Thomas aimed a toothy smile at the two of us. "An acceptance you now have. Congratulations my children. I'm so proud of you."
I was shaking my head before he even opened the door. Not that he was paying attention, he disappeared almost as quietly as he'd come. On any other, I would have said he was fleeing before we could retaliate, but this was Thomas—master of the city. I doubted he knew the meaning of retreat.
"What just happened?" I finally came unstuck, crossing to the door with some half thought out plan of forcing Thomas to take back his proclamation.
From below a car engine started.
"Our sire outmaneuvered us," Connor said with weary resignation.
"How? How did he outmaneuver us?" I had an inkling, but I wanted to hear it from him.
"I told you nothing good ever came of letting vampires into your life," Inara said, popping out of one of my kitchen cabinets.
They were mostly empty since I didn't need food to survive. Vaguely, I got sidetracked wondering about the cabinet's contents. Then, what Inara said, finally registered.
"You're the one who told him he could stay." I pointed at the six-foot inconvenience who was the source of this mess.
Connor crossed his arms, looking between the two of us.
Inara tossed her head, her attention on Connor.
"Are you ignoring me?" I asked.
Inara didn't respond to my question in favor of staring Connor down. "We're not leaving. We were here first."
She was definitely ignoring me. Unbelievable.
"That is acceptable as long as you do not try your tricks on me," Connor responded.
I raised my eyes to the ceiling, asking what I'd done to deserve this. It was bad enough when I had the two pixies deciding things without consulting me, now there was a vampire doing it as well.
Where had I gone wrong?
Inara sneered at Connor. "As if you have anything we want."
"Mark me, Fae, you will not like what I do if you cross me on this," he warned.
I'd finally had enough of being talked over like I wasn't even there.
"This is still my house. I decide who stays and who goes," I snarled.
Both of them gazed at me with blank looks. They turned back to each other.
"She's so cute when she gets defensive," Inara said.
"This is the contrariness your consort warned me about, yes?"
"I'm not contrary," I shouted.
Inara flew closer. "And yet, in all the time we've stayed here, you've done little in terms of actually trying to evict us. Face it, there's some part of you that appreciates our presence. Same with the vampire. If not, you would have told him to get out last night."
I stared at her with something approaching dismay. I had tried to evict her and Lowen. Many times.
Although, if I'm being entirely honest, not in recent memory.
Okay, now that I thought about it, there was a grain of truth in what she said. At least in regards to her and Lowen. Connor was a different thing entirely.
I'd grown accustomed to the pixies' presence. It was nice coming home to them. They made the early morning hours a little less lonely.
