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She snorts. “Yeah. I don’t know if your best behavior will rate actual socially acceptable standards in the human world when a guy meets his girl’s family.”
I tighten my claws. “I like hearing you call yourself my girl.”
“Yeah, well, mate’s not really a thing where I’m from.”
“You don’t have to do this.” I’ve already tried and failed to dissuade her. “I’ve ordered guards to watch over your family and Rosemarie’s. Meg has no one left in that dimension, and the sea witch told me she would drown any guards I sent. My people will keep your family safe.”
“I know.” She sighs. “But I can’t run from this emotional mess forever. Not when my mom and grandma tried to trade me in for a flower. Unlikesomepeople, I won’t risk allowing hurt to fester because I avoided talking about it.”
“Touché,” I whisper. “However, talking won’t give me any closure on Gilly’s betrayal. Only taking her head will end this.”
“We’re both going to need a therapist who specializes in crazy family dynamics.”
“Tell me who you want, and I’ll drag them?—”
“No kidnapping.” She puts a finger over my lips, and I nip at her with my fangs.
“Fine, I’ll pay them well to move into the castle for as long as we require their services.”
“Better.” She checks the bag with Monty again before picking it up and adjusting the soft jumpsuit that skims over her burns. “I guess we should get this over with.”
“Get through the meeting with your family, and we can try the healing magic again on your burn.”
“You trying to get into my panties?”
“Always.”
She grins. “I’m not even wearing any.”
I groan. “Then let’s stay in. My guards can handle your family.”
“Nope. Beam me up, honey. Besides, the quicker we go, the quicker we can get back.”
“I’ll banish everyone from our suite, including your soul guardian and your new prickly friend from The Valley of the Gods. You know they will require his return, don’t you?”
“They can have him back when the hedgie is ready to go. Now, let’s see what’s happening with the Bonetti family circus. Teleporting into my old closet at home should be safe. We’ll warn them, and I’ll still have hours before the conference call you scheduled with my friends.” Her soft smile when she talks about her friends makes the difficult conversations I had with their mates worth it to arrange for the four women to talk without monsters eavesdropping on their chat.
“I plan to fill those hours with my horns between your thighs and my tongue buried in your sweet pussy.” I breathe in the scent of her arousal. “Mmm, seems your body agrees with that plan. Time to go, love.”
“Asshole,” she mutters.
I chuckle. “Always.” In the next moment, I don my human glamour, and we teleport into a darkened closet.
Val pushes open the door. “Here we go. I’m glad your glamour is so perfect. Although you may betooperfect. Mom will draft you into the show.” She leads me through a room full of hot pink pillows and sequined throws alongside a microscope and a jumble of textbooks. It’s tidy, colorful, and so very Val.
“This room is yours?”
“It was. Mom doesn’t allow cameras here except at the vanity. She didn’t want me appearing too nerdy or…smart for the show. Yeah, I realize how horrible that sounds.”
“Explain again why I can’t kill your mother.”
“It’s not like your mom and dad would win any awards for awesome parenting. Your dad took your crown, and your mom cursed me to carry this magic that burns me from the insideout.” She heads out of her childhood room. “Your folks were trying to protect you in their own weird way. Maybe my mom was doing the same.”
The second we hit the hallway, I want to yank her back into the room. Stacks of boxes labeledBonetti Beautyreach the ceiling, so crammed together that the corners of the cardboard have crumbled and dented. Magazines and newspaper pile between them like kindling. “What the?—”
“I know,” she says. “It’s hoarder central. Welcome to the start of myeverything has its placeobsession. I already lose stuff, and this didn’t help.”
“I’ve known sludge demons who kept their caves cleaner. Is the whole house this way?”
