The knife landed with a meaty thunk. A soft, masculine curse rang out in the room before the voice drawled, “Do you normally attack people before you see who’s come to call?”
I poked my head above the mattress and glared at Evie’s dad. A thin trickle of golden blood dripped from a small wound in his chest that closed as I opened my mouth to speak. “First of all, you aren’tpeople. Second, it’s customary to knock on someone’s door before you enter their room. What if I were naked?”
It was the wrong question to ask. Cernunnos arched an eyebrow. “Do you normally sleep naked?”
My eyes narrowed. “I am not answering that question.”
To my surprise, he laughed. “Come, god touched. There are things I must show you today.”
That title again. I didn’t like it. Flicking my fingers to make him turn around, Cernunnos sighed and wheeled away, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Get out!” I tossed a pillow at his head.
He sucked in a surprised gasp and spun around. “Remind me never to wake you out of a sound sleep again. You’re quite cranky in the mornings.”
“If you don’t shut up and turn around, I’m going to throw something sharper at you.”
“Sharper than your pointy little needle blade?” At my glare, he rolled his eyes and turned around. “I’m not leaving. If we walk out of here, you’re going to want to eat breakfast and gab with my daughter. We’re leaving right from this room.”
“I need coffee.”
He snapped his fingers. A steaming travel mug of coffee sat on the nightstand.
“And I have to brush my teeth.”
A sink and my toothpaste and toothbrush appeared, along with the exact type of mouthwash I used. Smug bastard thought of everything. “I hate you,” I muttered.
Cernunnos laughed. “Five minutes, Moira. At three, I’ll start harassing you to hurry.”
I rose and quickly dressed, keeping an eye out to see if he peeked. But Cernunnos was true to his word. Three minutes later, he started humming a game show theme. I brushed my teeth and ran a brush through my hair before tying it into a messy ponytail. At the one-minute mark, he stalked toward me.
I squawked and threw my shoe at him. He caught it one-handed and tossed it back. “Stop throwing things at me.”
“Stop being annoying!” I snapped back. “I’m tired. The sun isn’t even out!”
“The better to see the darkness with, my dear.”
I glared at him. “One day I’m going to sneak into your house and wake you up the same way,” I muttered.
His teeth flashed white. “You are still a pup. Good luck finding me.”
“I’ll just ask Evie.”
He reached down and gripped me by the upper arm. “Time’s up.”
I snatched my coffee from the nightstand as the room sparkled with emerald and gold magic. A moment later, we were gone.
I hadno idea where we were, but even more important than that, I was freezing my ass off. Snow littered the ground, at least six inches deep.
“Seriously? You couldn’t give me a hint to dress a little more appropriately for the weather?”
To his credit, Cernunnos blushed. “I don’t often think of those things.” He waved a finger at me.
A heavy jacket landed on my shoulders. Waterproof, knee-high boots replaced my sneakers, and a thermal undershirt and leggings appeared underneath my jeans and hoodie.
“Better?”
“Yes, but if you have gloves and a hat, that would be better.”
