“That little brat?” I asked, but my tongue felt thick.
Just then, someone appeared behind him. Laney let out that laugh again, and she yanked a lock of my hair that had fallen into her sling. The searing pain that can only come from a baby pulling your hair brought the world back into focus.
But the woman was still there. She was creeping up behind Zane. For a second, I thought she was a ghost, but while the woman was slightly transparent, she had a strange golden, shimmering aura around her.
Her long, curly blonde hair lay like a halo around her shoulders, like a lion’s mane. Her blue eyes were piercing and wholly familiar.
Laney laughed again, and the woman lunged at Zane. Her hands disappeared into him and ripped out something dark.
I heard a disembodied screeching just before the woman, and the darkness she’d yanked out, disappeared.
Thorn came running out of the house behind me. His hands still had ropes semi tied to them. Zane may have been a talented necromancer, but he wasn’t very good at tying ropes, apparently.
My husband started down the steps with his handcuffs out and ready to arrest the man, but I stopped him. “It’s not him” I said. “He’s not actually the one who did it.”
“What?” Thorn asked.
“I promise I’ll explain later, but we need to get out of here. That smell is bay leaves. The more of it we stand here and breathe in, the more we’re going to hallucinate,” I said.
But just then, Jeremy pulled up. We had to let him arrest the guy. Thorn told his deputy we needed to go, and they could come back and investigate the scene later, after the hallucinogenic herb pile in the back yard stopped burning.
The man was hollering the whole time about how he didn’t do anything wrong and he didn’t know why he was there? Jeremy just rolled his eyes at the guy and put him in the cruiser anyway.
What he didn’t know was that the man’s words were the truth. It was okay, though. We knew we’d figure it out. We always did.
Once we had Jeremy back in Coventry, the magical veil would take over again. It was weaker, but it still worked. Thorn would tell Jeremy to cut the guy loose, and Jeremy would make up an excuse in his head about why Thorn was right.
Everything would be fine…
Epilogue
The following morning, Lilith showed up on my doorstep with a basket of fresh oatmeal raisin muffins. She had on a floor-length, black lace dress with a collar that came up to her chin. Her face was bare other than a huge smile painted blood red with her favorite lipstick.
“I brought breakfast,” she chirped.
“You don’t bake,” I said and stepped back from the threshold so she could come inside.
“I wanted to learn,” she said. “Never too old to learn new things, dear.”
“Thorn, Lilith’s here. She brought breakfast, and they smell divine,” I called out.
He’d slept in and was just getting out of bed. I’d had Laney up for a couple of hours, and we’d even taken a walk down the street and back. I just wanted to be up and out of the house until Lilith got there. I’d slept on the sofa after spending most of the night in the kitchen. While I’d only had a few hours of sleep, I was energized by the task before me. Or I was terrified. Either worked.
“Oh, those smell incredible,” Thorn said as he descended the stairs with a massive smirk on his face. “I’m starving.”
That might have had something to do with the hunger dust I’d sprinkled in his bathroom cup that morning. The only time I’d gone upstairs was to sneak into our bathroom while he slept and put the powder in the bottom of the cup. It ensured that he’d ingest it when he brushed his teeth that morning. I wanted to take no chances that Thorn would skip the muffins.
“I made coffee,” I said. “Let me pour you a cup. Lilith, would you like some as well?”
“I would, dear. Thank you,” Lilith replied.
We made our way into the kitchen. Laney slept in the bassinette in the living room with Meri snuggled against her. He hadn’t left her side since we’d returned home the day before.
Lilith put the basket of muffins in the center of the kitchen table and took a seat. Thorn plopped down too and took a muffin.
“Would you like a plate?” I asked as he began to peel the paper away from the muffin and get crumbs all over the table and floor.
“No need,” he said.
I poured his cup of coffee and set it in front of him. The sooner he ate the muffin, the better. He took his first bite while I got Lilith and myself coffee.
Nothing happened.
He downed half of his coffee in one gulp and took two more large bites of the muffin. “You two going to have any?” He asked with his mouth full. More crumbs fell on the table.
I stayed at the kitchen counter and retrieved the mason jar I’d stashed in one of the cabinets. “I’ll be there in just a moment,” I said. “I want to go check on Laney real quick.”
“That baby will be just fine. Why don’t you come eat with us?” Thorn said with a mouth still full of muffin.
That was the moment his face changed. All the color drained out, and he dropped the muffin on the table where it rolled off onto the floor. Lilith scooped it up and threw it in the trash.
“You feeling okay, sweetie?” I asked as I unscrewed the lid from the mason jar. I hadn’t left the room to check on Laney. It had only been an excuse to keep him eating. Not that he’d needed one.
The pungent smell from the black potion inside made me wince. I swirled it gently, so the foul brew coated
