Maudlin's Mayhem (Bewitching Bedlam #2)(6)

Anyway, those are dark thoughts for dark days. I met my best friends back then—Sandy, who went by Cassandra, and Fata Morgana, who was even more wild than I was.

After my Tom vanished, Sandy and Fata helped me hunt down and destroy the vampires who were feeding across the countryside. Then, finally, the fires I drove them out with ended up scorching my soul. After that, the three of us ran wild, partying, hanging with the satyrs and the nymphs. Finally, the madness dissipated and we moved on to new things and new lives. Fata disappeared into the mists, but Sandy and me? We stuck together, best friends forever.

Eventually, as the decades rolled by, Sandy moved to Bedlam and I moved to Seattle. Then, a few months ago, she persuaded me to move to the island. I’m now High Priestess of the Moonrise Coven, a duty I consider sacred.

So yeah, that’s my life. That and the Bewitching Bedlam. I bought the old mansion to rile my ex, but unexpectedly, I fell in love with it. And with its squatter—Aegis.

Now, Maddy the vampire hunter is in love with a vampire, and the proprietress of a fancy-schmancy bed-and-breakfast. And you know what? I’m happier than I’ve ever been.





“MADDY? MADDY!” SANDY bellowed out my name from the kitchen. I had invited her and Max—her new squeeze, a weretiger and the owner of a chain of clothing shops—over for dinner. Of course, that meant that I had placed a call to the best pizza joint in town and ordered four pizzas. I’d asked Sandy to pick up dessert on the way over. She carried in two cheesecakes—one New York–style cheesecake with raspberry topping, and one chocolate cheesecake.

“What?” I glanced up at the clock. It was almost six-ten. Aegis would be getting up soon.

“I can’t find the pizza cutter!”

“Be right there!” I glanced over the shopping list one more time. Thornton was going shopping the next day and I wanted to make sure that everything Aegis had asked for was on there.

Thornton had checked out. Even with the gap in his employment history, I had taken a chance and hired him the day after the interview. Now, I couldn’t imagine what I’d do without him. He was one hell of a housecleaner, and he had taken the inn in hand and not only was he keeping it in tiptop shape, but he had compiled a list of necessary repairs. He had been working for us for about a week, and already, Aegis and I had come to rely on him more than we wanted to admit.

I put down my pen and hustled out of my office to join Sandy and Max. As I entered the kitchen, I caught them kissing.

“Max and Sandy, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” I laughed as they broke apart.

Sandy had met Max during the week after New Year’s. They had had a rather harrowing experience together, even as I had been trapped by an avalanche. But our misguided vacations hadn’t been in vain. The time had brought Aegis and me closer together, and Max and Sandy had found one another. They fit together in a way that I had never seen Sandy fit with anybody else.

Max winked at me. He was a little shorter than Aegis, but he had wavy hair the color of wheat and his eyes were the color of dark soil. A scar ran down the side of Max’s face. I hadn’t asked him where he got it, and so far, he hadn’t volunteered the information. He routinely dressed in designer wear. Sandy, on the other hand, was wearing her usual yoga pants and crop top—she was lean and toned, as blond as the morning sun, and as rich as Max appeared to be.

“Don’t bother us, woman, we’re busy.”

“Yeah, well, get busy in a room, you two. No fornicating on my kitchen floor.” I winked at them. I motioned for Sandy to move aside. She was searching in the baking drawer for the pizza cutter. “That’s the wrong drawer. That’s the baking drawer. The pizza cutter is with serving pieces.”

“You have a baking drawer?” Sandy stared at me like I was out of my mind. “Since when?”

“Since Aegis. You know how much he likes to bake. I finally caved and let him arrange the kitchen the way he likes, since he does most of the actual cooking. We have a baking drawer, and a serving drawer, and a stirring drawer, and a cupboard for bake ware, and a cupboard for stemware—not the good crystal, which I keep in the china hutch. I told him he had free rein as long as I get to arrange the bar.”

Sandy laughed. “That makes sense. You lucked out, you know. Since you refuse to hire a cook, landing Aegis is the next best thing. The man makes a mean brownie.”

“As long as his red velvet cakes don’t have blood in them, I’m good.” I opened a bottle of merlot and poured out four glasses.

“I still can’t get over the fact that vampires can eat and drink. I never knew that before.” Max was slowly getting used to hanging around Aegis. They didn’t have a lot in common, but they were polite and kept searching for something to share.

“Yes, but they never gain weight, and the food and booze don’t give them any energy. They need blood to actually recharge. Without enough blood, they’ll go into their predatory phase, and if they’re starved long enough, they’ll slip into a form of hibernation.”

Max paused, then softly said, “Sandy’s told me a little about your background. If I’m not being presumptuous, how does it feel to go from vampire hunter to…”

“To being the lover of a vampire?” The question was highly personal, but by now I was used to Max and he didn’t offend me. While it wasn’t something most strangers would be comfortable asking, I understood the curiosity, and I didn’t mind talking about it to the weretiger.