The nice thing about Haven Hollow having a supernaturally run real estate office was that they weren’t strictly held to daylight business hours.

  After all, there were some clients, like Lorcan Rowe, Wanda’s vampire boyfriend, who just couldn’t make a daytime appointment. At least, not without bursting into flames, which would make closing on a house pretty difficult.

  So, it wasn’t odd that Andre had gotten a viewing late that evening, well after sunset. In November, having an appointment in the dark was almost more likely than one in the dwindling daytime hours.

  Of course, it also meant that we had to deal with Ivan, one of Fifi’s grumpier agents, but I guess nothing is ever perfect. I didn’t have a lot of experience with Ivan, but from what Wanda had told me, he was actually downright personable. For a dragon, I mean.

  When I arrived, Andre was waiting outside the house (which was literally five houses down and across the street from mine), with Ivan beside him. I was pretty sure I wasn’t late, but Ivan was scowling all the same, scratching at his neck just above the collar of his shirt with nails that were just a little too sharp to be human. The more I looked at him, the more I realized he wasn’t actually scowling—that was just the way his face looked. Wanda had told me that one time she’d apparently said something to tick him off (which wasn’t unbelievable since this was Wanda we were talking about) and he’d actually snorted a gout of smoke from both nostrils.

  But back to Andre’s house—or potential house—the place was close enough to my house that it would only take a minute or two to walk there. But I did my very, absolute best not to focus on that. Instead, I focused on the large, two-story house that stood before me. While it was still a farmhouse, it was both larger and in better repair than mine had been. I still had a little renovating to do (mainly of the attic), despite moving in almost two years ago. So far, the first level was complete (owing to Lorcan paying for the damage brought on by Roscoe when he basically ransacked my house) and the second level was almost complete—the main stuff was done anyway—there were areas in need of a touch of paint here and there and a few outlet covers that needed to be reattached. Eventually I’d get to the third story attic and then, once that was completed, I wouldn’t know what to do with all the space.

  Marty will probably end up moving in eventually and then it won’t feel quite so big.

  The thought occurred to me, as if out of nowhere, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It was a strange thought that brought neither happiness nor alarm. It just sort of… was.

  The sound of the Jeep’s door closing was very loud in the stillness of the night, and I pulled in a long breath of chilly November air as I stepped out. I didn’t know why, but I was all kinds of nervous. Which was frustrating as much as it was confusing.

  I was just here as Andre’s friend, helping him make a big, life changing decision, I reminded myself. That was it. Wanda and I did it all the time, though usually over a number of cocktails. And Wanda wasn’t an incredibly sexy man with an accent to die for…

  Seeing Andre standing at the base of the front steps that lead to the house’s porch made something warm spark to life in my chest, so I turned away, focusing on the surrounding area and trying to get my heart back with the program.

  Friends! Just friends!

  There were a couple trees on the property and they were old growth pines, towering over sixty feet tall. The tops swayed in a gentle breeze as I turned to face the other direction and saw nothing but meadow beyond the bend of the cul-de-sac. Unlike my house, which backed onto a cemetery, this one butted up against hills that rose up like shadowy waves in the dark. It was a lovely property.

  The gravel crunched under my feet as I made my way up the rest of the driveway. Andre turned and watched me the entire way, giving me a little wave that I returned. When I reached him, I could see his smile in the moonlight. It would have taken stronger magic than I could manage not to smile back.

  “Nice of you to join us,” Ivan growled in his heavy Romanian accent. He scratched at his neck again, and I wondered if the collar of his suit was rubbing against the scales I could see peeking out above his shirt. “I do have other clients, you know?”

  “Poppy,” Andre said, smoothly cutting over Ivan’s complaining as he reached out and kissed me on either cheek, as was his customary greeting. “I’m so grateful you could join us. Thank you.”

  “Of course.” I followed them up the steps, a little cautiously. My own porch had had a couple of boards that were softer than melted cheese when I’d first moved in, and I didn’t want Andre to see me fall through the floor of his potential house. But everything felt firm, solid under my feet. I was a little jealous, honestly.

