Khol laughs softly, wiggling from his spot on the other side of the bed to press into her side. “You must have overlooked the label in your frustration, Sassy. No shame in it. I’m a bit blind when I’m pissed off, too. Sometimes, I forget to stop when they’re not moving anymore.”
Dezi rolls his eyes and mutters something in the vamp language that I don’t quite catch. I assume it’s about children, or maybe simply about basilisks, but we probably don’t need it translated. He walks over, crouching in front of the bed to look at Fiadh closely. His eyes lock with hers and they’re silent for a moment before a slow smile creeps across his face. “Is that better, witchling?”
“Holy shit…”
What the fuck did he just do? And why the hell do none of us have any idea what this jackass has in his arsenal?
“Do you feel better?” Tier asks curiously.
Our girl nods slowly, licking her lips. “I do, actually. I feel… pretty good.”
“What did you do, blood sucker?” Khol asks, his fingers trail up and down Fi’s side. A forked tongue flicks out, tasting the air before he smirks. “And be honest. Between Sassy and I, we’ll know if you lie.”
The vampire heaves a sigh, rolling his eyes before he answers. “Just asmallcompulsion. It helped her forget the hangover while her body continues to recover. Most people would call it cheating, but I believe it’s using the tools at hand.”
“That’s something we need to keep in mind for later. No way we make it through this entire tour without Sassy breaking her knuckles on some asshole face at least once,” the basilisk says with a chuckle. “And I am partial to mixing it up myself.”
A timer goes off, and Tiernan claps his hands. “The lasagne is ready. Ruby helped me with the recipe, so I’m not taking credit if it’s fucking terrible. But there’s plenty and we should dig in. I don’t know about you, but I’m fucking famished.”
“Shifters eat like fucking zoo animals,” Fiadh grumbles as she pushes to a sitting position. “I have no idea how you guys put it away and still look like you do. It’s totally fucking unfair.”
Khol arches a brow, shrugging unrepentantly. “High metabolism, Sassy. Your sis has the same deal now. We need the energy to get through all the bone-breaking shifts and shit. It’s notallhearts and roses.”
Her lips drop into a frown, and surprisingly, she leans in to kiss his jaw. “I know. Fer told me about how badly it hurts at first and how long it takes to get that to a low, quick hum. I deal with pain pretty well, but I can’t imagine that being your life all the time.”
The gesture makes Tiernan beam with pride, and he walks over, scooping her into his arms as she squeals. “Good girl, Knuckles.”
Dezi arches a brow as my oldest friend carries our girl to the dining area while she kicks and fights. “Why does that make her good andwhy is she fighting him carrying her? It’s only being a good mate in shifter culture.”
I grin as I clap a hand on his shoulder. “That’s because the lass has a hard time expressing emotions out loud—including empathy—and she’s also stubborn as fuck about feeling like she’s being girly. So when we do the caveman shit our bond demands, she has a hissy fit. You’ll get used to it, old man.”
“I have the most dreadful sense that I will have to get used to a great deal of weird fucking behavior from you lot.” He shakes his head as Tiernan grunts, signaling that he’s put her down and she’s socked him in the gut. “This might be the least logical group of people I’ve ever encountered.”
Khol does a barrel roll and leaps off the bed with a smirk. “Does that mean you won’t help me convince our girl to hang a vial of a special weapon off that choker you gave her? Because I don’t have a damn clue how to approach it, but between both of our fangs and a smidge of the rocker’s magic dust, she’d have an extra layer of protection until her magic is more stable.”
My mouth drops open. “I’ll be damned. The dealer has a good idea—unsurprisingly, it’s about a lethal drug.”
The basilisk shrugs. “We all have our skill set, Prince. Mine is learned alongside my twin and soaked in blood, but it’s useful. Sassy can help us mix the potion, but it could save her life.”
I hate when the biggest asshole in the room is right, but here we are.
“I’ll help you,” Dezi says with a sharp nod. “And I’ll… give up what you need. Privately, of course.”
“A vampire being secretive about their venom—how shocking,” I mutter as we all head to the dining area to join Tiernan and Fiadh. “I would never have expected that.”
The look he gives me is scathing, but it makes me grin in satisfaction.
Take that, old man.
Since the stupid witch Council’s education did us no damn favors regarding other species, I’m lost in the conversation about this damn potion.Yes, I get that there’s some fucking thing about vampires I don’t know, but I have no frame of reference for what or how it works.And Rev’s right about Dezi keeping shit to himself—he needs to square up or I’ll never trust him. But I suppose I haven’t initiated much private time with him because finding out he was part of this happened when there was way too much going on to deal with my emotions about that.
Licking my lips, I look over at Tier handing out the supplies to Khol and Rev. He’s a better leader than people give him credit for because he’s amiable and quiet. But the fancy pants rich guys that make up the rest of my… family… coven… mate group… Whatever. The others are Richie-rich motherfuckers from birth, so their understanding of ‘normie’ chores is limited. I smile as Dezi fusses with the silverware, making sure it’s all in the right place after Khol simply puts it wherever.
Not surprising the ancient vampire definitely knows how to critique manners, if nothing else.
The lasagne smells amazing and I’m delighted to find it absolutelyoozingcheese. Clapping my hands in excitement, I look up at Tiernan with a big grin. “This is perfect.”
Dezi arches a brow, then looks at theleopard curiously. “Should we make Italian more often? I can ask some very old friends for more authentic recipes if the witchling enjoys it this much.”
