“She didn’t, though,” Parker pointed out with a hesitant grin and impossibly slow shrug of his shoulders.
“And somehow that qualifies her to work for you guys now?”
When he didn’t answer, I threw my hands up in the air. “If she’s in, I’m out.” Home wasn’t far. I could rush back and barricade the door. Or I could find somewhere to hide. Or hire a ride share and leave town without bothering to pack up my things first. None of these were great options, but they all beat dying at the hands of a snarly teenager.
Unfortunately, before I could stomp off, Fred Head spoke.“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,” urged Fluffikins’s sibilant voice.
“That’s right,” Parker said, apparently finding strength now that his superior had weighed in, too. “Like it or not, Melony’s tied to this town because of her family’s lineage. She can’t be Town Witch, obviously, since I now fill that role and I definitely don’t plan on getting murdered any time soon. Still, she’s a powerful young magick. We have to give her the chance to redeem herself.”
“No, you don’t,” I said coldly. I still couldn’t believe he believed this crappy logic. Melony and her grandfather had tried to kill him, too. They’d tried to kill all of us! And I was all for forgiving grudges—dirty, cheating ex-husbands aside—but it had only been a few days!
I seethed where I stood, still deciding my best course of action. I doubted I could actually run or hide from the Paranormal Temp Agency. One way or another, they’d get me and drag me back into duty.
As I weighed my non-options, the elderly couple passed me and entered OH MY COD, one after the other. The sickening scent of the fresh-ish catch of the day made my stomach turn again.
“Think about it,” Parker said gently. “She could be especially useful if her grandfather continues to cause problems. And this is the quickest possible way to fill our vacant position. Otherwise, it could be years. These things take so much time, and all the while, our position in the region will be vulnerable.”
They were telling me to think about it, but they really meant that I should just accept their logic and do as told. That was not okay with me.“I don’t—” I began.
But I was cut off with the door to the fishmonger swung open to reveal Greta, the angel who served as liaison to schools and who had saved my life last time around. I ran forward to hug her, still so grateful for all she’d done. I didn’t even care that moving closer only strengthened the smell of whatever fish was on sale for the day.
But instead of returning my gesture of affection, Greta flinched. It was only then I looked past her to see a second person standing in the doorway.
Melony.
11
Melony spotted me about the same time I spotted her. Immediately, she narrowed her eyes and raised her hand as if about to cast a spell on me… again.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me. This is my babysitter,” she spat to the others without taking her eyes off me.
Well, at least my ill feelings were mutual.
“I don’t like it, either,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and averting my gaze. Hopefully I didn’t just mess up some alpha power play by being the first to break eye contact.
“And I don’t care what either of you like,” Fluffikins intervened via Fred Head. “You’ll be on your best behavior, or you’ll both be ex-communicated.”
I smirked at the little contract loop he’d just revealed. “Oh, so if I just throw one good punch right now, then you’ll stop forcing all these random temp jobs on me?”
“Don’t do that,” Parker said as he reached for my hand. “We need you, Tawny, and you can do this. I know you can.”
Heat rose to my cheeks, but I didn’t yank my hand away.
Melony batted her eyelashes and leaned close to Parker on his other side.“What about me?”
He glanced toward her questioningly, and in that moment, I definitely saw he didn’t like or trust her, either.
While she had his attention, Melony winked at me, then stuck her tongue out. Ugh. Eighteen-year-olds.
Fluffikins jumped into Parker’s arms, and both Melony and I drew back. “Let’s be on our way, Barnes. They should have it from here.”
Parker nodded.“Sure thing.” Then turning back toward me for a brief moment, he said, “Tawny, remember the tools that are here for you. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to use them. I’ll be by to check on you later.”
“Yup, the talking skull and colorful orb. Got it.” I flashed him a thumbs up and a forced grin.
Parker smiled, then took off down the street with the cat boss in tow. I kept my eyes trained on them until they reached the truck and climbed inside.
“Guess it’s just us,” I murmured to my new companion as the engine rumbled to life and the guys drove away. We both stood on the sidewalk outside the fishmonger, a couple steps back from our table. It couldn’t have been much later than nine o’clock in the morning, and while foot traffic had begun to pick up nearby, it still seemed too early for anyone to be going to market for fish.
That gave us an uncomfortable amount of privacy.
I glanced at Melony through my peripheral vision. Today she wore the same beat-up combat boots as she had the last time we’d met, AKA when she and her grandfather had tied me up and taken me prisoner with the intent to kill me. She also wore a long flowy dress that was mostly navy blue with small black roses pattered on the wispy fabric. She’d added a black pashmina wrapped around her shoulders but, unlike me, wore not a single piece of jewelry.
“Don’t talk to me.” Melony thrust back one of the folding chairs and fell heavily into it.
I met her eyes, which were rimmed in heavy black kohl. She also wore a dark blue shade of lipstick that was probably meant to complement her dress but instead gave her a corpse-like appearance.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” I said to her. “Seeing as last time we talked, I kind of outsmarted you and totally ruined your evil plans. I’m guessing your grandpa wasn’t too happy about that. Huh?”
“Shut up,” she said, kicking a boot at the ground like a toddler on the verge of a tantrum.
I knew I probably shouldn’t bait her, but I was still pretty angry about the whole thing where she tried to kill me a few days earlier. “Why do you even want to work for Mr. Fluffikins? Is it because cheating your way into power failed, and this is your backup plan?”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” she fumed. I hadn’t seen any of this attitude with the others. Did she hate me more because of my non-magical status? I couldn’t tell if it was some kind of new prejudice to which I was previously unaccustomed, or if she disliked me for personal reasons. I supposed neither option was great, seeing as I was stuck with her for the time being.
“You know, all your non-answers aren’t helping me to trust you any better,” I pointed out with a shrug as if it didn’t matter, though it actually mattered very much.
She rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone from her pocket.“I don’t need you to trust me. I just need you to stop talking and focus on finishing this assignment so we never have to see each other again.”
“What happened to your grandpa, by the way?” I asked, wishing I’d been awake enough that morning to remember my phone. It definitely would have given me something to focus on other than the animosity between us.
Melony sighed heavily.“I don’t know.”
“So too afraid to be on your own?” I raised an eyebrow in question, but she didn’t glance away from the tiny screen in her hands. “Better to switch sides than be without a boss telling you what to do?”
“I don’t owe you any explanations,” she repeated, then pushed a pair of earbuds in.
Now I sighed.“I can see this is going to be a long day.”
She glanced at me briefly and removed one bud.“It’ll go by faster if you—”
“Stop talking. Yeah, I got it.”
Yup, I’d definitely be moving away from Beech Grove as soon as possible to avoid future neighborly get-togethers like this one. I just needed to survive today, then I could start packing my bags.