"You're welcome to stay for dinner. We have plenty," Stasi told him.

"Witches' Cauldron Wine and Dine," Blair muttered, retrieving another can of beans from the cabinet.

Jake took the can out of her hands along with the others and rummaged through the drawers until he found a manual can opener.

"I wonder if the snow will ever stop." Stasi looked out the window.

"Fred tried to fire up his snow blower with no success. Same with all the other ones in town. Mine didn't even let out a burp."

"Towns have been buried under water, but I wonder how many have been buried under snowdrifts." Blair suppressed a shiver. "There are children in the town. What will happen to them with all this cold?"

"We'll solve this. We'll find a way."

Jake pushed the opened cans over to Blair. "Why can't you use magick to get rid of the snow?"

"No way we'd try that. Mother Nature would have our hides if we mess with her territory," Jazz said, coming in and pulling out crockery bowls and spoons. "And she has punishment down to a fine art."

"Only because you called up thunder too many times," Blair reminded her.

"Can you twitch your noses or wiggle your fingers or even cross your eyes to get the snow blowers working?" Jake asked.

Stasi paused in setting out the bowls and spoons. "Maybe we could do that. Mother Nature can't be angry if we're tinkering with machinery."

"I don't think it will work," Jazz said. "I'm not being pessimistic. It's just with everything else, why do we think we can make the snow blowers work? I don't know about you two, but the only mechanical device I've used magick on was the car when I ran out of gas on the freeway."

"And that didn't go well," Irma pointed out from her spot in the family room. "The engine almost caught fire."

"Can't happen. It seems the car is safe as long as you're in it." Jazz tapped her chin with her forefinger. "The only good reason to keep you in the T-Bird."

"We need to stop everything," Stasi said. "Fix the lake, the town, the people." She glanced at Jake.

He made a face. "They're ... uh ... well, they don't see you as their favorite people right now. They all seem to think you're doing this because Carrie filed the lawsuit. That you're on some sort of vendetta and taking it out on everyone. I did some nosing around this afternoon. There's something going on over at the town hall. I saw lots of flashlights and lanterns in there, so I went over to investigate."

"Was that safe, when they know you spend time with us?" Blair asked.

"I wasn't noticed. Trouble is, I could only hear murmurs, and there was some kind of barrier around the town hall like there was around the lake. I slammed right into it." Jake rubbed his nose. "But I hung around nearby and later on they all came out. The barrier must have dissolved when they left."

"They probably want to run Stasi out of town on a rail. Which goes to show they really don't know her," Jazz said. "Blair and I would go after everyone in a heartbeat if we were seriously p.i.s.sed, but not Stasi. She's the good one. Even if she was targeting Carrie and making her suffer, she wouldn't go after anyone else. Even if they sided with Carrie, the way these idiots are." She shook her head.

"You three are really close," Jake pointed out. He lifted an eyebrow.

Blair shot him a "don't get any ideas" look. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Jake Harrison. You'll never have that particular fantasy fulfilled."

"Nick wouldn't even dare ask such a thing," Jazz told him. "He likes his body parts where they are."

"Trev hasn't gotten that far, but I think he'd be smart enough not to suggest it," Stasi said.

"In fact, why don't you go into the family room and hang out with the guys?" Blair shooed him out of the kitchen. "Let us women do the work."

"Why do I feel as if sarcasm coated those words?" He grinned as he did as she ordered.

"You seriously need to jump his bones," Jazz murmured to Blair.

"I've given him more than enough hints I'm amiable, but he seems to ignore them. I'd swear he was gay, but I've caught him checking out my a.s.s a few times."

"Hence miniskirts and crop tops last summer," Stasi teased.

"Whatever works." Blair looked down at her fleece boot-cut pants and hoody. "And a much better fashion statement. Today, I dress for warmth."

"Don't we all." Stasi filled a bowl with kibble for Bogie, who immediately materialized at his dish, and two matching dishes of kibble for Fluff and Puff, who came chattering in from the family room. "None of you are getting chili," she informed them. "We like to breathe."

"I'm surprised Horace isn't in here whining that he's starving to death," Blair commented.

Stasi shot up. "Horace!" She raced toward her room. "Trev!" She ran in and headed for her dresser.

"I don't even get dinner first?" he joked, walking in.

"We forgot to take Horace out of my dresser. He's still under your spell," she told him, touching the wood and feeling the power still covering it.

"He can't die in there, he's made of stone."

"No, but he can make my life miserable. You have to break the spell."

He sighed. "Peace and quiet be gone, Horace be heard."

"All right, this isn't funny! Let me out! I know you can hear me! I heard that f.u.c.king spell break!" The wood drawer almost bowed under the pressure of gargoyle punches.

Stasi slid it open. Horace pulled off the scarf that had covered him, actually shredded it to bits, and hopped up on top.

"You two are in so much trouble," he grumbled, storming the length of the dresser. "I'm reporting you for cruelty. You'll be cited, that's for sure. I won't allow this to be ignored."

Stasi groaned, but allowed the gargoyle to rant and rave. She knew he'd wind down once he got it out of his system-or until he smelled the chili cooking. Horace loved Blair's five alarm chili.

"There's really a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Gargoyles?" Trev whispered.

She nodded. "Guess who heads it?" She picked Horace up and tucked him in her sweater's kangaroo pocket. "Come on, Horace. If you want to be useful, you'll brainstorm with us."

