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“Found another option,” Alexei said, looking through one of the kitchen cabinets. He pulled out a tall bottle. “Moscow’s Own is not a vodka brand I recognize.”
“Hard pass on that one,” Theo said as Alexei found glasses in another cabinet, handed them out. “Light or dark?” he asked, holding up the bottles.
Lulu held out her cup. “Light me up, so to speak.”
Alexei twisted off the screw cap—a sure sign of quality liquor—and poured a finger’s worth.
Lulu just looked at him, cup still outstretched. “Don’t be stingy.”
He poured another finger, which apparently satisfied her. She took a drink, winced. “Good lord. Is there a basement beneath the bottom shelf? Because this is awful.” She smacked her lips. “Like if someone burped legitimate vodka and bottled that.”
“Then you can find the next bottle,” Alexei said, brows raised.
“Great. I’ll find something halfway decent.”
“If your stomach isn’t strong enough,” Alexei said, “you could always pour it back into the bottle.”
Eyes on Alexei, Lulu tipped back the cup, finished it off, then held it out again. “Next.”
Alexei poured her another finger.
I crossed my arms, watched them. “I’m not sure if it’s better or worse that she’s found someone other than you to fight with.”
Connor chuckled. “It does make for a change. And he’s still a shifter, so at least she’s keeping it in the family.”
Since neither whiskey nor vodka sounded to me like a good match for pizza, I grabbed a bottle of blood from the fridge.
Theo cleared his throat. “So, at the risk of being a complete asshole, could I try a sip?”
“Sure,” I said, and offered him the bottle.
After a heartening breath, he took a drink, then winced, handed it back. “Not for me. It’s like drinking pennies.”
“I’ve never eaten a penny, so I’ll take your word for it.” I took the bottle back, finished it in a single gulp.
Then realized the others were watching me.
“Sorry,” I said, and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Too vampiric?”
“No,” Connor said with a light in his eyes that was hard to mistake.
“It’s cool,” Theo agreed, then cleared his throat again, looked down at his slice. “And I should probably just eat this pizza.”
“Wise choice,” Connor said with a grin. “Wise choice.”
***
We ate and talked like normal people—not a collection of Sups trying to solve a problem and release a handsome prince from an evil spell.
The Scotch was poured, sipped. “Jesus,” I said between coughs, fairly certain someone had replaced the alcohol with gasoline.
Lulu snorted. “I told you. It’s not her thing.”
“Take even tinier sips,” Alexei said, ignoring her. “Just enough to wet your lips. You’ll taste the caramel that way.”
I sipped again, barely touching tongue to liquid. And, okay, if I breathed just right, I could detect a mellowness that wasn’t awful. But liking it might be a challenge that required immortality.
“At the risk of blowing up this great party,” Theo said, swirling the whiskey in his glass, “do you think Cash is going to be satisfied with whatever you tell him?”
