Jack’s energy changed completely. It was a brilliant transformation, going from something unknowably scary to Jack’s usual happy-go-lucky demeanor. “Good for you, man. I’m happy for you.”
Mal scowled, and Clayton realized his lover had been hoping for a fight.
“We got a new pet?” Marshall asked as he strode into the room. “It seems a bit high-maintenance.” He gestured toward the smoldering wreckage around them.
Clayton was certain everyone in the room could hear his butthole clench. Marshall knew exactly what Mal was and hadn’t hidden his feelings on the matter. Jack had just given his seal of approval, but Marshall was an entirely different matter.
“Clayton, who’s your friend?” Marshall asked.
Clayton’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
“He’s our new dad!” Merry announced proudly.
“He kills bad guys really well!” Tommy added.
“No kidding?” Marshall said the way grown-ups did to kids when they didn’t know what else to say.
Marshall was acting like he’d never even met Mal. What the…?
Jack caught Clayton’s eye in that moment. He didn’t do or say anything, but somehow Clayton knew that everyone would be happier if he didn’t push the issue.
Clayton decided then and there that whatever Jack had done to steal Marshall back from Astraea and take his memories, and whatever Jack was, it was none of Clayton’s business. Especially if Clayton wanted to maintain the status quo.
He gave Jack a brief nod and was answered by a shimmer in the rainbow kaleidoscope of Jack’s eyes.
Jack’s and Marshall’s friendship was an odd one, and Clayton wasn’t touching it with a thousand-foot pole. If itseemed unbalanced, Clayton couldn’t begin to protest on the matter, considering the shit he got up to with his own monster.
He’d leave well enough alone.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t have Mister Stabby as a pet, Marshall,” Merry said matter-of-factly. “He’s mine, and he loves me. Right, Mal?”
“You heard the lady,” Mal said. “And I can’t make another. Mister Stabby is a one-of-a-kind critter.”
Marshall’s eyes lit up at the phrase one-of-a-kind and Clayton winced. Dreamwalkers were notoriously obsessed with new and unique things. It was like Mal was baiting him on purpose.
Marshall crouched down to look at the unicorn and said, “I bet I could make something like this.”
He reached out to touch Mister Stabby, and Jack blocked him, saying, “I’m not getting stabbed every day by whatever you end up making. Back me up, Samantha.”
Samantha’s eyes blazed as she hissed, “Clayton, if you don’t get this…thingout of my house right now, I’m going to destroy your new oven!”
Clayton paled at the threat. “You… you wouldn’t. I spent months working it into the chapter house budget. You love my cookies more than anyone else!”
Mister Stabby chose that moment to fart out a tiny gout of flame, setting the foyer’s two-hundred-year-old rug on fire.
“Get it out of my house!” Samantha shrieked and began swatting at the unicorn once more.
Clayton scooped Mister Stabby off the floor and tossed him through the door to Mal, who handed him off to Eira.
Eira immediately shoved him back to Mal, saying, “I’m with her. She’s the only one in the whole lot of you who isn’t completely insane.” Eira dusted her hands off after unloading the soot-covered unicorn and looked at Samantha. “How do youkeep your people in line? We should share notes because mine are worse than herding cats.”
“Threats and treats,” Samantha replied with an unhinged light in her eyes. “And don’t be afraid to follow through on your threats. Fear is your friend. If they’re not terrified of you, you’re not doing it right.”
Eira nodded sagely. “This one gets it,” she said to Grampy, who hadn’t been paying attention to anything. He’d been staring at Clayton’s flower bed. The one he’d been working on the day he’d met Eira and the kids and nearly bled out on the lawn.
Grampy squinted and said, “Did you know there’s blood on your garden edging?”
“What? I thought I’d gotten it all.” Clayton was ready to go and inspect his beloved rose garden, completely forgetting the volatile situation at hand, when Samantha said, “Take care of it next week. You clearly need a few personal days to sort out your family.”
