“I’m not sure I want to know,” Gwyneth grumbles. “She’s here, she’s safe, and any explanation attached to that outfit will not enhance my world.”
I munch on more sausage as Gwyneth leans against the table opposite us. Nash joins her and tilts his head at me. “We can leave the explanation,” he decides. My shoulders relax. “Until later. When we are alone.”
My cheeks heat as his gaze darkens in warning.
“Tell us how you escaped,” Malachi says. “Did you persuade Poseidon to release you?”
“Not exactly. There was a crocodile,” I say. Damn, that cheese is good.
“A crocodile?” Theo parrots.
“That’s right. Anyway, he helped me to seduce the Idol, steal his trident, and basically wish myself back here.” Speaking of wishes… I glance around. “Where is the genie?”
“I instructed him to stay with you,” Gwyneth says.
“I forbade him from following me into the Idol’s bedchambers.” Which he needs to thank me for. Otherwise, he would also need a memory spell.
The mirror man emerges in the glass and darts his gaze at everyone. “Put down that female. My mistress David will be mad if you fondle another. One short diurnal, and you forget you possess the fairest of them all. She will never compare.”
I wave at him. “Hey, dude, it’s me.” Aww. My mirror man defended my honor. My chest warms at the thought.
His eyes widen, and he squashes his face against the mirror. There’s snot dripping out of his nose. “Dennie, is that really you?”
“It is.”
He leans back and sneezes onto the inside of the mirror. Snot drips down the surface.
“Are you ill?” Do mirror men get sick?
“No, allergies, I already told you.” That’s right—water. He leans forward and rubs his forehead against the surface before moving in little circles to clear his bodily fluids. It squeaks as the mirror becomes more and more smudged.
“There, that’s better.” It’s not, it’s really, really not. But we let him believe otherwise.
“Do you know where the genie is?”
“No, I haven’t seen the mystical being since our last encounter in the ocean.”
Hmm, that’s odd. Maybe he went to visit relatives or is taking a vacation. Odd timing, but it’s not as if he has to file a request with me, his mistress. Yuck.
“You stole the trident?” Gwyneth whispers with a look at the giant fork.
I wave a hand. “Don’t say it all reverently. Their egos are enormous as it is.”
“The trident and Excalibur possess egos?” Hart asks. It’s the first time he’s spoken since my return, and it does something funny to my stomach.
“The sword in particular, but then again, I only just met the trident, so his personality is in question. Perhaps he’s not an asshole with something to prove. The point is, I took command of both Poseidon and his weapon.” I shudder. “And now I am back.”
“But you are still at the mercy of the legend?” Malachi checks.
“I think so, or I wouldn’t feel a connection to the sword, and the trident would have killed me because apparently, the trident’s power created the sword. Perhaps that’s why it’s all moody and silent. It’s a broody weapon.”
“How mad is Poseidon going to be with you?” Gwyneth asks.
I blink. “I mean, I did as he asked and punished him. He literally said ‘Punish me. I’ve been naughty.’ He can’t be mad at something he begged for.”
Silence. One tempo, two.Someone say something before my mind finds something to wreck.
“That explains the outfit,” Theo drawls as his fingertips skim down my nape and over my spine to the corset.
