Page 80 of Heir

Now it was her turn to growl. “Well, I don’t like it.”

Me fucking either.

Drak approached us. “Where have you been?” he demanded. “It’s not safe for you to be out here. Not when someone wants you dead.”

I glanced down at the idiot-stick dressed all in black on such a warm day. “She’s with me, bozo. She’s perfectly safe.”

“I’m also a demon,” Omaera hissed. “You need to back off the whole possessive protector thing. It’s not a good look on you.”

We all began to walk back toward the street. I handed the boxes to Drak, despite his look of severe displeasure when I did so. Then, for good measure, I reached into the top box and grabbed an old-fashioned glazed.

“King Howar has found you a new advisor,” he went on, ignoring her comment.

“Whoopy,” Omaera said with a big dramatic eyeroll, followed by an irritated look on her face. “I don’t want one. I’ll figure it out on my own.”

Drak shook his head. “I don’t recommend that. You got one lesson from—”

“A psycho killer, qu’est-ce que c’est?”

His brows bunched, as did mine.

She looked at us both like we lived under rocks. “The Talking Heads? Do you guys not know anything about pop culture? You’re like a trillion years old.”

“I don’t watch television or listen to music much,” Drak said. Neither did I, but I didn’t need him thinking we had anything more in common or that we could bond over. Fuck him.

Snorting, I finished the old-fashion glazed, and reached across Omaera to stop Drak, open the box, and pull out a Boston Cream.

“That is why I suggested we not meet at your home this time,” Drak said. “We meet in a neutral location so the advisor can’t ambush you like—”

“The psycho killer did,” she finished.

Something niggled at the back of my neck, but I waited until I swallowed my donut and the apartment was in sight. “I’m not sure how much we should advertise Omaera’s hybrid status. What if this next advisor feels the same way Raewyn did, and she runs off and tells people? For all we know, Raewyn spilled the beans too.”

Drak was quiet until we reached the front door of the apartment. “I will meet with them and vet them ahead of time then. You can hide around the corner and if I deem them trustworthy, you can come out of hiding.”

Omaera used her key to open the door. “Or, you go and vet them, I stay home, then you call and let us know. Or we just don’t meet with another advisor.”

He was a pale motherfucker to begin with, but the mention of going without her made the bastard pale even more. What the hell was that about?

“I think it’s best if we all go together,” he said as we stepped onto the elevator.

“You’re so fucking controlling,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s super annoying. And besides, Raewyn could smell my human side. So what’s to say this one won’t be any different?”

“That’s right,” I said plainly. “Maybe we need a mage instead of a demon?”

Drak made a noise of protest in his throat, but otherwise chose to remain quiet until we got back into the apartment.

“I’m going to go shower.” Omaera glanced around the apartment. “Where’s Gemma?”

“At work,” Maxar said, lounging on the couch with his phone.

“But she didn’t start until ten.”

His ruddy brows pinned together. “Yeah, and it’s noon.”

“Noon!” She spun around and faced me. “Did you know we were gone that long?”

I shook my head. Time ceased to exist, or matter, when I was in bear form. Add in the fact that I was in my happy place with my mate, and it felt like it stood still and I never wanted it to end.