by Deanna Chase
Kat was sitting by the window, drumming her fingernails on the table while she scrolled through her phone.
“We’re here,” I said, out of breath from the brisk walk. After I took a seat across from her, I added, “Sorry again.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that, Kat.” Pyper sat between us and downed a glass of water.
“I have to leave in five minutes.” Kat shook her head, making her red curls fall over one eye. “Since we didn’t have time to discuss the details that still need to be taken care of, I just made you both lists. Is that all right? Or do you just want me to take care of everything?”
I’d expected her to be angry, instead she just sounded a little dejected. I reached across the table and placed my hand over hers. A jolt of her nervous energy hit me, followed by a faint trace of sadness. “What’s wrong, Kat?” I asked. “Is it because we were late? Or is there something else worrying you?”
She let out a small laugh and pulled her hand back. “I really hate that you can do that. You know that, right?”
“No, you don’t.” I flashed her a knowing smile. “You secretly love that you can’t keep things hidden from me. It forces you to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you. Now which is it? Are you upset we were late and not focused on your big day, or is it something else?”
Kat moved her hand and rested it at the base of her throat. “I don’t know. I think I’m just nervous and wanted some girl time to relax, and then…”
“We didn’t show,” Pyper said and stuffed a rainbow roll in her mouth.
“Something like that.” Kat glanced away, clearly still out of sorts.
“Hand over the lists,” I said. “Pyper and I’ve got this.”
Pyper nodded and used her chopsticks to stab a piece of tuna sashimi.
Kat slid a short list of to-do items to us. Each errand had detailed notes such as double-check the wine is vintage 1997 or 1999, but not 1998 and make sure the filling is cappuccino, not espresso.
“These are a piece of cake,” I said. “We’ll tackle most of them this afternoon. Will they be delivered to my house on Saturday, or do I need to make sure we pick them up?”
“They’ll be delivered. It’s just that everything needs to be confirmed and deposits dropped off.” She started to pull her checkbook out of her bag. “I’ll leave the amounts blank, and you can just fill them in.”
I stared at her checkbook, my mouth open in surprise. Did she really think we were letting her pay for her wedding shower? “No,” I said, pulling the pen out of her hand. “I’ve got this shindig covered.”
“Jade,” she said with a frown. “I can’t ask you to pay for this elaborate party just because I’ve had this picture in my head for years. Don’t worry, I’ve budgeted—”
“Forget it.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head. “You didn’t ask me to pay for it. I offered. If it means that much to you, you can take care of my baby shower.” I grinned at her. “I’m pulling rank. As your best friend, it’s my prerogative to give you this gift, and there’s nothing you can say to change my mind.”
When Kat turned to Pyper for support, Pyper raised her hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m on Jade’s side. In fact, we’ll split the cost. You shouldn’t have to pay for the shower we want to throw you. You’ve already planned it; that’s quite enough.” She winked at Kat and stabbed another piece of sashimi.
Kat sighed in defeat. “Fine. But if anything is too extravagant, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’ll pay for it. Got it?”
“Got it,” I said, tracing an X over my heart. “Since we missed lunch, want to come over for dinner? Bring Lucien?”
“All right.” A pleased smile transformed her previously gloomy expression, and her hazel eyes danced with excitement as she clapped her hands. “Oh gosh. I’m so excited. Saturday is going to be so much fun. I can’t wait!”
“Me neither,” I said with forced enthusiasm. It wasn’t that I wasn’t looking forward to the party. I definitely was. It was that I suddenly had a lot on my plate, and hauling myself around New Orleans in the ninety-degree heat was a lot to deal with while being seven months pregnant.
“Yay!” Kat positively glowed as she threw some bills on the table and grabbed her bag. “I have an appointment at the shop. Some guy wants a custom piece for his wife for their anniversary. Gotta go. See you tonight.”
“Later!” Pyper said, eyeing the rest of the rainbow roll.
