The Vampire's Valentine Surprise(9)

“I’m on it, but I’d better leave the coffee here. I’d hate for someone to run into me and spill it.” He put it at the back of her worktable, bringing him closer to her. She seemed a little pale, even for a vampire. “You sure you don’t need anything? I can bring you a bite to eat, if you’d like. Or maybe you should sit.”

She put her hand on her stomach. “No food. Just the thought is…no. And I’ll sit when I can. Promise.”

He frowned.

“You’re so cute when you get all concerned. I’ll be fine.”

“Very well.” He growled softly but took off into the throng. This was not his usual sort of activity, but that had all changed with the arrival of Delaney. She was too full of energy to be kept away from these things. She wanted to taste every flavor life had to offer and with her at his side, he was happy to do the same. Well, perhaps not happy when it came to crowds, but he enjoyed things far more with her along.

Now he had to find out if Vicky Keller had actually tried to hurt his beloved. His fangs shot down through his gums and he knew his eyes must have silvered, because the anger in him was barely containable. No one was going to hurt Delaney and get away with it.

First he had to find the witch. If Pandora was with Cole and his daughter, where would they be? The fairgrounds were mobbed with people. The weather was cool, but the sun was out, making it a good day for an outside event. Besides the bake-off, there were carnival games set up, pie-eating contests, tastings of all sorts… The tastings. He was sure he’d heard one of them had something to do with chocolate. That was probably something a teenage girl would enjoy very much.

He stopped one of the event workers, a young feline shifter by the name of Caroline Linzer whose family owned the pet store in town. “Miss Linzer?”

She smiled brightly. “Mr. Ellingham, how nice to see you. Can I help you with something?”

“Yes. Do you know if there’s a chocolate tasting going on?”

She nodded and pointed back toward a tent at the center of the melee. “All day long in Tent Five. There’s also chocolate carving and an exhibit on how chocolate is made.”

“Thank you.” That was more information than he needed, but he smiled politely as he headed on his way.

The intense smell of chocolate hit him when he was still fifty feet away. It was overpowering to his senses, but not entirely unpleasant. He made his way into the tent and navigated to the tasting area.

He found Pandora pretty quickly thanks to her red hair. Cole and his daughter were with her as well. He approached them, the need to know if his wife had been poisoned paramount in his mind.

“Excuse me, Pandora, Cole. I’m sorry to interrupt.”

They both turned. Cole stuck his hand out. The man had become one of the best teachers Harmswood Academy had seen since taking the job. Students loved him. “Mr. Ellingham. Good to see you.”

“And you. I hope you’re all enjoying yourselves.”

“We are,” he said. “Right, Kaley?”

The girl leaned against her father and spoke around a hunk of chocolate she was nibbling on. “Oh yeah, totally.”

But Pandora’s smile faded. “Hugh, what’s wrong? You look upset.”

“It’s Delaney.” He glanced around. “She thinks someone may have slipped something into her coffee. She was hoping you could test it with your…skills and see if you could tell. Is that something you could do?”

She nodded. “Sure. If it’s organic, Marigold would be better, but today is sort of her Black Friday.”

“I understand. Whatever you can do to help would be appreciated.”

“Absolutely.” She looked at Cole. “You guys can stay here. I shouldn’t be too long.”

Kaley said, “If it’s witchy stuff, I want to come. After, like, one more sample.”

Pandora glanced at Hugh. “That all right with you?”

“Of course.”

Pandora put her hand on Cole’s arm. “You and Kaley finish up here and then come find us in…” She checked with Hugh. “What tent?”

“Tent One. Delaney’s station is the first one on the right-hand side.”

“Got it,” Cole said.

Pandora gave Hugh a nod. “Let’s go.”

Hugh led her back to Tent One and Delaney’s station. When they arrived, she was nestling raspberries into a thick layer of white frosting covering a layer of red cake.

“I found her,” Hugh announced.

Delaney looked up from her work. Hugh’s gut clenched. He didn’t remember there being such dark circles under her eyes. Something was definitely wrong.