Page 80 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding

“Hmm,” Lucy said, glancing out the windows as the wind kicked up leaves in little cyclones for a moment, before they died down and fell back to the pavement. “Hey, what about a magick shop?” she asked. “Not like one of the ones for the general public, which sell gemstone rings and do basic tarot readings. But one of the more serious ones. Wouldn’t a witch know more about this sort of thing?”

It was certainly worth a shot.

“I don’t know of any, though,” Pandora said.

“I think I passed one on a run one day.”

“What makes you think it’s one of the non-touristy ones?” Pandora asked.

“There wasn’t even any real signage telling you what they offered. And when I looked in the window, the place was packed with ancient-looking artifacts, leather-bound books, and stuff like that. Not shelves full of tarot decks or anything like that. What was it called? Arcane something,” Lucy said, reaching for her mobile and trying to plug it in.

“What?” Pandora asked after helping a customer and finding Lucy still frowning at her phone.

“It’s not listed,” Lucy said. “But look.” She turned her mobile so Pandora could see the street view of the shop she was talking about. And it was there. It even had a small, wooden, handwritten sign above the door.

Arcane Emporium.

“Well, I guess maybe we can take that as a sign that it is one of those legit places, right?” Pandora asked.

“We should go. Tomorrow,” Lucy said. “We’re both off. You can sneak out by saying you are going to Victor’s place. WhereisVictor’s flat?”

“I have no idea,” Pandora said. “But maybe that’s a good thing. If I don’t know, chances are no one else does either.”

“True. OK. So tomorrow, sunset.”

Sunset came in what felt like the blink of an eye, despite no fewer than a dozen run-ins with the many members of Pandora’s family staying at the house. Including her great-great-grandmother, who always seemed to be watching her a bit too closely.

Paranoid, Pandora watched Ambrosia back when she wasn’t looking, wanting to know if she was maybe in cahoots with Bellatrix, the two of them trying to figure her out.

But from what she could tell, Ambrosia seemed more interested in spending time with the older members of the family – Ravenna and Henrietta, along with Lucian – and didn’t seem to spare Bellatrix, Dante, or Jasper much mind.

“Whoa,” Pandora said, when Dante nearly plowed into her as she started to head out.

He looked awful.

Those smudges under his eyes seemed to be getting darker with each passing day, despite his spending most nights up in his room, presumably sleeping.

If she hadn’t been on her way out, she would have followed him, demanded some answers. But, for the moment, Victor was more at risk as far as she could tell, so she had to handle that first.

After that, though, she was going to figure out what her little brother was up to.

Dante barely even seemed to register her existence anyway as he lumbered inside, leaving Pandora watching after him.

Which was how one of Henrietta’s dogs slipped out the door into the night.

“Pepper! Pepper, get back here!” Pandora chased after the little fluff ball as he tore off into the front garden, excited for some freedom. “Pepper!” Her shouts became more frantic as she lost sight of him.

It was just then she heard a snarl that had the hairs on her arms raising. Not two seconds later, Pepper came running back, tail tucked, letting out little cries.

“What was that?” Pandora asked, scooping him up.

“Sorry, that was me,” Lucy said, stepping out of the shadows. “It was a little nastier than normal because his little fluffy butt was about to run into the street.”

“That’s … a handy skill,” Pandora said, scooting the dog back into the house and closing the door behind him.

“You ready?” Lucy asked, producing two insulated mugs in her gloved hand. “Coffee for me. Circulation sippy for you,” she said, making Pandora let out a littlelaugh. “I know it’s been hard for you to get to the shops to even get the blood, let alone any privacy to drink it. I passed by it on the way here.”

“You’re the best,” Pandora said, looking around, then taking a sip, feeling like she was coming alive again immediately.