"I left them with Villeneuve," I admit, grimacing when his jaw drops. "There were some issues with the ritual, and he agreed to fix them."
"Dude!" Sean throws his hands in the air. "I thought witches melted without their grimoires!"
"No, that's demons," Micah chimes in with the kind of confidence only a brutally incorrect male alpha is capable of.
"It's not demons," I say flatly. "Actually, I don't think that applies to any species. I'll be fine without my grimoire for a few hours until Villeneuve brings it over with the rest of the ritual supplies."
When they all do a double take, I realize I'm not going to be able to just slip that one under their noses.
Worth a shot, though.
Killian pinches the bridge of his nose and clenches his jaw. "Wait, what do you mean when Villeneuvebrings them over?"
I take a deep breath. Here goes. "I kind of… invited him to the ritual?"
Micah's eyes widen. Sean and Rowan stare at Killian expectantly, like they're waiting for him to spontaneously combust.
Honestly, so am I.
Which is what makes his low, easy chuckle so unsettling in comparison.
"I'm sorry, I think the stress is getting to me," he says. "I could have sworn you said you invited Villeneuve over to the pack house for the ritual."
"I did," I answer.
He stares at me.
I stare back.
This is the point where Kyle would explode, call me a moron, and spend the next few days starving me of coven energy to make his pointreallyfucking clear.
Instead, Killian buries his hands in his hair and drags them down the side of his face with a pained groan.
"Reginaaaaaa."
"Oh, no. The vein's out," Sean says, immediately grabbing Killian's shoulders and kneading. "It'sneverfucking good when the vein in his forehead stands out like he's benching five hundred."
"Seven," Killian corrects without missing a beat, shrugging Sean off him. He fixes me with a pleading look instead. "Look, having you on his turf was bad enough, but the pack house? I don't think you understand how much effort it's going to take not to separate his head from his body like a fucking G.I. Joe."
I raise an eyebrow. "Isthathow boys play with dolls?"
"They're action figures," Micah mumbles.
"Well, I have faith in you," I say, folding my arms.
"You probably shouldn't," Rowan says dryly.
Sean wrinkles his nose in disgust. "Villain-whatever is gonna get weirdo germs all over the cuddle pit."
"I thought we agreed you were never going to call it that again," Micah says, giving him the side eye.
"What? We have a Bonded now, it can be a cuddle pit without it being weird," Sean protests.
Micah rolls his eyes.
"Look, I know a wolf's den is sacred," I begin, "and I know this isn't going to be fun for you guys, but Villeneuve is the only one who knows enough about this to trust him with the ritual. If we go through with it without him, it could backfire."
"We could always wait another month," Micah suggests. "Give you and Sadie more time to hammer shit out."
