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“Shut up,” he snarled. “Don’t talk about him that way.”
“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Ariyon drawled, sipping from his glass. “Is the ghoul who Elvis makes the pornography with? So who is the old lizard woman?”
“No, the ghoul is his butler,” someone piped up.
“No, he just said the ghoul isn’t his butler,” someone else called. “He said they’re together or something.”
“How does that work? Aren’t ghouls dead?”
“Ghouls are not dead,” Crossbody snapped.
“He looks a bit dead,” someone said doubtfully, which made me scowl in their general direction. “So how does it work? You’re in business together for the pornography thing? Which, again, I’d appreciate it if someone could tell me exactly where I would find that so I know how to avoid it…”
“How much does it cost to watch you both?” someone else asked with interest.
“Vince and I do not make porn,” Crossbody shouted, gripping my hand almost painfully hard. “We are together. I love him. I’m his little slut, and I’m fucking proud of it.”
The room fell utterly silent as he yelled the last part even louder. I went completely still, my stomach dropping out of my ass. My brain couldn’t decide which part of his speech to focus on. The fact that he’d just told an entire room of people—including his mother—that he was my little slut, or that he’d said he…
“Good for you, dear.” Ethel broke the silence with an approving nod.
“Live your truth, my man,” Freddie added.
“Alright, so why are the old women here?” Ariyon asked.
“Because your mother threatened to ruin your brother’s life if he didn’t come back here,” Ethel told him with a disappointed frown in the queen’s direction, like she was an unruly child. “So we decided to pay the Spring Queen a visit and remind her of her place in the human world. Which is very low on the food chain.”
“How dare you,” Galantha hissed, hands clenching into fists.
“And here I was thinking this was just going to be a very boring engagement party,” someone murmured gleefully to their companion nearby.
“So you are in charge in the human world?” Ariyon asked Ethel with interest, which made Queen Galantha stiffen with foreboding.
“Ariyon,” she said in a warning tone, clearly getting nervous over the thought of losing control of another son. “Do not speak to them. Presius, take him away.”
“What’s the point?” Presius said blankly. “You have just aired our shameful family affairs in front of the Spring Court’s entire nobility, Mother. Might as well keep going.”
“Not the whole human world, dear,” Ethel was telling Ariyon. “Have you never been? You should visit. It’s lovely!”
“Ariyon,” Queen Galantha snapped again.
“I’d like to,” he told Ethel, ignoring his mother. “We aren’t allowed. But I know Elvis used to sneak over. They told me he was travelling, but I suspected he’d moved there for good. The pornography thing sounds very interesting.”
“Not an area we’re involved in, son, but I’m sure we could put you in touch with the right people.” Freddie nodded to him.
“That would be excellent,” Ariyon said with a surprised smile. “Alright, so I think I’m mostly up to speed, but who is he?”
As he pointed to the back of the room, I followed the direction of his finger and peered over to see a short, slender figure with white-blond hair leaning back against the wall nonchalantly, his skinny frame swamped by a huge Hawaiian shirt.
When he glanced up and noticed everyone staring at him, he straightened.
“’Sup. I’m Axel.” When no one spoke, he added, “Uh, twenty-nine… ish. A Virgo. And an ailyn, which means I’ll be”—he wiggled his fingers at his head and nodded at the queen—“you know, the one fucking with your mind today.”
“What?” The queen paled.
“Won’t take long,” he told her cheerfully. “Just going to sift through all the memories of the last six years and make sure you can’t remember anything about your son’s whereabouts…”
“Just as a backup, in case my warning wasn’t enough,” Ethel added. “I’m sure you understand.” She looked over at us, her snout stretching into a big, toothy smile. “You two can take off, dears. Axel will tie up all the loose ends.”
