“You want me to talk to her?”

“Depends.” Mal stared at the comar.

“On what?”

“On what your advice to her would be.” Mal let a hint of silver into his eyes. “I know you can’t be thrilled about her relationship with me. What I am and what she is are two very different things and that’s got to make you a little crazy. Especially after what my ex-wife put you through.”

Damian stared back, a thousand painful memories filtering through his eyes. He stayed silent long enough to make Mal uncomfortable. “You love Chrysabelle.”

“I do. And she loves me back.”

The comar shrugged. “She’s as free to do what she wants as I am. If she’s happy, who am I to stand in her way?” He picked his glass up and sipped.

“Very forward thinking of you.” Mal lifted his glass in toast. “I appreciate that.”

Damian set his drink down. “So do you want me to talk to her or not?”

“Sure. But it won’t do any good.”

“It might. I am her brother.” The comar smirked. “And about to be brother-in-law to a vampire and uncle to a half-vampire child. Holy mother, I never saw any of this coming.”

Velimai snorted.

Mal looked at the fae. “Don’t laugh, wysper. That means you and I are going to be like family, too.”

She widened her eyes and made the sign of the cross, cringing in mock horror.

Mal shook his head. “My kid is going to be seriously screwed up living in this house with you people.”

Damian laughed. “There’s only one way to solve that.”

“What’s that?” Mal asked.

Damian raised a brow, his eyes slanting toward Velimai. “Move in.”

Chapter Forty-six

Mawmaw, I appreciate it, but you really can’t be here.” Creek scraped a hand over his head. “How did you even know anything was going on?”

His grandmother flicked her gaze onto Annika. “Your sector chief invited me.”

Creek spun to face her. “You had no right.”

She shrugged. “I wasn’t sure you’d have a second.”

He clenched his hands. Fighting a woman seemed a little more doable right now. “I was starting to feel unsure about my decision to leave the KM.” She’d done this on purpose and he knew that, but it didn’t make her actions any easier to take. “Not anymore. Let’s do this.”

“As you wish.” She smiled, infuriating him further. Damn, she was good. He’d always been on her side, and hadn’t ever really seen this aspect of her, but she hadn’t gotten to be sector chief by winning the KM lottery. She unzipped her jacket and threw it on the floor, revealing a set of biceps that would make most teenage boys weep with jealousy.

He pulled his shirt off. Behind him, Mawmaw inhaled sharply, reminding him she’d never seen the brands the KM had burned into his back.

They began to circle each other, her smile never faltering. “You really mean to do this, don’t you?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

Her hand lifted toward the button that raised the shades blocking her stone gaze. Before she reached it, he twisted into a roundhouse. His foot connected with her shoulder, knocking her sideways. She bent back, catching herself with one hand and pushing upright.

Instead of retaliating, she straightened, put her palms together in front of her chest, and bowed to him. Then she looked up toward the sleeping loft. “That’s enough. I’m satisfied.” She held her hand out to Creek. “It was a pleasure working with you. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Uncertainty settled over him. He stared at her. “What the hell are you talking about? What happened to fighting my way out? Was this some kind of test? What?”

She snagged her jacket off the floor and put it on. “A small test. To make sure you were serious about leaving. That you wouldn’t back down.” She looked past him at his grandmother before continuing. “I also wanted to make sure those scales got used up.” She lifted her face to the loft. “I assume you used all of them in whatever potion you made to protect him?”

Dominic didn’t answer.

Creek held his hands out. “So the whole fight was just a setup?”

“No, the fight was real.” She turned to leave.

None of this was making any sense. “But you stopped it.”

“Because your bond price has been paid.” She yanked the door open. “You have twenty-four hours to vacate the premises. Enjoy your new life.” Without a glance back, she slipped out and was gone.

Creek turned to face his grandmother. Dominic and Mortalis were coming down the steps. “One of you want to tell me what the hell just happened here?”

The three of them ignored him as if he wasn’t even there.

Dominic nodded in deference to Creek’s grandmother. “I trust this settles things between us.”

“Settles what things?” Creek asked. Nothing but crickets.

She stood and held out her hand. “It does.”

The vampire lifted Mawmaw’s hand and kissed the back of it. “As always, a pleasure.”

Frustration pushed Creek. He grabbed his crossbow off the kitchen counter and aimed it at Dominic. “Somebody start explaining or it’s going to get dusty in here.”

“Thomas Creek,” Mawmaw snapped. “Put that down this instant.”