Wolves at the Door - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,17

to stay that way.”

“What do you think about shopping this house to the faeries of Wyrd instead?”

“Faeries…living here?”

“From what my brother has told me about faeries, they might enjoy this house more than most people would. So, less work and money for you, and they’re desperate to gain territory.”

“Hmm. I do like that part of it.” She glanced at me with a little sigh. “You know, I know we have all changed since high school. I’m still not sure I can trust you, but it seems like I have to, and you seem like you might actually be okay.”

“I deserved to be snapped at,” I said. “I’ve felt terrible about how I was in high school. I was just too scared to be my own person until I got out of the house. I hate to be the rich girl who’s like, my parents were sooo totally harsh! But they really could make your life hell.”

“And you have three older sisters or something, right?”

“I have five sisters. Four older.”

“Damn, girl! I always wanted a sister, but that’s too many for sure. Well, maybe this was meant to be so we can purge those high school demons.”

We were passing by an original telephone nook, where the Greenwoods would have installed their first telephone. It had a folding door with two glass panels etched with art nouveau flowers for privacy and was under the staircase.

“So we sell it to some faeries. And you can get us some faery buyers?”

“I’m sure I can. I’ll call my brother. I won’t say a peep about the rest of all this, of course.”

“And the faeries will be okay with living in Louisiana? Aren’t they sort of…Irish or something?”

“They’re a mixed bag, I think.” Harris had told me some interesting stories about faeries so far. High fae were aloof and traditional, but the low fae could adapt to life in the human world, at least in limited amounts. Of course they couldn’t handle too much technology either. “The only thing is…I mean…they’ll need a human to mate with.” Small magical hot spots needed a mating between a human and a magical being—or two or three—to secure them. A witch would do because we were still from the human world. But they absolutely couldn’t bring their own faery bride or groom.

“And how are we supposed to find them that?”

“You don’t know anyone who’s looking for love with a faery man or two?”

“No!” Billie crossed her arms. “I—I don’t know if this is a good idea after all.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’ll ask my brother if he knows anyone.”

She let out her breath. “Okay. This is already sounding like trouble but if it makes a profit, I’ll take it.”

“So what are you thinking you’ll do with the place?” I asked, as we strolled into what I thought would be the kitchen, because it was the only room I hadn’t seen yet.

It was just an apothecary room common to magical houses. Dried herbs were hanging from the ceiling in forgotten, dusty bundles.

“No kitchen?” Billie said.

“Oh, shit. One of those out-buildings must be the kitchen.” I had never worked on a house with a detached kitchen. But I could understand how, without any air conditioning in the house, even Deveraux might not have wanted to move the kitchen inside. Particularly if he always had a cook all his life.

“Maybe faeries won’t care?” she said hopefully.

“Their human wife definitely will, even if she’s a witch.”

This was a huge bummer for the budget. No way around that. I was glad it wasn’t my budget to worry about. We would have to get all the correct electric and gas lines installed and put in a mini-split air conditioner.

“I can’t install a whole new kitchen!” Billie said.

“At least there was a bathroom,” I said. “The last house I did needed a whole new downstairs bathroom.”

“Yeah, a hideous 1970s bathroom,” Billie said, which was true. The bathroom was done in a “harvest gold” color scheme, a color that just looks skanky almost fifty years later.

“Still, you have plumbing. Knowing that the house has no kitchen, it could have also had an outhouse.”

“Yikes. Well, I guess we can convert the back parlor into a kitchen, I’ll just have to do it as cheaply as possible and that’s that.” She looked at my face and said firmly, “That’s all I can do. Sorry. My budget for this house is fifty grand.”

If I was being honest, I had more than one reason for selling Billie on faery buyers. Sure,