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Negal had a feeling that if he refused, Aru would order him to stay and submit a report.
The mission they had just been on had nothing to do with what their team had been sent to do on Earth, so technically, Aru had no authority over him in that regard, but he was still the team's leader, and Negal still answered to him.
"Why not?" Negal changed trajectory and walked over to where Aru was sitting. "I just had two glasses of wine, but I could use a real drink."
"Wine?" Aru asked.
"Yeah, on the yacht. I had dinner with Margo, Jasmine, Kalugal, and Edgar. Have you two eaten anything yet?"
Dagor grimaced. "We've just gotten back, so we haven't had a proper meal yet, but Gabi went to the kitchen to get us something to tide us over. In the meantime, Aru and I finished all the snacks in the fridge." He opened the appliance to show Negal the empty shelves. "We need to resupply."
"After the wedding." Negal took the glass that Dagor filled for him. "I want to shower and get in bed for a couple of hours. When is the party?"
"Ten-thirty," Aru said. "We have plenty of time, but I would like to shower and rest as well, so give me a condensed report. How did it go on Modana's yacht? Did you beat up the boyfriend?"
"No." Negal emptied the glass down his throat and put it down for Dagor to refill. "There was no time. Margo fainted as soon as we landed, so I leaped to catch her, and then one thing led to another, and we ended up in the dining room, with Modana's chef serving us dinner."
Aru frowned. "Why did she faint? Had they done something to her?"
Negal pulled the refilled glass toward him. "The bastard boyfriend drugged them, no doubt on his boss's orders, and they were in the sun, and then the helicopter landed, and it got to be too much for Margo to handle. She's fine now. Frankie and Mia are with her."
"How is Margo's friend doing?" Dagor asked.
"Better than expected. Kalugal entertained her and Margo on the way here, and his stories seem to have had a relaxing influence on them."
Dagor arched a brow. "His stories or his compulsion?"
"He didn't use compulsion on them." Negal took a sip from the whiskey, savoring it this time instead of gulping it like it was water. "I wish I had the guy's talent for storytelling and engaging people in conversation. He makes it look so easy."
Aru regarded him with a smirk playing on his lips. "I've never known you to have trouble engaging ladies in conversation. In fact, out of the three of us, you are probably the best at it. You always seem so cool, so debonair."
Negal snorted. "Debonair? Me? Not really. I lost my cool around Margo. Every time I thought about what could have been done to her, my eyes started glowing and my fangs elongated."
"You care for her." Dagor stated it like it was a fact.
"It was the situation, not the woman herself. I've never been as vicious as I was when we discovered those poor women near Acapulco. Nothing enrages me more than the willful abuse, torment, and murder of females and children. Nothing." He threw the rest of the whiskey down his throat and put the glass down for Dagor to refill. "It's different when innocents are unintended casualties of war. I can deal with that."
"I know what you mean." Aru put a hand on his shoulder. "But I have a feeling that you are not being honest with us. It was more than that with Margo."
He wanted to tell Aru that it was none of his business, but that would have been hypocritical of him. Not too long ago, he was giving Aru unsolicited advice about Gabi.
Instead, Negal shook his head. "It's a placebo effect."
Aru's forehead furrowed. "How does fake medicine have anything to do with that?"
"It's just an analogy. Frankie filled my head with nonsense about how she and Mia were mated to gods, so their other best friend must also be destined to mate a god, and since I was the only one available, I must be her fated one. She even showed me a picture, hoping that I would fall in love with Margo right then and there." He looked at Dagor. "No offense, but that's a load of romantic crap. I didn't want to offend your mate by telling her that, so I just said that I wasn't interested, but the thought must have taken root in my head." He lifted the glass of whiskey to his lips but then thought better of it and put it down. "I should get showered, and so should you. By the way, who is getting married tonight?"
"Vlad and Wendy," Dagor said. "A young couple with an interesting story, but I won't bother you with the details when you are in a rush to get cleaned up."
"When did you learn about their story?" Aru asked.
"Frankie heard it from Gertrude, and then she told me. It's even better than Negal and Margo's story."
"There is no Negal and Margo story." He changed his mind about the drink and emptied it in two gulps instead of savoring it. "I'm escorting Gertrude to the wedding tonight."
Why had he said that? To prove that he had no feelings for Margo? It was a lie, and besides, it was none of their business.
Aru pushed to his feet. "You don't seem happy about it."
