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“I no like this!” Carver complained. Although when he looked down and got an eyeful of Dante’s high tight ass, Carver might be mistaken.

“You don’t?” Dante teased. “Why ever not?”

“Not potatoes,” Carver told him.

“That is very true.” Dante paused as they reached the gate. “But you were being a bad boy.”

Carver mock gasped. “I a good baby!”

“A good baby?” Dante said. “Okay.”

Carver was once again nearly airborne as Dante flipped him over only to catch him easily with one arm under Carver’s knees and the other around his back.

“Is that better?”

Since he had to wait for his stomach to catch up with the rest of him, Carver glared back.

“No?” Dante jostled him.

“Yes!” Carver wrapped his left arm tight around Dante’s neck so he didn’t end up back over a shoulder. In his hand, Syn was screeching, obviously just as unhappy. He released her and Syn flew away. “Now she’s mad at you.”

“There is a plate of her favorite treats up on the balcony. I think she’ll forgive me,” Dante replied with a smug wink.

“That’s not fair,” Carver complained. He couldn’t even be bribed with treats since the only thing he could have was blood.

“If you’re a good boy from here on out, then I might have a treat or two for you as well,” Dante promised.

Carver opened his mouth to ask just what his treats could be when there was a shout from the gardens before Syn did a fly-by in the same direction.

“Now what are the troublemakers up to?” Dante muttered before stomping in that direction.

Shit! Carver had completely forgotten about the gnomes! “Gnommies!”

“As I said, the troublemakers,” Dante replied. “And they’re really playing up the cloaks that Jesse made them.”

Carver nodded his head seriously. “Vampire gnommies.”

“There is no such thing as a vampire gnome.”

Maybe not but the gnomes that Carver had previously met didn’t seem to agree. “Vampire gnommies!”

Dante sighed. It was long and dramatic, making Carver giggle. “Fine, vampire gnommies. Although if they keep annoying Nicholas, the entire clan might disappear.”

“Clan?” Tilting his head, Carver made sure that his curiosity came through. Like the gnomes were part of the vampire clan?

“The gnomes are from the Athence clan. They have the magical ability to travel through realms and cross into different timelines. This is just a small portion of the clan who originally came to visit with Syn and decided to stay awhile. That was nearly two decades ago. I think they like it here.”

Carver moved his fingers in front of his mouth like little fangs. “Wampire.” He used the W instead of the V to show that he was still completely in little mode although he loved hearing more about the gnomes’ history. Everything about the clan house was interesting. Who knew that inside those wrought-iron gates was a world beyond imagination.

“They can be wampire gnommies if they want.” Dante shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me since they are determined to make Nicholas’s life miserable.”

Syn croaked from high above before flying fast toward the gardens again, but this time there was something spiny in her mouth.

There was a crash, another shout, and cursing coming from somewhere ahead of them.

“Hurry, Daddy! Hurry!” Carver bounced in Dante’s arms. He was obviously missing something big!

“That sounds like Nicholas,” Dante said. “Which means that Syn is helping the troublemakers torture him.”