I waved to Kat and then looked at the food in front of us. There was raw fish everywhere. “This isn’t going to work for me.”
“Here. Fried rice. Looks like chicken.” Pyper passed me a bowl.
I took one bite and raised my hand, signaling to the waitress. The rice was cold. “Can I get a fresh one of these and a tempura shrimp roll?”
“Sure.” The waitress disappeared into the back of the restaurant while I looked at the list Kat had left us.
“Want to start working on these after lunch?” I asked Pyper.
“Sure. What’s up first?”
“The bakery. Says we need to approve the designs and leave a deposit. What’s the design supposed to be? Did she tell us?” I turned the list over, looking for a clue, but found nothing.
Pyper shook her head. “Nope. I think that’s what this lunch was supposed to be about.”
I quickly sent Kat a text. It wasn’t long before my food arrived, but Kat still hadn’t responded by the time we were done.
“Lucien, thank goodness,” I said into the phone when he answered. Pyper and I were sitting in her car, parked in front of the bakery Kat had sent us to. But we hadn’t gone in because we still didn’t know what we were approving. “Listen, Kat has us running some errands for the bridal shower. Do you have any idea what she ordered at the bakery? Or what the theme is supposed to be?”
“Um, no. Should I?” He sounded vaguely distracted.
“Lucien, focus. We’re already in trouble here after missing lunch. Kat’s a little bit hurt, and if we get this wrong—”
“Oh, I know. The sixties. That’s the theme. She said something about daisies and sunflowers and lots of pink, orange, and yellow.”
“Sixties? Really?” It sounded cute, but Kat was usually a little more modern than that in her ideas.
“Yep. She said she wanted to have fun with it.”
“All right then. Now that we have that out of the way, I have something for you. Can you research a breeder out in the bayou by the name of Elijah? He breeds familiars. I don’t have a last name, but I do have an address and a phone number.”
“Sure. Does this have something to do with that fire-breathing dog?” he asked.
“Yes and no. He just seems to know quite a bit about the council, and I want to know who exactly we’re dealing with. I think he might be an ally, but we just can’t be too careful.”
“I’m on it.”
I rattled off the information and said, “By the way, you and Kat are coming to dinner tonight. I hope you didn’t have plans.”
“Nope. Whatever Kat wants these next few weeks, Kat gets,” he said with a chuckle.
“Is she still being a bridezilla?” I asked with a grimace.
“No. Not at all. It’s more like she’s anxious. I’m not sure if it’s because the day is finally almost here and she’s experiencing a version of cold feet or if all the planning is getting to her. She’s been focused on this wedding and little else for months. Whatever it is, we’ve made it this far. I’m sure we can handle the next two weeks.”
“Damn,” I said softly. “I’m sorry, Lucien. I had no idea. She seems perfectly normal every time I see her. Busy and a little overloaded, but…” I paused, thinking back over the past month and the time I’d spent with Kat. It hadn’t been a lot if I was honest with myself. Ever since she and Lucien had gotten engaged, she’d dragged Pyper and me all over the city to every bridal shop, bakery, and party store she could find. While Pyper had been decisive in her choices, Kat hadn’t, and the strain of her indecis
ion had worn me down. I’d begged off most things lately, using my pregnancy as an excuse. Now I was starting to wonder if my friend felt completely abandoned. “You know what? It’s been a few weeks since Kat and I have had any time together. I’ll talk to her tonight and find out what’s up.”
“You don’t need to do that, Jade,” he said, his tone wary. “She’s my fiancée. If there’s anything to work out, we’ll figure it out.”
“Of course you will,” I said. “I just meant I’ll check in with her and see how she’s doing. Girl stuff. You know. See you tonight!” I ended the call, and Pyper and I went into the store where we approved the cutest VW cupcakes and daisy sugar cookies for the bridal shower.
