Starlight Web (Moonshadow Bay #1) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,7

and the basic blue walls had been changed out for yellow and green.

I ordered a waffle, two sides of bacon, and a triple peppermint mocha with plenty of whipped cream. Ari ordered the blueberry pancakes and a gingerbread latte.

“So, what’s changed around here that I should know of?” I glanced around. There wasn’t anybody in the diner I recognized, but given Moonshadow Bay had a population of about two thousand people, that wasn’t odd.

Ari leaned back in her seat, staring out of the window. The snow was beginning to fall again. “Not much, to be honest. Oh, some new shops have gone in. There’s a new magic shop in town called the Broom & Besom, and the owners are pretty hard-core aquanistas.”

Aquanistas focused their magic on the element of water, and just like the force they worked with, they could be pretty harsh at times. People liked to think of water as gentle, but really—water was one of the strongest forces. It could burrow through earth, quench fire, and crowd out air to drown people.

“Okay, I’ll have to drop in there after I see what my mother kept in stock. It’s time I get back to my magic, now that Mr. Asshole isn’t here to bitch about it.” I hadn’t exactly stopped practicing my magic, but I had needed to be discreet about it, hiding most of what I did from him. “What else is new?”

“Well, a few people moved away but new ones came to take their place. Mostly, you know, people tend to stay put once they arrive in Moonshadow Bay. The Gull Catcher broke his leg last month and he’s in the hospital.”

“I bet he’s freaking unhappy as hell,” I said. The Gull Catcher was a coyote shifter who spent a lot of his time on the beach trying to catch gulls while he was in his coyote form. He was a veteran who had PTSD, and he was mostly harmless, though he was definitely on the eccentric side. He made a living doing odd jobs around the town.

Ari paused, then after the waitress brought our mochas, asked, “What are you going to do now?”

I thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Find a job. Ellison made it impossible for me to work in Seattle. You know how firmly he entrenched himself in the art and publishing community in Seattle. When we split, he spread a bunch of rumors about me and basically turned all his friends against me. They sided with him because he managed to keep control of the magazine and could make or break them with bad reviews. And he just fits the literati artēēst vibe that runs through the upper crust there.”

“He wouldn’t have that magazine without you,” Ari said.

“I know.” I shook my head. “I’ll never forgive him for that.”

Ellison and I had started the magazine together, wanting to focus on the Seattle arts scene. I had done all the hefty lifting, had come up with most of the ideas and the design, but somehow, Ellison emerged as the creative genius. I’d been willing to take the back seat because I loved what we were doing, but when I found out in the divorce proceedings that he had screwed me out of the magazine, I’d lost it and screamed at the judge, which didn’t help my case.

The same with the house. My lawyer managed to get me fifty percent of all our liquid assets, but Ellison had owned the house before we met and though I thought he had put me on the title, I had never checked. He had added that little gem to the prenup too. I came away with enough to live on for a couple years if I was thrifty, but I wanted to keep that in the bank.

“At least my parents’ house is paid for and I only have to pay property taxes and upkeep on it,” I muttered. “So, is the Moonshadow Bay Monitor still in business?”

“Yeah, it is, but Fairweather and his son Idyll are barely making rent. I doubt they’re hiring.” Ari frowned. “I know of a job that’s open, but I’m not sure what you’ll think about it,” she said.

“What is it? Is it in my field?” I perked up, stabbing into my waffle after I drowned it in syrup. I loved waffles and syrup and everything maple.

Ari cleared her throat. She was wearing her Cheshire cat grin of hers, so I knew whatever she was about to suggest would be questionable. “So, I