“No,” Declan snarled. “That whole 'I'll bet she does.' You bet she enjoys his chicken too? How is that an innuendo?”
“Oh.” Dominic grimaced. “I don't know, but it sounded funny until you had to pick it apart.”
“No, it didn't.”
“It did.” Dominic took another bite, then spoke with his mouth full, “You just hate that I'm the funny one.”
“You only think you're funny. And don't speak with your mouth full.”
“I'm a grown-ass man,Mom.” Dominic rolled his eyes. “I can eat all by myself.”
“Can you? Because you look like a caveman.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Dear fucking Gods,” Darius muttered and shook his head.
“I see they haven't changed,” Rune said.
“Nope.” Darius chuckled affectionately. “Centuries go by and only their hairstyles alter.”
“And the way we speak,” Dominic added. “We keep up with the lingo.”
“But do you?” Darius asked in a doubting tone.
Dominic stuck his tongue out at him.
I snorted a laugh.
“See? She likes me.” Dominic waved a hand toward me. “I'm funny.”
“Oh, no. Keep me out of whatever this is,” I said.
“Smart girl,” Darius muttered. “All right, so is there anything more you can tell us about Michael and his Host?”
“Well, we can tell you his Host is seriously depleted,” Rune said.
“Thanks to Lora,” Braxen added.
“What does that mean?” Darius looked at me.
“We got lured into a trap,” Rune said. “Got gunned down as soon as we walked in. Too injured to go ghost, much less defend ourselves.”
“Then our mate shot a rocket into the house,” Braxen said.
“A rocket?” Darius asked.
“Yup.”
“And she stormed in through the flames with a fucking machine gun. Just mowed them down,” Rune said, sliding me a surprisingly proud look. “I'm sorry I yelled at you, Lora.”
I took a page from Braxen's book and answered with a single word, “Forgiven.”
“Wait. You took her on a mission?” Darius asked. “Your mate?! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“We didn't take her. She followed us,” Merrick said.
“I had a strange feeling,” I said. “I knew they were in danger.”
