Kodiak lines up his shot, unconcerned. “Took you long enough to show up. Get lost, or busy booby-trapping the place?”
She snorts. “Like I wanted to walk in on you guys ‘welcoming’ your mate home. There are some things that bleach just can’t get out, and the sight of your brother and his friends christening the halls with their dicks is one of them.” As Kodiak takes his shot, she chirps, “As a reward for my commendable patience these last few days, I’ve come to abscond with your mate for some vastly overdue girl time.”
The ball goes sailing and clatters to the floor, rolling under the couch on the opposite side of the room. Setting his stick down on the pool table with a rough thwack, Kodi glares at her. “That’s going to be a hard no. You’re welcome to stay and hang out, Carina, but we’re trying toavoidproblems, not create even more.”
She flutters a hand to her chest. “For a newly-mated man, you’d think you’d be in a better mood.” Grumbling, she fishes something out of her back pocket, flipping Kodi off when he reaches to take the paper and offering it to Stone instead. “Bitch and moan all you’d like, but my orders come from the top. Read ‘em and weep, boys.”
Stone unfolds the note, holding it to where I can easily read it alongside him. I’ve barely scanned the page before it has me smiling. It’s like a hastily scribbled mockery of a school permission slip.
––––––––
Carina Garrisonhereby has my permission to takeAmara Garrisonoff of castle grounds onwhatever TF today’s date isto attend my glorious sister’s totally safe tour around Khalida.
Parent or Guardian signature:Raiden Garrison
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Carina leans in andtaps Raiden’s name at the bottom. “See? It's official.”
Not nearly as amused as I am, Stone deadpans, “It's forged.”
“Same thing.” Waving him off, Carina catches my gaze. “Ready to have some fun?”
Kodi strides up to her with a scowl. “IfRaiden gave his blessing, which I’ll be confirming before Amara ever steps foot out that door, I’ll be joining you, so stop trying to rush off, Carina. You don’t understand the shit we’re up against right now.”
She barely lets him finish his rant before throwing a swift throat punch, and I slap a hand over my mouth in surprise. As Kodiak wheezes out a curse, she swipes his legs out from under him, snaking out a hand to catch the metal whip he snaps out from his arm cuff in a bid to bind her wrists. Bright blue eyes fade to grey, writhing like smoke trapped inside of glass identical to her brother. Tightening her hand, she melts the metal, letting it drip onto his chest. Holes are singed through his shirt while he grumbles backhanded praises under his breath.
“For being the one that taught me to fight, you seem to have conveniently forgotten that I’m just as capable as you are. I’d sooner eat a bucket of rusty nails than allow any harm to come to my brother's mate.” Leaving him to recover, she saunters over and captures a lock of my hair, twirling the dark brown strands around her finger. “Dragons have a soft spot for pretty princesses in need of their protection, after all,” she purrs, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.
The rolling of Stone’s eyes can be heard in his dry tone. “She’s not for you to play with, Carina. Get your own mate.”
“Working on it, but getting a good workout in the meantime.” Taking my hand, she steps back, coaxing me away from Stone. Over her shoulder, she gives Kodi a shrug. “You have a problem with this, take it up with Raiden. He specifically called me to come be his stunt double and seduce Amara in his absence.”
A low growl escapes Kodiak as the metal splattered across his shirt returns to the innocuous silver band around his upper arm once again. “Carina-”
She narrows her eyes. “Kodiak.Amara isn’t going to get into any trouble with me today; scout's honor.”
Kodi storms out of the room to hunt down Raiden while Stone gives me a worried look that I barely have time to return. She drags me away behind her, lacing our fingers together and practically skipping down the abandoned hallway in her enthusiasm. “If you hurry up and get dressed, we can slip out while they’re still fighting in my brother’s office, I bet.”
Completely out of my element, I awkwardly clear my throat. “I don’t really have any clothes here except the ones I came in, and I haven’t taken the time to wash them yet. I’ll steal something out of Kodi’s closet, but do you mind waiting in the hall? I’m not comfortable inviting people into their rooms without checking with them first.”
Stopping abruptly, she pins me with a serious look. “What the fuck do you mean, you don’t have any clothes of your own?”
Grimacing, I rush out, “We didn’t exactly plan on coming here when we left Kodi’s place, and it’s only been a few days. Raiden’s been busy, and the guy’s have been trying to keep me occupied and out of his way, so no one’s had a chance to go shopping, or any reason to. Their clothes are fine for running around the house in.”
Smoke escapes her nostrils with her indignant huff.
“Trust me, I’ll be having a word with those mates of yours.” Closing her eyes, she takes a deep, calming breath, and tugs me back into motion, changing direction. “Until those fuckwits get their heads out of their asses and learn how to treat a girl properly, you can help yourself to my closet. This is the first time people will be seeing you. It’ll set the tone for the gossip mill, so we should use it to our advantage.”
As we navigate the halls of the eerily silent second floor, I can’t help but ask, “Why don’t you live here, if it’s not too personal to ask?”
“And have my brother vetting every person I'm trying to bone, refusing to let them in for 'security' reasons?” She snorts. “No thank you, Satan. I like having the ability to walk around naked if I want, and not always having someone looking disapprovingly over my shoulder. I stay here on occasion, like if I'm hanging out after dinner and it gets late enough I don't want to fly home, but I prefer having my own space.”
I’m not really sure how to respond, so we finish the trek to her room in silence. I’ve never had a friend to do this sort of thing with, and it certainly shows, but Carina takes it all in stride.
Her room is as dramatic as she is, all splashes of bright color and bold, contrasting furniture to offset it. The place may as well be a paintball park. Grabbing me by the waist, she swings me around, setting me on the edge of her bed before flitting over to her closet.
Rifling through, she frowns at one thing after another, sliding hangers down the bar. “How comfortable are you with showing skin?”
