Seventh Seal - Jacquelyn Faye Page 0,6

the boss' house."

"Don't. I may come spend the night with you guys tomorrow."

Dar and Jason's eyes narrowed. "Is everything okay, Master?"

"Yes. Just picked up another stray."

Jason tilted his head and Dar scrunched his eyes in worry. "Stray?"

"Remember the dark elven prince?"

"Elleslyn?"

"Yeah. Long story, but he's kind of in the same boat as Jaeren. Sworn to serve me." I sighed heavily and almost dropped to the floor. Anger, doubt, and frustration making my head hurt. I didn't need another servant, and I sure as hell didn't want one. "All right. I'm supposed to be on an ice cream run, not ruining everybody's mood with my problems. Gonna check on the girls and go grab Yuki from the diner." Giving them each a kiss on the lips, I left them standing there staring at me in shock.

I made it about three feet from the backroom door when the shakily asked question stopped me in my tracks. "Excuse me, Miss? Do you have any books on hydroponics?"

I almost laughed at the elderly lady browsing the gardening section. "I'm not sure, but you're in the right section if we do." The door behind me swung open and Jason stepped out. "But the guy to ask just walked through that door." I waited until he got a little closer. "Hey, Jay. Books on hydroponics?"

"Yep. Several of them. Here," he answered and bent down to find them. I caressed his shoulder and gave the old lady checking out his ass a smile.

Leaving them, I headed for the coffee shop. It was running like a well-oiled machine. Josie was running the register and Candace was conducting a symphony of younger vamps manning the espresso machines, blenders, and coffee makers. The three of them were flipping cups, ducking under each other, and not spilling a drop. The people in line were applauding their barristacrobatics and stuffing tips in their jars. When an order was filled, it was handed off to Candace who got it to the appropriate customer. It was almost mesmerizing to watch.

I couldn't take my eyes off them as I pushed my way through the line and walked around the side of the counter, slipping up behind my sister. "Holy shit," I said behind her back in awe.

"Brilliant, huh?"

"Hiring vampires? Fuck yeah."

"You can thank your little princess. She hooked us up."

"She did?"

"Janay, cover for me for a minute?"

"Sure thing, Miss Josie." One of the vamps broke from the pack and slipped behind the register. The other two vampires sped up a little to cover the missing person and keep the production going. They weren't a well-oiled machine, they were a fucking Tesla Model S.

Josie motioned for the back room, letting me lead the way through the swinging door. There was another vampire back there grabbing a snack. "Hey, Miss Josie."

"Karl."

"Need some privacy?" He motioned to the bag of blood in his hand.

"Please. Give 'em a hand for a minute."

"Sure thing, Boss." He grinned at her, fangs on display as he bowed almost reverently to me. I caught a whiff of fear coming from him and I shuddered in ecstasy.

"You okay?" My shiver didn't go unnoticed by Josie.

"Yep. Peachy. Nice to meet you, Karl."

He blushed and shot through the door, leaving the two of us alone. I rolled my head over my shoulders and felt my neck crack. The stock room was quiet. The first actual silence I'd had all day. I almost didn't want to start talking.

Too bad that wasn't a trait of my sister. "Yeah, it was Yuki's idea hiring the vamp kids."

"Brilliant. What about paperwork? Some of those kids have been around for ninety-something years. Don't you need social security numbers and shit?"

Josie blushed.

"What?"

"They have them."

"How?"

"You can thank your buddy, the mayor."

"Sherry?"

Josie giggled and nodded. "Remember Georgie Blake?"

"Your seventh-grade crush?"

Josie nodded. "He moved to town and since he worked at the records department in Ashville… Sherry gave him a job at city hall. He's been working diligently magicking birth records and helping the kids in town apply for social security cards. A whole flock of 'em ranging in human ages from sixteen to nineteen."

I leaned against the wire shelving behind me. "Holy shit." I blinked at the implications.

"Yep. Cedar Falls is turning into Ashville."

I blew out a breath of appreciation. Things were moving along nicely, much faster than I'd expected. Now if we could just stop some of the townsfolk from rounding us up, tying us to stakes, and burning us, things would be great. At least we didn't have to worry about the