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Gray chuckled, watching Casey. “You do know you just proved his claim.”
Like that claim needed real proof. I took another bite. This one wasn’t too hot, actually. The taco was excellent. “And this is what he gets until he breaks the claim. Hope you like ghost pepper wings.”
“I do.” Kelsey’s eyes had gone wide. “I didn’t think they would be so delicious. I tend to stay away from hot sauce. It gives me indigestion, but I can’t stop eating it. The hotter the better. Last night I made Gray get me chocolate ice cream slathered in caramel and buffalo sauce. I was so ashamed.”
I should have known her pregnancy would be fun to watch. I finished off my second taco and reached for the dumplings and chili oil. “Nothing to be ashamed of, though you should know that witches follow a particular diet when pregnant. They have to think of the young witches they carry.”
“You know your shoulders straighten back when you go into superior-witch mode.” Kelsey dredged a chip through a rich-looking picante. “I bet I know who their dietician is.”
“Myrddin, of course,” I replied automatically. And then thought about it. What the fuck did Myrddin know about childbirth? About being pregnant? The only child the man ever had he’d shipped off the plane.
Which was a mistake, according to him.
But the queen had told me Myrddin had arranged the death of her old bodyguard, Kelsey’s biological father, because of a prophecy that he was one of two creatures who could kill him. According to what the royals discovered, Myrddin had sent the other off plane before he was born.
Dean.
Why would the royals lie to me?
“Hey, stop thinking.” Kelsey put a hand on mine. “I’ve watched you. When you think about Myrddin too hard, you get sick, don’t you?”
“Of course not. That’s ridiculous.” The fact that it kept happening didn’t make it any less ridiculous. There was another explanation. “You know it all started when you put this collar around my throat. And I’m not used to being around so many different creatures. I’m probably allergic to one of you.”
“She used to say she was allergic to my feet,” Lee said with a grin.
“That was her go to when she didn’t want to deal with something she considered slimy or stinky,” Trent pointed out. “One time Rhys brought home a perfectly harmless garden snake, and you would be shocked how fast Liv Carey was allergic to snakes.”
The memory struck me, sending a sweetness through my system. Rhys had been so proud and wanted to show me his new friend. “He stuck it in my face. I was also allergic to worms and dirty diapers.”
“Though she changed her fair share of those,” Kelsey reminded me with a smile. “She was the best babysitter when we were in high school.”
I’d been the go-to sitter of our whole neighborhood. Kelsey would come by and sit with me after the kids were in bed, and we would talk and do our homework, and her brother Jamie would pick us up because I didn’t have a car. I’d had the biggest crush on Jamie when we were in high school. Not that I would have told her that. I will go to my grave before I admit it.
How long had it been since I’d gotten to sink into sweet emotion? Since it didn’t wreck me to think of the people I’d loved.
Love.
“Liv, you okay now?” Gray asked.
I was. The pressure that had started to build was gone again. They’d turned it away by getting me to think about something else. Something besides questioning the reality of the last dozen years. “Yeah.”
“Good, because we need to figure out what we’re going to do,” Kelsey began. “If you want to blow out Casey’s mouth, try the poppers. Eddie left all the parts that contain capsaicin oil because I crave it right now. The peppers were grown here on the Hell plane, so they’ve got quite a kick.”
“Or you could give peace a chance,” Casey said with a hint of desperation.
I picked up the pepper. It was way more fun to torture my husband than to think about the past. “Like Gray was saying, I think Tix is our best shot at getting some intel. Has anyone besides Tix met Lilith?”
Gray’s head shook. “I haven’t. She keeps a pretty low profile. She’s got sons all over the power structure here on the Hell plane, but she’s not seen much in politics.”
“Seenbeing the operative word.” Casey’s eyes were still on that popper in my hands. I put it back down, and he seemed relieved. “There have always been rumors that Lilith influences her sons and has a lot to do with the demons who would prefer another leader than Lucifer.”
He’d relaxed his guard and was in his happy place, telling us all the stuff that big brain of his knows. So I bit off half that popper.
I had immediate regret followed by sheer joy because Casey actually hit his knees.
“Please drink some milk,” he begged.
Kelsey’s eyes rolled. “Don’t be a baby. They’re delicious. Right, Liv?”
