Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Morning isn’t your time, is it,” Jenks said as I pushed open the door and winced at the clunking chimes. They were glowing in response to the lethal-magic-detection amulet on my key ring. It was either that, or the “help, I’m dead and can’t get up” ring Trent had given me last fall.

            I didn’t answer, figuring Jenks’s question was rhetorical. I’d been up less than an hour and felt it, having figured I’d get my coffee here. Big mistake. I’d forgotten Trent’s present, too.

            “Hey, Rachel,” Mark said from behind the counter, and I gave the witch a listless wave. He’d gotten the coffeehouse cheap after some nasties and I had trashed it. I think it had been the third time in as many years. “I’ve got your usual in the queue. Mr. Kalamack is in the back.”

            “Thank you,” I managed, but he was already talking to the next person in line. The shop was busy, noisy and warm with conversation and the scent of coffee. It was all tables in the middle, booths against the window, and tables with benches and chairs at the rear. The counter took up one entire wall, and the bathrooms and archway to the storeroom were tucked to the side. Mark had recently restaffed, and now he had Weres helping out in the morning, witches after noon, and even a living vampire crew after dark, when things really switched over.

            “Go. Sit,” Jenks said when I saw Trent with the girls. “I’ll get your coffee.”

            “Thank you,” I said again, my smile widening as Trent half stood, Lucy in his arms. Ray was in the kid’s chair drawn up to the table. He looked good in his golfing outfit, clean-shaven and sharp, and I wondered how I could have been so lucky.

            “Hi, Trent.” I gave him a kiss, taking Lucy almost in self-defense when the little girl flung herself at me. “Where’s Quen?” Lucy gave me a loud, little-girl kiss on the cheek, and I bent to give Ray a cuddle before settling across from Trent.

            “Hi, Aunt Rachel!” Lucy crowed, dramatically stretching to reach a cookie.

            “Quen is on the course doing his pre-event security check,” Trent said as he pushed the cookie closer, and Lucy took it with a sweet “Thank you, Daddy.”

            “Jenks?” Trent questioned, and I shrugged, slumping into the hard chair.

            “Scamming some honey from Mark?” I guessed as I set my purse beside me. “Do you want me to take your car? It’s easier to move your clubs than the car seats.”

            Lost in a sip of caramel latte, Trent bobbed his head. “Good idea,” he said when he came up for air, hand already searching a pocket for his key fob. His lips quirked, probably at the thought of arriving at the swanky club in my unassuming MINI. “I ordered a skinny demon for you. Venti. Good?”

            “Bless you,” I said, wondering how he had gotten his sooner than mine . . . but he might have told Mark to wait until I got here to make it.

            “How was your night?” he asked, his tone concerned. “Quiet?”

            “Very,” I said, seeing no need to tell him about burning my hand trying to get past Hodin’s door. “You?”

            He lifted a shoulder and let it drop. “I got through a handful of books looking for any mention of Möbius strips.” He hesitated. “Nothing. Rachel, if you have any doubt about the mage—”

            “Lucy, do you want a big pumpkin or a little one?” I said as I took Trent’s key fob.

            “Pony,” Ray said, her high voice utterly charming.

            “Big!” Lucy practically shouted, which I thought was funny. She had no idea what we were going to do with it, but she did know the value of big.

            “Pony,” Ray insisted, and I nodded, brushing the crumbs from her.

            “Big pumpkin and pony rides. Check.”

            Trent’s eyebrows rose. “You got a reservation? They were booked when I called.”

            Content, I slumped into my chair. Lucy had settled, and it was like holding love. “Jenks made them. He was up at the crack of dawn.” I cuddled Lucy as she ate her cookie. “So we get to ride the ponies,” I said, voice higher. “We have all morning before your dads meet us with a bucket of chicken at Eden Park.” I turned to Trent. “Right?”