  Ivan unlocked the door with a sigh and ushered us inside, muttering something that I was fairly sure was another language. Hopefully not a curse.

  I looked around the surprisingly large front entry way, and gazed up the polished oak staircase that led to the rooms above us. Like most old school farmhouses, in an attempt to conserve heat, every room in the house had its own door, including the kitchen and dining rooms. No one really did ‘open-concept’ back at the turn of the last century.

  “It’s certainly… large,” Andre said as he gazed at the ceilings which had to be twenty feet tall in the foyer.

  “Certainly is,” I answered.

  This house was definitely bigger than my home, and the fact that it was totally empty of any furnishings made it feel positively cavernous. I was fairly sure that if we spoke loudly enough, our voices would echo against the ceiling. I didn’t want to test that though, mainly because I was scared of upsetting Ivan—well, more than he was already upset, anyway.

  “This is the house.” Ivan gave a lazy wave. For an instant, just a mere second, a clear eyelid flickered sideways across the gold of his irises and it was… strange. “Go and look. Meet me in the kitchen when you’re done.”

  He didn’t wait for either of us to respond. Instead, we watched him shuffle through one of the doors, and then we turned to one another, exchanging a look. A small giggle escaped me, and I slapped a hand over my mouth before Ivan could hear me.

  Andre smiled, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with it. “Let’s go take a peek, shall we?” Then he leaned over and holding up his hand to his mouth, whispered, “I’m glad it’s just the two of us.”

  I gave him a smile and forced myself not to agree.

  As far as the house went, I honestly didn’t know what help I could be to him. I’d never really done a house walk through with an eye to buy before. I’d mostly rented in California, and then I’d bought my farmhouse pretty much sight unseen because it was at auction. I’d just wanted to move somewhere new, a place where I didn’t know anyone and somewhere Finn could grow up safely. Somewhere with no ghosts…

  Speaking of ghosts, I didn’t feel any invisible presences. In fact, the only thing I could feel was the frantic beating of my heart and no matter how I tried to talk it down, it just didn’t seem to want to listen. Good thing Andre wasn’t a vampire or he would have been able to hear just how nervous he made me.

  We walked up the wide stairwell, complete with beautifully turned spindles in the banister and started into the long hallway that featured beautiful wood doors on both sides. Glancing into the first one, Andre looked over at me and announced, “I believe this is the master.”

  He walked into the room and I followed, glancing at the breadth of his back and shoulders as he looked around the bedroom. He was wearing a button-down, long-sleeved dark gray shirt and carrying his jacket and with very little fabric covering his upper half, I could see the impossible width of his shoulders. I’d never witnessed them from behind him before and as I did now, I couldn’t help the surprise that overtook me. He was built like a swimmer—broad and powerful.

  Jeez, Poppy, I yelled at myself. Get yourself together!

  I hastily looked away and forced myself to examine the crown molding that decorated the top of the walls and bordered the ceiling. There was matching molding, which was just as wide, running along the floor. And the floor was dark wood, the planks easily ten inches wide. The floor to ceiling windows on the far wall overlooked the hills and stretch of grass behind the house and the moonlight reflected on what appeared to be a pond.

  “This is beautiful,” I whispered.

  Andre, meanwhile, was already poking his head into the room attached to this one and came back nodding. “And the en-suite is quite luxurious, as well.”

  “The en-suite?” I repeated, frowning.

  “Master restroom,” he answered with a little grin.

  “Oh,” I said as I walked into the restroom and found a soaking tub that overlooked the same view as the bedroom. There was a stand-up shower just beyond it and two vanities with separate sinks beside it. The floor was done in a light and beautiful travertine tile and the whole thing just yelled comfort and beauty.

  “I quite like it,” Andre said as he peered out the window of the bedroom. “Is that a pond?”

  I nodded as I walked up next to him and then had to take a step away because his aftershave hit me like a punch to the gut. Not that it was overpowering or strong. It was more that the feelings this man gave me were overpowering.

