobby-shaped ovals.
“Here, Eden.” Nancy held out a coffee to her.
“Thanks.” Eden took it and couldn’t help but notice something glitter on Nancy’s finger. Her eyes widened. “Wow, Nancy. Nice ring.”
“Oh, this?” Nancy held her left hand out to show off the diamond solitaire and then wriggled her fingers.
“You’re not…” Eden frowned. “Are you engaged?”
She would have thought it impossible, but Nancy’s smile shot up another fifty watts. “Stanley popped the question last night.”
“Congratulations!” Andy exclaimed.
“Popped what question?” Darrak asked.
“Stanley asked me to marry him, and I said yes.” More finger wriggling. “I’m going to be Mrs. Dancy!”
“Nancy Dancy,” Darrak said. “It’s catchy.”
Eden’s brows drew together. “I’m glad you’re so excited. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ve only known him a couple of weeks. Are you positive this is the right thing?”
The brightness dimmed a little at the edges. “Now you sound like my mother.”
“I’m just saying—”
“She was all ‘Is this going to be like last time? Marry in haste, repent at leisure,’ or whatever. But it’s not true. It’s not like the last time. That wasn’t true love. This — what me and Stanley have? It’s real. I feel it deep inside of me like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It’s real and it’s lasting and I want to spend the rest of my life with that man. He’s the most wonderful person I’ve ever known in my entire life.”
“
The blonde’s expression softened again. “I know. And I appreciate it. Don’t worry about me, Eden. You’ve always been like an older sister to me.”
“I believe I’m a few years younger than you, actually.”
“It would mean a lot to me if you’d be one of my bridesmaids. Will you do that?”
Eden was at a loss. It felt wrong talking about things like true love, bridal plans, and weddings when she was getting used to dealing with curses, demons, and an unavoidable working relationship with Lucifer himself. “I… I would be happy to be one of your bridesmaids.”
“Thank you so much.” Nancy gave her a tight hug. “Listen, I have to get back to work but we’ll talk soon. What fun!”
Then, with her mood elevated again by good wishes and promises of bridesmaids and impending nuptials, Nancy left them to their coffee and donuts.
If anything, Eden felt a bit queasier now than she did to start with. “I just hope Stanley isn’t using her.”
“When did you become such a Negative Nelly?” Andy said.
“Around the time I was a toddler. And it’s called being a realist, actually.”
“I think it’s wonderful. We could use more good news around here lately.”
“Definitely.” Darrak bit into his donut, then held the other one out to Eden. “Want some?”
Their tryst in the car came back to her with full erotic strength.
Oh, she still wanted some, all right, and she wasn’t talking about donuts. But she’d cooled off from before. Enough to keep her attention fully fixed on the issues at hand.
She gave him a strained smile. “Maybe later.”
Andy grabbed his coat. “I need to head out to meet with a client. Glad you two got here so I wouldn’t have to shut the office down completely.”
“More werewolves?” Darrak asked pointedly.
Andy cringed. “Would you stop with the werewolf stuff, already?”
“It was just a question, not an accusation.”
“Then no. Not werewolves. A human client, believe it or not. Wanted me to investigate a missing sister who ran off with a boyfriend without leaving any forwarding address. I already found her living in Vegas. Quick case, nice and easy.”
“Well, good,” Eden said. “Fine, you go do that. Darrak and I have some business of our own to take care of.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
“I’m going to experiment with a little spell removal.”
“Eden, I thought we were going to talk about that first.” There was a warning edge to Darrak’s voice.
She ignored it.
“Well, that’s great. Good luck with that,” Andy said. “But please try not to break anything.”
FOUR
Andy left.
When Eden looked at Darrak she realized he was staring at her sternly with his arms crossed over his chest, his half-eaten donut forgotten.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.
“Just what I told him. Spell removal experimentation.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She hissed out a breath. “Actually, the more I think about it, I believe it’s the best idea I’ve had in a very long time. You heard Maksim. Me and Selina — our magic is exactly the same.”
“According to him. He could have been lying through his shiny white teeth.”
“You don’t trust him?”
“I can’t think of any real reason to trust him, let alone to put your safety in his hands.”
She shook her head. “I feel it, Darrak. Inside of me. He was telling the truth.”
He paced to the other side of the small office next to the coatrack and then turned back to look at her. “It doesn’t have to be now.”
“Why not?”
“We can get a second opinion.”
“I don’t want to wait that long.”
“You can’t be
