I tore the letter into tiny pieces, threw them on the ground, and jumped up and down on them and kicked them around. I stopped jumping, closed my eyes, and counted to ten.
“Unh!” I said.
I opened my eyes and looked at Diesel. He was smiling.
“Feel better?” he asked me.
“I guess.”
“Did you mean anything you said?”
“No.”
Cat was sitting in the front window, watching us, and he dropped to the floor when we walked in. His tail wasn’t bushy and his single good eye looked intense but not insane, so I thought it was a good bet the house was secure.
“As you can see, I’m fine,” I said to Cat, bending to scratch him behind the ear. “Next time, I’ll pay attention to you.”
“What’s that about?” Diesel asked, heading for the kitchen.
“Cat knew Hatchet was waiting for me, and I ignored his warning.”
Diesel went to the fridge and got a bottle of water. “Hatchet must have been really motivated to get up and out that early in the morning.”
“He’s an odd guy. He’s stuck in this Middle Ages time warp, swearing fealty to Wulf, but underneath it all, I don’t think he has a subservient personality.”
“Underneath it all, he’s probably criminally insane.” Diesel turned the tap on and watched it run hot. “Gwen had a new water heater installed. No charge. She said it was a necessary business expense. She said she remembers what I looked like after chasing down a yak herder who’d gone to the dark side in Tibet, and it wasn’t pretty.”
“How long were you in Tibet?”
“Weeks. It was impossible to find that guy. All yak herders look and smell the same.”
It was hard to imagine Diesel not looking good. The scruffier he got, the sexier he looked.
Diesel gestured to the counter. “I got you a new cell phone. Your number hasn’t changed.”
“Thanks.” I slipped the phone into my pocket and looked Diesel over. “You ever have your sperm count checked out?”
His eyebrows raised a quarter of an inch. “Excuse me?”
“Just wondering. Not everyone’s got good swimmers, you know.”
“I imagine my swimmers are okay.”
“Nice to know, because considering your superior genes, you’d be a terrific baby maker.”
Diesel grinned over at me. “Is that an idle compliment or are you going somewhere with it?”
“I’m thinking it might be a good idea for us to have a baby. In fact, if it works out, we could have lots of babies. Okay, I know we’re supposed to save the world from evil, but I don’t see why we can’t make babies and save the world.”
Diesel stuck his hand out. “Give it to me.”
“What?”
“Melody’s charm.”
“Do you think it’s affecting me?”
The grin turned into a full-on smile. “Yeah.”