  “I think it is,” I managed.

  “I can see myself here,” Andre said as he faced the bedroom again and scanned it from left to right. At the thought that this might well become his house and here I was, standing in his bedroom, I about couldn’t breathe. It just felt entirely too—personal—like I had no business knowing what Andre’s bedroom looked like.

  Immediately, as if my feet had a mind of their own, they started carrying me towards the hallway again. “I wonder how many other bedrooms there are,” I managed to call out so it wouldn’t look like I’d just run away in a panic.

  The house was absolutely gorgeous, that much was clear. Not showy, but comfortable, with gorgeous floors worn smooth with decades of people walking over them, and newly renovated bathrooms and rooms that all shared spectacular views. Since it was empty, the rooms seemed even bigger than they would otherwise be, but the walls were freshly painted a soft cream, and the floors smelled like polish. Someone had made some effort to clean the place up and get it ready for its next owner, that much was clear.

  After having finished viewing the second floor, I started back down the stairs, with Andre just behind me and walked into the living room which was—in a word—enormous. More floor-to-ceiling windows dominated the room and I found myself running my hand over what I was pretty sure was an original fireplace, all made up of dark gray fieldstone. It was cool to the touch, but when actually lit, it would pour warmth through the house and make for cozy evenings curled up before it. I could just imagine this room decked out at Christmas time and the thought made me swallow hard.

  I let my hand drop, feeling vaguely guilty.

  “Well?” Andre stepped up behind my shoulder and then I felt both his hands on my upper arms as he turned me around to face him. He didn’t drop his hands right away but simply smiled at me. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s beautiful,” I answered and as soon as he dropped his hold, I took a few steps toward the bank of windows, turning to look out one of them. I could just see the shadow of the cars in the driveway. “It’s big, though. Especially for one person.”

  It would be a lot to maintain. And I knew from experience that when something went wrong with an older house, whatever that thing was tended to be a doozy. Still, it was a lovely house. And it had a nice ‘vibe’ to it. Warm, and content. Cozy. I could definitely see Andre living here, poring over Ouire by candlelight as he worked to master another trick or spell before a roaring fire.

  “It is,” Andre agreed. “But I have to admit, I’ve always rather wanted a big home.”

  I turned to face him and wished I hadn’t because the expression on his face was one I hadn’t seen before—wistful, nostalgic maybe. Kind and sweet. Thoughtful. “Oh?”

  He tucked his hands into the pockets of his slacks, a rueful smile tugging up one corner of his mouth. “When I was growing up, my family didn’t have much, I’m afraid. We weren’t destitute, but relatively poor. So, I suppose it was something of a dream to me, to have a large, sprawling home,” he continued as he glanced around himself, taking in every inch of the room around us and smiling. “Something just like this.” Then he brought his gaze to settle on mine. “And a family of my own to fill it.”

  The last comment was said so quietly, I wasn’t sure if I was meant to hear it or not.

  “And yet you’ve never settled down,” I said, trying to remind myself of the same.

  He nodded. “The life of a Magician is usually one on the move,” he answered. “Going wherever we feel we’re needed.”

  “And you’re sure that’s no longer the path for you?”

  He cocked his head to the side for a second or so before nodding. “Put it this way—I consulted everything I possibly could in search of this answer—from cards, to tea leaves, to meditation, to the stars, themselves. And each and every time I did, the answer was the same…”

  “Haven Hollow?”

  He nodded and that beautiful smile ghosted his lips again. “Haven Hollow.” After a second, his smile turned more relaxed. “Well, I think we should go and find Ivan.”

  The dragon was waiting in the kitchen, scowling out the windows. It was a different scowl than his welcoming scowl. This one he now wore had more wrinkles in the forehead area, and his dark brows were pulled down until they met over the bridge of his nose in a deep vee shape.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked, concerned.

