Page 67 of Dead Heat

Gun snorted. “Who are you kidding? You can’t camp at all.”

Her eyes turned to slits. “Right back at you, prairie princess.”

“Are there any local mages with the ability to inject spells directly into the property?” I asked. “Kane wants me to ward all of it.”

Gun examined his purple fingernails. “There are a couple mages in the guild who might be able to help.”

“Cedric and Monica are your best bets,” Cam volunteered.

I remembered them from the last guild meeting I’d attended where I’d requested aid from the assassins and was roundly rejected.

“They voted in favor of helping you at the meeting,” Gun said, “so I don’t think they see you as a genuine threat.”

That was promising.

Cam looked at Gun. “Call them now and invite them over.”

“It’d be better coming from her boyfriend,” Gun said, angling his head toward me. “We have a bit of a rivalry with them. They might say no for the hell of it.”

“Fine.” I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to Kane.

Gun shot Cam a knowing look. “Did you notice that?”

“I most certainly did,” Cam replied.

I looked up from the phone. “What?”

“I referred to Kane as your boyfriend and you didn’t object.” Gun slammed a fist on the table. “Case closed, Your Honor. The defendant is guilty of sexual relations in the first degree.”

“Maybe I grew tired of lodging the same objection over and over.”

“Nonsense. You love repeating yourself. Happens all the time.”

Cam perked up. “Just like Aunt Juju. Remember her, Gun?”

“How could I forget? Her repeated comment to me was that I reminded her of her favorite Great Dane, Roscoe.”

Cam sighed. “She used to tell me I belonged in a sanitarium. I had to Google it.”

“As delightful as Aunt Juju sounds, can we focus? Kane just texted to say Monica and Cedric will be here in five minutes.” The demon prince was nothing if not efficient.

Gun glanced at his cousin. “Anything to avoid talking about her boyfriend. I bet that means the sex was bad.”

Cam nodded sagely. “It’s Graham Mulvaney all over again.”

Gun’s cheeks turned concave as he sucked in a breath. “I’d forgotten all about D.D.”

I looked from one to the other. “D.D.?”

Cam glared at her cousin. “You swore not to call him that anymore.”

“Why not? It’s true.” Gunther cupped his hands on his face and mouthed the words ‘disappointing dick.’

“I’d prefer to reframe it as a learning experience.” Camryn placed her hand over mine in a gesture of reassurance. “If you need help figuring out how to do that, I can give you a tip.”

“Which is all Graham was capable of,” Gun quipped.

I couldn’t take another word. “I don’t need to reframe anything. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, disappointing about Kane Sullivan.”

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