Peter looked horrified. “Test a potion for what?”
I shrugged. “I still don’t know. And now he’s testing cures on me.” I closed my eyes for a moment. “Peter, I’m genuinely concerned it might hurt me… kill me, even.” I plastered on a sad grin. “And frankly, I’d rather not get killed by a maniac, if it could be avoided.”
Peter’s eyes searched my face. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.” His throat bobbed, and he held my gaze. “How can I help?”
I grinned. “That’s very sweet of you.” I bit my lip. “I think I need to learn more about Ludolf, to understand how he’s got this grip on power among shifters.”
I thought of what my old headmistress had told me about the Monster Wars and the propaganda against shifters. I lowered my voice. “And then I want to take Ludolf Caterwaul down. As long as he’s in power, shifters are never going to be free.” A tingle of excitement and fear shot through me at saying it out loud.
Peter nodded thoughtfully.
I leaned closer to him, our hands still clasped. “This is incredibly dangerous, what I’m talking about doing. I understand if you want to walk away or need some time to think about it.”
Peter squeezed my hand. “No. Like I said, I want to help.”
I raised my brows. “Did I mention how dangerous it is?”
He leaned closer to me across the table, so that our faces were only inches apart. “Why do you think I became a cop, Jolene? To protect people—all people.” His eyes drifted to my lips. “Especially the ones I care deeply about.”
I parted my lips, leaned the rest of the way across the table, and kissed him. His warm palm cupped my cheek, and he pulled me deeper into the kiss. My chest flooded with warmth and I grew light-headed.
“Ahem.”
Lips still locked, my eyes slid to my right. Our waitress stood there, two baskets of steaming fish and chips in her hands.
Grinning sheepishly, we leaned apart, and she set our food down, a little twinkle in her eyes.
After she left, Peter shot me a grin, his cheeks pink, and I chuckled, then sucked on my lips. In spite of vowing to take on a suicide mission against the mob boss of shifters, I was in a surprisingly giddy mood.
Daisy sat beside him, her ears flat, and whimpered. I need something to wash away the bad taste in my mouth at having to watch you two maul each other.
I whined back at her before popping a french fry in my mouth. Oh, relax, Daisy. It was just a kiss. I grinned at Peter, with his broad shoulders and cute grin. It was a pretty fantastic kiss, though.
She whimpered again. A milkshake would certainly go a long way, though. She kept her nose pointed to the floor, but her eyes darted up at me.
I shook my head but leaned over, catching the waitress’s eye. “A vanilla milkshake for the dog, please.”
She frowned but nodded.
Peter raised a thick brow, and I waved it off.
“Peace offering to Daisy.” If all it took was a milkshake to keep her off my case, I could handle that.
He grinned and ruffled her head.
I munched on a bite of fried fish, thinking over the wild events of the night. I raised my brows. “You feeling okay with… everything?”
Peter grinned and found my foot under the table with his. “Yeah. I’m feeling good with everything.”
I winced. “You sure? This is pretty risky.”
He grinned wider. “Yeah, but I think it’ll be worth it. I think we’re on to something big.”
I fought a grin. “Are we talking about the whole Ludolf thing or—” I motioned between us. “Us?”
He winked. “Both.”
Thank you for reading Breaking Bat. I hope you enjoyed it!
The next book in the Magic Market Mysteries is Book 7: Can Jolene help hunky cop Peter and his sassy, lie-detecting canine solve a new case when a phoenix goes missing from an animal sanctuary, and the owner’s found murdered in one of the cages? How does it all relate to a missing millionaire and an evil shifter’s diabolical schemes?
Read The Squawking Dead to solve a zoo of a mystery today!
THE SQUAWKING DEADis available on Amazon in ebook, paperback and audiobook at https://amzn.to/2ZL1VNY
CLICK HERE to get your FREE copy of Saved by the Spell and check out rookie officer Peter Flint’s first case with Daisy. Saved by the Spell is the prequel to the Magic Market paranormal cozy mystery series: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/39ltzc764w
KEEP READING for a sneak peek at the next book, The Squawking Dead!
CRAB PUFFS
“Appetizers?” Heidi rolled her wrist, wand in hand, and the round gold trays laden with dragon rolls, shrimp, mini quiches, and cheese and crackers magically lowered to waist height. The chattering group of guests broke apart and clustered around the trays, eagerly scooping up snacks.
Thank the seas Heidi was such a good friend—and so coordinated. She managed to not only keep her own appetizer tray afloat, but mine as well as we threaded through the hundreds of glittering party guests.
As a certain curse had deprived me of magic, I’d have had to manually carry that tray around without her. And I’d have either tuckered out or probably knocked the tray over on some aristocrat’s head and gotten myself fired. Which would have been unfortunate. And it wasn’t because I needed the money or all the food and drinks I’d been sneaking—I was here to collect intel.
A woman in a floor-length leopard print dress pointed a black gloved finger at a mini quiche.
“Is it vegetarian?”
I blinked back at her, eyes wide. For one, she’d caught me unprepared—I’d been wondering where one found a floor-length leopard print dress. But two, I’d just stuffed one of those dragon rolls in my mouth and could barely chew, my mouth was so full, much less
