Alex said the house was being renovated. Katelina thought "previously abandoned" was a better phrase. Only the downstairs was furnished. The upstairs room she and Jorick were sent to had only three rickety chairs and a pile of mouse eaten boxes.
She watched through the dingy window as Oren borrowed a cell phone and moved from tree to tree in search of a signal. "Why doesn't he ever have his phone?"
"He leaves it with the coven while he's away," Jorick answered. "Telephones are harder to get than you think. They want credit ratings, or some such thing."
He was right, so she changed topics. "Are we staying to help Kale?" An ominous silence followed. "It's almost Christmas! You promised we were going somewhere tropical!"
"I did say after Christmas."
She rolled her eyes. "You can't keep
