The Lying, the Witch, and the Werewolf (Down & Dirty Supernatural Cleaning Services Book 4) Kate Quinn (read this if txt) 📖

“No, no, no,” I scream. “Give it back!”

Briefly I hear Nico’s voice, alarmed. “Paige?! Paige, what happened?!” Then the brush snaps in Shit’s strong jaws. He leaps out of the yurt, his new little friends hot on his heels. I rush outside but there’s no chance of catching the brood of toothbrush destroyers.

“Mother fucking little fucking fucks!” I shout after them.

“Paige?” someone asks and I whirl to find Seraphina standing next to me. She’s a mermaid who used to work at Charms, hiring out her high-dollar sexual services. She actually introduced me to the Together We Come Podcast when she suddenly left her place of employment and cited it as the reason.

“You’re here?!” she says and does a little jump.

I give her a hug. She looks great, her skin is moist and glistening, and her hair shines. “I was wondering if you’d be here but I didn’t see your name on the work roster,” I say, suddenly realizing it’s not just Vicky who wasn’t listed

“No, I work in the lab.” she closes her mouth sharply. “We’re not really supposed to talk about it. It’s sort of a secret project. We don’t want any leaks.”

A lab? Why the hell does a sex cult need a lab? Suddenly, I remember the look on Adorra’s face when Kama handed me the bar of chocolate. It was clearly not for just anyone, and I’d wondered if it was tainted with something, after Kama had said it would get my “jingles jangling.” What are they up to? It could be drugs.

I put myself out on a limb, leaning toward Seraphina.

“You mean the chocolate!?” I ask. “It’s okay. I know all about that.”

“Wait,” Seraphina’s face closes, suspicion clouding her eyes. “How did you become inner circle so fast?”

“Kama really took a shine to me, so while I am absolutely in the inner circle I’m kind of on the fringes of the circle...like, circle adjacent.”

She raises an eyebrow. She’s not buying it at all.

“I also know Vicky works with you in the lab,” I hazard.

Seraphina nods, some of her fears allayed, but she’s still got a little frown on her pouty lips when she says. “Well, I need to be going, but I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Sounds great!” I tell her with a big smile, realizing I may have just put my foot in my mouth. Hopefully Seraphina doesn’t go around checking out my story, or asks Vicky how she knows me. “Where comes one, so come we all,” I call to her back, hoping the stupid motto might buy me some benefit of the doubt.

Shit runs past me with the group of Dalmanthers, tossing me a wild-eyed grin as they kick up some dirt.

I decide to follow them; I need to explore. Cassie is nowhere to be seen and Seraphina definitely showed me her back as soon as she could.

I track the Dalmanthers’ trail through the woods, taking in some air. It’s nice to be out here in the middle of nowhere. No humans. No supes. Dodging little piles of crap left in the wake of a bizarre pack of paranormal animals.

Ugh. Who am I kidding? This lift out of my normal life isn’t exactly the restorative I’d been looking for.

The trail curves back in a circle, and I follow the turns, kicking at stray leaves and sticks as I do. Maybe if I made some kind of weird forest-doll for Kama she would let me in on whatever the deal is with the chocolate. I’m considering this when I come around the corner and spot the back of the big house, white pillars and wide porch peeking through the trees. It’s so peaceful, I could just stop and admire it…if it weren’t for two women arguing on the steps. I duck down as their voices reach me, and then gasp as recognition hits.

It’s Adorra…and she’s talking to a pretty redhead with a pixie haircut and five-hundred-dollar shoes.

Adorra is talking to Giselle.

16

“I really don’t have time to deal with you today,” Adorra tells Giselle, her voice carrying into the woods, where I crouch. “I just had orientation with two potential new members and one of them was a real piece of work.”

I grimace, pretty sure that Adorra is talking about me. So much for keeping a low profile.

“I’m sorry to intrude on your cult business,” Giselle snipes back. “But—”

“It’s not a cult. We’re an alternative lifestyle community,” Adorra corrects her, sounding genuinely put out.

That answers the question of whether or not Adorra is a true believer.

It’s too difficult to tell from this distance, but I’m pretty sure Giselle rolls her eyes at this. I can see that she attempts to toss her hair, but her new super short haircut no longer gives her that option. A better person probably wouldn’t take so much pleasure from knowing that her beautiful hair is sitting in a gift box in my bedroom, but if hating Giselle is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

“And I don’t need you checking in on me every day,” Adorra continues. “I know everything needs to be ready by Sunday afternoon for pickup. All the details are on my tablet, as I’ve told you many times before.”

“Well, I’m sorry if I don’t feel comfortable leaving all the details in the hands of a bunch of—”

“Careful,” Adorra warns Giselle, her voice hard.

Amazingly, Giselle backs down. Reaching out a hand to Adorra, she says in a wheedling voice, “I just need everything to go perfectly. If it doesn’t…”

“It will,” Adorra assures her. “I’m not doing this just for you, it’s for all of us.” She wraps both of her hands around Giselle’s. “We come together…”

Giselle jerks away. “Oh, God, not that crap again.”

Adorra is quiet for a moment and I’m pretty sure she’s giving Giselle the narrowed eye treatment that I got earlier. “You know, I bet you’d hit it off with that pain in the ass acolyte I had earlier today.”

Not likely, I want to tell her, but