“You’re dae, right?” I tore my focus away from him before I did something stupid. Like kiss him just to see how he tasted. “Who’s to say daemon mating rituals are all that matters? Who cares if your daddy is a king? Your mom sounds amazing. Honor your heritage, both sides or neither, in a way that feels authentic to who you are, not who your parents want you to be.”
“You have a gift for cutting to the heart of the matter.” He grimaced, tightening his fingers as if afraid I would pull away from him. “Forgive my poor choice of words.”
“Trust me.” The pinch in my chest eased at his earnest apology. “I’ve heard all the jokes.”
A jiggling noise caught my attention, and I spotted Colby in the window, working to open the front door.
“I’m done packing.” She flitted out to light on my shoulder. “I have everything I need to kick orc butt.”
For a second, I got confused what orcs had to do with zombigos, but I put together she meant her game.
Mystic Realms.
An MMRPG, or massive multiplayer role-playing game.
Her attention shifted to where Asa held my hand, and her antennae quivered with interest.
“Clay and I should be going.” Asa rose with fluid grace. “We’ll pick you two up first thing.”
“Okay.” I let his fingers slide out of mine. “We’ll be ready.”
Heavy footsteps tromped out of the house onto the porch as Clay joined us.
“This kid is brilliant.” He gave Colby a miniature high-five with his pointer finger. “She would give the Kellies a run for their money.”
Flushed with praise, Colby glowed. Literally. She had been doing that a lot lately. “Thanks.”
“I’ll send you the files on the wendigo case.” Clay patted my head on his way past. “Night.”
Colby and I kept our spots while the guys exited the yard and climbed into the SUV.
The wards blipped as they passed through them, sealing us in until morning.
“Want to bake some cranberry-orange scones for breakfast?”
Angling my head toward her, I pursed my lips. “That’s an oddly specific request.”
With her restricted diet, she didn’t much care about baking. It was all pollen and sugar water for her.
“Clay said it wouldn’t hurt his feelings if we baked them.” She twitched her wings. “So, can we?”
“Why not?” I had a lot to think about and a case file to read. “We need to use the eggs before we go anyway.”
While Colby ran her mouth a mile a minute, explaining in great technical detail what she and Clay did to optimize her new laptop, I hummed agreement in the right spots as if I had a clue what any of it meant. I had avoided buying her a laptop for years in order to force her to be present when we went on trips. But I didn’t want to risk her inventing her own entertainment while we were on a case in an unfamiliar area.
Clay was right, she was brilliant, and smart kids tended to make trouble when they got bored.
Sadly, I had the feeling none of us would be bored once we got where we were going.