“Don’t you say—”
“We eat those.” Romano smiled as he got the last word, canines sharp and big. The lion roared but wisely closed its mouth.
“See?”
“Can I call him Puss? Like, you know, that orange cat on the movies with the big eyes. All it needs is a hat.”
“I’m going to kill you myself,” Dominic growled, but he couldn’t completely hide his grin.
No point in showing the Council they were afraid. As the door swung open, Dominic and Zoey entered first, heads held high, with Romano and Giuliana taking up the rear. The door closed behind them, encasing them in momentary darkness, and Romano resisted the urge to growl.
This was not natural dark, but magic dark, and he never liked it after being in the Chaos Realm. Every muscle ticked and contracted, ready for battle from any direction. A soft growl permeated the air and grew until Romano recognized his Alpha’s call. He blinked, and the darkness faded.
“What the hell is wrong with y’all?” Giuliana stared at them a moment.
“They’ve been in the Chaos Realm. The wards at the door mark those who have. It is for the protection of the home.”
Romano looked up to find a woman standing at the top of the twin staircases on either side of the foyer. “We didn’t come with a threat.”
“No, but the realm does. It’s good to know who has been there and who hasn’t.”
“Will we be meeting in here, or do you have somewhere more comfortable in mind?”
The woman tilted her head. “You are the Alpha Dominic. Quite a specimen.”
“My specimen,” Zoey warned, her lip wrinkling in a warning growl.
“Ah, and his magic-blood mate.”
Giuliana and Romano shifted forward, sensing their Alpha’s hackles rising.
“Is there a point to this game?”
Lennox smile sharply. “It’s a dance, Dominic. A dance to make you understand who the leaders are.”
Thunder clapped, loud, snapping through the room, and when Romano opened his eyes, they were somewhere much different than the foyer. It could only be a sunroom—solarium he thought he’d heard Zoey call it when she had one built for the baby—and the doors were flung wide open. The Trinity, Romano guessed, sat in the center, Kalinda next to them asleep, and seats were across from them.
“What’s wrong with her?” Romano was already moving forward before the woman could answer.
“Ah, ah, ah.”
An invisible wall stopped him short of reaching Kalinda, keeping him from taking her into his arms. He could see her pulse jumping in her throat, but he didn’t like the fact she wasn’t awake.
“You may not touch a Council member without their express permission.”
He was really getting tired of the woman. Like, want-to-eat-her-in-the-bad-way tired.
“My name is Amalia, and this is Lennox,” she indicated a white-haired man, “and Yon.”
Dominic didn’t incline his head, but his tone showed deference. “The pleasure is mine. We set this meeting to discuss Kalinda and what is going on. We expect her to be present for the conversation.”
“She is present. You see her here.”
Okay, replace Amalia with Lennox for the to-be-eaten category.
Dominic growled. “You know what we meant. We are not here for games.”
“Oh, we agree. Kalinda is very important to us.” Lennox looked so smug, it took all of Romano’s willpower not to use the little bastard as a toothpick. “You see, who she is to the world is important, as is the prestige she will bring to the Encantado Mage Council. No one else will have an Ales in their midst. As you can see for yourself, she is fine.”
