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  William nodded up and down once as if to say yes, and Miranda took that as he would try, which was all the patient really ever had to do in any case. They continued through the hour and William left visibly happy, though Miranda could tell he was not as happy as he appeared.

  “Hey William,” she said, stopping him just before the door, “Remember, this is a process. We’ll get you better. I promise.” She smiled at him and he nodded and smiled back.

  “One month,” she stated as he walked out and she was pretty sure he said okay back.

  The rest of her day went on like this. Once all her patients had their one full hour evaluation, she took ten minutes between them to write down a quick outline of treatment and possible referrals. She even managed to find a couple who had no family anywhere or friends to miss them. And so started her vetting process of those she would play with and feast upon. Her standard new patient paperwork also included medical history and medications, so she knew, more or less, what she might be consuming. She pulled their files from the pile to take home. At some point, she did not know what time, she took a lunch break and so did her receptionist. This girl was okay, but Miranda was not terribly impressed. I need Shiloh or Chrissy for this. Preferably Shiloh because if Chrissy ever found out what I am she’d freak and disown me. So you’re not telling Chrissy? Well, I mean, I should, but how do you tell someone like Chrissy? “Oh, yeah, while I was saving your family, I was turned”? Because that will go over so well. But she does deserve to know. Yeah, you’re right. She does. I’ll invite her down for a week or so, just her and Jackson to get away. And then I’ll have Shiloh come down, with or without the family. Or the other way around. Either way, I need a new receptionist. This one is a damn bubble-head. I don’t want Shiloh’s littles to know anything, though. They’re too innocent to even be around me until I get that cure. Make no mistake, you two, I will find it.

  The day finished in a kind of blur and the next thing she knew it was time to head home. She tried very hard to accommodate patient’s needs but also to avoid the heavy traffic times of day. Some days she worked later than others; patients had jobs, after all, and were not always free during ‘normal business hours’ and Miranda was one of the few who actually cared enough to be that accommodating. She figured, at some point in time or to certain patients, she may even do phone availability, but that was a long way away.

  Her day was at its end and it was time to go home. She was out of packs to snack on anyway, so she would have left either way. Even her receptionist had gone home. Miranda was okay with that. She was paying the girl, after all, and overtime was not really a necessity. But Miranda knew she needed someone else and soon. On her way out of the office, she told her phone to call Shiloh. It rang five times and went to voicemail. Miranda sighed and resorted to the social messenger they used to talk. She asked Shiloh to call her as soon as she could and got into Night Chariot.

  The drive home was dull and boring. Traffic moved at a quicker-than-usual pace and every light she encountered was green, so she could not even people watch. Regardless, Miranda was happy to be headed home to get some background research done on the handful of patients she selected for playtime. She pulled into her driveway in almost record time—about fifteen minutes—parking in the garage and tossing the empty blood packs in their trash bag into the garbage bin. She entered the silent house and headed toward the kitchen and living room. Both cats were curled up on the couch, completely and totally asleep and unaware Miranda was even home. She smiled at how peaceful and happy they looked and knew she would be that full of peace and happiness as soon as she found her cure.

  She set her things down on the granite countertop, grabbed her favorite human drink of apple juice from the fridge, and sat down at the breakfast bar, watching the cats. Then her phone rang. Miranda jumped up and ran over to her purse, frantically searching for her phone before it stopped. She found it and answered just in time. It was Shiloh.

  Eleven

  Miranda answered the phone and chatted to catch up with Shiloh for a few minutes before getting to the real reason she called.

  “Shiloh, I want you as my receptionist.”

  “Whoa, you want what now? You’re crazy! I can’t just uproot my whole family like that!”

  “Look who’s jumping shark, now,” Miranda laughed, “Sillyass, bring the family down for a vacation to make sure everyone likes it here and can get jobs and the schools are right. You’ll stay with us, it’s not like we don’t have the room. And to be perfectly honest, I had such a large house built because I wanted the boys to have rooms, the littles their own . . . you get it. So? What do ya say?”

