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"Do you have a problem with uest?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Arland nodded "I thought not You’re neither guest nor staff, therefore your problelared at each other The testosterone in the roo thicker by the second

"I’ll erous icy quiet

"If you atterounds, I will restrain both of you," I said

"I was always a curious child," Arland said "I took time to educate myself about the folklore of various places"

"And?" Sean asked

The Marshal’s eyes narrowed "I’m made of neither sticks nor straw"

"What does that mean?"

"It means you should find yourself another house to blow on"

Ha!

Tension sharpened Sean Suddenly he looked feral "That’s it Outside Unless you’re going to hide behind Dina"

"Perfect" Arland turned to ize for this rude but unavoidable interruption in our conversation I promise you I will make it as brief as possible"

"Exactly" Sean nodded, his face frightening "This will only take a minute"

And the vampire and the ent off the rails "This is stupid"

Sean opened the front door "After you, Goldilocks"

Arland’s eyes turned dark "With pleasure"

He strode to the door Sean glanced out and shut the door with a quick jerk "A cop’s walking toward the house"

Magic chilass on the side Officer Marais Of course

I touched the wall, shooting a quick coh the hallway

"Stay out of sight," I hissed

"No," Sean said

"Absolutely not," Arland said

I didn’t have time for this "He’s a cop What do you think he’ll do?"

"I’ any chances," Sean said "With all the weird shit going on, he ht not be a cop"

"This is a valid point," Arland said

Argh "You are wearing arht," Sean said "You should hide, Tinker Bell"

"I’rowled

Officer Marais was almost to the door

"Go down the hallway, first door on the left is the closet Change into normal clothes and try to act like a hu

I summoned every ounce of intimidation I could muster and whispered, "Go, or I will drown you both in raage"

They took off down the hallway

The doorbell rang again Beast barked, bouncing up and down I waited another second tothe door open "Officer Marais What a lovely surprise"

Officer Marais looked at me, his face devoid of all expression

"Would you like some coffee?" I asked

"No"

"Well, I would like some coffee Please feel free to follow , and pushed the button onGertrude Hunt wasn’t a wealthy inn, but I wasn’t willing to skimp on coffee Officer Marais followed me like a stoic shadow

"Are you sure you wouldn’t like a cup?"

"Yes Ms Deht between eleven pm and three am?"

I sipped my coffee "Upstairs in my bed"

We squared off like two duelists with rapiers

"Did you hear anything unusual?" Marais attacked

"What do youat all?"

"No I was asleep Can I ask what this is about?"

"Yes Your neighbors down the street reported hearing screaht"