Page 19 of Silk Skullduggery (Haven Hollow #40)

There were a surprising number of blankets and quilts and warm fuzzy socks in Poppy’s house, but it still didn’t seem like enough.

I tucked yet another blanket around her while she laughed too hard to protest, until she looked more like a burrito than a person. Finn, the little enabler, just crawled under the blankets to worm up close to his mother’s side, and Poppy brushed a kiss over the top of his head that was met with only performative teenage grumbling. That told me more than anything just how worried he’d been.

After the Tsuchigumo had been bound down into a piece of fabric that was smaller than a handkerchief, I’d passed it to Maverick and Taliyah and told them to stick it somewhere until we figured out a more permanent solution. I was considering resin and the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but I was open to suggestions, as long as that eight-legged trash heap never darkened my doorstep again.

Between Olga, Maverick, Betanya, Imani and me, we’d managed to anoint Poppy with as many healing potions and charms as witchly possible, and we didn’t stop until she’d blinked her eyes opened and, in true Poppy fashion, apologized for being a bother.

I was still riding the adrenaline high, and I’d been torn between the urges to hug her and shake her until some sense came rattling out, but in the end, I’d just held her hand and told her that I was glad she was okay, without really looking in her direction, just in case she thought I was being sappy or something.

Once we’d got her more or less upright, Olga had brought her a cup of tea so full of sugar that I was sure a hummingbird might have said if it was a little much. But Olga had stood over Poppy and tutted until Poppy had dutifully drank every drop, and then followed it up with something called ‘beef tea’, which sounded horrendous, but Poppy was too polite to turn it down.

Served her right. Let that be a lesson against scaring me like that. Olga must have been more worried than I’d realized, too, because she sternly told Poppy if she didn’t drink it that something called ‘liver tea’ was next, and frankly, I would have rather kissed the Tsuchigumo. It sounded like something the Victorians would have come down with cholera to avoid .

While Poppy had gamely been chugging down her drink with the resigned look of a martyr, I’d texted Andre to let him know that everything was okay, and to tell Finn, and that I’d have her home soon.

But not before I’d layered every protection charm I knew on top of Poppy’s little blond head. And then the others had followed suit. Considering that there were four witches, and a warlock, who had been members of multiple covens in their lives, that was an impressive amount of protection spells, and it had taken a while. Taliyah and Lorcan had stood by, impatiently bemused. More impatient for Taliyah, more bemused for Lorcan.

Lorcan had helped me bundle Poppy back into my car, and then he’d taken the keys from me when my hands wouldn’t stop shaking for some reason. Poppy dozed in the back seat while we had a short, silent drive back to the farmhouse. My thoughts were a tangled, snarled mess, and I didn’t even want to start trying to sort them out. I just wanted to breathe, and occasionally glance back to peek that Poppy was still buckled in behind me.

How silly. Where would she have gone?

And if halfway through the drive, Lorcan had reached over and slipped his hand into mine, well, it would have been rude not to squeeze his fingers back. I was baffled by him, but I wasn’t angry. That might come later, but for the moment, I was happy to have something to hang onto that didn’t feel slippery or sticky or make me want to shower in Lysol.

And if I squeezed a little too hard, he was undead. He could take it. And he certainly never once complained.

Lorcan helped me escort Poppy inside her home, while she protested that she was fine, she could walk, like I couldn’t feel the way her muscles were trembling just from sliding out of the car. The instant we’d pulled into the driveway though, Finn and Andre had come boiling outside, with a leather-bound book racing behind them, flapping its red ribbon tail as it went. The book ran on the points of its cover, more like a dog than something someone might find on the best-seller shelf.

Finn had been very pale, and I’d thought for a second that he would throw himself at Poppy, but he checked himself at the last second, folding his hands together like he was afraid to reach out.

“Finn,” she’d said weakly and her smile was even more weak.

“Are you okay, Mom?”

It had come out a thin whisper that shook at the edges, and I saw Poppy open her mouth to quickly reassure him. Then she paused and thought about it before finally answering.

“I will be.”

Finn’s shoulders relaxed at hearing it. It must have been true, then. Or at least Poppy believed it was, and that was enough to reassure her son. And me too, for that matter. It wasn’t enough to keep Finn from hovering around us like a persistent little moon, but still. I’d take my victories where I could get them.