  “Oh. I don’t know . . .” Shiloh trailed off sounding unsure and confused. This was, after all, the first time her and Miranda had spoken since Miranda told her of her now werepire self.

  “Come on, Shiloh. I know you want to play in hurricanes,” she said tantalizingly.

  “Well, yeah, I do, but . . .”

  “But what? It’s just a vacation. If you don’t like it, no big deal, no hurt feelings. Plus, we’ve been talking about visits one way or another for years. Give me dates and I’ll book flights. Just one child on a lap, right?”

  “Miranda, I can’t let you do that.”

  “You can and you will. Look, I’ve had plenty of time to think about this. We can even hire a nanny for the littles until they’re old enough for school. You love- okay, I’m getting ahead of myself here. Just come down for a couple weeks and see what you think?”

  Shiloh let out a great sigh. She never had a problem saying no to anyone ever, but Miranda had a valid point about it being just a vacation and they had not seen each other in ten years or so.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll text you with dates and we’ll go from there.”

  “Shiloh, you know I freaking love you, right?”

  Shiloh laughed, “Yeah, I know.”

  “Give the kids kisses from me and I’ll talk to you soon!”

  “Will do. And, Miranda, don’t do anything stupid before I get there.”

  “Well, now that you mention it, I should probably tell you about Elisonde . . .”

  “Christ, Miranda! What did you do?”

  “Nothing! I just wanted a castle and it was a steal of a price, and well . . .”

  Miranda continued on, telling Shiloh every last detail of her and Teddy’s trip to England, to include the feelings she still had of being watched. Shiloh was not at all happy to hear any of it and did not want to be around when the final battle came. She almost took back her saying yes to even a vacation at this point, but did not, because she missed Miranda dearly and so did the kids.

  “Okay, I’ll text you later with dates and we can go from there. But know this: I’m not exactly thrilled about the kids living with you for a battle of fire and blood.”

  “Wait, you’re already considering the move? Really?”

  “Yeah, because you can’t be left unsupervised with this bitch running around and clearly following you. Are you nuts? Never mind, that was rhetorical.”

  They laughed together and said their goodbyes. Just as Miranda hung up, Teddy walked in from his day at work.

  “Hey babe, how was it? Like your new job?”

  “Hah! No, but I will once I own the place. I just need someone to run the day-to-day operations and I’ll be set. I like everyone who works there and the owner is a good dude, but he sucks at running the company.”

  “Oh. Well then. I’m sorry?”

  “No need to be sorry, babe, I either buy him out or start my own company.”

  “But . . . well . . .”

  “What?”

  “I just thought you wanted to do something else with your life, is all.”

  “Oh, I do, and I will. Just not right now. I gotta go through that training first.”

  “You’re already trained though. You have to go through more?�
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  “Actually, I don’t know. I’ll look it up after dinner. And what is for dinner?”

  “I haven’t gotten that far. I called Shiloh and asked, err, begged her to come work for me. I don’t love my receptionist and kinda need someone who knows what I am to replace her. So, Shiloh is bringing the family for a vacation and they’re gonna see if they even like it here before Shiloh makes a decision.”

  “Oh. Well okay then. I take it they’re staying with us? Wait, why did I even ask? I already know the answer.”

  Teddy walked to the refrigerator and opened both doors to start getting an idea of what he might want for dinner. Fruits, vegetables, and other odds and ends were Miranda’s specialties; she could make a killer meal from just three ingredients. He grabbed garlic, a red pepper, green pepper, and an orange pepper. When he set them on the counter, Miranda was impressed that he wanted fresh veggies in his dinner. Then Teddy walked to the pantry and came out bearing a bag of potatoes. Miranda laughed. They loved their carbs and if any dinner she cooked did not have potatoes, there was something wrong. Teddy went back to the fridge and grabbed a package of chicken breasts.

