Page 3 of Hungry As Her Python

And spoiler alert, it wasn’t pretty.

It never was.

Unless you count the sexy Snake Shifter who was right smack dab in the middle of it all.

Palm Sunday–One Week Before Easter

The fire alarm had finally stopped screaming, but my head was still ringing like church bells on a wedding day.

And not in any they lived happily ever after romantic way.

Nope. It was more like the your life is in smoldering ruins kind of way.

I stood in the middle of my shop, staring at the wreckage in total denial.

Broken glass glittered across the floor like some tragic disco ball.

Display cases were toppled, their contents drowned in puddles of dirty water.

My specialty chocolate bunnies had melted into grotesque little blobs.

The Easter panettone? Burned to the kind of crisp that would shatter teeth.

And my egg-shaped cupcakes looked like they’d gone through a demolition derby.

Weeks of work—undone.

Endless hours of baking and chocolate molding—wasted.

All those specialty ingredients I only got once a year—poof, gone!

Easter was ruined.

And I was in emotional shambles.

Why me? Why my shop?

Despair roared to life in my chest, and I wanted to weep.

Now that the danger was over, the adrenaline was crashing hard, leaving me with nothing but the smoke, the soggy mess, and the ugly truth that I was going to have to clean all this up before I could even think about baking again.

Luckily, my familiar was already on it.

Petyr was good like that.

Unfortunately, I was magically bound to only use my Witchcraft in the bakery kitchen itself, which was currently a no-go zone until the mess was cleared.

Petyr, however, had no such limitations. The furry little Domovyk could cast wherever and whenever—though his idea of help was often chaotic at best.

“Bella? Hey, I just wanted to give you an update. The fire is out, but the cause is still a mystery. I’ll be back in a few to help with the cleanup,” Ryan called from the doorway, already climbing back into the big red fire engine.

His flannel was streaked with soot, his hair damp from the spray. The man might be a Grizzly Bear Shifter, but in that moment, he was a firefighter and the savior of my store.

He was also mated to my bestie and cousin, Donny, and he worked as my part-time employee.

I was seriously grateful for all his help, I just did not have the energy to show it right then.

“I’ll be here,” I sang back, trying not to sound defeated.