The Mirror (The Lost Bride Trilogy #2)

“He’s got something.” Trey crouched down, and after a short tug, took the scrap of black fabric from Jones. “Son of a bitch.” He looked up at Owen. “This has to be from her dress. He tore off a piece of her dress.”

“Good man, Jones. You fucking maniac.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here. The women are either going to be pissed or frantic. Probably both.”

“Yeah, well, what was I supposed to do? Nobody messes with Jones.”

Trey opened the door.

Sonya and Cleo stood, hands clasped, with a smoking cone in Cleo’s other hand. The two dogs and the cat sat calmly enough. Then Mookie rushed him, wagging and whining.

“Fine. We’re all fine. Sorry, but—”

“You didn’t have a choice,” Sonya finished, and glanced at Owen. “Neither of you. I’d have done the same if it had been Yoda, Cleo.”

She held herself back from embracing Trey in desperate relief. “Owen’s bleeding.”

“Sucker punch.” He shrugged. “Not my first or last bloody nose.”

“Bathroom there. Go clean it up,” Cleo said. “Do you need help with that?”

“No, I got it.”

“I need to go check dinner.”

“How long were we in there?”

“Forever.” Now Sonya did put her arms around Trey. “But really probably not five minutes. Let’s all go and talk downstairs.”

But she walked to the bathroom door first. “If you go in there again, I’ll punch you myself.”

“Well, that’s terrifying.” Leaning over the sink, Owen pinched his nose. “She’s done for now. Me, too. I want another beer.”

Satisfied, Sonya joined the others. All but Jones, who sat at Owen’s feet at the sink, headed down.

“We’ll wait for him to talk it through. I caught a glimpse of her in there, but he got more. And I think they had what passes for a conversation.”

Cleo stopped in her studio to tap out the smudge stick.

“What is that?”

“White sage,” she told him. “From my grand-mère.”

“Works against negativity,” Sonya added.

“Okay. It was definitely negative in there. I broke my word to you.”

“I meant it when I said I’d have done the same. You said you had to, and you did. Plus, you didn’t really break your word. You didn’t open the door. Except from the inside to come out, and that’s different.”

Sonya added, “I want a really big glass of wine.”

They moved straight to the kitchen, where Cleo lifted the lid and stirred.

“I’m going to feed the dogs, and the cat. Got cat food?” Trey asked Cleo.

“Of course. And only the best for Pye.”

She replaced the lid, got out a can while Trey filled dog bowls, and Sonya got out two beers before topping off the wine.