Wolves at the Door - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,45

about Sam!” Billie said. “He’s a Hollywood lawyer! Deveraux said he met Audrey Hepburn at his house!”

Byron raised an eyebrow. “Deveraux was also prone to exaggeration… Sam only knew the magical folk in Hollywood.”

“Audrey Hepburn was just a normal human?”

“Yep.”

“Gosh.” Billie waved a hand like, screw that. “Sam must be very old.”

“They are all very old,” Byron said, with all the heaviness of a ghost who has haunted the same people too long.

“But he could still live a while,” I said. “Even humans make it to a hundred and ten now and again, but wizards are even more likely. Can we talk to him?”

“He doesn’t even remember me anymore. He’ll die when he needs to,” Byron said.

“You wouldn’t hurt him, Byron?” I hated to even ask.

“I already have hurt him.” Byron said, looking toward the fireplace. “Who do you think has been keeping him alive? At some point…life is crueler than death.”

I was getting a stomach ache. “I think…um…I want to give Graham an update. This is a pretty big development.”

“Well, if we’re done sleuthing, I’m gonna get back to my painting,” Billie said. “And you’re helping me out, huh?” She slapped Gaston’s shoulder.

“I said I would and my word is gold,” he said.

“No…one…paints like Gaston, no one prunes like Gaston, no one’s word is so shiny and gold like Gaston…”

“It’s just Ston.”

“Ston’s not a name; I ain’t calling you that!”

Jake was looking at me as I took out my phone and the back door shut behind them.

“I think I need to take a walk to get a signal…,” I murmured. “My cell phone service is dead here.”

“Ours is dying too,” Jasper said. “Too much magic.”

“Hel,” Jake said.

“What?”

He let out a very wolfish huff. “Go home,” he said. “This really isn’t your fight.”

“Not this again. It’s not up to you to protect me.”

“I can see it on your face,” he said. “You’re scared and you have a right to be.”

I glanced around for Byron. He was standing behind me, but he had vanished, although that didn’t mean he wasn’t still around.

“I’m not scared.”

“Please. Your boldness is what makes me want you, but not enough to get you killed. This isn’t what you signed up for.” When I didn’t answer right away, I feared that I damned myself. “Go talk to Graham, then. We still have work to do on the bathroom and then we can turn this into a gorgeous kitchen.”

“We should probably talk about that,” I said.

“She’s trying to save herself,” Jake said to his brother.

“I like a classic white kitchen,” Jasper said.

“This house is really upscale though,” I said, relieved to talk about anything else. “In a crumbling kind of way. I’m just not sure that matches the rest of the house. White can vibe ‘farmhouse’ more than lux.”

“I jdon’t want to go too modern either,” Jasper said. “The house is very old money looking. Timelessness is important.”

“I think you’re both right,” Jake said. “How about that? White cabinets, maybe, but not too cold. A warm white. But then what if we do more of a cream or tan for the floor and backsplash?”

“Hmm, okay, I can see that.”

“Personally, I’m glad Billie fixated on her she shed,” Jake said. “She’s staying out of our way.”

“We do make a good team,” I said. “And I’m not going anywhere!”

I wondered how they could even think of kitchens and also upending the entire magical world at the same time, but then…part of the reason I couldn’t imagine leaving was that I didn’t want to walk out on a half-finished project. Or the two of them,

I went out for the walk so I could get a signal. The sun was just thinking about setting. When I looked back at the house, the concentrated light of late afternoon was catching the pink glow of the house and turning it as vivid as a sunset.

I had a few texts from Graham that I’d missed that morning.

Good morning sunshine. I know you don’t have a tv/wifi there but it’s election day. Wish me luck. Only thing I’m not sure of is whether luck means win or lose at this point.

“Election day!? Shit.” I pulled up a Pennsylvania news channel website to see if I could find anything. The polls didn’t close for a few hours. But I did see a social media post from a reporter at a local newspaper.

There is something definitely odd going on in the Capello campaign. I’ve heard a rumor that Graham Capello’s campaign manager is trying to find him and