by Erin Johnson
Will lifted a bushy brow at her. “Kinda?” He shook his head at me. “She’s crazy—the boy is fine.”
I choked on my ramen as I laughed. “Wait—what?” The only shifters I’d seen cured so far had been elderly activists who’d been cursed by Ludolf decades ago. “I didn’t realize you two were into octogenarians.”
Will shot me a flat look, and Heidi giggled and shook her head, her two ponytails dusting her shoulders. “No, silly! Ludolf only cursed him a few months ago.” She wagged her brows at Will. “John is hot, though, huh?”
Will scoffed and spun to face me again. “And head over tail for her.”
Heidi bit her lip, eyes shining. “You think?”
Will rolled his eyes. “He asked you out, didn’t he?”
I gasped. “What now? Heidi, that’s great!”
Peter nodded. “Congrats.”
Will leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “He’s got the energy level you’d expect of a sloth shifter, which is actually a nice balance to hers.” He rolled his eyes. “A huge improvement on her usual bouncer type.”
I flashed my eyes at him. “Thank the sea goddess.”
Heidi blushed and grinned wider than I’d seen in a long time. “Thanks, guys. I’m pretty excited.” She shimmied her shoulders, then grew thoughtful. “I mean, he said he still needs to let his family know he’s alive and try to get his job back—he’s a teacher—and see if he still has his apartment.” She waved it away like these were small things. But hopefully, with all the charges so publicly brought against Ludolf, John’s friends, family, and employer would be understanding.
“But he asked me if tomorrow night was good.” Heidi scrunched her nose and beamed. “Eee!”
Will sniffed. “And that’s moving pretty fast—especially for a sloth.” He looked at me, waiting for my reaction.
I shook my head at him. “How long have you been waiting to say that?”
His expression darkened. “Shut up.”
I smirked. “Well, Heidi, I’m very excited for you.”
Peter nodded. “I hope we get to meet the young man soon.”
I elbowed him. “Look at you, mister protective father figure.”
He blushed and dove back into his ramen. “I just like to make sure my friends are safe.”
“Aw.” Heidi bounced on her stool. “We’re friends?”
Will frowned at her. “Dur. I saved his dog.” He pointed his chopsticks at Daisy, who manically gnawed at the bone.
Heidi shot him a flat look and gestured at Will, herself, and me. “We saved his dog.”
I shook my head at said dog and woofed. You act like we don’t feed you. I fought a grin as she looked up at me, dark eyes wide. Have some dignity—you’re slobbering all over the floor.
Daisy glared at me and growled. You’re one to talk! You practically inhaled that soup you’re eating. She huffed and looked back down at her bone, grumbling to herself. And you drool all over Peter.
I chuckled, then grinned at Peter beside me. True enough.
“Ooh!” Heidi pointed with her chopsticks at the local newspaper, The Conch, which sat on the coffee table between us. “Did you see the paper?”
A magically moving image of Ludolf transforming from a heron to his human form took up most of the front page. The royal healers had cured him, and the haggard-looking Ludolf would soon stand trial—according to the headlines. Below it was Madeline L’Orange’s exposé.
I nodded and finished slurping up some noodles. “Madeline’s piece was pretty groundbreaking.”
Peter nodded. “It’s all anyone can talk about. The entire island is stunned that there’s a whole city of shifters living in the sewers below their feet.”
Heidi’s eyes widened. “What’s going to happen next? Are they going to move all the shifters out of there?”
I shrugged. “Yesterday, Prince Harry said he’d seek input from the shifter community about how to handle it. Initially he’d talked about clearing the sewers out, but I told him a lot of people considered it home.”
I thought of my old headmistress at the orphanage, Mrs. Rankle, and how she’d bought her place with her retirement money. I also remembered the prince welcoming my landlady’s thoughts—he was going to get an earful.
Peter nodded. “It’s about time things changed—in a lot of ways. My chief, McCray, is all about reforming the police department. She, Inspector Bon, and I are heading up a task force to root out corruption.” He waggled his brows at me. “And we’re starting an initiative to get more shifters on the force.” He nudged me with his elbow.
Will frowned as he looked between us. “What is this?”
I shook my head. “Peter wants me to be a cop.”
Will nearly choked.
Peter lifted his chin. “You’ve got great instincts, a keen mind, and are great at getting people to talk.”
Will sniffed. “Pushing their buttons, he means.”
I shrugged. “That too.”
Peter nodded. “Couple that with your ability to speak to animals and you’d be invaluable.”
I turned and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.” I shook my head and turned back to my friends. “For now, I plan to keep consulting with Peter and Daisy.” I’d originally taken the job out of desperation for rent money, but it’d turned out to be pretty fun—and life changing.
