Page 105 of Love Bites Extra Hard

“He’s the one who nearly killed you?” she asked.

“Yeah. I kind of convinced Stella to let me in his cell while Talon was sleeping.”

“Avery!”

“It would’ve been a great idea if it worked, okay? I thought if I could touch him, he’d be stuck under my spell. That’s always worked in the past.”

“Your magic is insanely strong, but yeah, brute force seduction isn’t going to do that,” Clem agreed. “You want me to weave magic to convince him to shift?”

“Yes. I’m hoping that, paired with my magic, will finally give Talon an opening.”

“No,” Kai said flatly. “Not a fucking?—”

“We’ll talk about it,” Clem interrupted him. “Can we have a few days?”

“Of course,” I agreed. “You probably wouldn’t even have to go in the cell with him.”

“No,” Kai repeated, his voice lower.

“Like I said, give us a few days.” Clem’s voice raised, growing cheerier.

She was going to figure out a way to convince him.

My lips curved. “Alright. We’ll talk after your party?”

“While we’re all glittery? Hell yeah. Love you!”

“Love you too. See you soon.”

I hung up, and padded over to Talon’s chair. He finally hung up the phone, grumbling, “Fucking asshole.”

“Who was it this time?”

“Redden. Again. The power’s going to his head already.”

Redden had taken over running the guards for Stella. She’d resigned the day after she met Evan. We thought she might come back to take another job eventually, but neither of us blamed her for getting away for a while.

“What did he do now?” I asked, leaning my ass against the edge of his desk.

“Fired two of my oldest, most reliable guards for being five minutes late. Apparently, tardiness is unacceptable under his reign.”

“Wasn’t he always late?”

“By a lot more than five minutes.” Talon tilted his head to either side, stretching his muscles. He hated being cooped up in his office, even though I knew he wouldn’t leave when there were still things to do. Not unless he thought I needed him to.

“He’s the one who always ate all the chocolate out of the trail mix, right?”

“Yup. And the raisins, because it’s only fair that whoever gets the best part also takes the worst.” Talon rolled his eyes. “He needs a lesson in humility.”

“Maybe you should send him in for a round with Sylvester.”

He snorted. “Probably should.”

He wouldn’t, though.

He’d deal with the problem at hand, and find someone to replace Redden if he was enough of a dick. But he wouldn’t genuinely hurt him without good reason.

“What did Clem say?”

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