But Bene did not forget it. “I can totally pull off a tux. Can you?”
Frankly, my mouth watered a little at the prospect of any of them in a tux. Especially Marius, who was sure to give the outfit a sinfully good,dark and dangerouslook. Probably not the best way to sneak into a party unnoticed, though.
“The rest of you losers go in through the back with the catering team, and bam!” Bene smacked his hands together. “We make off with the painting.”
“That easy, huh?” Roux muttered.
“No, but it’s not a bad start.” Henrik cut in.
Bene grinned from ear to ear. “See? Even the vampire agrees.”
Not exactly comforting. Still, my mind was made up, for better or worse.
The corner of my eye twitched with a foreboding ofworse. But, hell. I would be surrounded by three tough shifters and a vampire. They would protect me, right?
Marius’s eyes blazed, swearing he would.
Worst case, I could count on Gordon’s help. He wasn’t supposed to know I was there, but in a life-and-death situation, he would help first and berate me later. I hated to count on his help, but the painting made the risk worth it.
Roux considered for another minute, then sighed. “Okay. Here’s the deal. We let you in, and you let us stay. Not a word to Gordon about anything. Deal?”
“Deal.” I nodded firmly, letting the word echo through the room.
Chapter Seventeen
MARIUS
“Not a good idea,” I barked, first at Mina, then at Roux. “Do you know how dangerous this could be?”
Roux opened his mouth, but Mina stuck up a hand. “Don’t even start.”
“Dammit, Bene…” I growled as I followed Mina out of the room.
“How is this my fault? I was just brainstorming.”
“Brain-farting is more like it,” Henrik — the only one of us who found any of this amusing — quipped.
Chairs scraped the floor, shouts broke out, and Mina came stomping back in.
“Oh no, you don’t. Not anywhere near my grandmother’s china, dammit!”
Bene and Henrik paused, though they kept their hands on each other’s throats. Bene looked around.
“China?”
She pointed to a single teacup and saucer on a sideboard. “China.”
I was starting to suspect she’d placed pieces of her grandmother’s vast collection in strategic locations to have an excuse for sending us outside to fight.
“Take it outside, dammit,” she boomed loud enough to make the china shake. Then she spun around and marched away.
I fell into step behind her. Well, I tried. But she quickly opened a gap on me, flying down the hallway in huge, angry strides that saidLeave me the fuck alone.
And boy, did she mean it, because she kept that up all the way down the hallway and up the far stairs.
Spiral stairs,my dragon hummed happily.Perfect place to kiss.
A perfect place to chew me out was more like it, given her pissy mood. But fool that I was, I rushed after her anyway.
