Sarge scrounged in a cupboard near the stove and came down with a handful of over-the-counter drugs. I searched through until I found some Advil, popped two, considered it and popped a third, then dry-swallowed them.

He waited for me to keep talking, and I shrugged again. “I left at eighteen, married shortly thereafter, and never came back. I couldn’t afford to, there was no money.” I paused and stared at my mostly empty plate, thinking about Gran, about the few times I’d seen her between then and now. We’d talked on the phone at least once a week, always when Himself wasn’t around. Life was easier that way. “When I stepped into the graveyard last night, it was like I was ten years old again. I could see the monsters.”

There, I’d said it out loud. Notice I didn’t mention the prayer I’d muttered at the gate, or the additional training that Gran had arranged for me over the years I’d lived with her. I had to have some ammo for later.

“Like the skeleton,” Sarge said.

“Yes! You saw him?”

He raised a hand to the left side of his head. “He bit my ear off. I saw him just fine. But Louis is right, they don’t have names.”

“Well, maybe they’d be nicer if you gave them a name.”

He brushed his hand over his intact ear. Of course, there was no missing ear there now. It had grown back, I guess. Half-men were known for their superior healing abilities. “So why are you here peppering me with questions instead of Eammon? Isn’t he supposed to be my Obi-wan Kenobi?”

He winked. “More like your Yoda if we’re basing it off looks and age. And normally, yes, he would be here. But . . . as you saw, my trainee about shot me last night, so Eammon and I are going to switch trainees for a few days. Which means you’ve got me to go shopping with.” He turned his arm over as if checking a watch that didn’t exist, and even went the extra mile and tapped his bare wrist. “Speaking of, we need to get going. The market is only open for select hours each week.”

I shoved the last of the toast in my mouth, cheeks puffed out with too much food. His eyebrows stayed up as I spoke around the partially chewed toast. “Two minutes.” He might be hot, but I knew I had no chance with him, so I didn’t really care what he thought of me. And I loved perfectly toasted toast. I hurried back to my room to gather up the money I had. I left the thousand bucks that was my first week’s wages.

I’d have to give most of it to Corb for staying here. And eating his food. And making his date run off before he could get any. I grinned. This day was looking up. I was about to go on a shopping date with what I could only say was a very handsome werewolf.