  He made a guttural sound in his throat, and turned the collar of his coat up. “There’s a winter storm coming. I don’t enjoy the cold.” His voice was full of something very like disgust.

  Considering he was a giant lizard using magic to appear mostly human, I guessed I could understand. But, “There is?” I glanced out the window and up at the sky. The night was pretty clear, only a few wispy clouds scuttling across the moon. Certainly nothing that said ‘snow incoming’ to me or even rain. “How can you tell?”

  He shrugged a broad shoulder in my direction. “Nature spirits.”

  “Nature spirits?” Andre repeated, sounding surprised.

  Ivan nodded as he turned to face him. “Those close to the earth: sasquatch, faeries, shape shifters and the like, we have a sense for such things.” Then he faced me again. “You mark my words: by morning, there will be a hard frost.”

  “Hmm,” I answered.

  “Strange,” Ivan continued, frowning more than his usual downturned countenance.

  “Why is it strange?” I could believe that a dragon would know when the temperature would drop and the first snow of the season would fall, even if it was kind of early for that now. But I didn’t see what was strange about it getting cold in November. Haven Hollow was pretty much routinely cold.

  “It’s strange for the frost to come on so hard, when there are so many mushrooms sprouting all along the hills and valleys still.” He pointed out into the dark, his thick nail tapping briefly against the pane of glass.

  I stepped closer and squinted out into the night. At the edges of town, there weren’t a lot of street lamps, so it was mostly whatever light spilled out of the house and off the porch combined with the moonlight, but after letting my eyes adjust, I could see what Ivan was talking about.

  Out on the hills beside the farmhouse, mushrooms pushed up out of the dying grass. There were dozens of them, maybe even hundreds, lying on the shadowy hills like a field of stars. Trails of them stretched off into the distance, and once he’d pointed them out to me, I was kind of surprised I hadn’t noticed them as I was driving up to the house. They were so pale, creamy white against the brown grass, and they stuck out like a sore thumb in the milky moonlight.

  Something about them made unease slither up my spine. What was it that Bea had said about mushrooms? That they often showed up in the presence of faeries? She’d said fairies even grew them specifically so they could dance in circles of mushrooms in the spring. Was that why there were so many growing so late in the season? Was this a sign of more fae tricks?

  My mouth pressed into a thin line. The fae might consider this sort of stuff ‘pranks,’ but people were getting hurt, and no one was laughing. Businesses would be affected if we couldn’t keep milk and milk products from spoiling. And it wasn’t right that regular people had to suffer just because the fae decided they were offended by who knew what. What would their next idea of a ‘prank’ be? I’d read a Midsummer’s Night Dream in high school, and if people started showing up with donkey heads, we were going to have a serious problem.

  “So?” Ivan turned to face Andre. “What do you and your girlfriend think of it?”

  “Oh,” I started, my eyes going wide as I started to shake my head.

  Andre shot a big smile at me, before he turned to face Ivan. “We love it!”

  Chapter Twelve

  Fox Aspen arrived in Haven Hollow the next night.

  That was a relief.

  Bea had been worried that it might take a long time to get him here, what with it being Autumn and Fox having court duties he needed to oversee for the season. I wasn’t sure if the fact that he’d shown up so promptly was a good thing or a bad thing, though. If he came so quickly because he realized this was a serious problem and wanted to help us get to the bottom of it, then awesome. But if he’d appeared so fast because he just wanted to force Taliyah to talk to him, then we had a whole new vat of problems on our hands that I wasn’t looking forward to sorting through at all.

  Because I had enough problems of my own.

  I still had faith in the kind of man Fox was, so I was still holding out hope that he was here to help as best he could, and until I heard otherwise, then I’d keep believing.

  I probably would have been more relieved to see Fox, if I hadn’t walked into Hallowed Homes for the Council meeting, only to find him already having a fight with Taliyah in the lobby. And, as far as I could tell, everyone who worked here had already gone home so we’d have the place to ourselves. From the looks of it, I was the first to arrive for the meeting. As to where Fifi was? That was anyone’s guess.