Andre was slightly more useful. He was a tall, slender man, with more of a swimmer’s build than Roy’s extreme body builder physique. But there was a great deal of strength in his broad shoulders and his corded forearms, marked as they were with inky dark numbers. It was a Magician thing, Poppy had said. I hadn’t been interested enough to question it.

He came to take Poppy’s arm from me, to help Lorcan get her into the house, and for a moment I tensed, unwilling to let go. But then he scooped Poppy into his arms, bride-style, and she smiled up at him.

It was silly, of course it was. Andre was Poppy’s boyfriend, her soulmate for spell’s sakes. He wasn’t going to drop her or something. But it was hard to let go, to trust someone else with someone so important to me. Truly, she was the most important person to me, and Lorcan was a close second.

Andre didn’t push it. He just waited, patiently while I got my nonsense in order and finally stepped away so he could get her into the house.

Lorcan gave me a smile, but I just sniffed and looked away, pretending not to know what that look was for. Honestly, that man. No matter how helpful and understanding he was being, he needed to still know that he was very much in the dog house with me. And we’d be having that particular argument just as soon as I could allow myself to let Poppy out of my sight.

Andre managed to get Poppy inside her house and deposited onto the couch. That was when the quest for the ultimate blanket nest began, because in spite of everything we’d done, Poppy was still pale, and cool to the touch. And while she was trying very hard to hide her shivering, it wasn’t easy to miss while we were all in physical contact with her.

While I’d been hunting out every textile comfort item in her linen cupboard, with Finn as my very enthusiastic sidekick, Andre had made tea. Apparently, that was a thing. Poppy just looked relieved that it was chamomile, from the smell of it, and nothing involving beef or boiled liver.

When I’d started seriously considering heaping a raincoat and what might have actually been a rug on top of Poppy on the couch, Lorcan pulled me into a hug and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

My eyes burned at the gesture. It must have been dusty in Poppy’s house.

With a jerk of his head and a little squeeze, he let me know that he would wait in the car.

I gave him a suspicious look out of narrowed eyes. “If you try to slip away while I’m distracted, I will turn you into a salamander. And not the cute kind. The warty kind.”

He shivered, a little theatrically, in my mind, and slipped out the door.

Poppy was looking a little brighter, smiling at Finn and sharing disgustingly saccharine looks with Andre. I knew Poppy was used to taking care of everyone, and she didn’t like a fuss being made about her, and I didn’t feel like I had the right to unpack all of that, quite frankly.

But seeing her there, surrounded by her loved ones who were doting on her, pressing close, keeping in contact with her like they were afraid she might float away… Poppy was almost glowing. There was a healthy flush coming back into her cheeks, and her eyes were bright, a smile stretching across her face that must have been painful for her cheeks.

It made something hard and cold wedged up behind my heart thaw, just a little. It was going to be a long time before I could forget the sight of her lying pale and faded on the ground like a tossed away tissue, that was for sure. But it was a start.

I hovered in the doorway, hesitant to leave. I was being foolish, and sentimental. Poppy had her family, the Tsuchigumo was gone and would never be coming back, not if I had any say in the matter, and only time and rest would help now.

So why was it so hard to walk out the door?

Poppy turned, and that brilliant sunny smile shone over on me.

“Oh, wait, I just thought of one more protection.” I hurried back to the couch and perched on a sliver of space just in front of where Finn had vanished under the blanket pile, with only a few wisps of blond hair peeking out the top.

“Another one?” Poppy laughed, bright and happy. “For repelling monsters?”

I hesitated. “No,” I said, reluctantly. “It’s for averting hexes that cause blemishes from witches who happen to be your BFF and get very angry when you scare them half to death.”

Poppy’s laughter was bright and happy, and it almost made the warmth burning in my face worth it.

She wormed a hand out from under Mount Blanket to pat my arm. “Thank you, Wanda. For everything.”

She would be fine, and I was just keeping her up when she should probably be sleeping. And maybe taking some vitamins. I let out a slow breath.

Andre gave me a look and nodded once. He’d look after her. He was probably one of the few people in the world that I could trust to do it wholeheartedly.

So, I turned to the door, twitching one of my cuffs to hang better. “Alright, then. Try to rest. And maybe try not to cause any more trouble for a few days.”

The look Poppy gave me was far too fond. “I’ll try.”

Yes, it was time to go. Before I got all maudlin, or worse, sappy.

I nodded once and was out the door and down the driveway before I could fall under the urge to look back just once.

Lorcan was leaning against my car, his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for me. I looked him up and down as I came closer and stopped just a couple of feet away.