"Ooh, nice. Are you wearing a bra?"

A quick zap from Stasi and he settled down nicely.

"When this is all over, I'm taking you to a nice deserted island for a few weeks," Trev said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Just you and me, no clothes."

"I'll take you up on that vacation." She smiled.

"Can I come too? Ow! You singed my horns!"

Chapter Nineteen.

Stasi looked at the friends she considered family crowded around the table. Nick was the only one without a bowl of chili in front of him-just a gla.s.s of wine.

This is what I wanted for Samhain. Friends here, the place filled with warmth, a sense of togetherness and love. Content to forget about her problems even if just for a little while, she ate a spoonful of chili, then reached for a bite of bread to cut the heat in her mouth. As usual, Blair had overdone the chili spices, but no one was complaining. While Irma couldn't eat food, she still sat at the table and joined in.

By silent agreement, all problems were tucked away and conversation was punctuated with laughter.

"I don't see why I have to eat with the animals," Horace groused from his spot on the floor near Bogie, Fluff and Puff, and Sirius. He waved a gargoyle-sized spoon in one claw.

"Just be glad you're even getting some chili," Blair told him before returning to the conversation.

"You actually know how to use a Dust Buster?" Stasi teased Jazz.

"No one at the Full Moon Cafe would do the cleanup after the lady staked her son," she replied. "Like I wanted to clean up vamp dust either." She sobered. "It was actually a sad moment. She wanted so badly to see her son, even though he had been turned. We just didn't know she intended to end his existence."

"Perils of taking on mortal clients," Nick said. "The only good thing is, his sire didn't retaliate."

"And I was left to clean up the mess," Jazz said. "I'm going to expect a raise the next time I work with you."

"How many Starbucks cards have you worn out?"

"I'm thinking The Body Bakery and Sephora next." She examined her nails, which she had alternately polished orange and black that afternoon. "I'll give you the information."

"Why not give her a salary?" Trev asked.

Jazz shook her head. "Not as much fun. Plus my fee depends on the job he wants me to do."

"Then how come I don't get paid?" Irma piped up. "I saved your scrawny behind at Colin Reeves' mansion, I told you what was going on in that house where the vampire kidnapped her descendant, and I keep the car safe."

"You stink up the car with your cigarettes," Jazz pointed out.

"I was smoking in that car long before you showed up to try to get me out of it," Irma reminded her.

Trev leaned over to whisper in Stasi's ear, "Are they always like this?"

She nodded. "Usually it's worse. After over fifty years together, they're more like demented mother and daughter."

"And Nick?"

"Jazz and Nick have been on and off for the last few hundred years. But there's such a strong connection between them that we think this time might be very long term," she whispered back.

"Even if vampires can't drink a witch's blood."

"I don't think that bothers them."

He sat close enough to her that his hand rested against her back as a warm imprint.

"And Blair and Jake?"

"Even if she seems to fend him off sometimes, she's the one doing the chasing until he gets the message and slows down long enough for her to catch him. Like the dog always chasing a car, except they say a dog wouldn't know what to do if he caught a car, and Blair will know only too well what to do with Jake."

"And you?" He waited until she turned to face him. "What about you? What would you do if you caught a car?"

She knew the car he meant had two arms and two legs instead of tires, a mouth she'd never tire of kissing, and a body she'd like to spend eternity exploring. The heat in his eyes told her he was thinking the same.

"The snow is still falling." His voice was pitched for her ears only.

"I know."

"No problem in my staying the night again?"

"Not at all." Her lips barely moved.

"And I don't have to share the couch with Jake?"

She shook her head. "That wouldn't be fair to either of you."

"I wonder what happened to that dog," Jazz spoke up, breaking the spell between the duo. "It's so cold out there he could turn into a dogsicle."

"Dogs are good at taking care of themselves. They look for a warm spot," Jake said, getting up to fill his bowl again. He retrieved Blair's bowl too and looked around to see if anyone else was interested in another helping. As he filled the bowls, he checked the window over the sink and the one set in the back door. "It might not hurt to board up the windows. While they're double paned, there's still a chance they could crack from all the cold. The same for all the other windows up here."

Stasi studied him. "You're afraid someone might decide to venture outside and throw rocks through the upstairs windows, aren't you? That the protection wards won't hold."

"That could be logical," Nick said slowly. "And something we should have thought of sooner. The weather might be keeping them inside, but if it keeps up much longer, frustration is going to settle in and they'll blame you for it."

"We've had bad storms up here before-we've been snowed in for up to a couple of weeks," Blair said.

"But there was no question that the weather was to blame then. No one's blaming the weather this time around." Jake settled back in his chair, deliberately b.u.mping against Blair. She growled a warning he good-naturedly ignored. "I'll go out and get the boards after dinner."

"No, after you help with the dishes," Blair corrected him.

Stasi turned away to hide her grin. For a witch in pursuit of a hunky carpenter, Blair was making it difficult for herself. She couldn't wait to see what happened when the two finally got together. Even with her world falling down around her, Stasi was thinking pretty positively, and she knew it had to do with the s.e.xy wizard cuddling up with her.

And here Dorothy was told to not look behind the curtain. Her smile grew bigger by the second.

"Hold that thought, gorgeous," Trev murmured, kissing her on the cheek. "I'll help Jake with the manly work."

"Mm, something about a guy wearing a tool belt," she purred.

"I'll loan you one, Trev." Jake grinned.

"The man has good ears."