can wait until she’s on her feet again.”
“Anything else to report?” I sipped and smiled at the familiar copper-berry tang. “What else did I miss?”
“Eva brought Corbin flowers.”
“She did not.”
“Oh, she did,” he exhaled, “and Hood beat him senseless with them.”
“I bet that went over well.”
“Eva ran home sobbing and hasn’t been back since.”
“Lethe led me to believe Eva was waiting on me to give her the go-ahead.”
“I believe the flowers were meant for you, originally, but Corbin answered the door, and she blanked.”
“Poor kiddo.” I swirled my drink. “I get how that feels, being struck dumb by a hot guy.”
Linus smoothed his features, melding them into the flawless mask of politeness he reserved for guests.
“You.” I kicked him in the shin. “I meant you.”
“I know.” Red blossomed in his cheeks, and he ducked his head. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”
“Fishing for compliments.” I clicked my tongue. “Oh, how the tables have turned.”
There was a time when he would have died of embarrassment rather than court flattery.
“You’ve ruined me.” The tips of his ears glowed bright. “Now you’ll have to keep me.”
“I can promise you one thing, Linus, and it’s this. I will never, ever let you go. I am stuck to you like sprinkles on a donut, like fat on bacon, like frosting on cupcakes, like marshmallows in cocoa—”
“Then I am loved beyond measure, and I can’t ask for more.”
“I forgot one.” I snuggled against him. “Like butter on popcorn.”
Taking the hint, he stood. “With extra salt?”
“Yes, please.”
Alone in the kitchen, we settled into old habits and enjoyed the simple pleasures of each other’s company. The peace had to end, but I was content to pretend otherwise for a few stolen moments more.
Sixteen
The reprieve stretched longer than I dared to hope, and I hoarded every single moment with my son and husband as its own treasure. But six blissful days later, I had fully recovered, and Lethe’s dungeon wasn’t getting any less crowded.
Neither was Woolworth House.
The Grande Dame, despite only suffering from a broken leg, still occupied one of our guest suites and showed no interest in returning to her own estate. Probably due to a combination of unlimited Linus and LJ access.
As I was starting to get—ahem—urges again, I was hopeful she would take a hint and vamoose.
Failing that, I might have to forcibly evict her. It would be rude, but it might also prove necessary.
As a reinforced door clanged behind me, locking me and Lethe in her dungeon, I sped past the disturbing intersection of thought regarding my mother-in-law and my libido to focus on the job at hand. At last, I had work to do, and I could finally see my feet while doing it.
“I like what you’ve done to the place.” I touched the nearest wall. “Did you…stencil on mold?”
The basement had been all cinderblock walls when Lethe moved in. Now seven metal cells filled the space, each a complete box in its own right to ensure it held whatever got locked in. Two rows of three plus the isolation cell, which was fully enclosed and pitch black after the door shut behind you.
Ask me how I know.
Before the crews installed the cells, Lethe had the walls painted gray to mimic stone. Then she got the bright idea to let one of her packmates stretch his artistic muscles and transform the block walls into craggy rocks. She hung a pair of foam manacles she bought from the Halloween store near the entrance. Other props littered the space, which told me kids played dungeons and gwyllgi down here more often than she kept actual prisoners.
“Watch this.” She flipped the switch, casting the dungeon into darkness. “Behold.”
Glowing mushrooms illuminated the crevices, and a likeness of the worm from Labyrinth was having tea near the isolation cell.
The prisoners gasped, but Lethe flipped the lights on again less than a minute later.
Given the magnitude of Leisha and Abayomi’s crimes, I wasn’t too worried about their delicate sensibilities.
Imprisonment hadn’t done either prisoner any favors. Abayomi slumped on her cot, her graying hair a mess, and sobbed when she spotted me. I couldn’t tell if it was fear or relief or both. Leisha seethed from her cot, her glare a brand when she spotted me. I had made an enemy of her, but that was okay. She had made an enemy of me first.
“Okay.” I clapped my hands together. “Who wants to go first?”
This time, I wasn’t pulling any punches. I was going to work them over until