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As we ate, the door opened, and the Demon Twins came thumping in. They'd left their coats and muddy boots on the back porch and looked chil ed.
Roz and Vanzir slumped down at the table, and Roz reached for a cookie. Iris slapped his hand smartly.
"Lunch first, and then dessert. Wash up, and I'l fix your plates." She hustled to the counter as they contritely shuffled over to the sink, where they washed their hands. Iris rustled up two more bowls of soup and sandwiches.
Roz bit into his sandwich, sighing as he leaned back. "Before you ask," he said between bites, "nothing. Zip. We struck out as to any clue where the other four spirit seals might be hiding."
"Crap. Wel , you tried." I picked up my bowl and--despite Iris's shake of the head--chugged down the rest of my soup. "Yum, that was so good I'd like another bowl and another sandwich." Meanwhile, to tide myself over, I snatched a cookie.
Iris glanced at Camil e. "You, too?"
"Yes, please. I'd help, but I feel like death warmed over." She frowned at me, and after a second, I caught her meaning.
I jumped up. "Iris, let me do that. You sit down and eat." I took over the stove as the house sprite grateful y slid onto her high stool and began eating. As I raised the spatula and said, "Anybody else?" the front door opened.
"Anybody else what? And what do I smel ?" Smoky popped his head in the kitchen. "Food?" His glacial eyes lightened.
"Food, yes. Plenty of soup, and I'm slapping more sandwiches on the griddle." I held sway with the stove as Morio, Smoky, and Tril ian wandered in.
They hung up their outer-wear and gathered around the table. But one look at Camil e ended their jovial moods.
"Camil e . . . what the fuck happened to you?" Morio was blunt and to the point, and the moment he spoke, the three of them were hanging over her like bees on a flower petal.
"I'l be al right," she said, waving them to sit down again. "Just sit down, and we'l tel you what happened."
"Somebody needs to fil Menol y in on everything when she gets up," I said, flipping the sandwiches as they browned on one side. The smel of melting cheese and buttered, hot bread wafted up, and I realized I was stil starving. Our metabolisms ran higher than most FBHs, and it seemed like we were always eating. The food back home in Otherworld general y had more substance to it, and we fil ed up faster there.
As Camil e and I ran through everything that had happened, including Carter's disclosure about his heritage, I reached for more bread.
Tril ian crossed the room and took it from me, along with the butter knife. He began to butter the slices and hand them to me, and I gave him a shy smile.
Yep. The same arrogant, cocky man he'd always been, but something had changed, and he was kinder to the rest of us, no longer relegating us to the sidelines whenever Camil e was in the room. Whether it was the fact that we were now family or whether he'd gone through something in the war that had changed him, I didn't know and wasn't going to ask. But whatever the cause, it was a pleasant change of pace. Even Menol y had cottoned up to him a bit.
When we finished tel ing them what had happened, Morio let out a long sigh. "Wolf Briar. I know of it--and whoever is using it must be stopped. Anyone with a shred of decency wouldn't touch it. Hel , this is something only someone as rotten as the Meres would pul ." He motioned to Luke. "Have there been any reports of werewolves disappearing lately?"
Luke frowned. "I don't know, to be honest. I'm ostracized from a lot of Packs because they know I'm a pariah at home, and they don't want to get on my old Alpha's bad side."
Nerissa spoke up. "I've got a friend who belongs to the Olympic Wolf Pack. They're unusual in the fact that they run a matrilineal society, and they aren't wel accepted by other werewolves. Let me cal her and see if she'l talk to us after we finish lunch. She might know something."
I glanced at the clock. "Menol y won't be up for another couple of hours. Luke, would you like to come with Nerissa and me, if we can get an okay on meeting her buddy?"
He shrugged. "As long as she doesn't mind me being there. I wear a mark in my aura of having been excommunicated from the Pack. Most werewolves can pick it up by simply standing near enough to me."
"I didn't know that," I said, wondering just how the energy signature read. I was about to ask Camil e to give it a try, but one look at her told me the only thing she was up for right now was a nap. "Can one of you big, strong dorks please carry my sister up to her bed? No fun stuff al owed. She needs her rest. The Wolf Briar played havoc with her senses."
I overrode her protests as Smoky careful y swept her into his arms and headed toward the stairs. "I'l stay with her and make certain she's al right," he said. "Can someone bring me a tray with something to eat when it's ready?"
Tril ian nodded. "I'l do it. Then Fox Boy and I'l start in on our project while you watch our wife."
"Project?" Somehow that sounded dangerous.
"We're working on the studio." That was al he would tel me.
"Katrina said she has the afternoon free," Nerissa said, putting her phone away. "As soon as you're finished, let's head out. And Luke, she said you're welcome. She lives here in the city, even though she belongs to a Peninsula Pack."
As I finished up with the sandwiches, I couldn't help but wonder just where this was al leading. We hadn't found out much about Amber. We didn't know where she was. We didn't even know if she was alive. Frustrated, I fixed a tray for Smoky, and Tril ian carried it out of the room. As I bit into my second sandwich, I couldn't help but feel that the universe was holding a pissing match over our heads. And I was getting tired of it.
CHAPTER 9
