“Whoa, whoa!” Maldenis held his hands up. “Not this again. Tone it down, dude.” He tsked. “Drakkons are always soooo dramatic.”
“Hektor, no!” Zara pulled him back. “He’s one of the three basilisks from the bar, remember? Maldenis, right?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
Hektor’s chest went back to a normal color. “Yes, I remember now. You must forgive me, the urge to protect my mate can sometimes be overwhelming.”
Maldenis snorted. “Yeah, whatever. You still owe me for burning up my bar, by the way.”
“What are you doing here?” Liora hissed. “I told you to wait outside.”
“Yeah, you did.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Doesn’t mean I gotta comply.”
“Asshole,” she spat.
“Stuck-up witch,” he shot back.
Zare groaned. “Just tell me what’s going on. What’s so urgent that you nearly knocked my door down?”
Maldenis snickered, then he slithered over to Liora and wound the end of his tail around her arm. “Go ahead, babe, tell them what’s going on.”
The sensation of his limb encircled around his arm sent a thrill across her skin, as did the smoldering gold eyes that stared at her.
Stop it,she told herself, then shot him a murderous look. “You godsdamned?—”
“Oh, my gods, you had sex with him!” Zara exclaimed. “Wait, that’s your important breaking news? You’ve had sex before. That’s not exactly a ‘we interrupt your regular programming’ type of situation.”
Liora yanked the basilisk’s tail off impatiently. “I wish I had just fucked him.”
“Oh yeah, you wish you did,” Maldenis said smugly, which only irritated her more.
“What do you mean?” Zara’s gaze ping-ponged between them. “Well?”
Liora’s nostrils flared. “We’re, uh, sort of…kind of…you see we’re?—”
“Married!” Maldenis announced with glee. “Yup, we got hitched.”
“Married?” both Zara and Hektor exclaimed at the same time.
“Apparently.” Liora glared at Maldenis, which only earned her a shit-eating grin.
“Unfortunately. It’s a long story.”
“Not that long,” Maldenis said. “Oh, and by the way, surprise, sis-in-law, Drakkon-in-law, I’m also your new teammate.”
“New teammate?” Zara pursed her lips. “Maybe you should start from the beginning.”
“Let’s go down to the cafe and I’ll explain.” Liora let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Might as well let Elian know.” There would be no way to say this with finesse.
“Yeah, I heard this place has an amazing brunch buffet.” Maldenis offered his arm to Liora. “Shall we go, wifey?”
“I told you to stop calling me that!” Waving him away, she stomped out of the room. She ignored his calls, and only marched toward the elevators faster.
Thankfully, the elevator car was there and she stepped inside, then tapped at the close button. “Take your own,” she barked as the doors closed between them. Satisfaction poured through her as surprise struck his stupid handsome face.
Liora let out a sigh. For the next few seconds at least, she would have some peace and quiet.
“What…did…you…do that for?” The doors had barely opened before Maldenis once again appeared on the other side, huffing and puffing.
