"I can do it," she insisted, grinning.
"I can do it just as well."
"My hero."
"It's not chivalry, it's good manners."
She laughed behind me as we headed into the living room.
Dumont was sandwiched between Macgrath and Callum on the couch, but he seemed unperturbed. Ava and Arien sat on the coffee table, but got to their feet so I could set the tray on the table.
"I'll get some chairs from the kitchen," Merry stated.
"No, I'll get them."
She sighed. "Do I need to ask permission to pour the coffee or do you want to do that too?"
She sounded annoyed.
"Um, of course not," I answered.
Merry didn't say anything. She just set about pouring coffee.
I grabbed three chairs from the kitchen and brought them into the living room. I would stand while we talked.
Once everyone had a cup of coffee, even Dumont, Merry said, "You need to tell them everything from the beginning."
I really didn't want to listen to anything he had to say, but I forced myself to focus.
After Dumont had been speaking for a few minutes, I no longer had the urge to roll my eyes. As he explained how the humans had discovered our existence and followed Rhiannon to Austin, my stomach clenched. Dear God in Heaven, we were being spied upon. They were listening to us right now.
"Now they know that we know," Macgrath said. "We've lost the element of surprise."
"Not exactly," Dumont said. "I'm wearing a device that jams their audio abilities. They can still see the house, but they can't hear anything we're saying."
"And you don't think they'll find this suspicious?" Macgrath asked.
"Doubtful. They have outages from time to time. Since I traced in, they have no idea I'm here. And they don't know anything about me at all," Dumont pointed out.
Merry waved her hands. "Before y'all get into it, I'm just letting you know that I intend to help him."
Forget ripping his head off. I was going to start with his legs, then move to his arms. I was going to save his screaming-in-agony head for last.
The room erupted.
* * *
An hour later,and against my better judgment, Dumont traced out of the living room. None of us were happy.
He wanted a promise of aid and we didn't want to let him leave, period. None of us got what we wanted. But Ava promised him that she would call him the next day and they could discuss it further. When he pointed out that the government was watching, she told him not to worry about it. That technology wasn't infallible.
Merry wasn't happy either. I could see it in every line of her body.
As soon as everyone left, I had no doubt I would hear all about it.
Sure enough, when Macgrath, Ava, and Arien left, Callum took one look at Merry and said, "I'm going to go patrol the perimeter."
He vanished before I could tell him that I would do it. The coward.