12
“We need to come up with some sort of plan for tomorrow,” I said to Pyper as I washed the lettuce for the salad I was making. We’d worked our way through half of one of Kat’s lists before exhaustion had taken over and Pyper had insisted on driving me home. She’d told me she wasn’t going to be responsible if I fainted from overexertion. I’d rolled my eyes and told her she was being dramatic, but the truth was my back ached and so did my feet.
“Sit.” She gently bumped me out of the way. “I’ll deal with your salad fixings. You drink your decaf tea and relax.”
I didn’t hesitate. Kane would be grilling steaks and corn once he got home. My only job was the salad since I’d already picked up a chocolate torte for dessert at the bakery. “Okay. I’ll make a list of places to go tomorrow to find Harper.”
“Do you hear that?” Pyper asked, cocking her head to one side.
“What?” I glanced around the kitchen, trying to discern what she was talking about.
“It’s coming from outside.” She strode to the back door and flung it open.
A small brown dog darted in, her tongue lolling as she panted and headed straight for my feet.
“Flame? What the heck? Where did you come from?” I reached down and picked up the familiar. Her coat was hot like she’d spent hours in the sun. She blinked up at me, and I immediately checked her gums to see if she was dehydrated. Nope. Nice and pink. Good. Was it even possible for fire-breathing familiars to get dehydrated? I had no idea, but I wasn’t taking any chances. “Pyper, can you get her some water?”
“Of course.” She went to work on getting the pup a bowl of water while I scanned the backyard and checked the gate. No one was there and nothing was out of order.
I walked back in and closed the door. Without saying a word, I pulled out my phone and called Willa.
No answer. I left a message, letting her know I had Flame—err, Peanut—and told her to call at her earliest convenience to let me know she was all right.
“That’s strange,” Pyper said while we watched the dog lap up water.
I nodded. Why did Flame keep coming back to my house? Then I shrugged. It wasn’t like I could ask Willa or Harper. “Maybe we should ask Elijah why she does that.”
“Couldn’t hurt.”
I dug out his card and dialed the number. Then I frowned. It had been disconnected. I ended the call and tried again. Same result. Grimacing, I tossed his card into the trash and stared down at Flame. “Well, nothing to do but watch her until we find Harper I guess.”
“Think you can keep her from burning your house down?”
“I’m gonna have to,” I said and sat back down at the table. “I can’t put her outside, and apparently no matter what, she’s going to keep coming back. Might as well get used to her for a while.”
Pyper leaned down and patted the familiar on the head. “At least she’s cute.”
“That’s something I guess.” I drummed my fingernails on the table and said, “Now, what were we talking about?”
“Our plan of action tomorrow,” she said. “Harper’s apartment seems like the obvious place to start.”
“Right. The council too. If we can find Crescent La Croix, she might have some very valuable council information.”
“She’s the one who helped you expose Delphinia a few months ago at your hearing, right?”
I nodded. Delphinia had been trying to cover up her role in unleashing the dragon that had possessed Conor Wells. While I’d been locked up, Crescent had filled in the blanks with knowledge that had directly led to my release. “If the council is hiding anything, I bet she knows what it is.”
“All right.” Pyper had moved on to slicing red bell peppers. “What about a finding spell? You could call in the coven and see if you can find Harper that way.”
“Got it.” I’d already scratched the suggestion down in my notes. Finding spells were taking it out of me lately. In some things I was strong, like controlling the weather. In others, like finding spells, it was like short-circuiting my power even with the coven there to back me up. “If all that fails… we could try summoning Harper’s ancestor. She might be able to tap into the ancient magic to at least get a location on her.”
“You mean summon a ghost,” Pyper said.
“Yeah, well, I do know a talented medium.”
“How would we do that?” Pyper asked, grabbing mushrooms from the fridge.
“I have a few ideas,” I said. “But I bet Bea could tell us.”
“Call her,” Pyper said. “Our leads are really pathetic right now.”
