Magic Forged (Hall of Blood and Mercy #1)(18)

The baker—a plump middle-aged woman—smiled. “Welcome to Drake Hall!”

The chefs—a man and a woman who stood close enough together I was starting to assume they were an item—eyed me up and down.

“Are you any good at food prep?” the male chef asked.

Debra held a finger in the air. “I’m not handing her over just yet—she needs a tour of the hall. But I’m going to leave her here for a moment while I call housekeeping to confirm her room location. You’ll give her something to eat?”

The kitchen staff nodded.

Debra laid a hand on my arm. “Stay here, I won’t be but a few minutes.” She swept off, her heels clicking on the stone tiled floor.

One of the woman blood donors smiled at me and patted the counter. “Take a seat!”

“Thanks.” I padded across the kitchen, tiredly rubbing my eyes.

Some of the staff were staring at me, and it took me a moment to realize it was probably my fleece pajama pants and dirty, scratched up feet. (Or it could have been the hair. My blond hair was probably a rat’s nest by now.)

The realization didn’t come with the flush of embarrassment you would normally expect. I just didn’t care anymore—a product of the traumatic night I’d gone through. But I recognized that I wouldn’t gain anything by freaking these people out, and I was going to be stuck playing a long game if I ever hoped to kick out Mason, so I tried to smile.

“Long night?” the friendly blood donor asked.

“Yeah. Really long.” I plopped down two chairs from her, and my smile turned a little more genuine when the female chef slapped a plate down in front of me that held a ham sandwich almost as big as my head. “Thank you.”

She slightly pursed her lips as she studied me. “Hazel Medeis…of House Medeis?”

I cringed—I hadn’t expected humans to recognize my last name. “Yep.”

“So, you’re a wizard, then?”

I picked up the giant sandwich, trying to figure out what end was best to start with. “A weak one, but yeah.”

The chef nodded and folded her arms across her chest, seemingly satisfied. “I expect they hired you because of all the murders?”





Chapter Six





Hazel





I mentally repeated her question twice before I set my sandwich down in my confusion. “I’m sorry…what?”

“Playing dumb, hm?” the male blood donor said in a growly voice, though his toothy smile was warm. “Probably not a bad idea—if the sicko responsible doesn’t know you’re a wizard you can better protect us.”

“What’s the count up to now?” the dishwasher asked. He almost lost his black framed glasses in the suds when he peered into the depths of his sink.

“Have there been any new murders?” a kitchen assistant asked.

“Not since Nick’s death yesterday,” the female chef grimly said.

“He was a vampire from the Kotov Family,” the baker sighed. “Such a loss.”

“In Drake Hall we lost Wanda, Kevin, and a maid!” The other female blood donor, who had been staring at her plate this whole time, hotly declared. Her face was a little red and her eyes glassy with unshed tears. “They may be humans, but they still count!”

The male blood donor patted her hands. “The Drake Family will avenge them.”

“I heard Killian Drake himself is getting involved,” the male chef said. “That’s what last night’s meeting was for. And her, probably.” He nodded his head in my direction.

I had been puzzling through the conversation and steadily working away at my sandwich—I don’t know if it was because I was starving or if it was the magic of crispy bacon layered with ham and slightly melted cheese, but I swear it was the best sandwich ever. Unfortunately, when the talk finally worked back around to me, my mouth was full, and I almost choked on crumbs. “Really,” I said when I finally managed to swallow my food. “I have no idea what any of you are talking about. I pledged myself to the Drake Family because of a…situation. I’m not here to help with finding a murderer.”

The atmosphere in the kitchen dampened instantly.

“Oh.” The woman chef’s shoulders drooped.

“Wait a moment—you’re Hazel Medeis.” The baker paused in the middle of pressing a heart-shaped cookie cutter into the dough. “You’re the new House Medeis Adept.”

It seemed I hadn’t completely cleared my throat of all the crumbs, as it abruptly squeezed shut. “Yeah, that’s me.”

The baker eyed me. “Did they kick you out because you don’t have any power?”

“Martha!” the female chef snapped.

“It’s not a secret,” the baker argued. “I read about it when I was scanning the minutes of the latest Regional Committee of Magic to see what they said about the murders.”

The topic appeared to have safely returned to the murders given the winces around the room—though I got the feeling several of the staff were sending me thinly veiled looks of sympathy.

I wanted to take another bite of my sandwich—a crazed murderer running around was hardly noteworthy to me. Not since Mason had implied he was happy to murder my friends and family to get me to marry him, which pretty much topped the creepy meter for me. But if there was a psycho out to get the Drake Family—or vampires in general—given my recent luck it seemed like there was a good chance I’d blunder into him. So, it was probably best if I learned more.