“He’s got plenty of emotion,” Ulric whispered, back to focusing on a sobbing Edgar.
“He’s downright hysterical. What is the meaning of this, Edgar?” Mr. Tom demanded.
“We’ve been robbed, I tell you.” Edgar grabbed Mr. Tom by the lapels and started to drag him toward the back door to go outside to check out the cause of his hysteria.
“Unhand me, vampire! This is a freshly pressed suit.” Mr. Tom struggled out of his grasp.
Outside, following a wailing vampire, we finally caught sight of what had been stolen.
The whole back garden, from one end of the house to the other, had been picked clean of Edgar’s award-winning flowers. Petals littered the ground, like the blood of the lost. The perfume of their crushed bodies, having met their end within the basajaun’s teeth, still lingered in the air.
It belatedly occurred to me that I should’ve given Edgar a heads-up as to what was coming. Thankfully, he hadn’t been outside and tried to stop the creature.
“Oh, for heaven’s sakes, they’re just flowers.” Mr. Tom scoffed.
Edgar brought himself up to his full height, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight. “How dare you!”
“Sorry, buddy,” I said, this time breaking down and patting Edgar’s shoulder. I regretted it almost immediately. He felt like a bunch of sticks tied together with twine and overlaid with a rubbery mat. I definitely should’ve made an exception for Edgar when I made the call on the age thing. “Let’s go look at your doilies and I’ll explain everything. I’ll help you fix it, okay? I’ll put a couple of doilies in the house, even.”
“No, you most certainly will not.” Mr. Tom stomped after us. “Don’t give in to this display, miss, it’ll just encourage him.”
“This is my life now,” I heard Ulric say as he followed us. “I hope my mom never visits, because I have no idea how I’d explain this part.”
I had to agree with that. I sincerely hoped my parents didn’t get a wild hair to visit, either. That would be some mess.
It wasn’t until the small hours of the morning that I made it to my bedroom. Mr. Tom followed me up shortly thereafter with a steaming cup of tea.
“There now, miss.” He set the tea tray down, a black envelope resting on the outside lip. “That was nice of you to console Edgar, but really, you shouldn’t trouble yourself too much. That vampire has long since gone Froot Loops. It’s best not to get too involved in his lunacy.”
He was one to talk.
I leaned back tiredly, the buzz from earlier having worn away. “I should’ve warned him that I’d traded away his favorite hobby. Poor guy will have to start over. What’s that?” I pointed at the envelope.
“Oh. This came for you an hour ago.” Mr. Tom handed it over before preparing some cheese slices on a plate.
An interesting sort of red seal stuck the flap down, though I couldn’t quite make out the design. A cream card waited on the inside, and in a lovely delicate hand was written:My dearest Jacinta,
Congratulations on acquiring your wings. What a triumph! I look forward to seeing for myself.
Sadly, it seems I have underestimated your polar bear alpha, or I might’ve already had the pleasure. How shortsighted of me. I must say, I am half delighted someone has been able to surprise me. It has been so long since that has been the case.
I assure you, however…it will not happen again.
Until we meet, I shall think of you fondly.
— Elliot GravesI stared at it for a long moment before handing it to Mr. Tom and sending him away so I could change for bed. So Elliot Graves, Mr. Magical Mob Boss, was the one who had posted the contract. This didn’t necessarily mean he was the man in black who’d waited for me outside of Ivy House a couple of months ago, but it certainly suggested it.
Life was about to get even more interesting.. ~ . ~ . ~ .