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It was Slade who answered. "Not here, no. It's too low. We have other big cats which roam around. Cougars and the like."
"Even big pussies are no match for us," Yard said confidently. "We'll just eat them."
"If you're not too busy trying to get your cock inside one," Zeph said.
Yard flipped him off. "Shut up, asshole. You're just jealous your balls are bluer than the sky."
"Fuck off," Zeph muttered.
"Any time," Yard said. "Loudly, so you can hear the fun I'm having."
"You're such a—" Zeph started.
"All of you, shut up," Kayley growled. "Or you'll be on a stick for the barbarians to eat." She nodded toward us.
"Don't mind her," Yard said. "Her bark is worse than her bite."
"I don't bark," Kayley said with a sniff. "And if I did, my bite would be much worse."
Yard sighed. "That's true. You hold no punches."
She looked satisfied at that.
I wondered what their relationship was. I had a suspicion it was Kayley's pussy they all wanted to get into. Like so many things today, that was also their business. It was also a good reason to keep my distance from them. I had enough trouble going on without buying into more.
"Interesting people," I said so only the guys could hear.
Bain shrugged one shoulder. "We don't have much to do with them. Dex has been trying to get them to pay tax for years."
"Why are they helping us then?" I asked.
"Because he's never been successful," Knox said. "They have no allegiance to anyone but themselves and they'd like to keep it that way. A change of leadership could change all of that."
"They can try," Kayley said with a growl. "They will not succeed."
"A hundred years ago, an Alpha sent an army against them," Bain said. "They just closed the gates to the Edge and waited them out. With a portal to the outside world, they don't need anything the rest of the Vault can offer."
I snorted. "Let me guess, Dex tried diplomacy and they ignored that too."
"Exactly," Bain agreed.
"Perhaps some day they'll give up," Kayley said pointedly.
"Trying at least once per Alpha is a matter of pride," Bain said.
"It's a matter of annoyance," Kayley growled. She sighed and toyed with the ends of her long hair.
I felt sorry for the envoy Dex sent, if they had to deal with her good temper. She was beautiful, but she was touchy. So was I, but not like her. I suppose she had to be to keep her people safe from changes which might adversely impact them. Like being killed by megalomaniac hemitheos, or tiger assassins. Or crazy gods for that matter. Most of us would do whatever it took to make sure that didn't happen.
I wondered whether that was the reason the witches hated me so much. I was a threat to their way of life. Zophia once suggested I was a threat to their authority, but that was laughable. If Max Crane and I had babies—ewww, what a horrible idea—they might be like me. That would screw with the witches and their ideas of purity. Or whatever shit they believed in.
The witches needed someone in their midst with a big spoon, ready to stir things up, but that person wouldn't be me. I pitied whoever it might be. They'd need balls or ovaries of steel.
17
Viva
I wokeup some time before dawn. Bain's arm was draped over my middle and one of mine was tangled around Knox's. We were pressed together so tightly I could barely move.
