Free One More Bite by Jennifer Rardin Page A

up space by the door we’d just entered, and an oven stood by the second exit, the window above it overlooking the backyard.

    After supplying the dog with his supper, I checked the fridge and found it packed with leftovers and bottled drinks. As I helped myself to a couple of waters, I noticed Jack had deserted his Iams to sniff at the spotless white stove.

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    “Whatcha got there, pal? Something fall out of a casserole dish that you need to sample?” I opened the door only enough to get a look, since I could imagine him shoving his whole face in and licking charred grossness off its floor. He didn’t even try. Just looked up at me as I tried to decide why Floraidh would store a bowl full of ashes on its bottom shelf.

    It’s probably just burned hickory. Maybe she flavors roasts that way, I told myself as Jack trotted back to his dinner. If it had been any other B and B I’d have left the bowl alone. Since it was Tearlach I pulled it out and set it on the counter.

    Time to check for unscheduled interruptions. All I could see out the window was an herb garden leading to a stretch of deep green lawn and a stone barn with red doors and matching roof, all of it backed by a thick, spooky forest called Culloden Wood. So I tiptoed to the lounge. Yup, the Scidairans stood out front with Vayl and Cole, who seemed to be deep into their sales pitch. Albert had decided that meant he was dismissed and turned to come inside.

    I rushed back to the kitchen, put a finger to my lips when Jack looked up at me in surprise. As he shoved his nose back in his food I returned to the ash bowl. Okay, I’ll play archaeologist. But only for a minute. I found the silverware drawer on the third try. Used a spoon to sift through. Because not everything burns when . . . yup. There it was. A human tooth.

    Fuck!

    The thoughts hit me simultaneously. I’m scooping through human remains like they’re freaking Raisin Bran! And. I have to put them back where I found them. I hated the idea of not rescuing them, giving them a proper burial, or at least scattering them somewhere so the coven couldn’t use them for their obscene little rituals. But that would so blow my cover.

    I found a Baggie in another drawer, deposited the tooth, some ashes, and the spoon, stuffed it in my jacket pocket and returned the bowl to the stove. Albert had stumped upstairs by now. And since Jack had nearly finished his grub, I grabbed a banana and an apple out of the fruit bowl.

    “We need to go,” I said, reaching for the leash. I didn’t have a lot of free minutes. Cole and Vayl would convince Floraidh to allow them to set up the equipment, and one of them would keep an eye on her while the other worked. That just gave me time to call a courier for my gruesome find and run the names of the guests through the Agency’s database. Then it’d be my turn to shadow her.

    This sucks! There’s human ashes in the oven. I’m fetching food for my dad like the Tearlach bellboy. A Cach">

    I tried to console myself with the memory of how my brother had come up with the idea of escaping Samos’s trap. How we’d turned his magic against him and ultimately watched him die. He is dead. And you’ll only have to protect his former ally until you find Bea. Or maybe till you figure out who’s in the bowl. It wouldn’t be the first time Pete changed his orders midmission.

    My mood lifted suddenly, and as he often did, Jack took note with a curious look and a pricking of his ears. “Come on, dog. Let’s go feed the gorilla.”

    We ran upstairs. Our doors stood in a row, Vayl’s at the head of the steps, mine next, and Cole’s last, with a sauna-sized shared bathroom across the hall. Cole had agreed to room with Albert, so I strode to the door with the little basket of fake daisies nailed to it and the numbers 203
    painted in bright red underneath.

    “How pissed is he gonna be