Schwint groaned and forced himself off the bed when the knock at the door sounded a second time, this time more insistent.
I watched the movement of his ass as he walked toward the door, then started. “Schwint, wait!”
He looked back at me. “Yeah?”
Reaching over the bed, I stretched out my arm to grasp the fabric on the floor. As I sat up, I held the shorts out toward him. “You forgetting something?”
He shrugged, his grin playful. “Does it really matter?”
I shook the clothing at him in response.
“Fine.” As he turned back to the door, his wings vanished and flower-patterned purple shorts and an orange tank top clothed his body.
I groaned. How he still had a sense of humor in the middle of all this, I couldn’t fathom. “Homage to Bertha today, huh?”
“You got it, babe.” He opened the door and took a step back.
Veronica let her gaze wander over Schwint’s body, deliberately pausing when she got to his affected leg.
“Would you like me to shave it for you so you don’t get hair in your teeth?”
Her fangs glistened as she leered at him. “That won’t be necessary.”
“Maybe I can get a sunburn. Give you a taste of what you can’t have.”
Veronica took a step toward Schwint.
He moved a few inches to the right, slipping into a shaft of light that poured through the window. “Midday snack? It’s gotta be past noon by now, right?”
She glared at him for a moment before turning her hate-filled eyes toward me. It seemed impossible I’d ever felt sorry for her. “The king requires your presence.”
I took a breath. Already? He knew? “Okay. Just give me a second to throw some clothes on.”
“Got it.” Without looking my way, Schwint clothed me. He smiled sweetly at the vampire. “Don’t you wish you had power like that instead of the ability to drink a lot?”
“When the king gives the word, I’m going to destroy you, slowly. Let’s see how useful your parlor tricks are then.”
Before Schwint could retort, I glanced down at the shirt he’d given me. “Really?”
He looked over at me and smiled, pointing to his shorts. “We match.”
Rolling my eyes at him, I touched the hem causing the floral print to transition to a solid shade of mustard yellow.
“Well, now that’s boring.”
“Don’t worry, they’ll….” I nearly said there would be more than enough excitement later. “I’ll make it up to ya later. It won’t be boring at all.” My heart clenched at the promise that would be broken. I doubted there would be a later.
Veronica cringed at the implication. “Enough of this. Gwala is waiting.”
I slid off the bed and slipped on my flip-flops. Then, thinking of the possibilities that the day might hold, I flicked my fingers in their direction, and they morphed into a pair of Converse sneakers that matched my shirt.
“Now you’re just showing off.”
I winked at Schwint. “You started it.”
Veronica headed for the door, expecting me to follow without being told a second time.
Schwint shut the door behind him as we exited the room.
