“What do you mean?”
“I’d be more worried about having three rabid mother hens than I would be about them being upset.” She retracts her hand. “Heaven forbid if you should stub a toe, Death may start the apocalypse.” She rolls her eyes.
I snort, but she’s not wrong. “Maybe I should wait to tell them until after we get rid of Antonio?”
Aeson winces. “It’s your call, but they won’t be happy when they find out you kept this from them,” she remarks, and it sounds like a warning.
Chapter 19
“Have you heard from the witch?” Gunnar pushes Torin’s feet off the end of the couch, and the big man catches himself and sits up. “Are you just moving in, or what?”
“Technically, it is my house since it’s owned by a member of my pack.” Torin lifts his brows.
“Yeah, but you also have a swank mansion down the road,” Gunnar reminds him.
“Yeah, but you guys don’t want anything from me, and they want everything,” he mumbles under his breath, and Gunnar drops the topic.
“The witch?” Calix reminds him.
“No, but he doesn’t have my direct number. I’ll check in with Kim in a little while. I’m sure she would have gotten hold of me if he reached out.” Torin’s gaze keeps straying back to me every few seconds. I pretend not to notice as I play a game on my phone.
“Where did the Brownie go?”
I roll my head to the side, looking at Torin. “She’s around,” I hedge. If he thinks he can safely out me without her being in the room, he’s deadly mistaken. “Maybe she went to get that shrinking potion she was talking about. I told her it might be a bad idea. Who knows what it might shrink, and if it would ever go back to the right size?” I make a point of looking down at his groin. Torin immediately looks away from me, and I don’t notice him staring so much anymore. Men are so predictable.
Grim saunters in from the kitchen. I wet my lips and look around, confirming they’re all here. This is the first time all of us have been in the same room all day. “I was thinking that maybe we should go home today. It’s been over a week since I’ve been there, and it’s not like we can’t pop right back if we need to.”
“You’re leaving?” Torin looks a little panicked.
“Just for the day. I want to sleep in my own bed. You can still hide out here,” I offer, feeling somewhat guilty, as if I’m abandoning him.
Grim lifts a lock of my hair and rubs it between his fingers. “I can take you now if you wish.”
“Not without me. You got her all to yourself last time.” Calix stands up as if Grim may try to steal me away right now and he’s planning on hitching a ride.
“Let’s wait and see if the witch gets back to Torin.” I return my gaze to my phone, knowing I’m just delaying the inevitable. A few more hours couldn’t hurt. I already told Aeson about my plan to go home this morning before bed so I could tell them. It’s been a challenge keeping it to myself all night. Grim has asked me more than once what I was thinking about when he caught me zoning out. I made sure to keep my answers vague so he wouldn’t sense the lie. I’m not even sure if he would be able to, but better safe than sorry.
“Are you sure it’s safe there? I mean, Antonio knows where you live, right?” Torin interjects. “Maybe you should just stay here.”
I look over at him, and he seems genuinely concerned. During all my anxious thoughts, I never really considered that Torin might be extra sensitive about a pregnancy. He did just lose his mate in childbirth. I don’t think that would be a fate he would wish on anyone. What can I say to let him know the reason I want to go home is so I can tell them about the baby?
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just insult me by assuming I couldn’t keep my mate safe,” Calix deadpans.
Torin opens his mouth but snaps it closed before grabbing the back of his neck and replying, “Some things are out of our control.” Calix examines Torin, his eyes shrewd and assessing.
I toss my phone onto the couch next to me. “Actually, we can just go now. You can call Calix if anything turns up, right?” Before Torin can respond, I add, “Aeson will be back soon, she’s just letting the local assassin band know she’s in town out of courtesy.”
Everything happens rather quickly from there, and before I know it, I’m standing in my bedroom sandwiched between Calix and Grim, which is a nice place to be most of the time.
Gunnar hollers needlessly from downstairs. “I’m down here.”
I let out a soft chuckle, then I take a deep breath. “Let’s go downstairs. There’s something we need to talk about.”
Calix grips my shoulder roughly and spins me. His hazel eyes are intense on mine. “I will kill him. He won’t stand a chance.”
“What are you talking about?” I jerk my shoulder free.
“If you think I will allow him to touch you, if you think any of us will, you’re wrong.”
