you with?”
“Doubt it.”
“Now, now. Don’t be so sure. I can help in all sorts of ways.”
Really? All she’d heard from anyone yesterday was what a loud pain in the ass the man was. Of course, Keeley seemed to like him, but Keeley liked almost everyone, and Ainsley felt sure it was because there was something bearlike about the vicar. Keeley did like bears.
“I appreciate the offer and all but—”
“Test me, child. The worst I can say is ‘I don’t know.’ And then you can be on your way.”
He was right. At the very least, maybe he’d seen Gemma this morning. She could be an early riser.
“Any chance you saw a puppy?”
“I’ve seen a lot of puppies. Your queen seems to have a warm spot for dogs of all kinds. She may want to hire someone to clean up all the excrement that comes along with the vile little beasts.”
“I’ll make sure to mention that to her,” Ainsley said, already turning away again.
“Unless, of course, you mean a puppy with eyes of flame.”
Ainsley froze, and slowly the truce vicar walked around her until he could gaze down into her face.
“If that’s the puppy you mean, then I have seen such a thing this morning.”
Ainsley took in a breath, let it out. “Now is not the time to toy with me, Vicar. Did you take it?”
“I would never touch such a beast, dear child. To do so would taint my soul. But the one who did was probably not concerned with such a thing.”
“Who?”
“The witch. Adela. She had the puppy. I was able to follow her for a bit, but then I lost sight of it and her. I must admit, I did not feel good about her having it.”
Ainsley gritted her teeth together to control her anger. Not at the vicar. She was glad they’d met. And she knew now that he’d purposely found her.
“Have you seen my sister? Gemma, I mean.”
“Not since last night. She went off with that four-legged fellow. Quinn.”
Ainsley instantly guessed where they were. “I’m going to get my sister. Could you keep looking for the witch?”
“Absolutely, my lady.”
He gave another bow, but Ainsley didn’t think she’d be rolling her eyes at him anymore.
“Thank you, Vicar.”
* * *
“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”
Gemma had never thought about actually killing one of her siblings before except, of course, Beatrix, but to her Beatrix didn’t count. But today . . . today she was considering killing one of her actual siblings.
“Stop yelling!”
“I’m not yelling. But you two need to wake up now!”
Gemma did her best to open her eyes and look at . . . gods, which one was it? It wasn’t the baby. Too big. It wasn’t one of the boys. Isad . . . no. No. Not her. Tits too big. Ainsley? It must be Ainsley yelling at her. Why was Ainsley yelling at her?
“What’s happening?” Quinn demanded into his pillow. “Why is everyone yelling? Why won’t you just kill me instead? Please, someone kill me,” he begged, now putting the pillow over his head.
“See what you’ve done?” Gemma asked her sister. “You’re making Quinn want to die. All because you won’t stop screaming.”
“I am not screaming and you need to get up. Both of you.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“One of the wolf puppies is missing.”
Finally, Gemma lifted her head off the pillow to glare at her sister. She was so exhausted, all she could do was open one eye but she felt her glare was strong enough to get her point across even with just one eye.
“That’s why you’re being hysterical?” she demanded. “Because of one of those fucking dogs?”
“I’m not being hysterical and I think—”
“I don’t care what you think. Get out! Now!”
“No, no,” Quinn said, hauling himself up to a sitting position. He pulled the blanket over his groin to hide his massive cock from her sister’s view, and Gemma appreciated that. Her sister was too young to see such a thing. It might overwhelm her. Gemma didn’t want to scare her at such a tender age. “We should get up anyway. Keeley wanted to meet this morning to discuss next steps. We should be there to make sure Ragna doesn’t attempt to shove one of her ideas down Keeley’s throat.” He thought a moment. “We should also make sure Keeley doesn’t shove her fist down Ragna’s throat. Speaking of which . . . did anyone ever manage to get that axe out of the floor?”
Gemma forced herself to sit up too as the centaur exited