Bombshell (Monstrous Ink #2)

Epilogue

Two weeks later…

“Alexander, you can’t just test potions in the apartment whenever you want,” I told him as I stared at the mess that my father had made of my old home. I’d moved everything down into the Grotto, so Alexander had been using it as his workspace.

Our new resident ink and tattoo equipment enchanter left a lot to be desired.

After he had indeed been fired and booted from the mayor’s mansion and his coven Alexander was definitely going through some things. I wasn’t sure if it could be called a midlife crisis, but that was the only way I could describe the man in front of me right now.

“It wasn’t meant to explode, Euphemia,” Alexander told me, his hair standing on end from the residual magic still hovering in the room. His fashion sense had also taken a hit ever since he moved into one of the apartments above the Dive. The man was currently wearing board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt that looked like it desperately needed a wash. Long gone were the tailored suits and snobby expressions that had been a staple of my childhood and in their place was, well, a beach bum.

“Yes, but you didn’t and haven’t been taking my magic into account at all so of course shit’s going to explode,” I grumbled with frustration. “Can’t you do all of your potions things in the apartment that you live in?”

“Well I am here enchanting everything you ask of me, Euphemia. Besides, I want to be closer to you so we can make up for lost time.”

That was another thing that was different about Alexander Finch since that day in the cave.

Gone was the emotionally constipated father-figure who could barely crack a smile at me and in his place was this stranger who was now grinning at me like the sun shined out of my ass.

I was a little worried that the rock he took to the head that day in the cave had scrambled his brains like an egg. That or he’d been abducted by aliens and there was a pod person standing in front of me. I wasn’t sure which answer made the most sense.

But that would also mean that the rest of the residents of Port Haven must have also taken a rock to the dome because they were treating me completely differently than before. One day I was the weird half-breed that people avoided and the next I was the savior of Port Haven. People actually smiled at me when I walked around town.

It was terrifying not to mention really fucking annoying.

All of this fatherly love was starting to give me a headache and I rubbed at my temples as I finally gave in. “ Fine , but no more explosions and remember that there is an actual business being run downstairs. Dallan nearly messed up a script tattoo on a leprechaun, the word luck very nearly turned into something much more profane.”

Alexander’s smile was easy as he laughed. “I’m sure he wouldn’t have minded. Never in all my years have I met a species with such a high propensity for cursing than leprechauns.”

I gaped at him and realized that I needed to get the hell out of here before I lost my damned mind just like Alexander seemed to have.

“No more explosions,” I told him, pointing two fingers at him before pointing them at my own eyes, a silent gesture to tell him I was watching him.

Alexander held up his hands in surrender. “No more explosions, cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Don’t do that either,” I said, yanking the door to the apartment open and heading down the stairs to the lobby.

“I swear,” I said to Daphne, looking at the tablet in my hand as I approached. “Our schedule is so full today that if that man makes one more explosion I’m going to take Dallan up on his offer to throw him into the ocean.”

“Effie…” Daphne said, but I was barely listening as I continued my tirade about my father.

“You’d think he’d be more careful since, y’know, we’re paying him, and even if his salary is complete shit compared to what Arsenio was paying him it’s not like he actually needs the money the man has been squirreling it away for centuries—”

“Effie!” Daphne cut me off.

I glanced up at her with a frown. “What Daph? Can’t you see that I’m venting about the overly cheerful man dressed in a Hawaiian shirt upstairs?”

Daphne just rolled her eyes at me. “And I would let you continue if it weren’t for our guest.”

“Guest? What guest? A client?”

Had one of our clients come early? Because I swear that was going to be my last straw for the day.

Sourcie materialized on my shoulder. “Effie, maybe if you looked with your eyes instead of filling the air with your incessant talking you would know what Daphne was talking about.”

She pointed her tiny hand and I followed it until my eyes landed on a very thin, very tired looking Odette sitting in one of the lobby chairs.

“She said she wouldn’t talk to anyone but you,” Daphne whispered. “I didn’t think faeries were capable of looking that run down.”

Neither did I. Odette looked, in a word, rough. Dark smudges sat heavy underneath blue eyes that suddenly shifted over to me and brightened.

“Effie!” Odette hopped up from her seat and abandoned the large suitcase next to her in favor of throwing her arms around me.

