“I think you came to love the place as much as Fiore did. I love that house too, and it was my haunt for decades, but in the end, nothing in this world is permanent. You have to let things go. We need the money for Greenwood Manor. Better to have one offer than none.”
“Everyone tells me I get too attached to these places…” I looked at the sky. Little puffy clouds were sailing slowly over our heads. I would make more money if I could just accept that houses were only things, but more than once I accepted a lower offer because I liked the buyers better, and it felt like the right thing to do.
“I think you have a strong sense of justice,” Byron said.
“I mean…it’s just a house.”
“Yes, but you like to see good things happen to good people,” he said. “And this is something you can control. But if you truly want to do something good for this world, get as much money as you can and let’s hurry to rescue Deveraux’s manor before it’s too late. Sienna might not appreciate the house, but her husband was very excited over the range, and the dog was absolutely loving the yard. Her kids will too. And those woods and the garden and a house with the echoes of wizards gone by in its walls…they change people.”
“I guess…”
“I know what will make you feel better.” He opened a box of truffles from the picnic basket, flicking off a few ants, and slipped one in my mouth. They were already melting.
“I’m gonna get so messy,” I said.
“Yes, you are,” he said, moving down and lifting my skirt. My dream self still wasn’t wearing any underwear. Man, what a naughty subconscious. He pushed my legs open and slipped his tongue in between my folds, giving the sensitive flesh a long, slow lick.
I took another truffle and moaned with abandon. It was just a dream, so I might as well eat the whole box. It turns out, there is nothing like orgasming with your mouth full of melting chocolate.
Hopefully I didn’t get too spoiled for real life at this rate.
WE SIGNED the paperwork on Wednesday. Ridley Pierce, the husband, and Dudley the dog (Ridley and Dudley? What was up with that?) came to meet us while Sienna apparently had a meeting with her midwife that day. He wanted me to demonstrate the range and walk the property, and I could tell that he was totally in love with the garden and the whole forty acres. And so was the dog. Byron was right. Whatever Sienna thought about it, Ridley and Dudley were going to have a grand old time there.
“Hey, Hel? After spending those weeks in the house I’m almost positive the wall I wanted to tear down is actually structural,” Jake said after they left. “So I doubt she’ll take down the wallpaper either.”
I felt a little better.
I had hardly seen Graham in recent weeks, as we were getting close to election day and he was incredibly busy, but I kept calling him with updates.
“That’s a relief,” he said. “Because I have an update for you too, and…well…I’m not too happy about it.”
“What?”
“Blanche Greenwood called me and another buyer came in on Greenwood Manor.”
“But you have a handshake deal.”
“Yeah. She was all apologies. But this buyer offered twice what I did. If you’re up for it, we can match it, but…”
Another buyer? Who offered twice the money before the house even came on the market? Ohh, this was bad.
“If it’s Kiersten and Caleb, I will sell a kidney to get this place out from under them,” I said. “But I guess I’d better see the place first. Are you guys ready to head to Louisiana?” I called to the brothers behind me. We’d been playing an increasingly flirtatious game of poker and eating pizza from the nearest pizza place, which was also the nearest gas station, and not very good.
“Are they just there all the time?” Graham asked in a low voice.
“Either get used to it or learn to use a power saw,” I said.
“Well, I’m buying a plane ticket,” Graham said.
“What about your election?”
“It’s still two weeks away. I’ll meet you there.” He hung up.
As crazy a time as I’d had at Lockwood House, when it came to both men and magic, I had a feeling this was only the beginning.
*
More to come very soon with Wolves at the Door! This one will be forever remembered by me as the first book written while sheltering during the Covid-19 pandemic. Blah. What a stressful time. So I needed something fun to escape, and I started working on this series early. I’ve been addicted to HGTV for the last ten years and I first had the idea of Paranormal House Flippers when I was writing Tempted by Demons, which takes place in an old Victorian bed and breakfast and was my very first book set in the Ethereal/Sinistral/Wyrd paranormal world. It took much longer to think of a way to actually structure a plot around house flipping!
I’ve written many books in this world since, and if this is your first one, you might want to check out A Witch Among Warlocks, which is the story of how Helena’s brother broke with his family and ended up in a bond marriage, got killed by a demon at some point, and…a lot of other stuff.
Thank you reading! Love to my readers, hope y’all are safe and happy! Please join my Facebook group and come hang out! And sign up for my mailing list to get a free copy of the Witch Among Warlocks prequel novella, The Wild-Eyed Boys!
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THE FAIRER
