My Queen.” Callie rolled her eyes at me.
And that made me happy because it showed we were indeed becoming friends.
“So as a faery, what does that mean? Do you go out at night and dance around trees?”
Callie smirked. “That’s a different branch of the faerie kingdom, not mine.”
“And what’s yours?”
Another laugh. “Look around you at all the sugary goods I provide. Can you not guess?”
“You’re a sugarplum fairy?”
She shook her head. “I’m a tooth fairy. I not only run my bakery, but I also send cakes to our main depot who supply the supermarkets. Sweet treats for kids a speciality to encourage those milk teeth to fall out.”
“I thought the tooth fairy was made up. You’ll be telling me there’s really a Father Christmas next.”
She raised a brow.
“Suck off. There is not…?”
“It’s not for me to reveal whether he’s real or not.”
Callie wouldn’t be drawn further on the matter.
I finished my hot choc.
“Thanks so much for chatting with me about the place. I’m going to go have another wander around the fell.”
“Do it. The place is beautiful and it’s not so big that you can get lost. Plus even if you did, you could whizz back home, although I wouldn’t do that in the next half an hour given the sweet treats you’ve just consumed.”
“Once I’m settled in maybe you and Dela could come visit?”
“Sounds good and you can always come to the centre for book club.”
“I will, but not this week. This week I’m a little too busy.”
With a wave to Dela, I exited the store, deciding to have a walk around before doing any shopping.
The streets were bizarrely empty. I felt sure I’d bump into someone, but it didn’t happen. I walked through the boulevard, this time looking at all the individual shops and restaurants and then I turned a corner, passing a park entrance. I could see a small lake and there was a path to walk the whole way around it. The back of the park was full of trees. For now though, I headed towards the houses I could see. The streets of Gnarly were all lined with the trees that gave the place its name. There was no typical Gnarly house: from a nondescript detached house that could have been anywhere in the UK, to pink turreted mansions. I found the community centre on a corner in the centre of all the housing. It was a large white-fronted property, that resembled a former sports club.
As I made my way back towards the shops, I felt a little better that I knew the layout of Gnarly, and of what laid at the bottom of the hill. Now I’d go introduce myself in more stores and order everything on this goddamn list, so I could get my home clean. Then once I’d spent a couple of hours with a vacuum cleaner and some polish, it would be time to go despatch some souls and free up space at Wayward.
I just hoped I didn’t run into any difficulties, because I wanted to prove myself to my pain in the arse housemate.
I’d just got myself home and could barely get into the house for the deliveries. “Sucking hell, this is going to take forever to move,” I complained.
I began lifting parcels and taking them into the living room, from where I’d unpack them. At least I could carry a lot of stuff.
Then I wondered if Lawrie might like to help me clean. Jeez, I really was short on friends if that’s who I was calling for company.
But I pressed his number anyway.
“Mya, darling. Gotta say I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. Is there a problem? I’m guessing that’s the only reason you’d call me.”
“Look, I know you killed me, but you’re family. You’re my dad are you not in effect?”
“I guess so, but I thought after eighteen you kids were adults and able to fend for yourselves,” he sighed.
“I’m a day-old vampire, Daddy. By the way, you suck at fatherhood.”
“What do you need, Mya? Only I’m a little busy right now with a live donation.”
“Ugh. I do not need a visual on my father doing the horizontal tango. That answers my question anyway. I wondered if you wanted to come hang here and help me clean.”
Lawrie tittered with laughter. “A Letwine vampire, clean?”
“I’m a Letwine vampire, aren’t I?” He was starting to piss me off.
“Not a pure one, honey, you were marked by Death. That must be why you’re so slow to learn. Daughter, darling, what’s one