“It’s Mallory.” I opened the door to find a half-naked Alex rolling off the futon he used for emergency kip.
A lot of naked chest, but more interesting—that naked chest was covered in tattoos. Symbols, not pictures. And maybe letters? I leaned closer—
“What do you want?” He snatched a T-shirt off the side table and pulled it over his head. I got a glimpse of his shoulders and back, also covered with tats.
And, most interesting of all, the T-shirt he’d thrown on covered every single bit of ink.
“Ah, my client woke up next to a dead body. Any chance you could help a girl out?”
It said a lot about our relationship that he didn’t look terribly surprised. “I need fifteen minutes.”
“Perfect. You’re a complete doll.”
He spared me a quick glare before disappearing into the bathroom. The door closed with a loud, firm click.
I did know how important his sleep was to him. That was one half of the secret we shared. The spirits—or demons or elementals; he hadn’t really explained the difference—messed with him when he wasn’t a hundred percent. As a result, Alex was a bit of a health nut. How exactly they messed with him, I didn’t know. We hadn’t shared quite that much.
Which led to the other half of the secret. Alex hadn’t exactly shared that information. I’d seen one of the little nasties clinging to his back in the middle of the night. Apparently, sleep deprivation wasn’t good for staving off the nasty critters.
Alex cracked the door, and I could hear water running. “Who’s your client?”
I scrunched up my nose and hoped for the best. “Gladys Pepperman.”
His groan was loud enough that I heard it over the running water. I waited—then let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t say anything.
Alex poked his head out of the bathroom. “Aren’t you supposed to be in orientation?”
I shrugged.
“Did you even go?”
“I went. I can even tell you where all of the bathrooms are.”
He stuck his head out again, but this time he was brushing his teeth, so he shot me an exasperated look. “So you pee now?”
“None of your business. A woman—vamp or otherwise—is allowed to retain a little mystery about personal habits.”
“That’s a no, then?”
I shifted the large orientation binder from one arm to the other. “That’s a no. Hey, I don’t suppose theft of orientation materials is one of those crimes that leads to swift execution by hanging?”
Something clattered in the bathroom and Alex swore.
“You okay in there?”
“Yes.” And not long after, he exited looking brighter-eyed—and wearing a small piece of toilet tissue on his jaw. “You will not be hung for stealing orientation materials. But bring them back. There’s some sensitive information inside.”
“And no witchy protection spells that do something nasty—like soak me in dye or make me smell funky—when I cross the headquarters threshold?”
“No, but it’s a thought if we keep getting made Society members like you.”
Made versus born. Such a bizarre prejudice, but groups would hyper-focus on the differences. Alex was born, naturally.
“Oh.” I pulled up the picture on my phone as he locked his office. “This is the guy.”
He glanced at my phone, then closed his eyes. When he opened them, he snatched my phone and examined the picture more closely.
“This is the CEO of the Society.”
“No.” I knew that guy, and this wasn’t that guy. “Cornelius has a beard. And he’s shorter, stockier.”
“Cornelius is the chief security officer. This is the chief executive officer.”
“Oh.” I thought about it. “Uh-oh.”
Alex ran his hand through his hair. “Uh-oh is a massive understatement.”
The Client’s Conundrum is available for sale now, releasing October 27, 2016.
BONUS CONTENT
Bonus Content
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ALSO BY CATE LAWLEY
THE GOODE WITCH MATCHMAKER
Timely Love
Ghostly Love
Deathly Love
Forgotten Love
The Goode Witch Matchmaker Collection
VEGAN VAMP
Adventures of a Vegan Vamp
The Client’s Conundrum
The Elvis Enigma
Writing as Kate Baray
LOST LIBRARY
Lost Library
Spirited Legacy
Lost Library Collection: Books 1-3
Witch’s Diary
Lost Library Shorts Collection
The Covered Mirror: A Lost Library Halloween Short
Krampus Gone Wild: A Lost Library Christmas Short
SPIRELLI PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS
Season One: Episodes 1-6
Writing as K.D. Baray
BEAUREGARD
Mistaken: A Seth Beauregard Short
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cate Lawley is the pen name for Kate Baray's sweet romances and cozy mysteries, including The Goode Witch Matchmaker and Vegan Vamp series. When she's not tapping away at her keyboard or in deep contemplation of her next fanciful writing project, she's sweeping up hairy dust bunnies and watching British mysteries with her pointers and hounds.
Cate also writes urban and paranormal fantasy as Kate Baray and thrillers as K.D. Baray.
For more information:
@KateBarayAuthor
katebaray
www.catelawley.com
cate@catelawley.com
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Bonus Content
Prologue
1. The Night I Died a Little
2. The Flu
3. How Am I Alive?
5. Mother Knows (Me) Best
6. Rats vs. the Flu
7. Getting a Life
8. Not a Pimple in Sight
9. My First Real Vampire Ever
10. Farewell, Mrs. Arbuthnot
11. Not Breaking, Definitely Entering
12. Vampire Tears and Crocodile Smiles
13. Silent Corpse, Chatty Spirits
14. Paranoia and the Inquisition
15. Ratodile
16. Pushing the Baggage…Into a Black Hole
17. My First Sleepover…Basically
18. My First Magic Sword Ever
19. A Girl and Her Sword Are Never Parted
20. One of These Is Not Like the Others
21. Barefoot Hero
22. Life Sucks? Get a Life Coach
The Client’s Conundrum (Vegan Vamp #2) Preview
Bonus Content
Also by Cate Lawley
About the Author