Page 68 of Dead Heat

Gun slapped the table, gleeful. “Ha! I knew it!”

I pressed the pads of my fingers against my temple. “This is not the direction this conversation was supposed to take.”

“We’re professionals, darling,” Gun drawled. “We know how to interrogate until they pop.”

“Please don’t make a big deal about it,” I said. “The relationship is still in its infancy.”

“Will you let us know when it’s reached the toddler stage so we can make a big deal about it? Maybe set an alert on your phone?” Gun leaned over and tapped my phone screen.

The ward activated, shooting a ripple of energy from my elbow to my fingertips. “The mages are here.”

Gun abandoned my phone.

“Saved by the assassins,” I said, not a phrase you’d hear often.

I hurried to the door and hoped Max had wandered back to the cemetery. It was one thing to explain his presence to my friends; it was quite another to explain him to relative strangers.

“Monica. Cedric.” Gun didn’t smile.

Monica was too enamored by the foyer to respond. “Well, shit. Look at this place.”

“I’ve always wanted to see the interior,” Cedric said. “What are your plans for it?”

“What sort of plans?” I asked.

“You must have twenty spare rooms in this house. You could make a killing with a bed and breakfast.”

“Oh, I don’t see a bed and breakfast in my future unless the killing involved the guests.”

“Why not?” Nana Pratt’s voice cut in. “You need money. I could cook breakfast for guests, so you wouldn’t need to worry about that.”

Now wasn’t the time to explain to Nana Pratt that guests might run screaming from the building if they noticed eggs and bacon frying themselves.

Monica’s gaze alighted on Gunther’s shoulder. “And who’s this charming fella?” She tickled the revenant’s knuckle.

“That’s Claude,” I said.

“You’re adorable,” she told the hand, prompting Claude to flip over for a belly rub. Smiling, Monica scratched his palm. “Where’d you find him?”

“He found me. Friend of a friend.”

“So, what’s the emergency? Kane acted like your house was on fire.” Cedric seemed less enamored of Claude than his companion.

“We’ve been discussing a plan to deal with The Corporation,” I said.

Cedric rolled his eyes. “Still? Haven’t they come and gone by now?”

“If they’d come and gone, you’d know about it,” I snapped.

“I don’t get what the big deal is,” Monica said. “They’re an organization. They have meetings and departments. Probably a company holiday party.”

Gun’s gaze could’ve cut glass. “Have you not been listening to the guild chatter? The organization is evil, and it’s after Lorelei. They’re thugs in expensive suits, basically a rival gang invading our turf.”

Cedric rubbed his goatee. “Well, when you put it like that…”

Monica pushed up her sleeves. “What do you need us to do?”

“Have you ever seen the movieHome Alone?” I asked.

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