Wolves at the Door - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,46

may have even contacted the police about his whereabouts. After several missed appearances late in the campaign season, you have to wonder what’s going on. Will update as soon as I know more.

Graham was missing?

It seemed to me that if he was going to go missing, it should be to be here. With me.

His last text certainly didn’t sound like that was on his mind, though.

Graham, are you safe? I know you’re busy but just shoot me a quick hello when you see this, k? I have crazy stuff to tell you when you get a chance.

I waited a little while, but my phone stayed as quiet as usual.

I went back to work. Jasper and Jake were putting down the tile in the bathroom. The room that had been so eerily preserved was now a blank slate for a new color palette. The entire master suite was unrecognizable.

“Oh man, it’s looking great in here,” I said. “I’m going to work on the bedrooms, I think. I’m tired of paint stripping for the day.”

“So you’re going to strip wallpaper instead?” Jasper said.

“No, I’m just going to tear out all that weird matching fabric. I like the old bed frames, but they’re pretty beaten up. I think I’ll just paint them white. Or should I stain them?”

“Nah, I like the white,” Jake said.

They were so easy to work with. I wished this was all I had to worry about. I kept looking at my phone, despite the lack of signal.

At eight o’ clock, as the polls closed, having stripped all the fabric into a pile, removed all the bedding from the bed, and hauled the mattress off onto the floor, I ended up collapsing onto it instead of working. I don’t know why…but I was so tired, and I could have sworn I heard Graham calling my name.

Chapter Twenty-One

Graham

The morning of election day should have been the biggest day of my life. Instead, as I drank my coffee and looked out over the sunrise from my modern apartment with huge windows, I felt more numb than anything.

The plan was for me to go to some local polling places and get myself out there one last time, shake some hands and kiss some babies, especially since I’d missed a few events recently. Sandra told me bluntly that I needed more selfies with my “horny female voters”. This only made me feel shittier. Especially when I had eighteen year old girls grabbing my ass for photos. (Who was the demon here anyway?)

I couldn’t even eat breakfast. Not an egg, not a green smoothie… “Why did I buy such fucking healthy food?” I asked the empty room. I thought this apartment was great when I bought it, but the high ceilings with efficient modernist ceiling fans, black leather couch, cream carpet and white marble gas fireplace looked a little sterile to me right now. I wished I had time for a pet. At least I wouldn’t be talking to myself like a crazy person. I’d be talking to a dog or cat like a crazy person.

You know what? I’m going for a trashy fast food chicken biscuit for breakfast. Helena would be proud.

I took the elevator down to my covered parking. I got in my BMW and pulled into a drive-through. I parked to eat in a lonely corner of the lot next to a dollar store that wasn’t open yet and unpeeled the wrapper, releasing the deliciously terrible sodium-laden scent of fast food breakfast.

A car pulled up behind me and a young man got out of the back seat dressed in a black suit. My danger radar pricked up immediately.

He flicked out a wand.

Then he rapped knuckles on my window. “Warlock council,” he said. “Get out of the car.”

“Why should I?”

“Because my magic works perfectly here in the Fixed Plane, but you’re an incubus and all you can do is seduce me. That won’t do you any good.”

“I’m part warlock too,” I said, although this was an absurd statement when I had no idea how to do any of the spells Helena could whip out.

Let’s face it, the entire moment seemed absurd.

“Okay. Well, give that a try. I’ll wait,” the guy said.

“Try? Try what? I’m eating breakfast. I don’t know who the hell you are.” We were speaking through the window. I held up my half-eaten sandwich. I leaned down so I could get a better look at the guy since he was standing right up against my car.

Blonde, pale, regal features, the face