“Oww.” Sloane slumped into a chair at the table. “That hurt.”
“You’re the one with a jaw as sharp as a blade.” I rubbed the side of my face. “Do you slide a whetstone across your chin every morning before you brush your teeth?”
“And get filings in my toothpaste? Ha. How amateurish. I only whet my jawlineafterbrushing.”
Head tilted to one side, Goldie watched us with a finger on her chin. “What are they talking about?”
“No one knows.” Liam dropped his load on the table. “And the world is better for it.”
As curiosity overtook me and I peeked into the open box, strong arms slid around my waist.
“Hmph.”
I’m not sure how much a giraffe weighs, but Rían was a lot of man with a ton of muscle. He had doubled over at his waist, folding himself almost in half across my shoulder. “You sound tired.”
“Hmph.”
“Poor baby.” I couldn’t reach his lips, but I managed to kiss his shoulder. “Want cookies and milk?”
“Me.” Sloane bounced in her chair. “I do.”
No surprise there. I caught her licking crumbs off the counter yesterday. She really had no shame.
“He’s a dragon.” Liam sounded offended on his cousin’s behalf. “He wants steak and potatoes.”
“He’s got five minutes until showtime, and the sugar would give him a boost to get through his talks.” As I rattled off my defense, it hit me Liam was pouting. Likely because I hadn’t made him the same offer. “Though he could skip the milk if it’s not his thing.”
“Mmm.”
“That sounds like a yes.” I got Liam to help scrape Rían off me and ease him into the chair across from Sloane. “Liam, would you like a snack too? You’ve been working hard today. I doubt you had a chance to stop and eat. You could use the energy to power through the next few hours too.”
“It’s not steak—” he sighed as he sat between Sloane and Rían, “—but I guess it’ll have to do.”
“Me. Me. Me.”Sloane waved her arms over her head. “Don’t forget me.”
“What are you?” Liam glowered at her. “Five?”
“Ahem.” Goldie pinned him with her unrelenting stare. “You promised.”
A grumble masquerading as an apology slipped out in Sloane’s general direction.
Having settled the situation to her satisfaction, Goldie left with Fayne to change clothes.
While Sloane gloated over him getting his wrist slapped, I made three plates and served them, eager to seize the opportunity to ask Rían about dragonsbane before Goldie returned.
As the sugar hit Rían’s tongue, he perked up, correcting his slouch. He grinned at me with chipmunk cheeks that were so adorable my fingers itched to pinch them. Just like that, my motivation to add to his workload evaporated. As much as I wanted to ask about Becca, about the dragonsbane, I held my questions. He had a full evening of Q&A ahead of him, and I ought to let him rest until then.
Liam, however, I would pester later. As maguri, he ought to have the latest news.
Part of me wondered if I would gain a similar level of access to clan intel after Rían and I became official. A happy zing raced through me until my nerves slammed on the brakes. Just because Rían didn’t view me as a threat didn’t mean others in leadership roles would be as quick to welcome me into their inner circle.
Especially while Carmichael still posed a threat, and I remained bound to him.
“Do you feel up to greeting the guests with us?” Rían peered at me over his glass. “Usually, Fayne acts as hostess, but it’s a good opportunity for you to meet some of the clan you haven’t yet.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Liam interjected, nibbling on a cookie stolen off Sloane’s plate. “You can switch out with Fayne and supervise the kids on the play—er—obstacle course.”
The massive playground had struck me as overkill for a single child the first time I saw it, even if Goldie was bound to have a surplus of friends as the magnus’s sister. Whether they were genuine or not…that was harder to tell. I didn’t envy her learning the same hard lessons as me, but I was grateful the sharpest edges of that education would be blunted by the support of her family and overall decency of the clan.
