I clenched my jaw, because if I didn’t, I was going to blurt out that it was short for Satan Junior, and he was not adorable, because he was trying to steal my soul!

“Super adorable,” I grated instead and turned quickly before he caught my eye twitching. “Thanks for the coffee!”

“Have a great night … well, I’m sure you will, since you’ve got your lucky undies on.”

“How can you … how did you know about that?” I whirled around, but Humphrey was already walking away, waving cheekily over his shoulder.

I stomped over to my car and unloaded Luci. “When Ezra gets home in the morning, you have to bite him on the bum for me,” I told her, rummaging on the seat for the costume I’d decided to put her in tonight. “I can’t believe he’s been telling people about my lucky undies!”

Luci glared beadily at me as I stretched the little devil horns over her head and tied the little wings on her back. “Now, you know I’m only joking, don’t you?” I lectured, taking her to play in her pen. “Don’t really bite Ezra. Well. Maybe a little nip wouldn’t go astray.”

Luci found her squeaky stuffed toy and immediately began wrestling it. I swore that she gave me intense eye contact as she rotated it with her paws and then sank her sharp little nippers into its backside.

“I’ve created a monster,” I muttered as the lights of the showground flicked on, signalling the official start of the Twilight Markets. There was a definite change in the air tonight, a mildness that had me almost shrugging out of my yellow cardigan—the one with the cherries embroidered all over it.

But winter hadn’t quite relinquished its grip on the city just yet, so instead of taking it off entirely, I settled for letting it slip off my shoulders, letting the cool air caress my skin as I bustled about, putting the final touches on my stall.

“We were hoping to catch you again tonight, Jemma!”

The voice was vaguely familiar, and I spun. I couldn’t quite place the humans until my eyes fell on their giant white boy.

“Oh! It’s the Maltese Ferret!” I joked, reaching out to stroke him, grinning up at his owners. “What’s his name? I’m sorry, I usually make a better point of learning my customer’s names.”

“He’s Falcor,” said the taller of the two women, smiling down at me with twinkling grey eyes and the coolest undercut hairdo I’d ever seen. She reached out a hand in my direction. “And I’m Esther, and this is my partner, Jules.”

I took her hand, turning to the smaller woman. She had to juggle the monstrous weight of Falcor to be able to shake my hand, her brown curls bouncing around her freckled face.