Page 85 of A Light in the Dark
Realizing five eggs likely wouldn’t be enough to feed him, I got out the other pack of eggs from my refrigerator, set them near the stove, and prepared to wage war. If I didn’t win, I’d just march him to a nearby restaurant and pay penance for my failure to feed my hostage that way. No matter what, he wouldn’t defeat me.
Smiling, I went to work, ready to see how much of a challenge the man would prove to be.
Joel ateall but two lonely eggs, and while I handled cleaning up, I had my hostage go out into my yard and tend to my plants, watering them and whispering sweet nothings. Fortunately for him, he’d brought jeans and a casual shirt, thus saving his silk suits from an early demise—or stains at the very minimum. I added doing the dishes while admiringthe handsome scenery out my window to my list of reasons to keep him around.
Once I had everything restored to rights, I stepped out my back door, chuckling over how he’d managed to make a complete mess of himself in the twenty minutes it’d taken me to finish tidying. He waged war against the few weeds I hadn’t vanquished, and to my puzzlement, a few of them he’d put to the side, careful to keep their roots intact. “What are those?”
“Did you ever eat any of your death cobbler outside?”
“I mean, sure? I sometimes came out here while having some.”
He pointed at the smallest of the plants. “That is your beloved strangleberry.”
“Oh!” I abandoned him, went to my closet, and dug out one of the little plastic pots I’d kept from planting the roses, grabbed my leftover dirt, and returned, holding everything out. “Please take care of my little baby, Joel.”
Heaving a sigh, he took the pot and the dirt and went to work planting it. “Get me three more, and you can have two strangleberry, one napweed, and one lantana. The lantana will become a flowering bush, and the berries are quite toxic when consumed while green. Luna moths love lantana. For these to have seeded, she must have added them to one of your death cobblers after it had cooled. Honestly, there are more of all of them in the weeds I yanked, but I kept the best looking plants.”
I ran back inside and retrieved three more pots for him and more dirt, and I shifted my weight from foot to foot while he worked. Once he had the plants situated, he placedthe pots around my gardens based on where got the most sun.
“I’m pretty sure I spilled some death cobbler out here before the storms started,” I admitted. “I normally clean up after myself, but it was in the dirt and I didn’t bother, so I just kicked some dirt over it. I didn’t think the death cobbler couldmake plants.”
I marveled at the magical nature of death cobbler, and I wondered if Elenora knew it was a gift that kept on giving.
“That’s enough time for them to sprout, and the weather’s right.”
“What’s napweed?”
“As the name implies, it makes the user sleepy. It’s mostly harmless, but if you were to eat several pounds of them, you’d go into a coma and probably die. The amount in the cobbler recipe will help you relax and do little else. It’s actually a pretty good sleep aid, which is why I kept it. I am not going to identify the more dangerous plants I did not keep for you from the weeds.”
“Aww,” I complained, and I went to the pair of strangleweeds, crouching and giving their pots a loving pat. “It’s okay, little babies. I will take good care of you, and you will be a star of my beautiful garden. I’ll even let those mean luna moths have some of your bounty when they come visit.”
“Most people would not be enthused to have ready access to things that can make them ill,” Joel reminded me.
“It’s a good thing that I’m not most people, then.” Grinning, I headed into my kitchen to wash my hands. “Just stomp off the dirt before you can come in. I want to see Elenora’s face when I drag you over looking like I’d rolled you through the mud.”
“She’s seen me plenty of times after I’ve been gardening. I’m usually gardening on Saturdays. This is nothing new.”
I considered my options, decided a smirk and a raised brow might get a naughtier point across, and graced him with both before making myself at home in front of my sink and making sure no potential plant toxins remained on my skin. “We should probably refrain from telling her that this is a hostage situation. I’m just establishing that I will be a queen over all luna moths, and I’m starting with you. I must have the best luna moths in my collection. I have Shifter Five’s silk and your entire person. I think I’m doing well so far.”
“Had I known you were obsessed with luna moths, I would have started visiting your garden earlier.”
“That would have been a good way to become a pet, as before the floods, I hadn’t really known much about luna moth shifters. You would have been invited in, and I would have fed you, and then I would have really been a kidnapper without knowing it.”
“I would have just gone home after you went to work. You don’t have an alarm system. I could have even made a key and just planned my day around beating you back from work if I didn’t want you questioning how your luna moth had escaped your clutches.”
“So, if I got an alarm system and locked you in, would that work?” I dried my hands off, got my keys and purse, and laughed at the thought of buying an entire security system to contain a single luna moth shifter. “After getting my bonus, I no longer have any respect for money. Please remind me to start respecting money again next week, after I finish booking and paying for all my renovations.”
“You’re renovating your basement, and that’s a good useof your money. But it’s bonus money, isn’t that what bonus money is for? That’s what I use my bonus money for, unless my house is pitching a fit again.”
“In bad news, you should keep that house, because I’m pretty sure you’re the reason half the houses on this street are still standing. If your place falls into disrepair, I’ll be the last house standing, and then I might try to spend my budget buying destroyed lots to make a mega house. And then I’d have to build it, shore it, and I’d never have any money ever again.”
“Honestly, I genuinely had no idea how huge your place was until I came inside. This is a lot larger than mine. The inner courtyard in mine eats up a lot of space. And your basement is massive.”
“I was thrilled when I saw this place was up for sale. Yeah, I’ve had to do some work on it, but it was worth every penny.”
“You got it for a pittance. Once you get the downstairs done, you’ll have the best house in this entire section of the city. The best part is? Nobody is really going to realize it. Your neighbor’s doors are fairly close to your walls, which makes the whole thing look deceptive, as your door is in the middle of your home.”
I grinned at him. “Thathadcrossed my mind. Now, come along. Let’s ambush Elenora and steal her secrets, especially since I have my very own baby strangleberry plants to harvest for treats later.”
