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“I’m not sure.” She retorted, unable to stop herself. “Do you feel insulted when I call you a brainless asshole?”

Kahn’s eyebrow arched.

The rest of them chuckled.

“I begin to like this girl.” Rye told no one in particular.

Randa gave the spray paint can a more forceful shake than necessary. She shouldn’t be antagonizing Kahn. The Light Phases were a law unto themselves. If Kahn decided to hurt her, the others would let him. Hell, they could murder her and barely anybody would even notice.

When the monsters came, no one would save Randa. That lesson had been taught to her the hardest way possible. She had to take care of herself.

Taking a deep breath, she turned back to the door and got to work. She’d become very good at spray painting, so it didn’t take long. In less than two minutes, there was a thick coat of paint over the graffiti, and the door looked presentable again. She didn’t even get any stray drops on her hands. It truly was a wondrous product. Humans should be proud they’d invented it.

All things considered, Randa much preferred humans to her own kind.

Daven watched as she set the empty can down next to three other empty cans she’d neatly lined up on the porch for disposal. “This happens a lot, huh?”

“Of course it does.” Kahn was back to complaining about her failings. “The woman is a blatant target, sitting out in the open like this.” He gestured to the bungalow. “It’s a miracle that she’s lasted this long.”

Randa ignored them and opened the door again, avoiding the wet paint. “Can I get you something to drink?” She offered and headed towards her kitchen. The house was cozy, with the kitchen and living room divided by an island. “Do any of you like tea?”

Probably not. Light Phases surely preferred murky liquids that no one in the civilized world had drunk since the Vikings were sailing around. Mead, maybe. Or grog.

Still, her grandmother would roll over in her grave if Randa failed at her duties as a hostess, even if her guests were Light Phases. Viola, of the Stone House always said that good breeding should never waver in the face of boorishness.

It was hard for Randa to live up to the ideals set by her very patrician grandmother, but she always tried. She kept her emotions under control and rose above her own vulgar instincts to throw something at the dickheads surrounding her.

Proper manners were all that separated civilization from savagery.

“We’re not thirsty.” Julius said for all of them. He was the only one who even tried to be polite.

The Light Phases trailed into her tasteful home, not looking thrilled by their surroundings. No doubt they were confused by concepts like carpeting and tables. Moving in choreographed precision, they began searching every room as if maybe she was plotting some kind of trap. It was incredibly rude, but what else could you expect from barbarians?

Julius looked out all the windows, disrupting the double layer of tightly drawn plastic blinds. Rye opened drawers and cupboards, scanning the contents for Gaia-only-knew-what. Daven surveyed her linen closet like he’d never seen a bed sheet before. Kahn examined the books on her alphabetized shelves.

Randa refused to react to the blatant invasion of privacy. Let them look. There was nothing for them to find. She owned nothing that mattered. Nothing that could be used against her. If need be, she could walk away from everything in her life and not even blink.

That didn’t mean she liked messes, though.

Despite her best efforts, her lips thinned in annoyance as Mannus began rooting around her desktop, mixing up the pens. “Do you mind not doing that?”

He looked over at her in genuine confusion. “Doing what?”

“You’re putting the felt-tips in the ballpoint canister.” Was he raised in a barn? “I have them organized in a very efficient way.” Everything in her house was organized in a very efficient way. “Please don’t mess it up.”

Mannus glanced at Daven and rolled his eyes.

“All these are travel guides to human cities.” Kahn reported, scanning the neat row of book spines. His profile was stunning. It frustrated her that she noticed. “That’s all you seem to own. Why?”

“You can read? What a nice surprise.” Randa was annoyed at herself and him, so it was easy to forget she was wary of pissing him off. …Especially, because it was so satisfying to piss him off.

Kahn flashed her a sideways glare. “Are you planning a trip?” He gestured to the travel guides again, not rising to the bait.

“I live in the human world now.” That wasn’t an answer, but he probably wasn’t bright enough to notice. “It’s important to know everything I can about it, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s stupid to live here, at all.”

“Why? The humans have been kinder to me than the Elementals.”