“Good choice,” I told him with an imperious tilt of my head.

He smiled.

***

We went back home. The coven house was a little too public a place for the conversation Lorcan and I were about to have, and I didn’t want even one more thing interrupting it, or the curses I was about to start slinging around would have made the Tsuchigumo look like a toddler with mudpies.

I stalked into the front hall and spun around on my boot heel just as Lorcan was locking the door behind him. I jabbed one perfectly manicured deep purple nail into his chest and scowled.

“Alright, Rowe. If you don’t start talking, I’m going to take a note from the spider demon and start wrapping you up in silk.”

He ducked his chin down so he could look up through his eyelashes at me. Then he had the utter audacity to waggle his eyebrows at me.

Yep. I was definitely going to turn him into the warty kind of salamander.

“Start. Talking.”

Lorcan heaved a sigh that was so deep he must have dragged it up from his toes. Then he lifted his right arm and tapped the face of the watch he was wearing.

I gave him an unimpressed look. “Yes, it’s a very nice watch. I’d say you paid a ridiculous amount of money for it, but considering that you spent about four times that on a cursed piece of silk, I don’t think I have much of a leg to stand on, there.”

A little wrinkle formed between his brows, and he tapped the watch again before lifting his hand to his throat.

I’d never been very good at charades, having experienced a childhood where not many people had been willing to play childish games with me. It took me a second to grasp what he was telling me.

“Wait.” My brows drew down, a little thundercloud forming over my head. “Are you telling me that your watch was cursed, too ?”

Lorcan nodded, resigned.

“Oh, that miserable, shoddy, scam artist auction house. What kind of business are they running? Where is their quality assurance?” I raked a hand back through my hair, half-surprised it wasn’t standing on end with my fury. “What is the curse doing to you, exactly? You can’t speak at all?”

Lorcan hesitated, and of all things, a tiny hint of pink slipped into his cheeks. He made a so-so gesture, tipping his hand back and forth.

I stared for a long moment. Vampires used blood for sustenance. They didn’t have a lot to spare for other things. The fact that Lorcan was so flustered over what was going on that he’d actually managed to work up even that little hint of a flush, had me intrigued and concerned in equal measure.

“Alright. Well.” I twitched the cuffs of my sleeves down further over my hands. “How about you say something, so that I know what we’re dealing with? If you’re able to.”

After another solid two minutes hemming and hawing, Lorcan finally slumped in defeat.

“Sweetling,” he said, in the most high-pitched, cartoony voice I’d ever heard in my life. It sounded like he’d inhaled helium.

“Your voice!” I called out, shocked.

He nodded. “This ridiculous voice just started today. I assume it’s the tail end of the curse? I’m not certain. All I do know is that it’s a little embarrassing. And I can’t actually… well, I can’t tell you what the curse is… or… you will be cursed by it, as well. Suffice to say, I was afraid of being too close to you, lest you end up cursed such as I am. Thus, I have been keeping my distance as I tried to work out a way to break it.”

I wanted to blame it on the stress I was under. I wanted to say it was the relief of days of running around trying to keep people alive that did it, that it was just catharsis. But I would have been lying, because that was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen in more than a century of life.

I laughed. I laughed hard. So much so that I was a wheezing, teary mess, forced to clutch at my own ribs to try and stop them from hurting by the time I managed to rein it in. And even then, a few little giggles managed to slip out.

It didn’t help that Lorcan was pouting when I straightened up, his lower lip a little jutting cliff of petulance.

I slapped his shoulder lightly. “Why didn’t you just tell me? Yes, I understand, your manly ego is grievously wounded by that ridiculous voice. But really? Lorcan, you’ve been dodging me for days over a curse? Why wouldn’t you have just asked me to take the watch off?”

His shoulders slumped again, and, instead of answering, he gave a sharp, and very shrill, whistle.

To my shock, Hellcat came stalking out of the living room. His tail was already puffed up and lashing irritably when he sat to face us.

“Well? Have you finally confessed, you great lummox?” Hellcat’s voice came out about a dozen octaves higher than normal, like a squeaky toy was trying to speak. His voice was just as ridiculous as Lorcan’s, which was when I realized the curse had attached itself to Hellcat as well.

I couldn’t stop myself, I doubled over laughing again.

“Stop that at once!” he said in his helium voice. “You vile harridan! Irreverent slattern! This is no time for levity!”

