Page 61 of A Light in the Dark
“But why?”
“Profit, why else? You don’t know how much those refugee contracts are worth, do you?”
“I knew Stonecreek is getting paid for housing refugees,but I don’t know all the details. I did know that Gabriella hadn’t been warned about how to avoid the floods.”
“I’m worried about the situation.”
I was, too. Rather than inform Joel I was already involved, I said, “Why do those in Stonecreek want to get rid of the refugees? I don’t understand.”
“You don’t understand because you’re a selfless person who cares about others. You wouldn’t actually use someone to make a quick buck.”
“I’m extorting you for your silk, Mr. Luna Moth.”
He grinned. “But you’re doing so in a playful fashion, and you’re providing me with roses. It only seems fair to pay my rose dealer for access to her new blooms. And you provide snacks.”
“You can even give me input on what your preferred snacks are, so you can pass out on my counter following your rose and snack treats. I won’t make promises I’ll release you to your home some nights. I might just take you into my bedroom and use you as my nightlight.”
“Being extorted for silk? That makes sense. Being kidnapped to be used as a nightlight? That’s a new one. Can I at least be released in time to go to work? I tend to go in early to dodge the assholes down the hill.”
I couldn’t blame him for that; if such a thing became an option for me, I’d do the same. “That depends on how early you leave.”
“Sunrise,” he admitted. “But I suppose on nights I am not set free to return to my own home, I will just stagger into work late and make excuses.”
I giggled. “I’ll limit kidnappings of luna moths for nightlight purposes to Friday and Saturday nights. All luna mothsshould be warned that I will catch and keep any shifters that visit my domicile on those evenings. Sniff my roses at your own risk.”
“That would be a good way to get a mixed batch of silk, because there would definitely be copious amounts of shifter vomit in your home after that.”
I snickered at the thought of having to clean up after a bunch of shifters, but the reward came in the form of silk I could spin at my leisure. “I’ll even put out a buffet for my kidnapped guests and release them the next morning.”
“And that’s a good way to make certain your place is a party every Friday and Saturday night. You might even get them to show up in human form to make the neighbors ask questions.”
“Or accuse me of being a slut,” I muttered. “Did you know the banshee at the bottom of the hill accused the librarians of being whores because they had a party once?”
Joel glanced at me before returning his attention to the road. “No, I didn’t.”
“Just wait until you park with your blinkers going outside of my home with the trailer and help me unload everything. By the end of the day, you mark my words, I will be a championship whore in their eyes.”
“People are terrible, and I question why I offered shoring to any of them at a decent rate.”
“Considering none of them accepted, they probably think you’re a low-level salesperson who is just trying for a quick buck.” I shook my head, dug around in the bag at my feet, and retrieved my crochet project. “Your parents really don’t sell their silk?”
“The only silk they sell is what they produce and sell toYolana. They give their mundane silk to charities, people in need, or to friends to fund their crafting adventures. Your refugee crafter friend will end up receiving an unholy amount of fiber from them. There’s a cotton farm not far away from us, and they’ll get cotton for her, too. And we do not discuss the rabbit farm. Rabbit fur is soft but itchy.”
“You’re allergic to rabbit fur?”
“We don’t get rashes or anything like that, but it makes us itchy. We love rabbit fur.” Joel sighed. “If you want to torture us, you’ll make us rabbit fur scarves. We’ll snuggle into them and become itchy. About half the town has a problem with rabbit fur making us itchy.”
I could handle getting yarn made from rabbit fur, and I’d delight in the soft, fuzzy texture. “And if Ireallywant to torture my target, I would make a blanket?”
“That level of evil would not go unpunished,” he warned me.
“And what are you going to do about it, Joel? Come over and get skunked on my roses?”
“Probably. I’ll have to put a great deal of thought into how to get payback for that level of evil. I’ll have to make it good, because that sort of power play is to be respected and admired.”
“Rabbit fur is to you like Shifter Five’s silk is to me, isn’t it?”
“I hate how true that is. I’m just grateful rabbit fur isn’t sold as actual fabric, else I’d try to make a suit of it, and I’d end up itching for all eternity.”