“Hey…” I said, wrapping her in a hug. “I’ve been worried about you, what are you doing here?”

I glanced around, half-expecting Arsenio to be peeking in through the windows of the shop.

Arsenio can’t come within a mile of the Wharf, Sourcie whispered in my mind. I made sure of that.

Have you been using my magic when I’m sleeping again? I asked dryly. I wondered why I’ve been feeling so tired lately .

Sourcie had a nasty habit of using my magic without permission. At this point I wasn’t sure who was the witch and who was the familiar.

I was just fixing a hole in the barrier and the idea came to me… and isn’t it better that he can’t come near us?

We’re going to have a serious discussion about this later, I told her before turning my attention back to Odette.

Okay, but only after I finish season one of The OC tonight, I have to find out what happens with Ryan and his maybe-baby, Sourcie sang before disappearing in a green poof of smoke. The tiny woman had become addicted to early 2000s TV shows and spent most of her time hogging the TV downstairs and making it hard for Dallan to watch his football.

There had been many arguments over the past few weeks as the pre-season kicked off and if I heard any more of their squabbling I was about to throw the entire flatscreen out into the ocean.

“I ran away,” Odette said proudly as she pulled away from me.

“You ran away?” I asked, dumbfounded by her words .

“I did. If Daddy can’t see that what he did is wrong on so many levels, then I can’t be his daughter anymore. So, can I stay with you? I want to learn how to tattoo people!”

That was so much information in such few words that I stared at her blankly for a moment.

“Uh…” I trailed off, my brain trying to figure out the logistics of the mayor’s runaway daughter coming to stay in our shop without Arsenio burning the entire Wharf down—oh, and apparently have someone teach her how to tattoo someone in the process.

“Of course you can stay with us,” Dallan’s voice made everyone in the room turn to where he was standing in the doorway that led back to the artist’s suites. “You can take the apartment upstairs.”

Two birds with one stone, Lass, Dallan said in my mind. You get to help your friend and I get Alexander Finch and his damned explosions out of my shop .

Odette squealed, looking excited despite her ragged appearance. “Thank you, Dallan, you’re my new favorite! I’ve never had my own apartment before!”

Odette ran to grab her suitcase and hurried up the stairs.

“What are you doing here, Odette?” I heard my father say as the apartment door slammed shut behind our new tenant.

“Well,” Daphne said from her place behind the front desk. “It looks like things are going to get even livelier from now on.”

I groaned. “And here I thought things were going to finally calm down. ”

Dallan laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“My love, you are kidding yourself if you think things are ever going to calm down in this shop. I’m afraid our little family is a magnet for drama.”

“Can we at least hope that it will chill out until Daphne pops out my very cute niece or nephew?”

“Niece,” Daphne corrected me like she always did, not looking up from her computer. “And I hope so too. The only drama I want to deal with is my swollen ankles and Cash constantly getting the wrong ice cream.”

“Dragonfly, how was I supposed to know you wanted pistachio ice cream without the nuts?” Cash’s voice floated in from down the hallway.

“We’re not getting into this again, Cash,” Daphne responded over her shoulder. “And you’ve got a two o’clock appointment coming in fifteen minutes.”

There was a pause. “... I love you.”

Daphne just grinned. “I love you too.”

Dallan pressed his mouth to my ear. “See, Lass? That’s a compromise, now can we talk about the way you’ve organized the kitchen.”

“No,” I told him simply, grabbing his chin and giving him a quick kiss.

The shop shook with another explosion and a yelp as something crashed down the hall .

“What the fuck?” I heard Byrne growl from his suite. “What the fuck are you doing up there and why has a faerie just crashed through the ceiling?”

“Sorry!” Alexander called.

“I can’t work like this!” Fiero shouted, adding into the chaos that the shop was descending into.

And as if all of that wasn’t enough? The shop bell tinkled as the door opened and the werewolf who had an appointment to get his tongue pierced stepped inside.

I looked at Dallan. “You take the client and I’ll handle the hole in the ceiling?”

Dallan sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to let Byrne borrow my suite…”

I grinned and hurried for the stairs to figure out just what had made Odette fall through the floor.

“I love you!” I called over my shoulder.

I love you more, Lass, Dallan whispered in my mind as he turned to greet the customer.

And so, another day at Monstrous Ink started, quite literally, with a bang.