He jumped up and ran at the pantry door. The inn helpfully slid it out of the way before Orro could collide with it head-on, and the chef vanished into the storage room.

Sean turned to Marais. “We would like to hire you for security to watch the place from the street. Just in case.”

“You don’t need to do that. I’ll help you anyway.”

“We absolutely have to pay you,” I told him. “It would be time away from your family.”

Marais thought about it. “I have to check regulations. There might be something in there that prevents me from taking a part-time job. Let me figure this out.”

“Thank you,” I told him.

He got up and left. It was just me and Sean now.

“Do you have any contacts who deal in bioweapons?” I asked.

“Wilmos has some nasty stuff in his shop. I can take it, I’m sure he won’t mind. Why?”

“One of the candidates is backed by the Dushegubs.”

Sean frowned. “I’ve read about those. They are sentient trees. Are they problematic?”

“They are not sentient. They are sapient, but unable to feel emotions. Dushegubs are calculating, homicidal, moving trees that feed on animal life. They know that other creatures have emotions and what those emotions are, and they don’t care. Their first option is murder, their second option is murder, and if that fails, they go straight to murder.”

“Well, at least they have their priorities straight.”

“They are banned as a species from the inns. I will have to apply for special permission to host them, and if we get it, we might have to kill one as an example.”

Sean stared at me.

“Trust me on this,” I told him. “Every time Dushegubs stay at the inn, someone dies. If we are lucky, it’s one of them.”

“Won’t it cause an issue with our bachelor?”

“I told them up front about it. They don’t care if we burn the entire Dushegub delegation to the ground. Apparently, their presence is so oppressively bloodthirsty, they give the Holy Ecclesiarch migraines.”

“This is going to be fun,” Sean said.

That was one way to put it.

7

George knows a way to the inhospitable planet Wilmos is trapped in, and he knows how to trade a favor to get access to it. Color none of us surprised.

Will the latest caper he gets Gertrude Hunt involved in be too dangerous for even our beloved innkeepers to host?

Cue the Intergalactic Bachelor show!

The inn chimed, announcing visitors. I groaned softly and opened my eyes, abandoning the Dushegub containment unit in mid-renovation. The tangle of Gertrude Hunt’s branches cradling my body hummed with energy. I had cocooned myself to speed things up.