Antonio’s eyes widened.“How did you go to freaking out about being sold on the open market to a conversation about procreation?”
Soooo he had been asleep.“Dude, you’re not a good guard dog if you’re sleeping on the job.”
“I’m not a damn guard dog,” he huffed.“They are.”
“Nope.”She popped theP.“They’re guard snakes.Which means they suck too because snakes don’t guard crap.They slither, hiss, squeeze things to death, or dart really fast if you make a wrong move.”
“All of those things sound like something a guard would do.”
Antonio had a point.Moving on.“So you guys can’t have babies…” The last word came out slowly.Her eyes widened.“Are your babies hatched?Do you lay eggs?”
Myron and Slick both looked horrified, and their faces scrunched up simultaneously.
“What?”Katy’s eyes bounced back and forth between them, and then to Antonio, who was looking at the two guys expectantly.He obviously didn’t know what they were so freaked out about, either.“It’s a fair question, dammit.You turn into snakes.How can Inotbe curious how you have babies?”
Slick opened his mouth, but Myron spoke first.
“You do realize that we’re male, right?I mean, I’ve gotten the impression you were totally clear on that fact.”
“Of course I know you're male,” she started, then shook her head.“Well, I obviously can’t know that with a hundred percent certainty unless I saw all of your maleness.”
“Katy…” Antonio groaned and then cursed in his Italian tongue, something he usually saved for when he was annoyed with Lola or his father.
She held up a hand.“I’m not asking for a demonstration.I’m just answering his question honestly.But I’ll take your word for it.”Okay, so now she was just messing with them.What was she supposed to do?Play nice with her abductors?
“Beastwalkers from the Kingdom of Venom do not lay eggs.”Myron ignored her argument.“And even if we did, Slick and I wouldnot,because we are male.”
Katy tilted her head and bit her bottom lip.Okay, now she felt a little less bright.Of course,theydidn’t lay eggs.They were totally dudes.Even if she claimed she couldn’t say for certainty without seeing their … little snakelettes.I am glad I didn’t saythatout loud.Every masculine thing about them screamed DUDES.“Okay, well, I feel like things just got really awkward.”She tapped her fingers on her knee.“Let’s go back to the fact that you three kidnapped me.”
“How long are you going to throw that in our faces?”Slick’s eyes filled with humor.
“Until hell freezes over, or I decide I’m over it.”She brushed her hair from her face.“Which, let’s face it, I willneverbe over it.”
“I think she’ll get over it.”Slick winked.
Antonio shook his head.“She won’t.”
Katy pointed at him.“He knows.I hold a grudge like it’s the best lover ever.”She leaned back in her seat, gripped the armrests, and straightened her arms, pressing herself deeper into the seat.“You two better hope I don’t pick one of you.I’ll make your very long, long, long life miserable.”
Myron ran a finger across his lips, and Katy couldn’t help but notice how sensual the action was.Wait, what?There was nothing sensual about it.Totallynotsensual.
“I think I’d take my chances.”Myron continued to stare at her.
Katy shifted in her seat and turned to look out the window.She still had things she wanted to know, but at the moment, she needed to remind herself that the two non-humans who were staring at her like she was the first glass of water they’d seen in a decade were not her friends.No matter how nice they were, they didn’t care about her.If they cared, they’d have left her right where she belonged.
“So how long ’til we land and I meet this king of yours?”she asked after a good twenty minutes of staring out into the dark.
“An hour,” Slick answered.“Azure’s not a bad guy.”
“Psht,” Katy blew out and rolled her eyes.“People who take others against their will arenever‘not bad guys.’”
“What would you do to protect the human race?”Myron’s voice suddenly grew serious.“If your entire existence was at stake, what would you do?”
Katy started to speak but then decided to think about it.She tried to put herself in the shoes of a species that might one day no longer exist unless they found a way to fix whatever it was that kept them from having female babies.What would she do?“I think a better question is what Iwouldn’tdo.And I would hope that I wouldn’t take away someone else’s free will.”
“Then you’re a better person than us.”Slick slid down into his seat and leaned his head back.He chewed on his bottom lip as his gaze bounced from the dark of the window then back to her face.
“What?”Katy snapped after this continued for several minutes.