  “Whoa, whoa, there Ted. I am absolutely NOT cutting that chicken. You cut that and I’ll cut the rest. It’s been a long time since we tag-teamed dinner anyway.”

  “Sounds good to me. Now we just have to keep the cats off the damn counter while I shower.”

  “Yeah . . . I’ll just put it back in the fridge then,” Miranda laughed.

  Teddy went upstairs to take a shower. After all, this new job was a workout and he had sweat like a pig and Miranda could smell him. That made her sniff her own arms, considering she was part dog. I am not a damned dog! Jerk! I’m werewolf. Right, so you’re a dog. And I now smell like one. Good thing it didn’t rain today or I’d smell like wet dog, which makes me heave. Bastard. Why does this crap always happen to me? Because you’re special, Miranda. No one can fight like you. I beg to differ. I’m pretty sure if we were up against Chuck Norris, we’d be screwed. Miranda, you’re the jerk. And a fool, at that. No one, and we mean no one, can beat you. One day you’ll realize that. Whatever you two say. Anything on Elisonde yet? I’m growing impatient and with Shiloh and the family coming to visit, it makes me nervous. I don’t want those kids anywhere near that bitch. No, nothing yet, but we’ve got our feelers out. Fine, that works, just try to hurry it up if you can.

  Miranda cut the veggies and put them in a single container in the refrigerator while she waited for Teddy to come back down. This was one of their favorite joint activities they had not had an opportunity in years to enjoy, so when they could, they would do their best to bring some sense of normality back into their relationship. By the time Miranda sat on the couch to relax a bit, Teddy had finished his shower and come down. He took the chicken out of the fridge and began cutting while Miranda got herself stuck getting up off the couch. She laughed harder than she laughed in a long time. When she was finally up, she grabbed the olive oil from the pantry and added some to the pan she took out for making the stir-fry type dinner. Teddy cooked the chicken and Miranda finished the cooking with the vegetables. She then split the meal onto two plates and they sat at the table in the kitchen to have a nice meal together.

  “There’s something else we need to talk about,” Miranda started, “How do we go about finding my cure?”

  “Um, uh . . . I have no idea.”

  “Yeah, me either. Looks like I’ll have to call Chrissy to see who she might know who can help start the process, or, at the very least, put me in touch with someone who may know someone or something. I’ll call her tomorrow since my patient load is smaller. Oh! I’d like for you to go over these notes and tell me which ones you think would be good to have come to the home office for therapy and playtime. No, I’m not violating doctor/patient confidentiality, it’s just the notes, which are all nameless. Not even identification or patient numbers. There is no way for you to figure out who is who, period. Just review the notes and see if anything sticks out at you that would be appealing for them to be playthings. Honestly, they all seem that way, but I need a second set of eyes on the notes.”

  “And you’re sure you’re not breaking any rules or laws that could cost your reputation or certifications?”

  “Yes, so long as these notes don’t leave the house and you don’t go blabbing to anyone.”

  Teddy barely liked talking shop with Miranda about her job, let alone random conversations with anyone who was not his friend. He would not speak a word to anyone and Miranda knew it. This was only a smidgen of why they made a perfect team and their marriage had survived so much. They each respected the other and loved each other so much and always found a way to work through their problems.

  They continued to chat throughout the meal, Teddy talking about his job and how he liked some of his co-workers and what he knew about them. He talked so much he forgot to breathe and choked on a piece of pepper. When he got it unstuck and swallowed, he looked at Miranda who was doing a terrible job stifling her laughter. Teddy nodded, laughing himself, and Miranda burst out into fits of hysterical laughter. This was a frequent occurrence between them since one of them was always forgetting to breathe and choking on something or had hiccups.

  When they finished, Miranda cleared the empty dishes from the table, rinsed them off, and put them in the dishwasher along with the dirty pots and utensils. She set the delay after adding a detergent packet just as her phone started ringing.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, so you said to get back to you with dates. I’m thinking to come down for Thanksgiving break. The kids are off from that Wednesday through the following Tuesday. Does that work for you?”

