Maudlin's Mayhem (Bewitching Bedlam #2)(27)

That didn’t help any, and the waterworks really did start to flow. I hung my head. As he handed me a tissue, I blew my nose and dried my tears. Thank gods for waterproof eye makeup.

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“Jordan, please.” He paused, then said, “I don’t mean to be forward and this isn’t the right place or time, but…the vampire who was in your kitchen. Are you and he…”

“Dating? Yes, we are.” I smiled at him.

He flashed me a rueful smile. “I thought as much, but it never hurts to ask. All right, Maddy, I have patients to see. But I’ll take care of Bubba and do my best to figure out what’s wrong.”

“Thank you. He’s my sweetie and I can’t bear to think of what might…” I stopped as the tears threatened again. “Thank you. I’ll call you later today.”

As I headed out the door, I thought that Jordan Farrows was one heck of a nice guy.





I STOPPED BY Auntie Tautau’s but she wasn’t at home. Or she wasn’t answering her door. Either way, I left a note for her and then sat in my car, trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. Finally, I headed to the credit union.

“Have you figured out who stole my money and when you’re going to replace it?” I asked Emily Chambers as soon as I walked through the door. She happened to be standing by a teller’s station.

She jumped—apparently she hadn’t seen me enter—and turned around. Her face fell as soon as she saw who was talking. “Ms. Gallowglass, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you enter. Please, follow me.” With a swish of her pencil skirt, she led me back to her office.

I slumped in the chair across from hers and rested my hands on the arms, crossing my legs. I wasn’t in any mood to be brushed off. “Did the sheriff visit you this morning?”

Her eyes narrowed, but she pasted a smile on her lips. “Why, yes, thank you for contacting her. I was going to talk to her after I talked to the FBI, but that saved me the call.”

“You do know that I’m the High Priestess of the Moonrise Coven, right? So I need access to my funds.” The two really had nothing to do with one another but it didn’t hurt to let her know that I really didn’t appreciate being shunted around and that I had more pull than she wanted to know about.

She cleared her throat. “The sheriff made that clear, yes. And I’m happy to tell you that we’ve made your funds available again. Because your account was compromised, however, we created a new account for you. I hope that’s acceptable. We called Mrs. Periwinkle about the check and she apologized. She wired the money.” She sorted through her desk and handed me a packet of information. “You’ll have new debit cards within five days.”

“Good.” I took the sheaf of papers. “And you might add this check to the account, please?” I scribbled my signature on the back of Aegis’s check and handed it to her.

She glanced at the amount, then stared at me for a moment. “Aegis is one of our biggest account holders.” It was a question without being poised as a question.

“Yes, and he’s also my boyfriend.”

That put things into motion. She swung out from behind her desk. “I’ll be right back with your receipt.”

Well, one problem solved, thanks to Delia. I contemplated cashing out my account and going to another bank, but truth was, they were all about the same. Sticklers for rules and regulations, and the customer always seemed to be the last in line for services. By the time she came back and handed me the receipt, I was ready to go.

“I want to be informed if you figure out just who wormed their way into my account. Thank you, Ms. Chambers. You know where to reach me.” I didn’t wait for her reply but strode out of her office and out of the bank.





I WAS AT loose ends as I returned to my car. Sandy was busy. Aegis was asleep. We didn’t have any guests to attend to. Bubba was in stasis. As I reached for the door handle, I glanced up at the sky. No rain today, but it was overcast and cool—forty-five degrees. I thought about taking a walk, or going out to the beach, and finally decided on the latter. I could use a dose of water energy. I ran fire, and occasionally when the blaze grew too bright, there was nothing like a trip to the beach to calm me down. Now, feeling as melancholy as I was, it seemed like the perfect place to sit and think and try to figure out what the hell was happening.

I drove across the island to the Enchanted Sands park—a county park that was open dawn till dusk with a few camping spaces for those who reserved them in advance, and once again found my thoughts returning to Bubba. As I had told the doctor, he had been with me since 1687. I had saved him from a fire, and it was because of my own fire that I had been able to carry him to safety. He had been so young, and so frightened.

As I pulled into the parking lot and turned off the ignition, I closed my eyes, returning to that time when Bubba and I had first found one another, and saved each other’s lives.





I HAD BEEN on my way to visit one of the Aunties. There was one living in a small village near our home, and while my mother hated her and warned me never to go near her, I had secretly formed a friendship with the crone, sneaking over to visit as often as I could.

The week had been rough. I was staying at home again for a while, in between runs with Tom, Sandy, and Fata, and it wore on my nerves. My mother was berating my father, again, and I had lost my temper with her, again. It was after he had been attacked by wild dogs, before he had managed to get a job with the Society Magicka.