“Thanks.”

I did a double take at the soft shyness in his voice. Jenks had heard it, too, and cleared his throat, making Bis blush a deep black.

“Your territory,” Belle amended, thinking that’s what Jenks had taken offense to. I wasn’t so sure.

Wings clattering, Jenks landed beside her. His eyes went to her bandage, then her face. She looked like a long-armed, sinewy Amazon next to him. “Uh, thank you,” he said grudgingly, glancing nervously at Trent, but the man was more interested in the spell pots over the counter, his hand gently patting Lucy as she slept. “I should have said that first off.” Belle’s sparse eyebrows rose, and he added, “Thanks for telling them what to do. They’re good kids, but—” He tried again. “You saved their lives. Please…stay in my garden. If you like.”

Even as hesitant and possessive as that had been, I looked at Bis in wonder. The gargoyle was grinning, accepting Jenks’s change of heart with a quickness only a kid could possess. I’d be a little more hesitant, but Jenks wouldn’t say anything unless he meant it.

Belle’s long features were pale and out of place with the pixy colors on her. “Your hair is getting long,” she said shortly, her tone giving nothing away.

Jenks’s hand went up to touch it. “Yeah, well, I don’t have anyone to cut it anymore.”

I wondered how these two warriors were going to find a way to exist together. Belle finally nodded her acceptance of his apology but clearly was withholding complete judgment.

Feeling awkward, I opened the fridge and cringed. Yep, we were down to water, ketchup, and a tub of butter. Maybe I could make Trent a virgin Bloody Mary; we had some Worcestershire sauce, too. “Anyone want to order pizza?” I said softly, wondering how long it would take for Quen to check out the graveyard.

“I do!” Bis chimed out, and I ducked when Jenks’s kids swarmed in from the garden and hallway, shouting out their toppings. Their high-pitched voices woke up Lucy, and she began to wail, frightened. Bis pinned his ears to his skull and made the jump to the top of the fridge. Trent frowned as he tried to calm Lucy, but the pixy girls were humming over her and scaring her even more. Clearly they had been eavesdropping, and the lure of pizza had overridden their fear of their dad. Nasturtium blossoms?

“Jenks!” I exclaimed as I shut the fridge door, and he shrugged.

Belle, too, had sat down, her bored expression clearly saying that it wasn’t her problem. “You’ve had nothing but pizza for a week,” she complained, her voice loud to be heard over the noise. “I would have thought you’d be tired of it by now.”

“Pizza?” Jenks exclaimed. “What about all the good food I put aside…” His voice faltered. “Never mind,” he finished, scowling at Bis, and the gargoyle went three shades darker in embarrassment. “I want you all out!” he shouted, and the noise was cut by about half, leaving only Lucy crying. “Out and watching that elf in the garden!”