Page 93 of The Flame Game

“He’s surprisingly quiet for a husky and far less opinionated than I believed. The dumpster life must have toned him down.”

“He’s the perfect dumpster puppy, and he was only a little rabid when I rescued him. I still don’t understand why anyone would dump a puppy like that. If I hadn’t pulled him out of the dumpster, he would have suffocated in that bag.”

“Before you get too emotional, he is fine, he’s enjoying his bone, he’s quite possibly tied with Sunny for being the perfect puppy, and he’s going to have a great life, because he has you to care for him.”

I found praise a lot harder to cope with than one of his burns. “I need you to zing me, Quinn.”

“Was that too much reinforcement of why you’re a good woman?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll think of something appropriate. A good zinger has to be properly set up and deployed for maximum enjoyment. That plus it’s more fun if you’re not expecting it. The shock on your face is almost as delightful as your enjoyment of a good zinger. You’ll survive until the right moment comes.”

“You’re mean.”

“Yes, I am so mean. I’m forcing you to practice your coping strategies when someone says something nice to you. I am the cruelest husband.”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

“Please don’t light my pants on fire. I know I’m tempting, but we’re in a restaurant.”

I giggled. “I’m not that bad!”

“Really?”

“I thought you were waiting to zing me.”

“That wasn’t a zing. It was a verbal caress and a warm-up for an actual zing, which will happen at a time of my choosing.”

I loved my evil, evil gorgon-incubus doohickey. “So, about that coffee.”

My husband showed me his phone, which revealed a text conversation with his angelic grandfather confirming I could enjoy coffee for at least a few more months, although I would be cut off five months into my pregnancy, as nobody needed a hormonal, caffeine-fueled cindercorn taking over or attempting to destroy the world.

Wow. The Quinn family had it out for me. “I’m going to feel that zinger for a while. That implies if I have any coffee after five months, I will be a world-destroying menace. Or the empress of the planet. Hmm.”

“We were just talking about how a merged jurisdiction would be too much work,” he reminded me. “You do not want to be responsible for the entire planet.”

Right. “Okay, no coffee after five months, then. But if my spiced grass supply is limited, there will be severe problems.”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to take care of your special needs. When we hit the road, I want you to start phase one of the flame game while I drive. Build a document detailing everything the asshole has done, things we suspect he’s done, and start organizing it in a coherent fashion. We’ll turn that into strategic press releases and commentary one of our attorneys will use to sway the public in court. Skipping on bail means there will be a trial, he won’t be in attendance, although he will have a public defender, and it will be open for the public so the judge can hear all of the accusations and determine how to proceed. That trial will exist because Morrison is a police chief being accused—and already determined guilty—of a felony. We can do this because of my grandfather and your willingness to go through angelic verification.”

“We can burn him fairly hard right out of the gate, then.”

“Right. My grandfather will testify during this to confirm his guilt, as due process does need to be maintained to a certain degree. This is our chance to layer on a lot of charges and help burn him in the eyes of the public.”

“What about Morrison’s son? Won’t he go under fire if he’s discovered?”

“We’ll have to work to prevent that. Ideally, we’ll be able to get a hold of him and put him into protective custody with a strong hive—and reunite him with his mother.”

“That poor woman.”

“She’ll be okay. Saven is a lot of things, but he has a surprisingly strong sense of justice. It’s part of why he hasn’t been taken out yet. It’s hard to break the cycle when the victims walk away better for it. Yes, he commits crimes, yes, he’s definitely a criminal, but the victims often get life-saving treatments they couldn’t afford before becoming involved with his brood and their sex demons. He chooses his victims with care. It helps he also harshly deals with the criminals who step across the wrong line. If he keeps acting like that, I expect most law enforcement entities will continue to ignore him. The replacement would probably be far worse. And in some cases, he ultimately helps law enforcement.”

“How?”

“He cleans house in his cities, and corruption in the force is a serious issue. That’s also part of why I’ve been given so many responsibilities. My precinct doesn’t have the corruption problems others suffer through.”

“That is because you’re one of those insufferably angelic types,” I replied.