I held up my chopsticks. “But I’ve also decided I’m going to open up my own practice.” I grinned. “Since I basically live at Peter’s now—”
He beamed at me.
“—I’m going to base it out of my old apartment. That way, it’ll be accessible to people here in the Darkmoon District.” I gave a firm nod. “I’ve still got my license, and I’m hoping attitudes toward shifter lawyers are changing. Besides, with the prince and princess making changes to laws and ordinances, they’re going to need some legal input.” I waggled my brows.
Will nodded. “Smart.”
I thought so. I’d realized how important it was to me to feel like I was making a difference. I wanted to see justice done, and by working with Peter and Daisy and taking up law again, I’d certainly be doing a lot of that. It was basically the best of both worlds.
“Ooh! Did you guys see about the bakers?” Heidi beamed at me.
I nodded, smiling. When we’d brought Ludolf to the jail last night, Mimi Moulin had been waiting for us with a sample of her sourdough starter. She said she’d heard about us capturing Ludolf and trusted me.
I’d been surprised—not only by her gesture, but also at how fast news of Ludolf’s capture had spread through the Darkmoon. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised though—for all its grittiness and poverty, it was a pretty tight-knit community.
Peter spoke around his mouthful of noodles. “Mimi Moulin let us test her sourdough starter—it proved that Polly Pierre had stolen her recipe all those years ago. Her daughters were disqualified.”
I snorted. “I mean—Elin was already in jail for accidentally murdering her mother instead of her sister.”
Will shrugged. “Easy mistake to make.”
I smirked. “Yeah, quite the family. I doubt Tonya was going to carry the team to victory anyway, but it was some redemption for Mimi.”
“Plus, now she’s the new royal baker!” Heidi grinned. “That’s so exciting, right? A shifter as head of the palace bakery? That’s a big deal.”
I nodded. It was a big deal… and big progress.
I leaned over and grabbed my beaker of cider from where it sat on the linoleum beside me and raised it in the air. “A toast.”
Peter reached forward and grabbed his own beaker off the coffee table, and Heidi and Will raised their boiling flasks of cider (the clinic was short on cups).
I smiled at all of them, even down at Daisy. “To being free—finally.”
Will nodded and held his drink up. “And to maturing.”
Heidi beamed around the room. “And to friendship!”
Peter looked me over, his eyes shining. �
�To love.”
We leaned in and clinked our makeshift glasses, then spent the rest of the night eating, laughing, and drinking together. Life was good, and as I thought of the future, it only looked better and better.
Thank you for reading The Big Fang Theory. I hope you enjoyed it, and the entire Magic Market series!
Have you read my other series,
Spells & Caramels?
Imogen Banks is struggling to make it as a baker and a new witch on the mysterious and magical island of Bijou Mer. With a princely beau, a snarky baking flame and a baker’s dozen of hilarious, misfit friends, she’ll need all the help she can get when the murder mysteries start piling up.
Read the Spells & Caramels series to fall under the spell of a delicious mystery today!
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A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
I’ve always dreamed of being a full-time author, and now here I am! And it’s all thanks to you— my awesome, supportive readers.
I am so grateful to you for reading this book (and any others of mine you’ve picked up) and truly hope you enjoyed it.
If so, please check out more of my Magic Market Mysteries or the Spells & Caramels series.
Happy Reading,
Erin
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A native of Arizona, Erin loves her new home in the Pacific Northwest! She writes paranormal cozy mystery novels. These stories are mysterious, magical, and will hopefully make you laugh.
When not writing, she’s hiking, napping with her dogs, and losing at trivia night.
You can find Erin on Facebook and BookBub, or email her at [email protected]. She loves to hear from readers!
Copyright © 2020 by Erin Johnson
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Prequel Novella
1. The Competition
2. Murder
3. Polly Pierre
4. Twins
5. Suspects
6. Frank
7. Spilling the Tea
8. Rally
9. Boo! Hiss!
10. Chaos at the Castle
11. The Royal Bakery
12. Shifter Secrets
13. Cat
14. Teaming Up
15. The Door
16. Missing
17. The Clinic
18. Parting Ways
19. The Lair
20. Villains
21. Missing Snake
22. Police Station
23. Tonya
24. Elin
25. Lorenzo
26. Mimi Moulin
27. Sourdough
28. Vince Dupont
29. Neo and the boys
30. A Cure
31. Inspiration
32. The Teacup
33. McCray
34. An Accusation
35. The Plan
36. Ludolf Caterwaul
37. A Red Heron
38. Sam
39. Starters and Enders
A Note from the Author
About the Author
Copyright