  “Shiloh, are you serious? Anytime you want to come down, I’ll make it work. I own my practice, duh. Okay, get me checked bag counts and I’ll book the tickets for all of you.”

  “Oh, we’ll each have a checked bag and carry on and one lap child.”

  Miranda burst out into another fit of laughter.

  “Lap child. I love it! Oh, I started that, didn’t I? Okay, I’ll fire up the laptop and book your tickets and email them as soon as I get them. I’m so excited you’re coming! Why do I get the feeling you totally want to be my receptionist?”

  “Hah! Don’t get ahead of yourself. You know I hate the heat and humidity.”

  “A woman can hope her bestest friend would eventually say yes.”

  “Okay, so that’s that and I’ll talk to you soon. I gotta run, the baby is crying over God-only-knows-what now. Bye!”

  Miranda did not even get the chance to say bye before her phone beeped that the connection had been ended.

  Twelve

  Miranda, we’re hungry. When do we get to play again? I don’t know yet. Teddy is helping me review playtime candidates and Shiloh is coming down with the family soon, so it’s gotta be before or immediately after their visit. We’ve got enough—shit, that’s only a little over a month away. Whatever, we have time. Don’t freak out. I feel that watcher, any news yet? I’m seriously over this shit continually happening in my life! Guys, what do you have? Honestly? We know who it is but that’s as far as we’ve been able to get. Oh and she has a chimera. She has a freaking WHAT? Seven hells! Good thing both King Nightmare and Emperor Bête Noir rip throats out like us and are almost fully impervious to fire, making gargoyles natural dragon slayers. So who is she? Yeah, that’s the part you’re not gonna like. Just tell me already. Okay, okay. It’s that realtor, Elisonde. I’m sorry, say that again. We said—I heard you loud and flipping clear. Oh, that bitch. Okay guys. Now we choose the battleground. I can only imagine what she’s after me for. I’ve never met the woman before buying the castle! Werewolves. Ugh.

  Miranda was not sure if she was more shocked, irritated, or flat out angry that her watcher was Elisonde. This knowledge made her head spin, causing a migraine. She got up from her chair and went into her purse
for one of the pills the doctor prescribed her for such a purpose. Swallowing the thing was downright awful. It had a terrible taste she was unable to compare to anything other than medicine burps from strong antibiotics. Knowing the pill would take at least twenty minutes to start breaking down in her system, she grabbed her laptop and booked Shiloh’s flights and emailed the itineraries. No sooner than did she shut the laptop down was there a knock at the door.

  She grumbled all the way to the door, half asleep as her medicine started kicking in. She opened the door to see a smiling and quite excited Billy.

  “Hi Billy, what’s up?”

  “I see the gargoyles are here. I was driving by and, well . . .”

  “Billy, you can be honest here, were you driving by in the hopes they would be here so you’d get your chance to work with them?”

  “Well . . . Yes. Yes, I was. I hope you don’t think I’m creepy now,” he said lowering his head in no small amount of embarrassment.

  “Not at all! It’s nice to see someone as excited about them as I am! When would you like to start working with them, Billy?”

  “I’ll start now, if you don’t mind.”

  “Now is perfect! Just, please, don’t go making too much noise. I’ve got a migraine and my meds just kicked in, so I’m headed up to sleep it off. Is there anything you need before you start? Oh, and I’ll open the garage. There’s a fridge in there with some drinks and fruits if you get hungry or thirsty.”

  “No, Doc, I brought everything I need. I figure I’ll stay ‘til dark and if I need to, come back tomorrow to finish cleaning them.”

  “Billy, that sounds great! I can’t wait to see them when you’re finished! Oh! And the one on the right side, as you face the house, is King Nightmare. The one on the left is Emperor Bête Noir. They like it when you talk to them in soothing tones. I know it sounds silly since they’re just stone, but they seem to be sentient beings of sorts. Be good to them and they’ll be good to you.”