King of the Wilds - Tasha Black Page 0,13

easy. Something about these people made her feel at home.

Though the bathing suit thing threw her a little.

Miranda Cannon:

Okay, see you then

She dressed in work clothes and headed out right away. Hopefully, the mall in Springton still had a decent plus size store. Miranda loved her strong body, but her height and curves could make it tough to shop for anything at the last minute.

The air outside was fragrant with the heavy blooms of the rose bushes that lined the eating area of the little tavern on the first floor of the Inn.

Miranda was feeling good as she got into her car and headed for Springton for a quick shopping trip.

An hour later, dressed in new casual clothing, and shoes that could handle a long walk in the woods, she arrived at Le Sucre.

Sara’s little car was already outside.

“I’m gonna take you by the hand and make you understand, Miranda,” the barista sang loudly as she entered.

“What?” she asked.

“Sara told me your name,” he replied. “But I cheated a little on the song lyrics.”

She nodded, trying to keep up.

“Miranda, that’s Carl,” Sara yelled from what appeared to be her usual table up by the window.

Their last meeting here hadn’t been so pleasant. She pushed the thoughts aside and focused on the present.

“Hey, Carl,” Miranda said.

“Hey, yourself,” he replied. “What can I fix you?”

She gave her order and then headed over to sit opposite Sara.

“So how much time do you have off?” Sara asked.

“I’m actually not sure,” Miranda said.

“That seems kind of unusual,” Sara said.

“It is unusual,” Miranda replied thoughtfully. “I emailed my boss yesterday afternoon and let him know about the worker who got hurt.”

“You didn’t tell him the monster was real, did you?” Sara whispered.

“Oh God, no,” Miranda said. “I just told him what the workers told me. I sent that email from the cabin, before anything else happened. He probably thought it was as ridiculous as I did.”

“I’m just selfishly glad there are three of us mortals in on it,” Sara confided. “Otherwise I might think I was actually losing my mind.”

“If you were just watching, maybe,” Miranda allowed. “But you’re making magic.”

“Right back at you,” Sara said. “Listen, I let Tabitha know you were coming, and she wants us to meet her at the museum after breakfast. Did you bring a bathing suit?”

Miranda tried not to show that she was disappointed.

“Don’t worry about Tabitha. She’ll come around,” Sara said softly, as if reading her thoughts. “We’ve been best friends forever, and this whole magic thing was something just the two of us shared. But it’s obvious to me that you’re part of the circle now. Whatever is going on with your boss, we’ll figure it out.”

“He won’t change his mind,” Miranda said right away, not wanting to be dishonest.

“There are stranger things on heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” Sara misquoted hopefully.

“Oh, a little Shakespeare with your breakfast, eh?” Carl asked as he carried over a tray covered in fruit and eggs. “Here you go, ladies. Enjoy!”

Miranda dug in and tried to take the advice everyone seemed to be giving her today and just enjoy herself. It wasn’t hard to take satisfaction in a good meal with a new friend.

As long as she didn’t allow herself to wonder why she was supposed to have a bathing suit with her for monster hunting, that was.

7

Miranda

Miranda followed Sara and Tabitha through the parking lot of the Rosethorn Valley Swim Club, her flip-flops kicking up the gravel as they walked. She was beginning to wonder why it seemed like nothing in this town was paved.

“Okay, listen up, Miranda,” Tabitha said in a very businesslike way for someone wearing a polka-dotted terrycloth coverup and a pair of cat eye sunglasses.

At least Miranda was finally going to hear the plan.

“The pieces of the mirror show us the view from the monsters. We haven’t seen much activity in the last two shards, but late last night we saw something that looked a lot like this area,” Tabitha said. “So we’re going to enjoy a day at the pool, while surreptitiously checking it out.”

“Nice,” Miranda said.

“A couple of ground rules,” Tabitha said. “First of all, discretion is key here. Secondly, you can’t tell people who you are. If someone recognizes you, we’re out of luck. Rosethorn Valley protects its own. As far as anyone knows, you’re just a friend out from the city. Got it?”

“You know I’m from the town next door, right?” Miranda asked. “I’ve been to this