We walked through the halls of Chateau Falco. Armored statues and priceless paintings lined the halls and the thick woven rugs stretching down the floor were decorated in swirls of muted colors that fit the colors in the paintings of each section of the home like a leather glove. The entire mansion had been tastefully decorated over hundreds of years so that the vast size didn’t just feel like a vacant storage building. It felt like a home. Not just to me, but to those who visited as well. I could always see it in the eyes of my guests, that look of contentment and concealed wonder as they took in the polished chandeliers, the shining woodwork, and the overall feel to the space. But maybe it was just a result of being inside a living Beast.

After a few minutes of walking we came upon one of the living rooms. Dean, my butler, was polishing a wooden bookshelf, taking care of one of the million details necessary to keep the place up to his exacting standards.

Carl was speaking with the Huntress a dozen paces away from Dean, but I could tell the Butler was listening. The Huntress was an immortal assassin who had once worked for Rumpelstiltskin before I had taken him out. Van Helsing and Baba Yaga had also been working for him – having made a deal with him in their youth. They hadn’t read the fine print of their contracts with Rumpelstiltskin – Silver Tongue – and had wound up bound to serve him for hundreds of years. He used those agreements to coerce people to work for the Syndicate – a group of rogue wizards who stood against the Academy.

But I had taken care of the Syndicate, too.

Alucard’s accusations echoed in my ears, taunting. Maybe he had a point.

I hadn’t seen the Huntress very much recently, and her relationship with Tory also seemed strained, letting me know it wasn’t just me she had been avoiding. I was pretty sure it had to do with Alex’s sudden changes – from a young teen to a young man. It didn’t sit well with her. The Huntress hadn’t ever been very fond of children, referring to them as it more often than not. But she had begrudgingly taken Alex under her care – opening up a heart she hadn’t known existed within herself – to give him the love he so desperately needed.

The love of a mother. It had cost her something to do that.

Except now that brief purpose had been ripped away. Because he no longer had boyhood needs. Like any young man, he was trying to find his own way. It was ironic that now that he was more self-sufficient – which she had originally preferred – she was more uncomfortable than ever. And the fact that it messed with her… messed with her.

I realized Dean, who had many problems with Carl, namely his penchant for wearing high heels and leaving dead skin around the house, was now pretending the two beside him didn’t exist, his face a deep red color as he focused on polishing the wood.

I heard a loud slap and spun to see Carl gripping his cheek and the Huntress storming away with fire in her eyes. Luckily, she hadn’t noticed Talon and me or she might have wandered over to give us a similar display of affection. Carl turned to us, his lizard mouth seeming to frown. He blinked his clear eyelid several times and flicked his tongue out upon seeing us.

“She wouldn’t tell me of the D. She just struck me.”

I couldn’t even come up with a response.

But Talon could. “If it is such a closely guarded secret, perhaps you just need to keep trying. Ask the others. Temple has many women on the grounds.”

“That makes it sound like I have a dungeon of naked chicks stashed away here,” I argued. I turned to Dean, who was staring at me. “I don’t, do I?” I asked him, and was rewarded with an even darker blush to his cheeks. I sagged my shoulders in mock disappointment.

Talon ignored me. “The best answers are found through quiet contemplation and determination. Perhaps meditation will help you learn the secret on your own.” Talon pointed at the stick in Carl’s hands, the one that he had picked up outside before leaving us to find the Huntress. “Elders are powerful. Try using your natural gifts to make this D grow. Or to learn if this wood even is this magical D.”

Carl nodded absently. He looked at me, and seemed to remember something. “Did you upset the sparkly one? He left without saying goodbye to me. I specifically remember you telling me to always say goodbye to friends when they left. And something else when they arrive…” he added, scratching his scaled lips thoughtfully.

“Hello. You say hello when friends arrive.”

He pointed the stick at me. “That’s the word! Hello,” he mused, as if getting a feel for the strange word. “Sparkula said neither. He just left.”

“Don’t worry about it. He’s got some stuff to work out. Hey, can you keep an eye on the house with Talon tonight?”

Carl shook his head. “I will be here, but I will be busy with my D. If anything…” he glanced at the walls thoughtfully, well aware of Falco’s pregnancy, “strange happens, I’ll be available, but I must not be disturbed unless absolutely necessary. I’m sure Talon understands.” Talon muttered darkly under his breath, but Carl cleared his throat. “Goodbye.” Then he spun around, crouched low, and sprinted away from us down the hall at a dead run. I was pretty sure I heard him talking to his D as he ran.

“No running in the house!” Dean shouted, but he sounded resigned, knowing it was futile.

I turned to Talon to find him smiling proudly. “I do not understand why this D is amusing to Alucard, but now I’m in on the joke, right? I did the funny.” He sounded very pleased.

I sighed. “Sure, Talon.”

Carl was simply too easy to tease. Even those who didn’t understand a joke could tease him about them. I was pretty sure this was Talon’s way of not becoming the brunt of the joke. To team up with us rather than admit his ignorance about… whatever this D was. But if Carl wanted to go find a quiet spot in the house and talk to his stupid stick, I was going to leave him to it. Better than him pestering more women. He was weird enough that no one would expect someone had put Carl up to it, simply thinking he was being his usual weird self, talking to a stick.

I wanted to go yell at Alucard and make him take it back and explain the joke, but…

Alucard had already left.

“If we hadn’t let Alucard play this joke on Carl,” I muttered out loud, “maybe he could have helped us tonight. That’s called Karma.” I turned to walk backwards down the hall as I attempted to explain it to Talon. I sensed Dean watching me with a disbelieving frown. “When you play a joke on someone, the universe has an uncanny ability to turn around and—”

I bumped into something solid and heard a grunt before ice water splashed all down my back.

I yelped, spinning to see Alex holding an empty glass of water. He stared at me, face turning from initial anger to fear as he realized who he had just dumped water on.

Dean cleared his throat, and Alex’s face paled even further. The young man ripped off his shirt and crouched down to begin mopping up the mess, forgetting me entirely as Dean began storming closer. Alex’s muscled chest was soaked as well, and I heard Talon grunt behind me – whether amused by the karma or impressed at Alex’s drastic change in body type, I wasn’t sure. Or maybe my bodyguard had fled the scene rather than risking Dean’s wrath.

With a last hurried swipe, Alex scooped up the ice cubes and turned to run back the way he had come. “I’ll be right there, Pegasus!” he shouted. And then he was gone, leaving me to face the legendarily temperamental Butler God.

Dean stared down at the still slightly wet floor and then at me. My shirt continued to drip onto the floor, making a bigger mess. Even worse, it was mixing with the dried dirt on my boots, leaving the floor muddy. I sighed, muttering under my breath as his eyes burned through me.

I realized Talon was no longer behind me. The coward.

“This was not my fault,” I said. The Butler God arched a brow, pointedly glancing down at my dirty boots. I let out a breath and bent over to untie them. Dean sniffed, not mentioning the fact that I had obviously worn my dirty boots inside when I knew very well he had told me not to dozens, if not hundreds, of times. He folded his arms, silently watching me. I tucked the offending boots under my arm and stormed towards the front door to leave them outside – like I should have done in the first place. I was going to go take a long, hot shower.

“Fucking coward, running to your winged horse rather than face down my butler.”

“Language, Master Temple…” Dean warned from over my shoulder.

I turned to bare my teeth at him – but only after I verified he was no longer looking at me – and stomped away.

I made sure not to run. Because, rules.

I fantasized about the Fight Club tonight, wondering who I would have the chance to murder.