Page 42 of Last Call at the Doghouse

* * *

Until now, his plan had been clear. Protect the shield. Build her an army. Fight evil and then when it was done… what? Originally he’d thought if he survived he’d go back to Colorado, back to his own construction business. He was good at it. He liked it.

But everything he’d been told was wrong. The shield didn’t lead an army, The Shield was Armi. He wasn’t meant to save her, but to make sure she was where she needed to be when the time came. When the time came for her to die, to rebuild or become the barrier over Mystic Springs. He hadn’t expected this.

He hadn’t expected to care so much. He sure as hell hadn’t expected to love her.

He’d call his dad and read him the riot act for getting so much wrong, but the odds were the old man had done the best he could with the information he had. Besides, a call would bring the elder Duncan running, and the last place he needed to be was Mystic Springs when the shit hit the fan.

Stella was obviously surprised to see him when she walked out of the back room with a couple of bottles in her hands. She was even more surprised to find Armi standing close to him, holding onto his arm for support and leaning into him.

Armi might’ve forgiven him; Stella had not. He could see the hate in her eyes as she glared at him and said, “Woof.”

“Funny,” he responded.

Stella looked at Armi, more sadness than reproach in her eyes. “I guess this means you won’t be needing that vibrator for Christmas.”

Armi responded with a brief, harsh snort. “I won’t…” Maybe she’d intended to say that she wouldn’t be here for Christmas, but she stopped short.

“Let’s just hope Mary has more backbone than you do.”

Ah, yes, Mary and the wizard. Armi had shared a lot with her friends in the short time he’d been away from her.

Armi didn’t seem to take offense. Maybe understanding that she likely had days to live made it easy to allow harsh words to slide. He watched her face, noted the subtle changes as she fought against what she’d been told and then accepted it.

“I can’t worry about business this week, I just can’t,” she said. “If you and Mary want to keep the place open, feel free. Hire some help if you need it. If it’s too much just put a closed sign on the door and take a few days off.”

Stella shook her head, in dismay, not rejection. “Yesterday I talked to a young woman who lives not too far away. She said she was interested in working part time. I’ll give her a call.”

“Thanks.” Armi headed for the back stairs and he followed. Before she entered the long hallway, she turned to Stella again. “I couldn’t have survived the past two years without you.” The front door opened and Mary breezed in. The blonde had no idea what was going on, but even the most oblivious person could’ve felt the tension in the air. “You two have no idea how important you are to me. I love you both.”

She didn’t wait for a response, but headed for the stairs. Mitch followed, sensing the daggers in his back.

“We’ll find another way,” he said as they reached the second floor. Could the old women at The Egg come up with a fix once they had the book? Was there an actual solution in those pages? A solution that allowed Armi to survive, that allowed them to move forward together.

“Unless there is no other way,” Armi answered pragmatically.

He’d find one. He had to.

* * *

It made no sense to feel betrayed by Duncan. She barely knew him. Andrew had been her husband and the father of her children; a man she’d planned a life with. His betrayal still stung, even though whatever love she’d felt for him was gone. It hadn’t faded away; he’d beaten it to death.

Mitch Duncan was just a little fun on the side, a way to escape the reality that had been thrown at her in the past days, weeks… year. Why should he tell her his deepest secrets? Hell, given where they were and what was going on, why should he trust her at all?

“Sounds like you talked to Mary about Sonny,” he said as they entered her little kitchen.

Armi headed for the coffee pot. She usually skipped coffee after three in the afternoon, but no way was she sleeping tonight. Might as well fuel up. “I did.”

“She believed you?”

Once the coffee pot was working, dribbling brew into the carafe, she turned to face him. “She seemed to.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

She had her doubts and wasn’t entirely sure why. “She gave in too easily. Easy is kind of her way, I suppose, but I expected her to be more obstinate, to argue for Sonny at least a little bit.”

Duncan’s eyes flashed. “You believed the worst about me quickly enough.”