A silent beat followed, in which Austin and I stood staring at each other in the lovely March sunlight. Winter had been cold and sometimes harsh, compared to what I was used to in L.A., but it had rolled away pretty quickly, giving way to sunshine and the sea of flowers around us.
“Okay then.” I nodded, turned, and strode for the front of the house. There really wasn’t much more to say and do in this situation. Gotta stay away from those brain bubbles.
“I think he has gotten weirder,” Austin murmured as he caught up. “Man-eating lions and deer hanging around like groupies? What is he talking about?”
“Best not to question for too long. And it might not even be deer.”
Austin shook his head as we made our way to the front yard. Niamh sat on her porch across the way, rocking in her chair next to the pile of rocks she kept on hand in case a tourist happened to wander down the street to look at Ivy House. That poor tourist would quickly learn what an amazing shot Niamh was with those rocks.
“He really has gone overboard with the flower production.” Austin glanced at the flowers lining the little walkway that cut close to the house in the front before joining up with the main walkway to the front porch. “The smell is overwhelming.”
“Yeah. I need to have Mr. Tom talk Edgar back a bit.”
“Why didn’t you just mention something back there?”
“Every time he messes up, he asks me to kill him. I don’t want to send him into another existential crisis.”
“Jesus,” Austin murmured, and his tone made giggles dance up through me.
“Anyway, what do you need?”
He stopped on the porch and looked out over the street, the late afternoon sun trickling down through the maple trees and speckling the sidewalk. “Do you have a couple of hours?”
“A couple of hours?” I checked my watch, three o’clock, then looked back at the closed front door. “Well, given I have no job other than learning magic and monitoring the gardening of a partially insane vampire, I do happen to have some free time, yes. Especially since we agreed to take a couple of days off from training so you can heal.” I chewed on my lip, guilt worming through me again. “How are you doing, by the way?”
He waved the question away. “There is nothing partial about that vampire’s insanity.” Austin jerked his head toward the house. “Do you need to tell your entourage?”
“Will we be in town?”
“Yes.”
“Then nah, I’m good with just you and whatever shifters of yours pop out of the woodwork. Let’s see if they can find me.”
“I don’t have anyone official yet.” He reached out to put his hand on the small of my back, ready to direct me. “But yeah, we’ll be good.”
The door opened slowly to reveal Mr. Tom, his tuxedo-clad chest puffed out, his pants freshly pressed, and his wings falling down his back like a cape. One hand balanced a silver tray bearing a single white envelope, and the other was fisted by his side.
“Miss. Before you leave without proper protection, putting yourself in potentially grave danger, I have a piece of post for you,” he said.
My expression flattened. I felt it. “Were you listening to our conversation at the door, Mr. Tom?”
“From the front room window, actually. It is the easiest way to know what you are up to without having to ask.”
Austin was staring again. I had a feeling this was not the way he planned to run his pack.
“I’ll grab it when I get back.” I motioned Austin down the walkway.
“I think you’ll want to read it, miss. It’s from your mother. She wants to come visit.”
I froze, only one step having been taken. “What do you mean she wants to come visit? How— Did you read my mail?”
“What an amazing singing range you must have, miss, with the vocal pitch of that last question.” Mr. Tom sniffed. “I merely scanned the contents to ensure it was not a death threat. After that note from Elliot Graves, I thought it best to start monitoring your mail to ensure none of the messages posed an immediate danger. Magical people can be unhinged…”
“He would know,” Austin murmured.
“I also feared a bill or request for money might arrive and go ignored. Sometimes our past lives can come back to haunt us. Since you seem pretty hands-off about monetary matters…”
I dropped my mouth open, about to explode. Hands-off?