I felt like I was being scolded by a deflating balloon, and I had to sit down right there in the hallway when my legs gave out on me.

Hellcat arched his back and spat, and it sounded like a kitten. “If you’re done braying like a simple-minded donkey, perhaps you could try doing something worthwhile and removing the corpse’s curse.” And then he paused. “Which is now also my curse.”

I wiped my eyes, careful of my makeup. “How did you get hit with it?”

Hellcat glared for a long moment before deigning to answer. “You addle-brained paramour wanted to avoid confessing his shame to you, so he came to me for advice. As it seems, directly confessing the curse to another passes it to the other party. He didn’t want to risk spreading it to you for some foolish reason, so we were attempting to find a way to rid ourselves of it. A ridiculous endeavor, and I told him as much. I was left to lament in indignity, and for no reason at all!”

“Yes, yes, no one has suffered quite like you, Hellcat.” I turned a smile on the sheepish Lorcan. “Silly man. Come here.”

I took my time, picking the curse free. It wasn’t difficult, especially after the mess of the Tsuchigumo, but there was no need to rush. And listening to Hellcat mutter threats in his little Muppet voice was more joy than I ever thought I’d know in a single lifetime.

Through a series of increasingly ridiculous hand gestures, Lorcan managed to convey that once it was on and the curse active, he couldn’t get the watch off by himself. He’d gone to Hellcat, and that hadn’t worked out well. I just shook my head at him and pressed a kiss to his chin.

Such a stupid man.

“It does seem a bit of a shame,” I said as I teased another thorny bit of curse up. “It’s a nice watch, and it doesn’t seem quite fair that both of our souvenirs from our trip ended up turning out to be duds.”

Lorcan arched a brow, sending an unimpressed glance towards his watch.

“Exactly.” I nodded. “Two cursed items? That’s pretty obvious culpability. What kind of business are they running? Zero stars, would not recommend to friends.”

I managed to tease up the last bit of the curse, and swiftly unbuckled the watch to remove it. There was a little pop in the air, like the pressure had changed.

“Finally,” Hellcat muttered in his own voice, and then turned tail and disappeared through the doorway. The little ingrate.

Lorcan pulled me into a kiss. “Beautiful. Brilliant. Magnificent. Thank you, sweetling.”

I smiled into the kisses, letting Lorcan’s real voice shiver through me. I’d missed it. I’d missed him. And I was also deeply resentful of the people who had made it so that I hadn’t seen my husband in far too many days.

“Why didn’t you just come to me in the first place?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “I wanted to solve something myself for once.”

I arched a brow at him. “And look where that got you.” A little evil thought then occurred to me. “You know, Lorcan. I wondered if you might like to do another little trip? Since the first one feels a bit spoiled in my mind.” I slipped my arms around his neck, my fingers twining through the strands of blond hair just brushing the back of his collar. “And maybe we could stop by the auction house again. Convey our displeasure with our experience… in person.”

Lorcan pulled back, a slow smile spreading across his face, until the tips of his fangs peeked out. “Oh, I whole heartedly agree, Sweetling. What did your devious, brilliant mind come up with?” I smiled, my most witchy smile, and Lorcan groaned, running his hands up and down my back. “The things you do to me, woman.”

I let him pull me into his arms, and I went up onto my tip toes to meet his kiss eagerly. It really had been far, far too long.

***

If the following weekend found us heading back to Seattle for a make-up vacation, well, there was nothing suspicious about that.

The fact that the backseat was full and yet not full of a bunch of ghostly passengers was a complete coincidence. So, maybe I’d dropped by the ghost hotel at the edge of town after visiting with Darla and getting a list of names of ghosts that were more physically capable, mischievous, and who liked both messing with technology or jump scaring the living, well, I was sure that was just a coincidence too.

It hadn’t taken much to convince a bunch of bored ghosts to go on an extended vacation. The chance to go to a completely different city didn’t come about that often in the afterlife, apparently.

My purse twitched and grumbled, and I laid a hand over my bag to quiet it, smiling wide.

Darla had put in word to Henner, and he’d managed to dig up something called a Gremlin, and apparently, they liked to cause all kinds of trouble. Unscrewing caps, opening drawers, unlocking things, and unscrewing furniture.

Lorcan reached over and took my hand, and I gave his fingers a squeeze.

The next auction was promising to be even more exciting than the last one.

The End

Return to Haven Hollow in:

Blood & Ice

Haven Hollow #41

(Princess Procedural)

by J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory!

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