“That went smoother than I thought it would.”

“Gah!” Sebastian, and everyone else, turned their attention to the corner where Quiver was standing with an amused expression at their shock. “How long have you been there?”

Quiver shrugged. “Not too long. I just came to drop off this paperwork.”

They crossed the room and handed Seb a manilla folder, just like the one he’d gotten after the fight at Dryad’s Circle.

“That should be everything you need to avoid further complications.”

“I'm sorry, who are you?” Garret asked.

Quiver grinned. “Just someone who really hates paperwork. Bye!”

“Wait— and they left another pile of leaves. Damnit.” Sebastian muttered.

“What the hell?” Garret whispered.

“That was Quiver, the dryad,” Edmund explained with clear annoyance in his tone. “What’s in the folder?”

Sebastian skim read the contents and felt his heart drop. He glanced over to Daisy, who was looking at him as curiously as everyone else, then looked back at the folder as he spoke.

“Same stuff that he gave us for Luke. So, no need to worry over any legal matters yet. Hey, Seph, did you get in contact with your clan and/or Onyx?”

“Hmm, yes and no. The clan was easy to call but I couldn’t get through to Onyx. I think they may have moved since we last talked, so it’ll take me a while to track them down if they don’t make contact first.”

“Alright, so what happened with your clan?”

“A lot,” Persephone groaned, “That bastard Malcom has gone into hiding. So, some other clan members are wary of moving their lives just yet.”

“Why? Is he that much of a danger?” Emily inquired.

Hayden shook her head. “Not exactly. You see, until they’re able to physically disown him he’s still technically a part of the clan. That means he’s able to come into their homes without invitation.”

“It’s easier to defend a home that’s already been established. Especially when you have neighbours who will alert you if a stranger is sneaking around.” Persephone elaborated. “However, we have gotten interest from two clan members.”

Edmund nodded. “That's better than none, I guess. What are they like?”

“Well, Elliot is an eccentric little shit,” Persephone declared with an amused huff. “He’ll be a loyal ally if he settles here though. Patricia on the other hand, well...”

“She’s suspicious.” Hayden cut in with more distaste than Sebastian’s ever heard in her voice.

Persephone however shook her head at the statement. “Darling, you are the only one who is suspicious of her.”

“We don’t know her very well. She’s one of the youngest members of the clan.”

“Elliot’s pretty young too. And honestly, I’m more suspicious of him. He has a well-established identity in his current location. Moving is likely to lose him business.”

“What does he do exactly?” Garret inquired.

Persephone became oddly flustered. “Ehem, well, he runs a... nightclub, of sorts.”

“A nightclub?”

“It’s a front for a blood den.” Hayden explained, with an amused smirk towards her wife. “Somewhere vampires can easily feed. They can also cater to the ‘needs’ of all kinds of beings.”

Sebastian couldn’t help raising an eyebrow at that. Whatever ‘needs’ were being catered seemed to be more of what was causing Persephone’s distress more so than the feeding part. Now he was really curious about what exactly this kind of nightclub offered.

“Okay. I guess I can see why it would be hard to move that kind of work. Does Patricia have a business?” Edmund asked.

Persephone gratefully latched onto the change in conversation. “She’s an art teacher. She works at classes for both the local high school and college if I remember correctly. Although she may not have as many connections, she’s as worthwhile an asset as Elliot.”

Edmund nodded. “Do you think our small town is a good enough place for them to decide on moving?”

“We can’t really be sure, but they'll be visiting in a week’s time to check things out.”

“They'll want to meet with Edmund at least once during that time, to pay their respects similarly to Daisy here.” Hayden stated.

Edmund nodded again. “Right, well, I guess we can do that. If that’s everything else...” he paused and Hayden nodded, so he turned his attention to Nick. “You said you had something to share?”

“Ah, yes. I found a spell that can give us insight on what happened with Kerkenstar, and possibly how to restore it.”

Sebastian perked up. “That’s good, right?”

“It’s... complicated.” Nick sighed. “The spell needs to be performed by three seers and a witch on the night of a new moon. Technically, we have three seers. Myself, Sebastian, and Aurora. The problem is we don’t know any witches.”

“Well, there’s plenty of time before the new moon to look for one.” Persephone stated. “Since it was just the full moon, the shop will be quiet for a bit, but I know a few regular customers who might be interested in helping if it gets them a deal on their purchases.”

Nick’s shoulders sagged in relief. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

Sebastian wondered how stressful it must be for him to be investigating all this. It had been a long time since Nick had left the pocket dimension, but that didn’t change the fact it was once his home. It probably didn’t help that everything to do with that place was tied to the memory of Tristan. Seb decided then that sorting out the whole dimension collapse fiasco should go up on his list of priorities.

But before he got to that...

He glanced over at Daisy and internally sighed. He needed to talk to Edmund about what was in her file.