Page 84 of Peacock Me Like a Hurricane

“Are you afraid of creepy, crawly bugs and spiders, my delicate flower?”

My eyes narrow and I stalk towards him. “Bugs are icky and gross. I’m flat out terrified of spiders, so thank you very much for making fun of my phobia.” I huff, flopping on the bed to pout.“Rafe is, too. He’ll climb on a chair if he even thinks there’s one in the room.”

He bursts out laughing, dropping onto the bed to crush me to him in a hug. “You, love of my heart, are the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen, and your mate will never hear the end ofthattidbit. I missed you like a hole in the chest.”

“You know, Lily’s droid Mercury is a mad scientist and he bred superbugs the size of dogs. Lily wouldn’t let him keep them. He named one Buzz, and it has a covert space in Sandrine’s back plate. The rest live in my pool house.”

“Note: neverevergo to Sandwich's pool house. Also, do not make Sandrine angry—got it.”

“Rafe refused to go in the backyard for a week until I moved Aradia’s playground area. He figured that if she were close, and they got out, she’d squish them.”

“Who’d blame him for that?”

“No kidding. Buzz is enormous and the rest of them make him look small. I havenoidea what the hell Mercury bred into them other than size. They’re a fucking weaponized army of insects for all I know. I couldn’t say no to the pout; I never say no to the pout. Therefore, there is a bug army in my backyard.”

“Not to change the subject, but can we get back to the party thing? The giant, mutant bug talk is making my skin crawl.” He shivers and I chuckle.

Who’s the big bad, indeed.

Distracted by his admission, I roll over to face him. Neither of us has been paying attention to anything but each other, so we don’t even notice the ferret scurry up the legs of the night table, grab a handful of objects, and scurry off again.

“If you like, we can. Will Talia be coming in the pretty dress she wore to go see Wilde the other night?” I ask, batting my lashes at him.

I phrase the question teasingly, but hearing about her visit to Wilde mademyskin crawl in a much more sinister way than the bugs. Indulging Wilde’s fancy pants bullshit is paving the way to bad things.

I should know; I did it once.

When Wilde and I first started ‘dating’ last October, it was the heyday of another illegal bar called Dirty Deeds. It was like the cantina in our favorite space movie—a hive of all the rabble-rousing Resistance folks and some selected ex-Cabal members. DD was an invitation-only join: exclusive because of its encouragement of behavior not for public consumption in the Rift. Sari held court over us all, so not all the Resistance members were deemed acceptable invitees. DD was an all hours place for drinking, partying and flirting. That’s where I met Sari and Wilde. Eventually, it was where I met Rhea and Alistair.

Once that happened, it was downhill from there.

One day, we showed up, and the place had been demolished. From the look of the rubble from the explosion, it was not a gas leak. I guess the Company put the kibosh on the new world version of a speakeasy and didn’t tell anyone. By that time, I was dating Wilde, friends with Sari, and our journey was well on its way.

I digress. My point was that while I flirted and smirked at Wilde as a bad girl to ruffle his stodgy feathers, I also played into his sense of chivalry. I might wrinkle his suits or pull his hair out of the scholarly ponytail held by a ribbon, but in response, he made grand gestures. He took me on dates for picnics where I dressed fancy just to impress him or write me poetry. I couldn’t have known that his pedigree and politeness were all a skin he wore to draw me in.

Talia is falling victim to the same spider and the fly bullshit, and I can’t stop it. I’ve told them both over and over that dating him is a bad idea and they won’t listen. I can’t figure out why,but I also can’t force myself to face the reality of what my relationship with Wilde has become. The consequences of the Winter Incident are too scarring. I can’t force Rafe to do it, and without that, neither of us has strong enough evidence to stop her.

Is she that lonely without Taurus? Could I buy her another bloody hellhound?

Suddenly, it occurs to me he’s looking at me and words are coming out of his mouth. I might have missed something important.

Fuck. Am I supposed to be answering?

He sighs looking at me in disappointment. “I can’t believe you went there to tell them about your amazing news, and they spent their time throwing Talia and that nitwit in your face. It’s the only time Talia’s been out of death gear in weeks, and she goes to seehimdressed like that. I guess you’ve heard every detail, huh?”

I shrug, my discomfort with her choice and my own secrets making it hard for me to speak. Clearing my throat, I mumble, “I heard a version. I still don’t feel like this is a good plan.”

There. Maybe that will do it.

He snorts and shakes his head. “Nor do I, but my goddess is nothing if not her own woman.”

Damnit! I can’t get them tosee, and I can’t—I can’t—handle admitting why this is so dangerous to anyone.

I close my eyes for a moment, swallowing hard to push back the terror and pain that are threatening to spill out. Chanting my control mantras in my head, I visualize my room in my mind palace again and put everything back in its place. I store everything in its place inside me, cataloged like card drawers in a library. I tuck each thing in tight and mark it for reference. When I get a grip, I look at him with a troubled expression.

“They had to havesomethingto spite me with. I destroyed their world view of clones, magick, and pregnancy while making sure they knew that they not only couldn’t be part of it, but they can’t replicate it. The amount of detail and excitement they shared about this ‘dating’ proposition seemed out of proportion. I was very nonchalant—which I always am about Wilde’s new lovers. They nearly tripped over themselves to apologize for not being suitable mates since they have focused on grieving Rhea, helping Amanda, and prepping for Beltane.”

I growl and pick at the comforter. I’m not comfortable meeting his eyes as I fight another wave of emotions. “I suppose it’s something new, and Wilde gets excited about new things.”

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