They were. We had hardly anything to go on, and it frustrated me. There was a young woman out there, probably scared to death, and here Pyper and I had been running party-planning errands. I picked up the phone and dialed Bea’s number. No answer. I left a message. “So we have go to Harper’s apartment, talk to Crescent at the council, and try a finding spell. Plus we’re waiting for Bea to call back about summoning Harper’s ancestor. What am I missing? We already talked to her cousins.”
“Didn’t Cami say Harper has a boyfriend? Music major?” Pyper said.
“Right. Violin first chair.” I jotted that down on my list and leaned down to pick up Flame, who was pawing at my leg. I snuggled the dog and said, “Good. Tomorrow we can get to work.”
“And stop by the florist and the party store,” Pyper added with a chuckle.
“Who’s ready for dessert?” I asked, holding out my hand, silently asking Kane to help me off the couch. Kane, Lucien, Kat, and I had settled in the living room in the front of the house after dinner. Despite my invitation, Pyper hadn’t stayed, instead insisting she needed to get home. Julius and Bo were on dinner duty, and she wasn’t going to miss it for the world.
“Oh, I’ll get it.” Kat bounced out of her chair and started heading back to the kitchen.
“Wait for me.” I smiled at my husband after he got me on my feet. Flame was right at my side like she had been all night, the perfectly behaved puppy. “Chocolate torte?”
“You know I would’ve gotten it, Jade,” he whispered in my ear.
“I know.” I kissed him on the cheek. “But I’m still able-bodied.” I turned to Lucien. “Torte?”
His nose was stuck in a book and he didn’t respond.
I chuckled softly. Lucien was sitting across the room, his blond hair sticking up in odd angles from running his fingers through it while studying a book on dragon lore. I cleared my throat. “Hey, Lucien.”
His head jerked up. “Huh?”
“Wanna break for dessert? Chocolate torte?” I asked.
“Oh, sure.” He started to close the book and rise from the chair.
“Stay there,” I said. “We’ll bring it out here. Coffee?”
“Yes, please.” He immediately disappeared behind the book again, just as I knew he would. Lucien was very good at research.
By the time Flame and I caught up with Kat, she already had the coffee started and had plated two pieces of torte. “Hey. You’re quick.”
She smiled at me, and not for the first time that night, I noticed her tired eyes and the fatigue in her tense shoulders. “I guess I’m desperate for a little chocolate.”
“Stressed?” I plated the second two pieces of torte.
She leaned a
gainst the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. She was wearing a red-and-white cupcake dress that made her look adorable and me feel like a smallish blimp. “I think it’s just the countdown to the wedding. It’s a lot, you know?”
I placed a hand on my belly and nodded my agreement. “We both have a lot of changes coming.”
Her expression softened as she stared at me, and then her eyes got glassy as she said, “I can’t wait to meet that sweet little girl.”
Kat’s emotion overwhelmed me. She was one big ball of love and excitement mixed with a trace of fear.
I gently took her hand in mine and said, “It’s going to be great, you know.”
“Of course it is. You always were meant to be a mother, even when you were convinced it wasn’t a good idea.” Her words were so sincere I had to blink back tears.
“Thank you, Kat. That means the world to me. But I meant the wedding. Your life with Lucien. You two are perfect for each other. All the buildup, all the stress, none of it’s going to matter when you’re standing at that altar, staring at the man you love while he looks at you like you’re the reason he breathes.”
Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, and she pressed a hand over her heart. “How…” She sniffed. “How did you know that’s what I needed to hear?”
“You’re my oldest and best friend, Kat. I might be a little self-involved right now, but I’m still paying attention. I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel unimportant, letting you do the shower planning and missing lunch. I didn’t mean to.”
She shook her head, wiping at her tears. “I didn’t feel unimportant.”
I raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Okay, maybe just a little forgotten. You have the baby, and Pyper’s wedding is coming up too. And I know I’ve been driving you both a little bit crazy with my inability to make decisions. I just… I don’t know. I think I would’ve liked to have my mom here for the planning.”
I gave her a curious look. “She didn’t want to come down?”