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There was no way in, well, hell, that I was going to bother the Norse goddess of the dead by reporting on a relatively har tabs on what’s going on aboveground in the ht about forcing hiainst it I was here to keep order, not r back into its hidden sheath "Tell the others to consider this a warning And I really would like those sunglasses back"

Tuggle shrugged "I’ll see what I can do"

"Thanks, Tuggle" I gave higed again "Eh"

"Hey, lady!" a concerned voice behind me called "You okay?"

I turned around "Fine Why?"

It was a teenaged kid, irlfriend They were doing that thing where they had their arms wrapped around each other’s waists and their hands in each other’s back pockets All the cool couples in high school used to stroll the halls that way Of course, Jen and I had made fun of them, but secretly I was always a little envious of them I’m pretty sure Jen was, too

"It’s just that you’ve been talking to that bush for a while," the kid said in an apologetic tone

His girlfriend blinked "Wait a minute What bush?"

Apparently, Tuggle the hobgoblin was skilled at etaway Glancing behindback to his freckle-faced-kid guise when no one was looking

Oh, well At least I’d ers "Where weird shit happens"

Ten

I backtracked along the dock to see about refunding the actual oblins’ marks, but the crowd had already dispersed Unless the marks had checked their wallets, they probably didn’t realize they’d been ripped off yet

So I swung by the police station to logthein case anyone ca avarice, I hoped no one did What can I say? Working irregular hours on a part-time basis, I was always short of cash I’d collected two hundred and forty dollars frole, and if no one clai to lasses placed neatly on the doorstep in the alley, each lens cracked into a perfect spiderweb That’s what you get for oblins; and I’d taken it easy on theot ed ladies passing by, their ar the park rustled, sounding distinctly like a snicker

Upstairs, I discovered that Mogwai had gotten up onto the kitchen counter Based on the mess and the sticky pawprints, he’d explored the bowl of wet ingredients before knocking the bowl of dry ingredients onto the kitchen floor and dashing in a panic out his escape hatch on the screened porch

At least the chocolate chips were safe I sighed, duredients, and cleaned up the e to bake was a distant memory I spent the re at i the visualization Stefan had tried to teach me It probably didn’t help that I took a break every ten minutes to trek into the kitchen for a handful of chocolate chips And okay, yes, I also searched for information on obeah There really wasn’t a lot out there, at least not a lot that looked credible I jotted down a couple of obscure out-of-print book titles I caave up in tie my clothes--a black linen sheath dress, rave;re at seven o’clock

Since it was only a few blocks away, I walked Sinclair aiting forbicycle chained to the wrought-iron fence that heirlfriend Sinclair’s place was a couple hway and he didn’t have a car, just the tour bus and the bike, which he used for transportation when he wasn’t working Hence, those Tour de France–worthy thighs I irl! There you are"

"I’m so sorry!" I said in dismay "I should have picked you up--"

"Daisy--"