In Charm's Way by Shéa MacLeod

Author:Shéa MacLeod
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Amateur Sleuth, Women Sleuths, Women's Fiction, Paranormal, Witch
Publisher: Sunwalker Press
Published: 2021-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT you were supposed to bring to new neighbors who were also vampires. Especially since I was actually the new neighbor. They should be bringing me a pie or whatever. I decided to err on the side of caution and brought a potted purple pansy. It was late enough in the year there shouldn’t be a frost to kill it off, and it would look nice against the yellow of the house.

I mounted the front steps and knocked. No answer. Surely they’d be up by now. It was nearly seven and almost dark. If it had been a sunny day, we’d have had a lovely sunset over the ocean, but instead the sky was a typical murky gray.

There was no doorbell that I could see, but a doorknocker in the shape of a... How do I put this delicately? A banana. Only, you know, the human kind not the fruit kind. I stared askance at it. There was no way in heck I was grabbing onto a brass banana.

Are you going to knock or just stand there like a moron?

I glared down at Enki who stared back, unblinking. “Where’d you come from?”

The underworld. Had a poker game with Persephone.

“Stop being sarcastic.”

Who says I’m being sarcastic? Now stop being a prude and knock on that door.

If anything would get me going, it was being accused of being a prude. I grabbed that brass banana and rapped hard as I could.

It took a while, but eventually the door swung open about three inches and an eyeball appeared in the gap. I was pretty sure there was a body attached to the eyeball, but I couldn’t have sworn to it.

“Hi!” I said as overly cheerfully as possible. “I’m JJ Jones, your neighbor across the street.” I pointed to Belle’s Books and Candles (and Coffee) just in case there was any doubt. “I brought you a plant.” Lame.

“Oh, how lovely.” The door swung open, and a woman appeared. She was around seventy with fluffy silver hair that appeared barely under control, bright blue eyes, and a vague smile. She wore a ruffled pink apron which contrasted nicely with her pale blue and white striped summer dress. Not at all what I expected a vampire to look like. “Aren’t you a peach. My name is Maude.”

Maude? What kind of vampire name was Maude?

“Please, come in.” She stepped back to allow me to pass.

I hesitated. Did I really want to waltz into a nest of vampires? Even ones that looked like Maude?

Enki had no compunctions about it. He strode in, tail twitching. What a lovely house you have.

“Why thank you.” Maude flushed with pride. “We like it.”

In for a penny, in for a pound. I stepped across the threshold and was immediately assaulted by enough floral print that it looked like Laura Ashley threw up in there. The entry walls were covered in wallpaper with a yellow background and enormous pink peonies. Half a dozen gold-framed paintings of roses of various colors hung along the walls.

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