Page 110 of Demon and the Raven

“Did you talk to him at all today? I asked Lorne.

“No. I’ve been trying for hours, but it keeps going straight to voice mail. You know, I feel so bad for Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. They were so sad to have lost their daughter, but happy she was ‘no longer doing the devil’s work.’”

“When was this?”

“Earlier today. They came by the office to see me. I called them on Friday, of course. I didn’t want them to accidentally hear the news through the grapevine. That would have been devastating.”

“Yes, it would,” I agreed, my voice shaking. “But they thought…what? That because she was selling dead animals in her store, she was also flying around on a broom and cavorting with the devil?” I asked, feeling the anger, heavy and cold in the pit of my stomach. “She sold crystals and stones and incense.”

“I know,” he said gently, taking hold of my nape. “I’m sorry, Xan. In a perfect world, divination and dreamcatchers and salt circles would never be confused with evil.”

He reached for the door of the rectory just as Malachi was coming out.

“Oh, thank you.” He was carrying a large dieffenbachia that looked like it had seen better days.

It had to have seemed odd—I froze, Lorne froze, both of us staring at him.

“Why are you two looking at me like I’ve got horns growing out of my head?”

Lorne recovered faster. He was trained to do so, after all. “What are you doing here, Mal?” he asked slowly.

“I’m trying to save the greenery that’s up at the altar during Mass.” He sighed. “Father Dennis called this morning to tell me it looked like crap, so here I am. I’m not supposed to be doing it, my plant guy is, but as of yesterday, he was a no-show.”

I jolted. “What?”

“I can’t—this is heavy,” he muttered, and Lorne took the plant, struggling a bit as well because it was in a bulky ceramic pot. And while Lorne was bigger than Mal, Mal was not a small man himself, carrying quite a bit of muscle on his six-foot frame. “Thanks, Lorne.” He took a breath, then gestured at me. “What’s wrong with you?”

I cleared my throat. “Your plant guy, did everyone call him that, the plant guy?”

“Well, yeah,” he answered, sounding uncertain. “We’re all called that. Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I…there’s been some confusion.”

“About the name of my company?”

“The name of your company is Sanctuary.”

“Yes. And the division that takes care of the plants in buildings is called Plant Guys.”

“It is?”

His brows furrowed as he studied me, glanced at Lorne, then refocused on me. “Yeah. We all wear the same uniform so we’re easily recognizable. It’s a service I offer where we go to homes and businesses—mostly businesses, at this point—and take care of plants for people who are too busy, don’t know how to keep a cactus alive, or don’t want to murder expensive plants they paid an arm and a leg for. I mean, office AC units are not good for flora.”

“No,” I agreed, really looking at him.

His polo had a logo on it of a potted monstera with the words Plant Guy underneath. The green waist apron with the business name, Sanctuary, written in the same scrolling font as all his signage, was a nice touch as well.

“Who was the plant guy who quit?” Lorne asked.

“Tanner Murphy. Who, interestingly, told everyone he was a youth pastor at that Abundant Light Church, but it turns out he was actually hired as a delivery driver there. And, he got canned when Pastor Wilkins heard from a little girl’s mother that he’d told her magic was evil.”

“That is interesting.” Lorne glanced at me. “And so Tanner got the job with you and then quit?”

“Quit would imply he gave notice or even came into the office and told me to kiss his ass. Neither of those scenarios happened. As it is, I don’t know if he’s dead or alive. I called twice, worried something happened to him, and the phone just rings. The apartment he was renting on a month-to-month basis is empty. I have been thoroughly ghosted.”

“I’m sorry he put you in a tight spot.”

Mal scoffed. “Come on, this is Osprey. The tight spot I’m in will be remedied by the middle of next week. I’ll have this job filled in no time. But yeah, until then it’s only me and two others.”