Tate lifted his glass to his lips, choosing to drink versus answering the questions. Not that I blamed him.
Then Julian, God bless Julian, turned to Antoine. “Have you heard they think they’re close to learning how to break a vampire-human servant bond? I think it would come in handy in certain situations.”
Antoine watched Julian with an unreadable expression before answering. “Yes, I believe our mutual witch friend, Tabitha, is assisting with that endeavor. I have to say that it would be most helpful in these kinds of situations. Too many times have I seen humans forced into bonds without their consent.”
My mom choked on her wine, coughing. Wynn, who was nearest to her, reached out to help, but she waved him off with a shake of her head.
“Something funny, dear?” Antoine asked, coolly watching my mom like a hawk.
Clearing her throat, she lifted her glass once more. “Just think it’s funny that you care about consent and all when you didn’t before.”
I groaned, pressing my face into my hands. God fucking save me from this dinner. We haven’t even eaten yet, and already it’s gone from bad to worse.
“I must apologize then,” Antoine continued, though there was a hard note to his voice. “I was unaware you were unhappy with your bond. Perhaps if this goes well, then we can revisit this conversation. I’m sure you would be much happier bonded to one of the others. Marcus, perhaps?”
Rayne laughed, clapping Marcus on the shoulder. “Don’t even get in the middle of it, buddy. You do not want the whiplash that is Piper’s personality every second of every day.”
Marcus sniffed, ignoring the teasing jab.
“Darren, what about you?” Antoine asked once he reappeared with Kyren’s blood. “Are you unhappy with your bond?”
Setting the glass in front of Kyren, he focused his gaze on Antoine. “No, sir. I am not.” He then paused by my mom. “Do not tease him,” I murmured. “I wish to walk straight tomorrow.”
Whyyy? Why did I think this was a good idea? My parents couldn’t behave in the best of circumstances. Why did I think they would be nice ordinary parents to meet my boyfriends?
“Sir…?” Tate glanced between the two of them and then looked at me. “I thought they were like me and Kyren? Why is he calling him sir, like he’s some kind of servant?”
“Oh, God, Tate. Please don’t ask questions like that.” My face heated while my dads silently laughed at me from the other side of the table.
“What?” Tate asked, genuinely confused, much to my mom’s delight as she giggled into her glass. “What did I say?”
Kyren thankfully saved me from answering as I tried to imagine a hole in the floor swallowing me up. “I believe,mi lobo, it’s a dynamic they enjoy playing.” My eyes caught Kyren’s hand sliding beneath the table, his hand sitting on the thick upper thigh of Tate’s leg. “Like we do.”
Tate’s mouth fell open and then he blinked, clipping his mouth shut. I swore if his skin was lighter, he’d be beet red right then.
Not to be out done by my mom, Rayne popped into the conversation. “So, now that you’ve found yourself a vampire who is not your dad, are you going to become his human servant?”
I swallowed the wine in my mouth and scowled. “That’s not why I’m dating him, dad.” I turned my attention to Kyren. “Ignore him. He’s just trying to get a rise out of us.”
“Come on,” Rayne continued with a shit-eating grin. “You must have thought about it. What about you, hunter? Are you going to bond to Kyren?”
“Fuck no.” Julian shot Kyren a nasty look that had my dad cackling.
“Oh, Jack, you have your hands full with these two. How do you keep them from killing each other?”
“By not antagonizing them,” I shot back and then smiled prettily at Allister. “Please help me show them not all my dads are completely assholes.”
“What did I do?” Wynn complained, placing a hand on his chest. “I have been nothing but pleasant this night.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re just biding your time,” I shot back as Allister turned to Julian.
“Do you think that you’ll be able to keep Jackie from hunting long enough to give us grandchildren?”
“Whaaat?” My head whipped toward Allister as my mom focused on Tate.
“So, tell me about your piercings. Don’t those hurt?”
There were too many conversations now going on at once, and it was all completely overwhelming. I didn’t know which person to respond to or who to chastise for stepping over bound until all I could do was shout.
