Page 121 of Cursed By Fate

Lionel returned to his desk with a packet of sour cream and onion potato chips. “You can go in now,” he said, without looking at us.

I flung open the door to Justine’s office, stopping short in the entryway. The HOA president was currently hanging upside down on a contraption that looked like a vertical table.

“Are you torturing yourself?” I asked.

There was an audible groan. “I told Lionel to give me two more minutes.” She reached for her ankles and swung to an upright position.

“Do I even want to know?”

Justine glared at me. “It isn’t a sex thing, if that’s what you’re worried about. It helps lower my blood pressure, which you might be shocked to learn is dangerously high after last night’s events.”

“Meemaw probably has a potion for that.”

Justine unhooked her ankles from metal cuffs and hopped to the floor. “I don’t ask for favors from Neighbors. That would give the appearance of impropriety. I can’t have residents thinking I show a preference for one of them over another.” She gave me a withering look. “You should try it sometime.”

“If you see me strapped to a table, it’s because I’m dead and Zach is about to necromancy the shit out of me.”

Justine huffed. “I’m not talking about the inversion table.”

Penny nudged me. “She means your preference for Meemaw and the witches.”

Justine took her usual place behind the desk. “Thank you, Penelope.”

“Although I’d like to say,” Penny continued, “that Meemaw and her coven were indispensable last night. They helped collect the weapons and secure the unruly Neighbors. I doubt they would’ve volunteered without their connection to Maya.”

“Yes, the weapons.” Justine’s lips peeled back into a smile that was both vicious and terrifying. The wereskunk was about to spray. “Let’s circle back to that part, shall we?”

“Penny and I were still in the process of collecting them.” I was the one who’d neglected my half of the list—with good reason, but still.

Justine massaged her temples. “Help me understand. Clement LaRue was dealing weapons to Neighbors, and yet my director of security and her assistant director didn’t make the collection of these weapons their highest priority?”

I braced myself for impact. If Justine ever had a good reason to fire me, it was right now. I had no idea what I would do next, where I would hide. It was too painful to contemplate.

“I’m sorry, Justine. I take full responsibility. Clement managed to hide some of his stash from me and Keith Irwin⁠—”

“It was my fault,” Penny blurted. “Maya asked me to collect half the weapons. She did her half, but I got overwhelmed and was too slow.”

Her star pin began to glow. “Penny, you don’t have to⁠—”

“Yes, I do,” Penny said, giving me a firm look. “If you want to blame someone, blame me. Maya is excellent at her job. If it weren’t for her, this whole island would be under Keith’s command. He’d probably have you cooking him breakfast right now, purely as a humiliation ritual.”

“Yes, well, it is disappointing that Keith managed to slip through our rigorous checkpoints.” Justine’s gaze darted left to right as she reconsidered the situation. I could practically see the smoke emanating from her ears from all the gears grinding at once.

“Dr. Adam identified the god’s blood,” I said. Might as well throw in a good word for the healer while I still had the chance.

“Through an unauthorized blood test.”

Okay, maybe not.

“I asked him to do it. I suspected the issue, but I needed confirmation.”

“What will happen to Clement?” Penny asked. “Will it require the services of a fury?”

“Good gods, no. He’ll be transported to a facility elsewhere for sentencing,” Justine said. “He could’ve had an easy life on Evermore. I’ll never understand some people.”

“I had the same thought about Keith,” I said.

Justine pivoted to Penny. “You can go now, Penelope. I’d like to speak to Maya alone.”