Page 89 of King’s Kismet

“Now I’m wondering what dinner conversation was like before we met.” I grinned at my demon. “You know he’s just doing this to piss you off, right? He doesn’t believe any of the shit he said.”

“Shhh,” Novak hissed at me from across the table.

Stone chuckled to himself, shaking his head in exasperation as he stood from his chair to leave. But as he passed Novak, he dropped his hand on my vampire’s shoulder and snatched him into the void.

I glanced at the ceiling, once again wishing I had x-ray vision. “That’s certainly a way to ease the tension between the two of them. It was a lot more work than necessary, though.”

“Would insulting Palmer ease the tension between the two of you?” Vaughn retorted, calling us out.

“No,” I drawled. “I enjoy arguing with him too much for that to work.”

Palmer scoffed. “She can insult me, but not my culture. Her mom is from Northern Ireland, too.”

“I wouldn’t insult you or your culture,” I said sweetly.

He narrowed his eyes, turning in his chair to face me. “Don’t you dare.”

I held a raspberry to my mouth, smirking. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Palmer grabbed my right wrist, stopping me from eating my berry. But I was already moving my left hand… Another raspberry was smushed between my fingers, and I wiped it across the front of his white button down.

“That’s how you pick a fight with the mage,” I told Vaughn.

“Such a fucking brat,” I heard my wolf mutter as Palmer dragged me through the void.

Carnival Catastrophes

Thursday, October 29th

“Trouble,” Novak whined from my doorway, reminding me why he was in a hurry. “We have plans. You know, a date?”

He held my combat boots out, muttering, “No heels tonight.”

“Mmm,” I hummed happily, slipping out of my robe and into one of my favorite black dresses.

I used my magic to finish my hair and makeup, then took my shoes from him to slip them on. How could I say no to my vampire? Especially when his golden eyes were lit up with excitement.

The past week had been the first of many well-deserved off days. Saving the world had its perks and all, but I still wasn’t keen on being a hero. I was a villain to some, an antihero to many, a hybrid bitch with too much power to most of the supernatural races, and intimidating in a work environment.

I wouldn’t dwell on it tonight, though.

Novak had a way of turning boring things into something memorable, and I desperately wanted more fun in my life.

Normally, Nashville held state fairs in September, but we were lucky this year. A traveling carnival had set up shop a few days ago, and they intended to stay through Halloween. The rest of my guys were going on a haunted pub crawl, but I hadn’t been to a carnival since I was a child.

“Come on, Trouble,” Novak drawled. “Halloween is two days away, and at this rate, we won’t make it to the carnival by then. The guys and I have traditions of our own, you know? A haunted house or two. Carve some pumpkins, then throw the guts at Vaughn and Palmer before Briggs can turn them into something barely edible.

“The haunted pub crawl is just the start of our typical festivities, and if we finish our date early enough, you’ll get to see how cute the fae is when he’s drunk.”

“Are there any more incentives for hurrying?” I half joked.

I hated being around so many people, and he knew that. But I’d do anything for my guys, including not murdering random humans for getting too close to me.

Novak ushered me out of my room and down the stairs, heading straight to the garage. He smirked as he dragged me to his SUV, twirling the keys around his index finger as replayed a memory of describing them to me.

“I’ll buy you some candy when we get there…”

I scoffed at him, then smiled as he opened the passenger door. “No, thanks, I can buy my own.”