“I said, no, Kai."
And still he continued. “It involved you.”
“NO. KAI.”
“Actually...” Aideen interrupted.
“You shut up, too!”
7
Glaring at my concussed Mate, I wasn’t sure if I should kiss him or strangle him. Then I thought, is he really taking Barney’s side? And I was madder than a wet hen…
So, I glared harder as he lay there, blinking those brilliant blue eyes and looking at me through impossibly long, dark lashes. The man certainly knew how to get to me. Then he said, “Are you gonna stop yellin’ anytime soon?”
“Are you gonna stop gettin’ kidnapped anytime soon?
“I fell through the floor.”
“Same difference,” I sniffed, rolling my eyes for added effect.
“No, Martha, it is not.”
“YES. It is.”
Trying to push up on his elbow, Kai yelped, “Oooooowwwwwwwww! Damn! That hurt!”
“Stop moving,” Maeve snapped. “I’m back here tryin’ to clean this head wound to keep you from getting sepsis.”
Dropping back to the makeshift cot Theresa had made, Kai sighed as his eyes rolled shut. Reaching forward to run the back of my hand down his cheek, I was just about to touch the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life and tell him I was sorry when his eyes opened just enough for me to see the tiniest bit of crystal blue before he huffed.
“No, it is not.”
Pulling back as if I’d been burnt, I snarled, “Yes. It. Is…”
“I swear by all that's holy, if you two don't stop arguing, I'm gonna sedate both of you,” my sister declared.
“Maeve!” I yelled at the exact same time that Chewy chimed in with, “Can I have their tacos?”
I really was going to have to get my little guy some tacos when this whole mess was over. I feared that if I didn’t, one day I would wake up with poop in one shoe, pee-pee in the other, and my favorite purse torn to shreds.
Yeah, Chewy knew how to make a point.
Thankfully, Zelda was nearby, trying to decipher some weird carvings she swore had something to do with blood prophecies… whatever the hell that was. No, I was not as attentive as I should have been in Wisdom of the Ages Class, and let’s face it, that was five hundred and forty some years ago. I’d forgotten it more times than I’d made Maisie’s special coffee– a Matcha-Mire, an emerald-green matcha latte with vanilla syrup and sprinkles topped with whipped cream and sparkling edible glitter…
And my baby sister loved her matcha. So you do the math.
Anyway, Zelda handled Chewy with a promise of tacos, burritos, enchiladas, queso, and chips. At that point, the little guy was prancing around, telling everyone he was having a Taco Party with the Next Baba Yaga, and that if they did not tell him how wonderful he was, they would not be invited.
Whatever floats his boat, I guess. All I knew for sure was that my bestie most definitely saved me from having poop squished between my toes, a pee-pee-wet foot, and a shredded purse on the floor of the closet.
Swinging my attention back to my sister, the one who threatened to sedate me… Yeah, her. Well, I was just about to tell her, in no uncertain terms, exactly what she could do with her suggestion when Kai calmly and carefully said, “Martha, my love, can you please just listen?” Exhaling harshly, his face lined with pain, he stuttered, “Th-Then you can d-decide if y-you believe me.”
“It’s not you. I don’t believe it’s Barney.”
“Yeah, I know.” Tangling his fingers with mine, he gave me a little love squeeze and added, “It’s Barney… Please just listen… for me.”
How could I resist that? The guy I loved with all my heart was pulling at every single one of my heartstrings.
